August - Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

By Tom Dennehy

The month of August celebrates the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Mary, our spiritual mother, loves us all with such a divine love and wants to bring us all to Heaven when we die.

She is constantly pointing us to her son Jesus in the Holy Eucharist in the Holy Mass and wants us to spend time with Him in Adoration.

On August 15th, we celebrate the feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven where she intercedes for us before the Heavenly Throne of God. This is a Holy Day of obligation which means that Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on this day. The dogma of the Catholic Church tells us that at the end of her life, the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken, body and soul into Heaven.

Also on August 22nd, we celebrate the feast of the Queenship of Mary, recognizing the fact that Mary’s Queenship is closely connected to her Assumption into Heaven.

Our Beloved Mother

It is wonderful for us to have a mother who loves us and who we can ask to intercede for us. She will present our prayer to Jesus and we know that Our Lord could never say no to His mother - He loves her so much. Even without asking her, our mother Mary is always praying for us because we are her children. Jesus gave us His mother to be our very own. The amazing thing is that He did this as he was dying on the cross, in the final stages of His supreme sacrifice to bring us salvation. This shows how important the gift of His mother Mary is to humanity. “When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, He said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”

From that time on the disciple took her into his home. John 19; 26-27.

Just like John took Mary into his home after Jesus entrusted her to him, we are being asked to take Mary into our own hearts, to cherish and love her as our very own mother.

Her Immaculate Heart

The Blessed Virgin Mary wants to help us to love Jesus as she does. We can do this by consecrating ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and when we do this we unite ourselves more closely to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It also means that we will always be under her maternal protection and Satan would never dare touch a child under the protective mantle of Mary.

If we consecrate ourselves to the most loving maternal heart of Mary, we have nothing to fear, as we will be held safely in the same arms that carried and cared for the King of the Universe.

When we look at the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we see a sword which represents Mary’s sorrows. We recall words from Simeon at the scene of the Presentation of Our Lord when he said to Mary; “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”(Luke 2;35) God was telling Mary, through Simeon, that during her life she would encounter suffering. Mary would go on to experience the same kind of difficulties we all go through as human beings.

She would firstly experience the death of Joseph and more significantly she would later witness the suffering and death of Jesus. The sword reminds us that Mary is close to us when we feel tearful, lonely, insecure or frightened. Mary holds our hand and we feel her closeness as we pray the rosary. Anyone who has endured a bereavement and is finding it hard to cope with the physical loss of a loved one can turn to Mary, Our Blessed Mother and she is always there to comfort and console us.

In all her apparitions, Our Lady has asked us to pray the rosary as she needs our prayer to help her overcome the evil which is threatening to destroy our world. She has promised in Fatima and again in Medjugorje, “In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

O Most Blessed Mother Mary, heart of love , heart of mercy, ever listening, caring, consoling, hear our prayer. As your children, we implore your intercession with Jesus your Son.( special intention) We are comforted in knowing your heart is ever open to those who ask your prayer. We trust to your gentle care and intercession, those whom we love and who are sick or lonely or hurting. Help all of us , Holy Mother, to bear our burdens in this life until we may share eternal life and peace with God forever.