Marian Devotions Through the Year: August

August is home to a number of incredible Marian feasts and devotions, many of which involve miraculous interventions by our Lady. Snow in Rome in summer, multiple rescues of Poland from her enemies, and physical healings are included in these. The devotions include special attention to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, and the Queenship of Mary, and the feasts include some of the oldest instituted in the history of the Church such as the Dormition of Mary which the Apostles were reported to have commemorated every year and the Feast of the Assumption. It is truly fitting that flowers and herbs have been incorporated in copious amounts for many of these feasts given that August is the height of their summer abundance and harvest. 

Marian Virtue: Trust in Mary's Intercession

The feasts of this month—and the Fifth Glorious Mystery’s fruit—remind us that we have been given a powerful, loving Mother who cares deeply for her children and for the works that God has entrusted to her. What could be more fruitful than cultivating a deep, abiding trust in her intercession and a close relationship with one who truly loves? 

Marian Theme: The Immaculate Heart of Mary

This month’s Marian theme aligns with the traditional liturgical devotion of the month of August. 

Marian Antiphon: Salve Regina

Salve Regina

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo, advocata nostra, 
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. 
Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, 
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. 
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix. 
R. Ut digni efficamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus. Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui gloriosae Virginis Matris Mariae corpus et animam, ut dignum Filii tui habitaculum effici mereretur, Spiritu Sancto cooperante, praeparasti, da, ut cuius commemoratione laetamur; eius pia intercessione, ab instantibus malis et a morte perpetua liberemur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen

---

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,
Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope.
To thee do we cry,
Poor banished children of Eve;
To thee do we send up our sighs,
Mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
Thine eyes of mercy toward us;
And after this our exile,
Show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving,
O sweet Virgin Mary.

V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, Who by the working of the Holy Spirit didst prepare both body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mother, Mary, that she might deserve to be made a worthy dwelling for Thy Son, grant that we who rejoice in her memory, may, by her loving intercession, be delivered from present evils and from lasting death, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

The liturgical year cycles through four Marian Antiphons, each having a Simple Tone and Solemn Tone in Gregorian chant. June is entirely given over to the Salve Regina which is the proper antiphon until Advent. Marian antiphons are typically chanted after night prayer and immediately before going to bed. 

The Salve Regina has been attributed to a couple different authors—Hermann Contractus, the Bishop Petrus of Monsoro (+ circa 1000 A.D.), the Bishop Adhemar of Podium who supposedly composed it as a war song asking intercession of the Queen of Heaven on Crusade, but most notably St. Bernard of Clairvaux who was said to have added the triple salutation, “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!” when moved to do so. Many know the Salve Regina today particularly because of the Carmelites who have claimed it as their own in a special way with their singing of its Solemn Tone amid candlelit procession every Saturday evening on the way to Solemn Vespers.

Sheet music for the Simple Tone may be printed from here (page 232 of the Parish Book of Chant pdf). 

Sheet music for the Solemn Tone may be found on page 233 of the same pdf. 

Marian Feasts:

• August 2 - Our Lady of the Angels, Assisi
• August 5 - Our Lady of the Snows
• August 11 - Commemoration of Charlemagne receiving two of our Lady’s robes
• August 13 - Dormition of Our Lady (Traditional) (56)
• August 14 - Vigil of the Assumption
• August 15 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into Heaven (Instituted by Pope Leo IV in 847)
• August 21 - Our Lady of Knock
• August 22 - The Immaculate Heart of Mary (Trad)/Queenship of Mary (New)
• August 24 (New)/August 25 (Trad) - Our Lady, Health of the Sick
• August 26 - Our Lady of Czestochowa
• August 27 - The Seven Joys of Our Lady

Marian Devotion: Prayer to the Immaculate Heart

O Mary, Virgin most powerful and Mother of mercy, Queen of Heaven and Refuge of sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thine Immaculate Heart.

We consecrate to thee our very being and our whole life; all that we have, all that we love, all that we are. To thee we give our bodies, our hearts and our souls; to thee we give our homes, our families, our country. We desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to thee, and may share in the benefits of thy motherly benediction. And that this act of consecration may be truly efficacious and lasting, we renew this day at thy feet the promises of our Baptism and our first Holy Communion.

We pledge ourselves to profess courageously and at all times the truths of our holy Faith, and to live as befits Catholics who are duly submissive to all the directions of the Pope and the Bishops in communion with him. We pledge ourselves to keep the commandments of God and His Church, in particular to keep holy the Lord's Day. We likewise pledge ourselves to make the consoling practices of the Christian religion, and above all, Holy Communion, an integral part of our lives, in so far as we shall be able so to do.

Finally, we promise thee, O glorious Mother of God and loving Mother of men, to devote ourselves whole-heartedly to the service of thy blessed cult, in order to hasten and assure, through the sovereignty of thine Immaculate Heart, the coming of the kingdom of the Sacred Heart of thine adorable Son, in our own hearts and in those of all men, in our country and in all the world, as in heaven so on earth. Amen. 

Marian Customs Highlight: Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Among the many customs and devotions that we could pick for the month of August, the Immaculate Heart of Mary stands out as both a feast and the traditional liturgical devotion. Awareness of devotion to the Immaculate Heart became especially prominent after the Fatima apparitions. However, many might be surprised to learn that a great many saints—even as far back as the thirteenth century—fostered devotion to the Heart of Mary. St. Mechtilde, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Bridget of Sweden, St. Bernardine of Sienna, St. Francis de Sales, St. John Eudes, and St. Pope Pis X all paid special attention to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As early as 1892, Pope Leo XIII grande a plenary indulgence to those who participated in fifteen consecutive Saturdays devoted to Our Lady. This was later simplified by Pope Pius X to five first Saturdays devoted to reparation to our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. 

August would be an excellent month to spend some time learning from the writings of these saints about the Heart of Mary. If you do not already have one, finding and installing a painting or statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in your home is also a special way to honor her. Customarily, paintings of both the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary are placed side by side in a prominent area of the home or on a wall facing the front door so that all who enter are aware of Whom the house is under the protection of.