The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary refers to contemplation of the interior life of Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus Christ, and her motherly and compassionate love for all mankind.
Scriptural reference:
In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, it is twice stated, Luke 2:19; 51, that Mary kept all things in her heart, that there she might ponder over them. Luke 2:35 recounts the prophecy of Simeon that her heart would be pierced with a sword. This image (the pierced heart) is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart.
Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of MaryIn 1984 Pope St. John Paul II consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Immaculate Heart! Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths towards the future. From famine and war, deliver us. From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us. From sins against the life of man from its very beginning, deliver us. From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us. From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us. From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us. From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us. From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us. From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us, deliver us. Accept, O Mother of Christ, this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies. Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer all sin: individual sin and the “sin of the world”, sin in all its manifestations. Let there be revealed, once more, in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the Redemption: the power of merciful Love! May it put a stop to evil! May it transform consciences! May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of Hope! Amen |
The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of August 2026
Evangelization in the City: That in large cities often marked by anonymity and loneliness we find new ways to proclaim the Gospel, discovering creative paths to build community.
Feasts for August
August 1 - Alphonsus Liguori, Memorial
August 2 - Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 4 - John Vianney, Memorial
August 5 - Dedication of St. Mary Major, Optional Memorial
August 6 - Transfiguration of the Lord, Feast
August 7 - Sixtus II and companions; Cajetan, Optional Memorial
August 8 - Dominic, Memorial
August 9 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 10 - Lawrence, Optional Memorial
August 11 - Clare, Memorial
August 12 - Jane Frances de Chantal, Optional Memorial
August 13 - Pontian and Hippolytus, Optional Memorial
August 14 - Maximilian Kolbe, Memorial
August 15 - Assumption of Mary, Solemnity
August 16 - Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 19 - John Eudes, Optional Memorial
August 20 - Bernard, Memorial
August 21 - Pius X, Memorial
August 22 - Queenship of Mary, Memorial
August 23 - Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 24 - Bartholomew, Apostle, Optional Memorial
August 25 - Louis IX of France; Joseph Calasanz, Optional Memorial
August 27 - Monica, Memorial
August 28 - Augustine, Memorial
August 29 - Passion of John the Baptist , Memorial
August 30 - Twenty Second - Sunday in Ordinary Time
