Marian Feast Days and Their Meaning
Mary is perfectly honored when people generously imitate her response “Let it
be done to me as you say” (Luke 1:38). Mary can never be seen as a rival to
Jesus or to the Church's teaching authority, as exercised by the college of
bishops united with the bishop of Rome.
January 1st MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 495 states "Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus, " Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord." In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God"
February 2nd PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus. The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter.
February 11 OUR LADY OF LOURDES
Lourdes is a village in France where Our Blessed Mother appeared to a young peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Through a set of private revelations, Mary revealed herself as "the Immaculate Conception." Lourdes is justly regarded as the most important place of Catholic pilgrimage in the world after the Holy Land and Rome. It comprises four magnificent basilicas and the grotto marking the exact spot where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette. It should be added that the appearance of Our Lady to St. Bernadette is considered to be a private revelation and adds nothing to the public deposit of the faith, therefore Catholics are not obligated to believe.
March 25 THE ANNUNCIATION
The Annunciation is the announcement of the Incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke1:26-38). The Catholic Church commemorates this feast day on March 25 nine months before Christ's birth.
May 13 OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Our Lady of Fatima is the title given to Our Blessed Mother when she appeared to three Portuguese children near Fatima. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930 and added to the Church's calendar in 2002.
May 31 THE VISITATION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 717 states "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.
Saturday after Corpus Christi IMMACULATE HEART
This feast day falls on the Saturday following the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also known as Corpus Christi. Although celebrated from as early as the 1600's, on Dec. 8, 1942 the 25th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, Pope Pius XII dedicated the Church and the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He placed the feast on August 22 and extended it to the entire Latin rite. It has now been moved to it's current place on the Saturday after Corpus Christi.
July 16 OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Mt. Carmel is mentioned in the Book of Kings (1 Kings 18:19-21). In the twelfth century the Order of Carmelites was founded under the patronage of Mary by hermits who dwelt on Mt. Carmel. On July 16, 1251 Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, and made the Scapular the sign of her protection. Mary told St. Simon, "This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this habit will be saved". For more on this devotion see page 166 of 33 Days to Morning Glory.
August 15 THE ASSUMPTION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 966 states "Finnaly the Immaculate Virgin, preserced free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians...
August 22 QUEENSHIP OF MARY
Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical "Ad coeli Reginam" which instituted this feast day. In that encyclical Pope Pius XII writes about all the reasons we as Catholic Christian's refer to Christ's Mother as Queen. Click here to read the encyclical.
September 8 NATIVITY OF MARY
The Feast of the Birth of Mary was introduced by Pope Sergius I in 701. This feast day is nine months after the Immaculate Conception.
September 12 THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
St. Louis de Montfort said "The whole world is filled with her glory, and this is especially true of Christian peoples, who have chosen her as guardian and protectress of kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, and towns. ... There is not a child who does not praise her by lisping a 'Hail Mary'. There is scarcely a sinner, however hardened who does not possess some spark of confidence in her. The very devils in hell, while fearing her, show her respect". The date, September 12 is significant in history as being the day that King Jan Sobieski fell prostrate and declared it was God's cause and praised Him for the Victory in a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving saying "Veni, vidi, Deus vicit" which translates "I came, I saw, God conquered". Pope Innocent XI thereupon declared Sept. 12 as a date to honor Mary, whose intercession had saved Christendom from Muslims.
September 15 OUR LADY OF SORROWS
This feast centers on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. Luke 2:35 which states "and you yourself a sword will pierce" Also in John 19:26-27 where Jesus gives Mary to John as his mother, watching her Only Son Our Lord dying on the cross. Mary intense suffering has been referred to as "The Seven Dolors" referring to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary.
October 7 OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
This feast has also been called Our Lady of Victory. The feast honors the victory of Europe from a Turkish invasion. Pope Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle throughout Europe praying the Rosary.
November 21 PRESENTATION OF MARY
As was Jewish custom the presentation of Mary commemorates St. Anna and St. Joaquim's presentation of their child, Mary. It has been celebrated since as early as the sixth century.
December 8 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 491 states Through the centuries the Church hs become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception,
by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the
merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from
all stain of original sin.
December 12 OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
This feast celebrates the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother to Saint Juan Diego in Tepayac, Mexico. Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego and he picked flowers that wouldn't have been growing that time of year, to show the bishop as proof of his visions. When he opened his tilma the flowers fell to the floor and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was on his tilma.
January 1st MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 495 states "Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus, " Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord." In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God"
February 2nd PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus. The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter.
February 11 OUR LADY OF LOURDES
Lourdes is a village in France where Our Blessed Mother appeared to a young peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. Through a set of private revelations, Mary revealed herself as "the Immaculate Conception." Lourdes is justly regarded as the most important place of Catholic pilgrimage in the world after the Holy Land and Rome. It comprises four magnificent basilicas and the grotto marking the exact spot where Our Lady appeared to Bernadette. It should be added that the appearance of Our Lady to St. Bernadette is considered to be a private revelation and adds nothing to the public deposit of the faith, therefore Catholics are not obligated to believe.
March 25 THE ANNUNCIATION
The Annunciation is the announcement of the Incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke1:26-38). The Catholic Church commemorates this feast day on March 25 nine months before Christ's birth.
May 13 OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Our Lady of Fatima is the title given to Our Blessed Mother when she appeared to three Portuguese children near Fatima. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. The feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930 and added to the Church's calendar in 2002.
May 31 THE VISITATION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 717 states "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." John was "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb" by Christ himself, whom the Virgin Mary had just conceived by the Holy Spirit. Mary's visitation to Elizabeth thus became a visit from God to his people.
Saturday after Corpus Christi IMMACULATE HEART
This feast day falls on the Saturday following the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also known as Corpus Christi. Although celebrated from as early as the 1600's, on Dec. 8, 1942 the 25th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, Pope Pius XII dedicated the Church and the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He placed the feast on August 22 and extended it to the entire Latin rite. It has now been moved to it's current place on the Saturday after Corpus Christi.
July 16 OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Mt. Carmel is mentioned in the Book of Kings (1 Kings 18:19-21). In the twelfth century the Order of Carmelites was founded under the patronage of Mary by hermits who dwelt on Mt. Carmel. On July 16, 1251 Our Lady appeared to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite, and made the Scapular the sign of her protection. Mary told St. Simon, "This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this habit will be saved". For more on this devotion see page 166 of 33 Days to Morning Glory.
August 15 THE ASSUMPTION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 966 states "Finnaly the Immaculate Virgin, preserced free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians...
August 22 QUEENSHIP OF MARY
Pope Pius XII issued the encyclical "Ad coeli Reginam" which instituted this feast day. In that encyclical Pope Pius XII writes about all the reasons we as Catholic Christian's refer to Christ's Mother as Queen. Click here to read the encyclical.
September 8 NATIVITY OF MARY
The Feast of the Birth of Mary was introduced by Pope Sergius I in 701. This feast day is nine months after the Immaculate Conception.
September 12 THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
St. Louis de Montfort said "The whole world is filled with her glory, and this is especially true of Christian peoples, who have chosen her as guardian and protectress of kingdoms, provinces, dioceses, and towns. ... There is not a child who does not praise her by lisping a 'Hail Mary'. There is scarcely a sinner, however hardened who does not possess some spark of confidence in her. The very devils in hell, while fearing her, show her respect". The date, September 12 is significant in history as being the day that King Jan Sobieski fell prostrate and declared it was God's cause and praised Him for the Victory in a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving saying "Veni, vidi, Deus vicit" which translates "I came, I saw, God conquered". Pope Innocent XI thereupon declared Sept. 12 as a date to honor Mary, whose intercession had saved Christendom from Muslims.
September 15 OUR LADY OF SORROWS
This feast centers on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. Luke 2:35 which states "and you yourself a sword will pierce" Also in John 19:26-27 where Jesus gives Mary to John as his mother, watching her Only Son Our Lord dying on the cross. Mary intense suffering has been referred to as "The Seven Dolors" referring to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary.
October 7 OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
This feast has also been called Our Lady of Victory. The feast honors the victory of Europe from a Turkish invasion. Pope Pius V attributed the victory to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was invoked on the day of the battle throughout Europe praying the Rosary.
November 21 PRESENTATION OF MARY
As was Jewish custom the presentation of Mary commemorates St. Anna and St. Joaquim's presentation of their child, Mary. It has been celebrated since as early as the sixth century.
December 8 THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 491 states Through the centuries the Church hs become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception,
by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the
merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from
all stain of original sin.
December 12 OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
This feast celebrates the apparitions of Our Blessed Mother to Saint Juan Diego in Tepayac, Mexico. Our Lady appeared to St. Juan Diego and he picked flowers that wouldn't have been growing that time of year, to show the bishop as proof of his visions. When he opened his tilma the flowers fell to the floor and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was on his tilma.