Our Lady of Hope Blog

My Dear Friends,

This week, August 29th, we celebrate the Passion of St. John the Baptist. He is one of the three birthdays that we celebrate, along with our Blessed Mother and our Lord Himself. But because of his importance, we also celebrate his martyrdom and entrance into heaven. He is the bridge between the Old and New Testaments. He is the precursor of the Lord, preparing the way of the Lord and pointing out to anyone who would listen that Jesus is the Lamb of God. He reminds those who were his own disciples that must decrease so that our Lord may increase.

Last week we celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption. This week, on the octave day of the Assumption, we celebrate the Queenship of Mary. These are the fourth and fifth Glorious Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. We rightly honor the Blessed Mother and we with joy call her Queen of Heaven and Earth. As Scott Hahn reminds us in his book, Hail, Holy Queen, and Brant Pitre writes in his book, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, the title of queen mother goes back to Solomon and was handed down through the line of kings.

My Dear Friends,

This Thursday, August 15th, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed body and soul into Heaven. It is one of our Holy Days of Obligation in the United States.

My Dear Friends,

Today is the feast day of St. John Vianney, also known as the Cure of Ars. He was born in 1786, immediately before the French Revolution, and lived until 1859. He is also the patron saint of parish priests, due to his remarkable career as a pastor in Ars, France. St. John Vianney was also a friend of the early Marists (the Society of Mary) and became a member of the Third Order of Mary.