August – Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

It is in the month of the feast of her Assumption that the Church has traditionally honoured the most Immaculate Heart of the Holy Virgin. St John Eudes, a great witness to this important devotion, taught: “The Heart of Mary is a sun that spreads its rays and its warmth throughout the world. It is constantly working in every possible way for the salvation of souls.” Mary’s goodness invites us to recognise our own sinfulness, so our love for Mary inspires us also to make acts of reparation for our sins. This devotion received special impetus in the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima in Portugal in 1917 and was confirmed when Mary stated to Sister Lucia in a later vision: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother … I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.” The beautiful image of Our Lady in our own church, situated above her altar, depicts strikingly her Immaculate Heart, inspiring us to that loving devotion to the Holy Virgin which shone forth in our patrons St Bernadette and St Philip Neri, and which is particularly manifested in modern times by the devout observance of the First Saturdays devotion.