HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION AND OTHER OBSERVANCES FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST

Dedication of St. Mary Major, Aug. 5, optional memorial.  Commemorates the rebuilding and dedication by Pope Sixtus III  (432-40) of a church in honor of Blessed Mary the Virgin.  This is the Basilica of St. Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome.  An earlier building was erected during the pontificate of Liberius  (352-66); according to legend, it was located on a site covered by a miraculous fall of snow seen by a nobleman favored with a vision of Mary.

 

Transfiguration of the Lord, Aug. 6, feast.  Commemorates the revelation of his divinity by Christ to Peter, James and John on Mt. Tabor (Mt. 17:1-9).  The feast, which is very old, was extended throughout the universal Church in 1457 by Callistus III.

 

Assumption, Aug. 15, holy day of obligation, solemnity.  Commemorates the taking into heaven of Mary, soul and body, at the end of her life on earth, a truth of faith that was proclaimed a dogma by Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950.  One of the oldest and most solemn feasts of Mary, it has a history dating back to at least the seventh century when its celebration was already established at Jerusalem and Rome.

 

EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM: 2004 Catholic Almanac By Matthew Bunson, General Editor