August 2025

Jubilee Holy Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope

August is the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Sing with joy to God our help.

HEART OF MARY, BLESSED AMONG ALL HEARTS,

HEART OF MARY, SEAT OF MERCY,

OUR LADY, QUEEN AND MOTHER,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Hope finds its supreme witness in the Mother of God. In the Blessed Virgin, we see that hope is not naive optimism, but a gift of grace beyond the realities of life.

(Spes non confundit, Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, 24)

Dear faithful readers, welcome to the month of August, the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Inspired by Mary, I thought it was a good day to pay special attention to Our Lady, in this very special month dedicated to her ever-loving heart. A heart so BIG, it occurred to me, that it has room for all of us. That is one BIG heart. 💓 So this month, each and every day, listen to Cistercian Father Adam of Perseigne (1145-1221), who wrote, "If you stand in need of mercy, it is found in the full measure in the heart of the Virgin" (Letter III). Go to Mary then, when you find yourself troubled, anxious, worried, or needing a dose of tender loving care. At the same time, however, Mary is ever ready to sing with you, as you sing the praise of her beloved Son for the many gifts He has bestowed upon you. With Mary, let your soul magnify the Lord! And if this is not enough, how about this from Saint Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938).

Surely we'd go mad if we truly loved Mary. By honoring the Virgin, we will love Jesus more. By placing ourselves under her mantle, we will understand divine mercy better. When we invoke Her name, it's as if everything becomes lighter. When we turn to Her as our intercessor, what will we not receive from her Son, Jesus?

In addition to dear Mary, we also have a heavy hitter list (that seems to grow day by day☺) of saints to invoke this month, beginning today with a great Doctor of the Church, patron saint of confessors and moralists, Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1698-1787). Speaking of Doctors of the Church, did you hear the good news that Saint John Henry Newman (1801-1890) will be declared a Doctor of the Church by the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV? It was the Holy Father's predecessor in name, Pope Leo XIII, who made John Henry Newman a Cardinal in 1879. 

August is also loaded with feasts to celebrate such as the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (August 5), the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6), the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15, the patronal feast of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance), the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 22), and the Passion of Saint John the Baptist (August 29).

As I've gone on for some time now, we close with a few voices, that too, may grow as the month progresses. Keep the faith. Keep going. We are united in faith and love. That's ALL of us who fit together into the BIG heart of Mary Immaculate. No pushing and shoving allowed; there is room for everybody! The first one is a favorite.

My mother [Mary] is very strange; if I bring her flowers she does not want them; if I bring her cherries she will not take them, and if I then ask what she desires, she replies, "I desire thy heart, for I live in hearts."

(Saint Joseph of Cupertino, 1603-1663)

The spiritual beauty of God is reflected in the most holy Virgin Mother of God.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2502)

All for God and all through Mary!

(Saint Rafael Arnaiz Baron, 1911-1938)

Be humble. Trust always and a great deal in divine Providence; never, never must you let yourselves be discouraged, despite contrary winds. I say it again: trust in God and Mary Immaculate; be faithful and forge ahead.

(Saint Pauline of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, 1865-1942)

The golden urn is blessed Mary,

golden by reason of the excellence of her life,

golden through her integrity and purity,

golden through the fullness of grace.

(Amadeus of Lausanne, 1110-1159)

And for all Pilgrims of Hope in this Jubilee Year:

Mary is the reason for all my hope.

(Poster in the cell of Padre Pio, 1887-1968)

I feel that my mission is being a mother ... I wish to encompass in my soul the love from all of heaven and earth, the immense and maternal love of Mary.

(Blessed Concepcion Cabrera de Armida, 1862-1937)

And just in case you thought that Mary wasn't human, let Mother Teresa bring you back to earth.

What did Mary do, after she heard that she was to bear the Savior? Did she stay and meditate on the great mystery? No, when she heard that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was also with child, she immediately got up to go on a long journey - a very long journey to help her. To wash the pots and pans and whatever needed to be done.

(Saint Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997)

SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI,

SAINT EUSEBIUS OF VERCELLI,

SAINT PETER JULIAN EYMARD,

OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS,

SAINT GERMANUS OF AUXERRE,

SAINT OSWALD,

SAINT AETHELWOLD,

SAINT JOHN VIANNEY, CURE OF ARS,

POPE SAINT SIXTUS II AND COMPANIONS,

SAINT CAJETAN,

OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS,

SAINT EMYGDIUS,

BLESSED FREDERIC JANSSOONE.

SAINT NICHOLAS POSTGATE,

SAINT ALBERT OF TRAPANI,

SAINT MARY OF THE CROSS,

SAINT LAURENCE,

BLESSED ISIDORE BAKANJA,

SAINT MUREDACH,

SAINT ATTRACTA,

SAINT LELIA,

SAINT BLAAN,

SAINT DOMINIC,

SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH,

SAINT CLARE OF ASSISI,

SAINT FRANCES DE CHANTAL,

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES,

BLESSED ISIDORE BAKANJA,

SAINT MUREDACH,

SAINT ATTRACTA,

SAINT LELIA,

SAINT BLAAN,

SAINT PONTIAN AND HIPPOLYTUS,

SAINT FACHTNA OR FACHANAN OF ROSS,

BLESSED WILLIAM FREEMAN,

BLESSED MICHAEL MCGIVNEY,

SAINT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR,

SAINT MAXIMILLAN KOLBE,

SAINT STEPHEN OF HUNGARY,

SAINT ROCH,

BLESSED ANGELUS MAZZINGHI,

BLESSED VICTORIA RASOAMANARIVO,

SAINT HELENA,

SAINT ALBERTO HURTADO CRUCHAGA,

BLESSEDS JOHN-BAPTIST DUVERNEUIL, MICHAEL-ALOYSIUS BRULARD AND JAMES GAGNOT,

SAINT EZEKIEL MORENO,

SAINT OSWIN

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

SAINT BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX,

POPE SAINT PIUS X,

SAINT JOHN KEMBLE,

SAINT ROSE OF LIMA,

SAINT EUGENE,

SAINT JOHN WALL,

SAINT LOUIS OF FRANCE,

SAINT JOSEPH CALASANZ,

SAINT MARY OF JESUS CRUCIFIED BAOUARDY,

BLESSED DOMINIC BARBERI,

SAINT DAVID LEWIS,

OUR LADY OF CZESTOCHOWA,

SAINT CAESARIUS OF ARLES,

BLESSED JOSEPH RETOURET,

SAINT TERESA OF JESUS' TRANSVERBERATION,

SAINT JEANNE ELIZABETH DES BICHIER DES ANGES,

SAINT MONICA,

SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO

SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST,

BEATRICE OF NAZARETH,

SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW,

SAINT ANNE LINE,

SAINT MARGARET WARD,

BLESSED GHEBRE MICHAEL,

SAINT FIACRE,

SAINT JEANNE JUGAN, AKA SISTER MARY OF THE CROSS,

SAINT EDMUND ARROWSMITH,

SAINT AIDAN,

PRAY FOR US.

This month's photo: Thank you to Jean, who not only loves sunflowers, grows a variety of them in her garden. 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

© Gertrude Feick 2025

Wednesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time

For the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Saints: Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256-1301/2); Saint Margaret of Scotland (1046-1093); Saint Edmund of Abingdon (1175?-1240); Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Vilnius, Lithuania)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 38 The Reader for the Week

Mass: For Solemnity of Saint Gertrude the Great: Songs 8:1-4 or 6-7; Eph 3:14-19; Jn 15:1-8

Ferial Day: Rev 4:1-11; Resp Ps 150; Lk 19:11-28

You will find me in the heart of Gertrude.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

MARY, QUEEN OF VIRGINS,

OUR LADY OF MONTILGEON,

SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.

(Eph 3:17)

We have more heavy hitter saints on tap for today. Before the featured stories, we invoke Saint Edmund of Abingdon, "venerated as a vigorous and reforming bishop and as a peacemaker, as well as being a distinguished commentator on the Scriptures and an effective spiritual writer." God is praised. Then there is Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. She is in Vilnius, Lithuania, in the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn. Venerated by the faithful since the 17th century, she has become a symbol of the national identity that Lithuania's invaders like the Prussian, Austrian and Russian Empires in 1793, and the Soviet Union until 1989, sought to obliterate. Pope Saint John Paul II was there in 1993; I was there around 2010.  God is praised.

And if that's not enough we have two very different, most powerful and holy women to commemorate. First, Saint Gertrude the Great who, as a little girl of four years old, the Lord withdrew from the turmoil of the world to introduce her into the bridal chamber of holy religion (see Gertrude the Great, The Herald of Divine Love, I, 1). She is my patron saint and I have so much to say about her that I do not know where to begin and then I may never stop. So, let's leave it at this. Jesus lived in the heart of Gertrude (see today's image). Jesus is praised. One will find too, like I just did when I randomly opened Gertrude's Herald of Divine Love (I, 16), that a man unknown to her except that she had recommended herself to his prayers, was praying for Gertrude and received this answer from the Lord: "I have chosen to dwell in her because it delights me to see that everything that people love in her is my own work. Those who know nothing of interior, that is, spiritual things, love in her at least my exterior gifts, such as intelligence, eloquence and so on. Therefore I have exiled her from all her relatives, so that there should be no one who would love her for the sake of the ties of blood, and that I may be the only reason why all her friends love her." Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta is my patron. Thank you, Jesus!

And then we have Saint Margaret of Scotland, wife to King Malcolm III of Scotland and mother of eight children. Saint Margaret is remembered for the "happiness of her marriage, for her devotion to prayer and learning, and especially for her generosity to the poor." God is praised.

United in faith and prayer, may we remain in Jesus as He remains in us. Whoever remains in Him will bear much fruit, because without Him we can do nothing. This is how His Father is glorified, that we bear much fruit and become His disciples (see Jn 15:4-5, 8). Amen.

Bless me, most loving Jesus, bless me and have mercy on me in the loving-kindness of Your most gracious heart. Ah! That my soul may choose to know nothing apart from you and that, disciplined by Your grace and instructed by the anointing, I may progress well, passionately, and powerfully in the school of Your love.

(Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta, Spiritual Exercises, II, 51-55)

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND,

SAINT EDMUND OF ABINGDON,

OUR LADY OF THE GATE OF DAWN,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's image: This is what Jesus told one of the nuns at Helfta: You will find me in the heart of Gertrude. Imaged used with the kind permission of the Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel, OR. Set me as a seal on your heart. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint John Eudes, Priest (1601-1680); Saint Ezekiel Moreno (1848-1906); Saint Oswin (-651)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 63: 9-19 Community Rank

Mass: Ezk 37:1-14; Resp Ps 107; Mt 22:34-40

The Lord satisfied the longing soul.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY,

PRAY FOR US.

HEART OF JESUS, KING AND CENTER OF ALL HEARTS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the Lord.

(Ezk 37:4-6)

Dear Jesus, with your heart all-loving and lovable, a clean heart create for me, renew in me a steadfast spirit (Ps 51:12). Breathe life into our dry and weary bones, bring us to life so that we love you, the Lord, our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. And love our neighbor as ourselves (Mt 22:37-39/Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:1-2). 

I ask you to consider that the Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of His body. All that is His is yours: heart, breath, body, soul and all His faculties. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving Him you may give Him praise, love and glory ... 

You are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with Him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And He must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all. 

(From a treatise on the admirable Heart of Jesus by Saint John Eudes, priest, in Office of Readings, August 19)

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

SAINT EZEKIEL MORENO,

SAINT OSWIN,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: This red Fuchsia flower from Saint Bernard Parish fits for Saint John Eudes, devoted as he was to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, have mercy on us. Heart of Mary, pray for us.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

The Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

10th World Meeting of Families through June 26, 2022 "Family Love: A Vocation and Path to Holiness"

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 18:12-19 The Order of the Psalmody

Mass: Ezk 34:11-16; Resp Ps 23; Rm 5:5b-11; Lk 15:3-7

He refreshes my soul.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

(Rm 5:5b)

It is a beautiful day, this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. May Jesus say about us, what He said about Saint Gertrude the Great of Helfta (1256-1301/2): I live in the heart of Gertrude. Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, have mercy on us.

Two [favors] which I mention in particular. They are the seal on my heart with those brilliant jewels which are Your salvific wounds, and the wound of love with which You manifestly and efficaciously transfixed by heart ...

In addition to these favors, You have granted me the priceless gift of Your familiar friendship, giving me in various ways, to my indescribable delight, the noblest treasure of Your divinity, Your divine heart, now as a sign of our mutual familiarity, exchanging it with mine.

(Saint Gertrude the Great, The Herald of Divine Love, Book II, Ch. 23)

I need nothing but God, and to lose myself in the heart of God.

(Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque)

A Christian has a union with Jesus Christ more noble, more intimate and more perfect than the members of a human body have with their head.

He longs to be in you, He wants His breath to be your breath, His heart in your heart, and His soul in your soul.

(Saint John Eudes)

SAINT GERTRUDE THE GREAT OF HELFTA,

SAINT MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE,

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: He gives me repose.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saint: Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant, Cistercian monk and priest (1878-1903); Saint Botolph (7th century)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 13:12-14 The Celebration of Lauds on Ordinary Days

Mass: 2 Kgs 11:1-4, 9-18, 20; Resp Ps 132; Mt 6:19-23

He prefers her for His dwelling.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

PRAY FOR US.

In a letter sent to his parents about a month before he died, one of our saints of the day, Blessed Marie-Joseph Cassant, Cistercian monk and priest, began in this way: "Everything for the heart of Jesus!" And Blessed Marie-Joseph closed the letter with this "I end with the wish that we always be one in the Heart of Jesus, on earth as in heaven" (23 December 1902/24 May 1903). The young monk embraced what Jesus teaches us in today's Gospel, namely, he stored up his treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be (Mt 6:21), says the Lord. Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven, have mercy on us.

BLESSED MARIE-JOSEPH CASSANT,

SAINT BOTOLPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Linda and her faithful companion Molly contributed these Dogwood flowers from one of their walks. I will set upon your throne.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

National Back to School Month

Saints: Blessed Guerric of Igny, Cistercian Abbot (1078-1157); Saint John Eudes (1601-1680); Saint Ezekiel Moreno (1848-1906); Saint Oswin (-651)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 63:10-19 Community Rank

Mass: Jdgs 11:29-39a; Resp Ps 40; Mt 22:1-14

Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

HEART OF JESUS, KING AND CENTER OF ALL HEARTS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

HEART OF MARY, IN UNION WITH THE HEART OF JESUS,

PRAY FOR US.

First, with something about where we are in the Rule of Saint Benedict. We began yesterday and conclude today the chapter on Community Rank, another one of the most beautiful chapters in the Holy Rule. You can see that here with some verses from today's passage: "The younger monks must respect their seniors, and the seniors must love their juniors ... wherever brothers meet, the junior asks his senior for a blessing. When an older monk comes by, the younger rises and offers him a seat, and does not presume to sit down unless the older bids him. In this way, they do what the words of Scripture say: They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other" (RB 63:10, 15-17). It seems that these essentials of civility and good manners could be applied wherever we find ourselves, in community, at home, at work, on public transport, and so on.

Second, with some words from two of our Saints of the Day, Blessed Guerric of Igny, a Cistercian Abbot directly influenced by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux who we commemorate tomorrow. Then we turn to Saint John Eudes, who, among other things, encouraged devotion to the Sacred Heart, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

How faithful and worthy of a friend of Jesus is that voice, how pure that act of love which says: "It is enough for me that Jesus is still alive. If He lives, I live, for my spirit acts through His. Yes, He is my life, my all in all. For what can I lack if Jesus is still alive? Rather everything else may be taken from me so long as He lives. If He wishes then, let Him take no account of me. It is enough for me that He still lives even if He only lives for Himself.

(Blesse Guerric of Igny, Sermon 5 for Easter)  

A Christian has a union with Jesus Christ more noble, more intimate and more perfect than the members of a human body have with their head.

He longs to be in you, He wants His breath to be your breath, His heart in your heart, and His soul in your soul.

(Saint John Eudes)

Faith is a divine and celestial light, a participation in the eternal, inaccessible light, a beam radiating from the face of God.

(Saint John Eudes)

The air we breath, the bread which we eat, the heart which throbs in our bosoms, are not more necessary for man that he may live as a human being, than is prayer for the Christian that he may live as a Christian.

(Saint John Eudes)

BLESSED GUERRIC OF IGNY,

SAINT JOHN EUDES,

SAINT EZEKIEL MORENO,

SAINT OSWIN,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: These little beauties are simply busy doing just what they are supposed to be doing.

© Gertrude Feick 2021

The Transfiguration of the Lord

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

National Back to School Month

First Friday of the Month

43rd Anniversary of the Death of Saint Giovanni Baptiste Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, Pope Saint Paul VI

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 54 Letters or Gifts for Monks

Mass: Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; Resp Ps 97; 2 Pet 1:16-19; Mk 9:2-10

The Lord is king, the Most High over all the earth.

HEART OF JESUS, OF INFINITE MAJESTY,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

As is my custom every year on this glorious feast, I pulled out three postcards from my 2000 pilgrimage to the Holy Land. It was during the Jubilee Year and shortly before I entered the monastery. The cards are from Mount Tabor. One is of the Mount, the Mount of the Transfiguration; another from inside the Basilica of the Transfiguration, a picture of the Transfiguration Mosaic by R. Villani; and my favorite is of the stained glass window of the crypt in the Basilica, with peacocks, symbols of immortality. I remember the day of the visit, a beautiful day when I, with a few others, walked up the mountain. At the same time, others were driven up the mountain in cars, cars that were not moving slowly. One thing I remember it that people were hang gliding off the side of the mountain and I wanted to join in. Yes, it was good to be there. And there is another thing I remember. It was so good to be in the Holy Land that I considered staying there to work on a kibbutz. A wise monk in the group suggested that I reconsider. Can you imagine? 😊 Kyrie eleison.

It's the First Friday of the Month and a good day to listen to the voice coming from the cloud: This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him (Mk 9:7). And as Saint Peter writes, "You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Pet 1:19).

Since each of us possesses God in his heart and is being transformed into His divine image, we also should cry out with joy: It is good for us to be here-here where all things shine with divine radiance, where there is joy and gladness and exultation; where there is nothing in our hearts but peace, serenity and stillness; where God is seen. For here, in our hearts, Christ takes up His abode together with the Father, saying as He enters; Today salvation has come to this house. With Christ, our hearts receive all the wealth of His eternal blessings, and there where they are stored up for us in Him, we see reflected as in a mirror both the firstfruits and the whole of the world to come.

(From a sermon on the transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, bishop, in Office of Readings, August 6)

POPE SAINT PAUL VI,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: From the Otto's hike at Wiamea Canyon, Kauai. It was certainly good to be there too. 

© Gertrude Feick 2021