Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish

The Month of August is dedicated to The Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

The Holy Father Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for August – For Political Leaders: “We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs.” 

August 1st – St. Alphonsus Ligouri (Memorial) – St Alphonsus was a great preacher of the Gospel to the poor. He founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (The Redemptorists) to carry on this work, whom he sent, as our Lord did the Apostles, into the countryside and the market towns and villages, to proclaim the Gospel. For his great works on Moral Theology he has been declared a Doctor of the Church. 

St Alphonsus is the patron of arthritis, lawyers, confessors, moralists, and vocations.

August 4th – St. Jean-Marie Vianney (Memorial) – As a child, St John Vianney, while tending his father’s sheep, made a small statue of Our Lady out of clay, and placed it in a hole in a tree saying:“Dear Lady Mary, I love you very much; you must bring Jesus back to His tabernacles very soon!”. This was during the French revolution; all religious schools and churches were closed, and all who hid and protected priests were arrested. 

St John Vianney, after the revolution ended, went on to become a priest, and was known to spend upwards of twelve hours at a time in the confessional, and gave fiery homilies, knowing the damage of indifference and religious ignorance the revolution had caused. Upon visiting Ars in 1986, St John Paul II said he was a  “rare example of a pastor acutely aware of his responsibilities … and a sign of courage for those who today experience the grace of being called to the priesthood.” 

St John Vianney is the patron saint of confessor and parish priests. 

August 6th – The Transfiguration of the Lord (Feast) – The Transfiguration of the Lord cites the passage in Matthew 17:1-9, where Jesus takes the disciples Peter, James and John up a mountain, where he reveals his divinity as the Son of God, and God the Father’s voice comes from the clouds to reiterate His baptismal declaration of “This is my beloved son” with the addition of “listen to Him”. The presence of Elijah and Moses, representing the Prophets and the Law, respectively, illustrated Jesus as fulfilling the Old Testament Prophecies and Laws. 

August 8th – St. Dominic (Memorial) – St Dominic is the founder of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans). In 1208, he received a vision of Our Blessed Lady, in which she gave him the Rosary, and told him to spread its devotion. For centuries the Rosary has been at the heart of the Dominican Order. Pope Pius XI stated, “The Rosary of Mary is the principle and foundation on which the very Order of Saint Dominic rests for making perfect the life of its members and obtaining the salvation of others.”

Saint Dominic is the patron of astronomers, astronomy, natural sciences, and scientists. 

August 10th – St. Lawrence (Feast) – St Lawrence was one of seven deacons that served Rome in the third century. Following Emperor Valerian’s edict in 258 that all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons should be put to death, St Lawrence distributed as much of the Church’s property among the poor as quickly as he could. When the Emperor demanded St Lawrence turn over the church’s riches, he presented to the Emperor the poor and indigent; these were the riches of the Church. 

St. Lawrence is the Patron of comedians, archivists, librarians, students, miners, tanners, chefs, roasters, the poor, and firefighters