• August 15: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Solemnity
    Aug 12 2025
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    August 15: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Solemnity

    First Century
    Patron Saint of fishmongers, French air crews, harnessmakers, and numerous countries, cities, and dioceses
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    …by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.
    Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith. ~Munificentissimus Deus, Pope Pius XII, 1950

    Prayer:
    Dearest Mother, assumed into Heaven, you are the Immaculate Conception, the Ever-Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. As we honor your glorious Assumption into Heaven, please pray for me and for all your children. In Heaven, you are honored by your Son and your prayers are most effective. I believe this with all my heart and entrust myself, my family, our Church, and the entire world to your motherly care and intercession. Mary, assumed into Heaven, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Guido Reni, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    11 mins
  • August 14: Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr—Memorial
    Aug 12 2025
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    August 14: Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Priest and Martyr—Memorial

    1894–1941
    Patron Saint of drug addicts, families, journalists, prisoners, and the pro-life movement
    Canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982
    Liturgical Color: Red

    Quote:
    Remember that you belong exclusively, unconditionally, absolutely, irrevocably to the Immaculate: Whoever you are, whatever you have or can, whatever you do (thoughts, words, action) and endure (pleasant, unpleasant, indifferent things) belong to the Immaculate. Consequently, may she dispose of them according to Her will (and not yours). In the same way it belongs to Her all your intentions; therefore, may she transform them, add others, take them away, as She likes (in fact, She does not offend justice). ~Saint Maximilian Kolbe

    Prayer:
    Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, you lived a holy life, sharing the Gospel through the modern means of your time. You culminated your service to God by laying down your life for a stranger. Please pray for me, that I will have the depth of love that you had and that God will take that gift of my life and use it for His glory. Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Main image: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    13 mins
  • August 13: Saints Pontian, Pope and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs—Optional Memorial
    Aug 11 2025
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    August 13: Saints Pontian, Pope and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs—Optional Memorial

    Unknown–c. 235
    Saint Hippolytus—Patron Saint of horses
    Saint Pontian—Patron Saint of Carbonia and Montaldo Scarampi, Italy
    Pre-Congregation canonization
    Liturgical Color: Red

    Quote:
    But let each of the faithful be zealous, before he eats anything else, to receive the Eucharist; for if anyone receives it with faith, after such a reception he cannot be harmed even if a deadly poison should be given him. But let each one take care that no unbeliever tastes the Eucharist, nor a mouse nor any other animal, and that nothing of it fall or be lost; for the Body of Christ is to be eaten by believers and must not be despised. The cup, when thou hast given thanks in the name of the Lord, thou hast accepted as the image of the blood of Christ. Therefore let none of it be spilled, so that no alien spirit may lick it up, as if thou didst despise it; thou shalt be guilty of the blood, as if thou didst scorn the price with which thou hast been bought. ~From the Apostolic Tradition, by Saint Hippolytus

    Prayer:
    Saint Pontian and Hippolytus, you both served the Church during a difficult period in which the nature of the Most Holy Trinity was called into question. You defended the truth and taught it tirelessly. As a result of your fidelity, you both died for the faith, reconciled to God and to each other. Please pray for me, that I will always seek reconciliation, especially with other Christians, and will always remain faithful to the one true faith. Saints Pontian and Hippolytus, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Image: Dieric Bouts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    10 mins
  • August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious—Optional Memorial
    Aug 11 2025
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    August 12: Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious—Optional Memorial

    1572–1641
    Patron Saint of forgotten people, parents separated from their children, and widows
    Invoked against in-law problems
    Canonized by Pope Clement XIII in 1767
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    How soon may I hope for the happy day when I shall irrevocably offer myself to my God? He has so filled me with the thought of being entirely His, and it has come home to me in such a wonderful and powerful manner, that, were my emotion to last as it now is, I could not live under its intensity. Never have I had such a burning love and desire for the evangelical life and for the great perfection to which God calls me. What I feel about it is quite impossible to put into words. But, alas! my resolve to be very faithful to the greatness of the love of this divine Savior is balanced by the feeling of my incapacity to correspond with it. Oh, how painful to love is this barrier of powerlessness! But why do I speak thus? By doing so I degrade, it seems to me, the gift of God which urges me to live in perfect poverty, in humble obedience, and in spotless purity. ~Letter to Saint Francis de Sales, from Saint Jane de Chantal

    Prayer:
    Saint Jane de Chantal, you devoted yourself to the will of God from early in your life and allowed God to lead you through hardship to a glorious fruitfulness. Please pray for me, that I will see every cross and every unexpected turn not as a burden but as an opportunity for deeper trust and greater fidelity to the unexpected life that awaits. Saint Jane de Chantal, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Noël Hallé, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    13 mins
  • August 11: Saint Clare, Virgin—Memorial
    Aug 7 2025
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    August 11: Saint Clare, Virgin—Memorial

    c. 1193–1253
    Patron Saint of the Poor Clares, embroiderers, goldworkers, laundry workers, needleworkers, telephones, and television
    Invoked against eye diseases and for good weather
    Canonized by Pope Alexander IV in 1255
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    As you contemplate further His ineffable delights, eternal riches and honors, and sigh for them in the great desire and love of your heart, may you cry out: Draw me after You! We will run in the fragrance of Your perfumes, O heavenly Spouse! I will run and not tire, until You bring me into the wine-cellar, until Your left hand is under my head and Your right hand will embrace me happily and You will kiss me with the happiest kiss of Your mouth. ~From a letter written by Saint Clare

    Prayer:
    Saint Clare, though you came from a wealthy and noble family, God called you into poverty where your true nobility was found. You heard a call to live radically for God, responded, and never turned back. Please pray for me, that I will also respond to God’s calling in my life with radical fidelity. May nothing stand in the way of my willing adherence to the will of God. Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.


    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Main image: Dooley, via Flickr
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    10 mins
  • August 10: Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr—Feast
    Aug 7 2025
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    August 10: Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr—Feast

    c. 225–c. 258
    Patron Saint of archivists, armories, book lovers, brewers, butchers, cooks, comedians, deacons, glaziers, laundry workers, librarians, firefighters, poor people, restaurateurs, schoolchildren, seminarians, tanners, vine growers, winemakers, and Rome
    Invoked against fire and lumbago (lower back pain)
    Pre-Congregation canonization
    Liturgical Color: Red

    Quote:
    Such gold the holy martyr Lawrence preserved for the Lord. For when the treasures of the Church were demanded from him, he promised that he would show them. On the following day he brought the poor together. When asked where the treasures were which he had promised, he pointed to the poor, saying: “These are the treasures of the Church.” And truly they were treasures, in whom Christ lives, in whom there is faith in Him…These treasures Lawrence pointed out, and prevailed, for the persecutors could not take them away…Lawrence, who preferred to spend the gold of the Church on the poor, rather than to keep it in hand for the persecutor, received the sacred crown of martyrdom for the unique and deep-sighted vigor of his meaning. ~Saint Ambrose of Milan

    Prayer:
    Saint Lawrence, you gave your life to Christ at a young age and followed Him to your death with courage. You executed your duties to the poor with fidelity and saw them as the true treasures of the Church. Please pray for me, that I will have the courage that you had to say “Yes” to Christ, no matter what He asks of me. Saint Lawrence of Rome, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
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    Image: Museo Nacional de Arte, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    12 mins
  • August 9: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr—Optional Memorial
    Aug 6 2025
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    August 9: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr—Optional Memorial

    1891–1942
    Patron Saint of Europe
    Canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1998
    Liturgical Color: Red

    Quote:
    Holy Father! As a child of the Jewish people who, by the grace of God, for the past eleven years has also been a child of the Catholic Church, I dare to speak to the Father of Christianity about that which oppresses millions of Germans…For years the leaders of National Socialism have been preaching hatred of the Jews. Now that they have seized the power of government and armed their followers, among them proven criminal elements, this seed of hatred has germinated…We all, who are faithful children of the Church and who see the conditions in Germany with open eyes, fear the worst for the prestige of the Church, if the silence continues any longer. We are convinced that this silence will not be able in the long run to purchase peace with the present German government. For the time being, the fight against Catholicism will be conducted quietly and less brutally than against Jewry, but no less systematically. Before long no Catholic will be able to hold office in Germany unless he dedicates himself unconditionally to the new course of action. At the feet of your Holiness, requesting your apostolic blessing ~Sister Teresa Benedicta, letter to Pope Pius XI, 1933

    Prayer:
    Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, you saw human suffering firsthand and allowed your reflections on that experience to open your mind and heart to a deeper understanding of the truth. You found the deepest truths in the life of Saint Teresa of Ávila and unhesitatingly entered the Church and convent. Please pray for me, that I will always be open to the deepest and most mysterious truths of our faith, especially the mystery of the Cross, so that I will live Christ’s Cross in my own life to the fullest extent that I am able. Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Cologne Carmel Archives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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    12 mins
  • August 8: Saint Dominic, Priest—Memorial
    Aug 5 2025
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    August 8: Saint Dominic, Priest—Memorial

    1170–1221
    Patron Saint of astronomers, scientists, and those falsely accused
    Canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1234
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    On the very day and hour that Master Dominic died, Brother Guala, prior of Brescia and later its bishop, was resting in the bell-tower of his convent. As he was about to doze off he saw what appeared to be an opening in the heavens through which two shining ladders had been let down. Christ was standing above one and His Mother above the other. Angels could be seen ascending and descending. Between the two ladders at the very bottom, was a seat upon which someone was sitting who seemed to be one of the brethren, for his face was covered with a capuce, just as we do for burial. Our Lord and His Mother were slowly raising the ladder until the person on the seat reached them. Thereupon he was received into heaven in great splendor amidst a choir of angels. Then the bright opening in the heavens suddenly closed and no more could be seen. Then the friar who had seen this regained his strength, for he had previously been ill and weak, and hurried to Bologna, where he discovered that his vision, which he related to us, had occurred at the very time when the servant of Christ, Dominic, had died. ~Saint Dominic’s first biographer, Blessed Jordan

    Prayer:
    Saint Dominic, your heart was moved with compassion for those who suffered. When you encountered those misled by heresy, you longed for their freedom and dedicated the rest of your life to their salvation. Please pray for me, that I will follow your example by recognizing those around me who need to be freed from error and sin, so that I can prayerfully be open for God to use me in any way He chooses. Saint Dominic, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
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    Image: public domain via Wikimedia Commons: Main
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    13 mins