August Devotions to IHM

SELECTION OF PRAYERS, READINGS & MEDITATIONS FOR AUGUST
IN HONOR OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

New Spiritual Readings & Meditations Added Each Day!

August 31st

LITANY OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Heart of Mary, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, like unto the Heart of God, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, united to the Heart of Jesus, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, instrument of the Holy Ghost, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, sanctuary of the Divine Trinity, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, tabernacle of God Incarnate, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, immaculate from thy creation, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, full of grace, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, blessed among all hearts, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, throne of glory, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, most humble, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, holocaust of Divine Love, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, fastened to the Cross with Jesus Crucified, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, comfort of the afflicted, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, refuge of sinners, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, hope of the agonizing, Pray for us.
Heart of Mary, seat of mercy, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

V. Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of heart,
R. Make our hearts like unto the Heart of Jesus.

Let Us Pray:
O most merciful God, Who, for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the miserable, wast pleased that the Most Pure Heart of Mary should be most like in charity and pity to the Divine Heart of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, grant that we, who commemorate this sweet and loving Heart, by the merits and intercession of the same Blessed Virgin, may merit to be found like unto the Heart of Jesus, through the same Christ Our Lord.

R. Amen.

This litany was composed by John Henry (Cardinal) Newman shortly after he converted to Catholicism in 1845.

THE DEVOTION FOR OUR AGE!
TODAY'S PRAYERS, READING & MEDITATION
Saturday, August 31st

"Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. To whoever embraces this devotion I promise salvation"
(Our Lady of Fatima, June 13th, 1917)

Opening Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
composed by the Venerable Pope Pius XII

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of thy Son on Earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart,

O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to thee, all the people of our country and all the world. Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as thou dost wish to accomplish thy designs in the world.

O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully. We come with confidence to thee,

O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed thy own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes thy shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with thine, rule and triumph in every heart and home. Amen.

Spiritual Reading on the Immaculate Heart of Mary

We have meditated and thought much, on devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, throughout this month of August. Yet what good is all that thought if it leads to naught? We prepare a meal in order to eat it—not throw in the trash can! We conceive children in order to give birth to them—not to abort them! We baptize our children so that they have a passport to Heaven—and not for dual-citizenship or triple-citizenship with the world and Hell.

In philosophy we speak of the terminus a quo and the terminus ad quem—which can loosely be translated as “the departure point” and “the point of arrival”—or, more literally, “the point from which” and “the point to which” we go. Ideas, as they say, have consequences. Mediations should have resolutions, if they are to be classified as true meditations. A meditation without resolutions is mere spiritual reading and no more. The resolution takes the spiritual reading to a higher level. Will these meditations that we have made be classified as “Been there, seen it, filed it!” Or will they push us to a higher level of “Been there, seen it, DONE it!” Seeing is not the same as doing; knowing is not the same as doing; understanding is not the same as doing! We can do no better than to recall yesterday’s Scriptural quotes:

“What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath Faith, but hath not works? Shall Faith be able to save him?” … Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. But some man will say: ‘Thou hast Faith, and I have works!’—show me thy Faith without works; and I will show thee, by works, my Faith. Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead? … Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by Faith only? … For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also Faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26).

We will not get to Heaven because of what we know, but mainly on what we have done with that knowledge. This is why elsewhere, Holy Scripture says: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass. For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was. But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25).

Meditation on the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Of course we are believers! I don’t doubt that. But are we doers according to God’s mind? St. Paul writes of our times saying: “Know also this, that, in the last days, shall come dangerous times. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, unmerciful, without kindness, traitors, stubborn, puffed up, and lovers of pleasures more than of God. Having an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now these avoid!” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

The Venerable Fr. Bartholomew Holzhauser prophesied of our day (the “Fifth Period” of the Church) saying: “During this period, many men will abuse of the freedom of conscience conceded to them. It is of such men that Jude, the Apostle, spoke when he said: ‘These men blaspheme whatever they do not understand; and they corrupt whatever they know naturally as irrational animals do. . . They feast together without restraint, feeding themselves, grumbling murmurers, walking according to their lusts; their mouth speaketh proud things, they admire people for the sake of gain; they bring about division, sensual men, having not the spirit.’ During this unhappy period, there will be laxity in divine and human precepts. Discipline will suffer. The Holy Canons will be completely disregarded, and the Clergy will not respect the laws of the Church. Everyone will be carried away and led to believe and to do what he fancies, according to the manner of the flesh.”

Let us pull ourselves out of the swamp of being “Armchair Quarterbacks” of the Faith, who mix lukewarm prayer with the spicy delicacies of the world. Let us stop fooling ourselves as to our standing before God—and rather believe and apply to ourselves the words of Our Lord, when He said to one of His mystics: “If you saw yourself as I see you, then you would die of fright!”

Now is a time for doing, not just thinking; a time of action, not just talking and theorizing. It is time when God requires those ready to suffer and pray, not eat, drink and play (even though they may say their grace before meals first)!

Final Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Most Sacred and Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee all my thoughts, words and actions; prayers, works, joys, and suffering of this day, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered throughout the world this day; in reparation for my sins and the sins of the whole world, especially those of my family, relatives and friends. I offer them for all the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart: the conversion of sinners, the salvation of souls, in reparation for sin, the return of our separated brethren from false religions to the One True Church, and for the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.

"Don’t lose heart! I will never forsake you! My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and
the way that will lead you to God" (Our Lady of Fatima, June 13th, 1917).