VII · Festivitates Marianae
Marian Feasts
Eighteen Marian feasts of the Roman liturgical year, each with its date, rank, scriptural readings, Collect (Latin for principals), and suggested devotion.
Rank Solemnity (the highest, ten total in the universal calendar) · Feast · Memorial (Obligatory or Optional).
Vestment Marian feasts are predominantly white; solemnities of the Mother of God use her own blue.
Source the 1969 reformed Roman Missal, with continuity to the 1962 Missal where the feast predates the reform.
Winter · Christmas Octave through Lent
January 1
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Solemnity · Holy Day- Readings
- Num 6:22–27 (the Aaronic blessing) · Gal 4:4–7 (“born of a woman, born under the law”) · Luke 2:16–21
- Marian focus
- The dogmatic centerpiece (Ephesus 431). The Octave Day of Christmas. The new civil year offered through the Mother of God.
- Collect
- Deus, qui salutis aeternae, beatae Mariae virginitate fecunda, humano generi praemia praestitisti...“O God, who through the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary bestowed on the human race the grace of eternal salvation...”
- Devotion
- The Litany of Loreto · the Memorare · the World Day of Peace (instituted by Paul VI, 1968)
February 2
Presentation of the Lord · Candlemas
Feast- Readings
- Mal 3:1–4 · Heb 2:14–18 · Luke 2:22–40
- Marian focus
- Simeon’s prophecy: “thy own soul a sword shall pierce.” The forging of the Co-Redemptrix sword in the heart of Mary, sheathed until Calvary.
- Devotion
- The Candlemas procession · the Fourth Joyful Mystery
February 11
Our Lady of Lourdes
Optional Memorial · World Day of the Sick- Marian focus
- Bernadette and the spring. The Immaculate Conception confirmed by Mary herself. The Lourdes Medical Bureau: 70+ medically certified cures.
- Cross-link
- Apparitions · Lourdes · Litany · Salus infirmorum
- Devotion
- The Lourdes Novena · the Immaculate Mary hymn · prayer for the sick
Lent · Annunciation · Easter Octave
March 25
Annunciation of the Lord
Solemnity- Readings
- Isa 7:10–14 (the virgin shall conceive) · Heb 10:4–10 (the body prepared) · Luke 1:26–38
- Marian focus
- The fiat. Nine months before December 25. Aquinas: the consent of the Virgin in the place of the whole human nature was awaited.
- Collect
- Deus, qui Verbum tuum in utero Virginis Mariae veritatem carnis humanae suscipere voluisti...“O God, who willed that thy Word should take on the truth of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary...”
- Devotion
- The Angelus · the First Joyful Mystery · the Memorare
May 13
Our Lady of Fátima
Optional Memorial- Marian focus
- “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” The Immaculate Heart. The 1981 assassination attempt against JPII on this date.
- Cross-link
- Apparitions · Fátima
- Devotion
- The First Saturdays devotion · the daily Rosary · consecration to the Immaculate Heart
May 24
Our Lady, Help of Christians · Auxilium Christianorum
Optional Memorial- Marian focus
- Lepanto 1571 · Vienna 1683 · the return of Pius VII 1814. Patroness of the Salesians (Don Bosco).
- Devotion
- The Don Bosco hymn · military and spiritual-combat petition
May 31
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast- Readings
- Zeph 3:14–18a (rejoice, O Daughter of Sion) · Rom 12:9–16b · Luke 1:39–56 (the Magnificat)
- Marian focus
- The first apostolic journey of the New Testament: the new Ark carries Christ to John in the womb. Mary as the first missionary.
- Devotion
- The Magnificat · the Second Joyful Mystery
Mon after Pentecost
Mary, Mother of the Church
Memorial- Marian focus
- Established universally by Pope Francis in 2018. The maternal motherhood of the redeemed, constituted at Calvary, confirmed at Pentecost.
- Devotion
- Reading of John 19:25–27 and Acts 1:14 together · see NT Texts
Sat after 2nd Sun after Pent
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Memorial- Marian focus
- The Marian register of the Sacred Heart. Two Hearts theology (John Eudes, 17th c.; Fatima 1917; Akita 1973). One Heart in two persons.
- Devotion
- The Five First Saturdays devotion (Fatima) · consecration to the Immaculate Heart
Summer · Carmel through the Queenship
July 16
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Optional Memorial- Marian focus
- The Brown Scapular (given to St. Simon Stock, 16 July 1251). The Carmelite tradition. Elias on Carmel as Marian type.
- Devotion
- Investiture in the Brown Scapular · the Carmelite Marian tradition (Therese of Lisieux, Elizabeth of the Trinity, Edith Stein)
August 5
Dedication of Saint Mary Major · Our Lady of the Snows
Optional Memorial- Marian focus
- The dedication of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (5th c.). The fall of snow on the Esquiline in August. The mosaics of the Ephesus Marian definition.
August 15
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Solemnity · Holy Day · dogma 1950- Readings
- Rev 11:19a; 12:1–6a, 10ab · 1 Cor 15:20–27 · Luke 1:39–56
- Marian focus
- The first fruits of the redeemed. The bodily glorification of the Mother of God before the Last Day. Defined by Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus, 1 November 1950.
- Collect
- Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Immaculatam Virginem Mariam, Filii tui genetricem, corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumpsisti...“Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of thy Son, body and soul into heavenly glory...”
- Devotion
- The Fourth Glorious Mystery · the procession of the Assumption (where local custom permits)
August 22
Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Memorial- Marian focus
- The octave of the Assumption. The Coronation. Pius XII, Ad Caeli Reginam (1954).
- Devotion
- The Fifth Glorious Mystery · Litany titles Regina angelorum through Regina pacis
Autumn · Nativity through Guadalupe
September 8
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Feast- Marian focus
- Nine months after the Immaculate Conception (8 December). Anna and Joachim. The dawn announcing the Day.
- Collect
- Famulis tuis, quaesumus, Domine, caelestis gratiae munus impertire...“Impart to thy servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace...”
September 12
Most Holy Name of Mary
Optional Memorial- Marian focus
- Instituted by Innocent XI after the deliverance of Vienna (12 September 1683). The Marian Name.
September 15
Our Lady of Sorrows
Memorial- Marian focus
- The Seven Sorrows. The day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Mater Dolorosa.
- Sequence
- The Stabat Mater (Jacopone da Todi, 13th c.), the medieval verbal monument of the Co-Redemptrix doctrine
- Devotion
- The Seven Sorrows Rosary · the Sorrowful Mysteries · Stabat Mater
October 7
Our Lady of the Rosary
Memorial- Marian focus
- Lepanto (7 October 1571). Pius V institutes the feast in 1572. Leo XIII writes eleven encyclicals on the Rosary. Fatima 1917: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.”
- Devotion
- The Rosary · see Rosary Companion
November 21
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Memorial- Marian focus
- Drawn from the Protoevangelium of James (2nd c.). Mary’s consecration to the Temple as a child. Pro Orantibus Day, for cloistered religious.
December 8
Immaculate Conception
Solemnity · Holy Day · dogma 1854- Readings
- Gen 3:9–15, 20 (the Protoevangelium) · Eph 1:3–6, 11–12 · Luke 1:26–38
- Marian focus
- Mary preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception, by the foreseen merits of Christ the Saviour. Defined by Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 8 December 1854.
- Collect
- Deus, qui per Immaculatam Virginis Conceptionem dignum Filio tuo habitaculum praeparasti...“O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin prepared a worthy dwelling for thy Son...”
- Devotion
- The Miraculous Medal Novena · Tota pulchra es
December 12
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Feast (Americas) · Patroness of the Americas- Marian focus
- The 1531 apparition at Tepeyac. The tilma. 8–9 million baptisms in ten years.
- Cross-link
- Apparitions · Guadalupe
- Devotion
- The Guadalupe Novena (3–11 December)
Marian Saturdays and Seasonal Devotions
Saturday is the traditional Marian day, the day on which Mary kept the faith alone between Good Friday and Easter morning. The Office of the Blessed Virgin on Saturday is one of the great Marian liturgical resources of the Roman tradition.
May · the Marian month. Crowning of the Marian statue. Daily Rosary by family or community. October · the Rosary month, climaxing on October 7.
From the 1962 Missal (older feasts continued in tradition)
- 17 January · The Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- 11 May · Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Graces (where celebrated locally)
- 15 September · Seven Sorrows (with the older Sequence Stabat Mater)
- 10 October · Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary