October and May are Mary’s months with feasts of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary on October 7^th  and of Our Lady of Fatima May 13^th  and of the Visitation on May 31^st !

Did you notice that September seems a Mary’s month too?  I suspect it has more days dedicated to Mary than any other month.  Three in one week: Mary’s birthday, September 8, the Most Holy Name of Mary, September 12, and Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, all old feasts dating back to the 400’s and the 1600’s .

Because they fall on a Sunday, the day we always celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, two of them appropriately get eclipsed this year!  But that is o.k. because Mary’s role is constantly to lead us to Jesus.  And that’s what the three days devoted to Mary do.

Born as the Immaculate Conception, conceived without original sin, Mary was prepared from birth to herself conceive and bring into our world the Saviour, God the Son!  Other than Jesus, she and John the Baptist are the only ones whose birthdays we celebrate in the Church calendar, both of whom were integral in bringing about that wondrous mystery.

And so her name is holy.  Her ‘yes’ changed the whole world and began to fulfil the Will of God to restore all creation to its original purpose– to praise, reverence, and serve the Creator.  And in following her Son through his passion and death, ‘the seven sorrows’, Mary models for us the path to the fullness of life in the Resurrection.  All the September feasts of Mary are purposed to lead us to Jesus.

The rosary and a deep devotion to Mary were central to my dad’s life.  I think of him praying again and again:  “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death”.  His prayer was answered two hours after he walked into emergency hospital in 1996 on Sunday, September 8^th. Mary led him to Jesus.  That is another reason September 8^th is a special day for me.  I think it’s probably not a bad idea to add another month to the Church calendar in honour of  Mary.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners!