The Blessed Virgin Mary is honored throughout the liturgical year with various feasts that highlight events in her life or encounters she had with visionaries after her assumption into Heaven. Interestingly, a large concentration of these feasts occur within “Our Lady’s 30 Days.”
Fr. Francis X. Weiser, S.J, observed in The Holyday Bookthat, “All through the Middle Ages the days from August 15 to September 15 were called “Our Lady’s 30 Days.”
August 15 is the feast of the Assumption of Mary and September 15 is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Weiser explains that, “In pre-Christian times the season from the middle of August to the middle of September was observed as a period of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the successful harvest of grains.” After various European countries were Christianized, they maintained this period of thanksgiving, which now coincided with various feasts of Our Lady.
In between these two feasts there are the following days that honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- August 21 – Our Lady of Knock
- August 22 – Queenship of Mary
- August 26 – Our Lady of Czestochowa
- September 8 – Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- September 12 – Holy Name of Mary
While “Our Lady’s 30 Days” are no longer something widely celebrated and are not an official celebration in the Catholic Church, this custom is still a reminder during this time of the year to give thanks to God for our many blessings and seek the Blessed Mother’s intercession.
And today we celebrate...