Catholic Archives - Religious Holidays

Our Lady of Lourdes: Christians pray, thousands of pilgrims travel to site for healing, more

February 11, 2025 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

A stained glass window of Our Lady of Lourdes at Llandudno Catholic church. Photo by Lawrence OP, courtesy of Flickr

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11: In spite of advances of modern medicine, today’s Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes reminds us that millions of Christians around the world still look to Lourdes, after more than 160 years: those faithful believe that miraculous healing waters can be found in Lourdes, at a site where a young French girl first reported an apparition of the Virgin Mary on this day in 1858. Bernadette Soubirous was only 14 when she witnessed a series of apparitions, but she has since been canonized by the church—and millions of pilgrims flock to this site every year.

News bite: In December 2022, 60 Minutes investigated the story of Lourdes, including the rigorous medical testing that is a part of the site and has confirmed 70 cases as inexplicable miracles. Read the story here.

AN APPARITION: GUSTS OF WIND AND THE ‘IMMACULATE CONCEPTION’

On February 11, 1858, Bernadette Soubirous had gone to collect firewood with her sister, Toinette, and neighbor, Jeanne Abadie. Taking off her shoes to wade in water near the Grotto of Massabielle, Soubirous reported hearing the sound of two gusts of wind, though nothing around her moved except a wild rose in the grotto. At that time, Soubirous looked into the grotto. The 14-year-old reported seeing, in the grotto, a lady who wore a white dress and a blue sash, with a yellow rose on each foot. The lady asked Soubirous to pray the rosary with her.

Did you know? As Bernadette Soubirous reported the “lady” to have yellow roses on each foot, it remains common practice that pilgrims imitate this with Marian statues.

Despite punishment from her parents over her reports, Soubirous returned to the grotto and witnessed the apparition again. After multiple encounters, the apparition instructed Bernadette to ask local clergy that a chapel be built at the grotto. When clergy demanded to know the apparition’s name, Bernadette was told: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” What Bernadette did not know is that, just three years earlier, Pope Pius IX had proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. As the impoverished daughter of a family little involved in the church, it was a most surprising event when Bernadette began telling her family and local religious figures that she had seen the “Immaculate Conception”—an official term that experts say she had no way of knowing.

LOURDES: PRAYERS, HEALING AND MIRACLES

Tradition has it that the apparition itself told Bernadette to dig in the ground to locate the spring, and from the very beginning, medical patients who drank this water reported miraculous cures. Today’s site of Our Lady of Lourdes is quite a complex operation: The site consists of more than 20 acres, 22 places of worship, a grotto and a sanctuary. The church officially recognizes 70 miracles, though upward of 7,000 pilgrims have claimed miracles from the Lourdes waters.

Looking for prayers for today? Check out Women for Faith and Family.

From its earliest days of receiving pilgrims, the grotto at Lourdes has housed an on-site Bureau Medical that welcomes any scientist in search of proof of the approved miracles. The Lourdes Medical Bureau continues to leave its records open to any medical doctor who specializes in the area of any cure.

Note: For pilgrims who can’t travel to France, many churches offer a Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes during February.

Assumption of Mary, Dormition of Theotokos: Christians pay tribute to the Blessed Virgin

August 15, 2024 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

In Eastern Orthodox tradition, icons often depict Mary’s Dormition showing her in a peaceful, sleeping pose to convey that she passed away without pain.

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in Chartres Cathedral. Photo by Mustang Joe, Joe deSousa, courtesy of Flickr

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15: In an observance that both branches of Christianity—West and East—acknowledge, today marks an event that is known as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary / the Dormition of the Theotokos. Two names for the same event, both the Assumption and the Dormition proclaim that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was assumed into heaven in body and soul.

NEWS in 2024: Little Italy’s Feast of the Assumption, celebrated in Northeast Ohio, is a weekend-long event that will be marking its 125th year in 2024. (This year, it will take place Aug. 15-18.) Read more here.

MARY THROUGH THE MILLENNIA

While no evidence of Mary’s Assumption exists in scripture, the belief has been ingrained in both branches of Christianity for centuries. The church points to passages in Revelations, Genesis and Corinthians, to mention of a woman “caught between good and evil” and to those “fallen asleep” after Christ’s resurrection. Theologians and Christian leaders have pointed out that a woman so close to Jesus during his earthly life would have naturally been assumed into Heaven, to be with him there.

Did you know? As noted by Denver Catholic, even though this solemn feast falls on a Thursday this year, the Assumption is still a Holy Day of Obligation. Parishes across the world will be offering Masses.

Apocryphal accounts of the Assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since the 4^th century, and teachings of the Assumption have been widespread since the 5^th century. Theological debate continued in the centuries following, and though most Catholic Christians had held belief in the Assumption for quite some time, it wasn’t until almost 75 years ago—on November 1, 1950—that Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be an infallible dogma of faith.

EAST AND WEST: THE DORMITION VS. THE ASSUMPTION

In the West: The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary, “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” Within Protestantism, views often differ.

In the East: Eastern Christians believe that the Virgin Mary died a natural death, and that her soul was received by Christ upon death. Three days following, Mary’s body was resurrected, and she was taken up into heaven, bodily.

A HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY

To many Christians, Western and Eastern, the Assumption is also the Virgin Mary’s heavenly birthday. Mary’s acceptance into the glory of Heaven is viewed as the symbol of Christ’s promise that all devoted Christians will be received into Heaven, too. The feast of the Assumption is a public holiday in many countries, from Austria, Belgium, France and Germany to Italy, Romania and Spain. The day doubles as Mother’s Day in Costa Rica and parts of Belgium.

No details specify the day or year of Mary’s Assumption, though it is believed that when Mary died, the Apostles flocked to her bedside. At the moment of her death, Jesus Christ descended, and carried her soul to Heaven.

Sacred Heart of Jesus: Catholic Christians reflect on prayerful devotions

June 07, 2024 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

A stained glass depiction from the church of the Sacred Heart in Maryland. Photo by Lawrence OP, courtesy of Flickr

FRIDAY, JUNE 7: Catholics ponder the depth of divine love in today’s feast, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Many Catholics began preparation for today’s feast by starting a Novena to the Sacred Heart on Corpus Christi (this year, May 30). Though general devotion to the Sacred Heart has been popular since the 11^th century, specific devotions came into being after the revelation of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun of the 17^th century whose visions of Christ revealed the depths of his love and the promises made to those who consecrate themselves and make reparations to his Sacred Heart.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was responding to critics of the church in her era, appealing to the faithful to focus their devotions on the overwhelming love of Christ. Since St. Margaret Mary’s revelation, devotion to the Sacred Heart has expanded around the world. Pope Pius IX instituted an obligatory feast for the Sacred Heart for the entire Catholic Church in 1856. Since 2002, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has also been the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

SACRED HEART: FROM ST. MARGARET MARY TO POPE PIUS IX

Since St. Margaret Mary’s revelation, devotion to the Sacred Heart has expanded around the world. Pope Pius IX instituted an obligatory feast for the Sacred Heart for the entire Catholic Church in 1856. The Catechism, quoting Pope Pius XII’s encyclical on the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1956), states, “[Jesus] has loved us all with a human heart. For this reason, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by our sins and for our salvation, ‘is quite rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that … love with which the divine Redeemer continually loves the eternal Father and all human beings’ without exception” (#478).

Las Posadas: Hispanic Christians await Nativity with processions, community, food

December 16, 2021 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

Music for Las Posadas. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16: The Hispanic countdown to Christmas officially begins tonight with Posadas Navidenas (or, more simply, Las Posadas) across Mexico, in Guatemala and in regions of the United States. Tantalizing dishes, merry carols and the story of the nativity has been bringing together communities in Mexico for more than 400 years in a beloved tradition that lasts nine nights and ends on Dec. 24. Each night of Las Posadas, a small, candlelit procession travels through a neighborhood, its participants dressed like Mary, Joseph, angels and shepherds, reenacting the search for a safe place to welcome the infant Jesus. Often, musicians follow the group, as do accompanying members of the community. (Note: According to news reports, this tradition will be adjusted in many communities in 2021, in accordance with continuing pandemic restrictions and/or requirements.)

Did you know? As a learning resource, NBC News suggests Posadas Navidenas as one of five Latino holiday traditions to share with children.

Spanish for “lodging” or “accommodation,” Posada recalls the difficulty Mary and Joseph encountered on their journey. Posada describes the events of Las Posadas: as the procession stops at designated houses and asks permission to stay, it is prearranged that all homeowners turn away the visitors until the host family is reached. At the home of the host family (or, in some regions, a church), the visitors are welcomed inside, and all present kneel before a nativity. Following prayers, tamales and ponche navideno are served, washed down with rompope, a Mexican drink with a taste similar to eggnog. Children may hit a five- or seven-pointed piñata, often filled with dried fruits, sugar sticks, candies and nuts. Often, Christmas carols are also sung by all. (Learn traditional carols and more at The Other Side of the Tortilla.)

FROM AN AZTEC WINTER CELEBRATION TO A NEIGHBORHOOD EVENT

Roots of the nine-day Las Posadas likely lie in the Aztec winter celebration of the sun god, which took place over nine nights; when the native peoples of Mexico were converting to Catholicism, church leaders encouraged nine nights of devotion to the parents of Jesus—focusing each evening on a month of Mary’s pregnancy.

Revelries outside of Mexico can vary: in the Philippines, Posadas highlights a Panunuluyan pageant, a type of play portraying the story of Mary and Joseph and recited in a local language. In Nicaragua, the event lasts only one day. In the United States, several regions hold some type of Las Posadas celebration, most often with carols, reenactments and plenty of Mexican food.

DIY: RECIPES & MAKING A PINATA

For recipes for tamales, rompope and more, check out an article from the Washington Post or this Pinterest page.

Sacred Heart of Jesus: Catholic Christians reflect on divine love of Christ

June 11, 2021 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

Photo by Lawrence OP, courtesy of Flickr

FRIDAY, JUNE 11: In prayerful reflection, Catholics focus today on the depth of divine love for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Though general devotion to the Sacred Heart has been popular since the 11^th century, specific devotions came into being after the revelation of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun of the 17^th century whose visions of Christ revealed the depths of his love and the promises made to those who consecrate themselves and make reparations to his Sacred Heart. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque appealed to the faithful to focus their devotions on the overwhelming love of Christ.

Interested in a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, written by St. Margaret Mary? Read it here.

SACRED HEART: FROM ST. MARGARET MARY TO POPE PIUS IX

Since 2002, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has also been the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

Palm Sunday: Christians (virtually) mark Jesus’ Jerusalem entry, Holy Week

March 06, 2020 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

SUNDAY, APRIL 5: With the Passion of Jesus at hand and Easter on the horizon, Western Christians begin preparations for the pivotal week to come on Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus’s ceremonial entry into Jerusalem. Holy Week commences with Palm Sunday, and according to all four canonical Gospels, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. In joyful exultation, the crowds that had gathered in Jerusalem laid down clothing and small branches in his path.

EASTERN CHRISTIANS will mark Palm Sunday one week later, on April 12, in 2020.

GO VIRTUAL: ONLINE RESOURCES FOR PALM SUNDAY & HOLY WEEK

This year, with COVID-19 lockdowns in many states and countries, most Christians will be observing Palm Sunday virtually. Aside from some churches offering sermons online, Catholics can check out this YouTube video to learn more about Palm Sunday; kids can check out this video.

For a look at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem reenacted, taken from various movie clips, check out this YouTube video.

Interested in watching last year’s Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican? Watch the whole celebration, here.

Masses, Stations of the Cross and more, via livestream: During Holy Week, the faithful can observe traditions virtually. Check out this list of online masses and Stations of the Cross, courtesy of Catholic News Service.

THE PALM BRANCH: A MULTI-FACETED SYMBOL

Thousands of years ago, palm branches symbolized integrity and triumph. The palm-branch symbol sometimes showed up on coins and decorated important buildings and temples. In Roman Catholic, Anglican and many Protestant congregations, palm fronds are blessed and distributed on Palm Sunday. Though local species of branches may be substituted where palm fronds are unavailable—for example, box, yew, willow and olive branches are also used, among others—the branch most widely distributed is the palm. In some parishes, a procession also occurs on this Sunday. The blessed palms, regarded as sacred objects in the Catholic Church, are often kept behind household crucifixes or holy pictures and, tradition says, these fronds could be burned at next year’s Ash Wednesday services.

PALM BRAIDING

Every year our readers ask for tips on palm braiding, so here are this year’s best tips:

Watch tutorials on palm braiding, or use step-by-step instructions, with help from U.S. Catholic.org, YouTube, Catholic Inspired and Fish Eaters.

In countries where palm fronds are widely available, such as Spain and Mexico, the weaving of intricate designs and figures is common practice on Palm Sunday.

Sacred Heart of Jesus: Catholic Christians reflect on the love, heart of Christ

June 28, 2019 by Stephanie Fenton Leave a Comment

FRIDAY, JUNE 28: In prayerful reflection, Catholics focus today on the depth of divine love for today’s feast, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Note: Many Catholics began preparation for today’s feast by starting a Novena to the Sacred Heart on Corpus Christi (this year, on June 20).

Interested in a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, written by St. Margaret Mary? Read it here.

SACRED HEART: FROM ST. MARGARET MARY TO POPE PIUS IX

Since 2002, the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus has also been the Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.