August 9

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross – Edith Stein (1891 – 1942)

“…when night comes, and retrospect shows that everything was patchwork and much that one had planned left undone, when so many things rouse shame and regret, then take all as is, lay it in God’s hands, and offer it up to Him. In this way we will be able to rest in Him, actually to rest and to begin the new day like a new life.”

-St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

August 8

Feast of St. Dominic (1170 – 1221)

“This preacher of the new salvation leaped up like a flame. His words burned like a torch. True teaching was in his mouth. No evil was ever found in his life."

-Responsory from the Liturgy of the Hours

August 7

Feast of St. Cajetan (1480 – 1547)

“My daughter, I want what is good for myself; I beg the same for you. Now there is no other way to bring this about than to ask the Virgin Mary constantly to come to you with her glorious Son. Be bold! Ask her to give you her Son, who in the blessed sacrament of the altar is truly the food of your soul. Readily will she give him to you, still more readily will he come to you, giving you strength to make your way fearlessly through this dark wood. In it large numbers of our enemies lie in wait, but they cannot reach us if they see us relying on such powerful help.”

-St. Cajetan

August 6

Feast of the Transfiguration

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, and his garments became glistening, intensely white. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of a cloud, ‘This is my beloved Son; listen to him.’”

-Mark 9: 2-3,7

August 5

Feast of the Dedication of Saint Mary Major

After the Council of Ephesus (431) in which Mary, the mother of Jesus was given the title, Mother of God, Pope Sixtus III built a basilica in Rome to honor her under this title. This basilica is Saint Mary Major and it is the oldest church in the West dedicated to our Blessed Lady.

“Who can put Mary’s high honor into words? She is both mother and virgin. I am overwhelmed by the wonder of this miracle. Behold then the joy of the whole universe. Let the union of God and man in the Son of the Virgin Mary fill us with awe and adoration. Let us fear and worship the undivided Trinity as we sing the praise of the ever-virgin Mary, the holy temple of God, and of God Himself, her Son and spotless Bridegroom.”

-St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop

August 4

Feast of St. John Vianney (1786 – 1859)

“The way to destroy bad habits is by watchfulness and by doing often those things that are opposites to one’s besetting sins.”

-St. John Vianney

August 3

“I must never allow the world to evangelize me, so that I forget God’s power and wisdom and look to worldly power and wisdom. Jesus gives us the Church, our guiding light on the journey…whose mission it s to urge us continually on the journey to God."

-Sister Briege McKenna

August 2

Feast of St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811 – 1868)

“We must keep in mind that the Holy Eucharist, is Jesus Christ past, present, and future; that the Eucharist is the last development of the Incarnation and mortal life of our Savior, that in the Eucharist Jesus Christ gives us every grace; that all truths tend to and end in the Eucharist; and that there is nothing more to be added when we have said, ‘The Eucharist,’ since it is Jesus Christ.”

-St. Peter Julian Eymard

August 1

Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori  (1696 – 1787)

“Contradictions, sickness, scruples, spiritual aridity, and all the inner and outward torments are the chisel with which God carves His statues for paradise.”

-St. Alphonsus Liguori

July 31

"If we but paused for a moment to consider attentively what takes place in this Sacrament, I am sure that the thought of Christ's love for us would transform the coldness of our hearts into a fire of love and gratitude."

-St. Angela of Foligno