August Marian Festivals

August is an interesting month. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is a time aptly named "The Dog Days of Summer," apparently because dogs like being super hot and lazy. It is a time of a beginning of the harvest season in many places, and in others, there is this pregnant pause as fruits and grains ripen in the warm sun. Hot August nights are filled are meteor showers, and everyone is trying to enjoy the last days of Summer, before the business of Autumn.

There are two specific Marian festivals in August. 

St Mary of the Angels Chapel in Assisi

August 2nd is The Feast of Our Lady of the Angels, which is a Franciscan observance, marking the day that St Francis of Assisi witnessed a small chapel dedicated to Mary near Assisi filled with light. It is in this chapel that St Francis heard the charge to "Rebuild my Church," and Francis started repairing the 7th century structure, as well as launching his movement to bring Christian values to a world and church that was becoming more materialistic. It is on this day that La Negrita, the Black Madonna of Costa Rica was found in the early 1600's.

La Negrita, Costa Rica

The other festival is called The Assumption of Mary in the Western Catholic communion, and in the East, it is called The Dormition of Mary. This festival commemorates the death and bodily rising up to heaven of The Virgin Mary. Both the East and Western festivals are celebrated on August 15. The history of this festival is quite interesting, and is a reflection of the human grappling with the mystery of the Incarnation of Christ as well as how the birth of Christ could be related to a human being. Essentially, it is the difficulty early Christians had with comprehending how a god could become human and die an agonizing death. 

When one explores ancient iconography from the 4th Century onward, there are artistic representations of the Assumption of Mary, and there are legends pointing to how it happened and who were the witnesses. 

There were major arguments as to the nature of Mary, as to how a mere mortal of lowly status could birth a god. I will leave this argument up to scholars and theologians. For me the mystery of Mary is that her life was a template for the human soul. Artistically, she represents the human soul. The recognition that she was elevated into heaven upon her death, is a symbol of what we have to look forward to upon our human death. She was declared Theotokos in the 5th century, which means "god bearer." In fact, most Black Madonnas from the Eastern Church Iconography are called Theotokos.

Iveron Theotokos, Georgia

We too are bearers of the Divine, and I look forward to the day when it is universally recognized so that we can honor not only ourselves but all with whom we come in contact