Marian Calendar | WHY OUR LADY

MARIAN CALENDAR

The information that follows was obtained from a very beautiful website called Roman Catholic Saints which contains much valuable information about our Catholic Faith. Any reader of our website is encouraged to study the information provided at this website: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/, which according to the author, contains the only and original on-line version of the Marian Calendar. The author also states that every effort was made to discover the meaning of the feasts for each day, and that the information provided is for the glory of God, the honor of the Blessed Virgin, and for FREE!

The Blessed Virgin Mary was given the great privilege to be the Mother of God, and God entrusted his infant Church to St Peter and the apostles under the guidance of Mary, Mother of Divine Grace. Since that time Mary has watched over us as a mother would watch over a tender child on a tempestuous night, and because of her patronage there are beautiful titles that have been given her over the centuries in order to honor her and for the help she has given to us.

The Blessed Virgin was still living on earth when she appeared to St James the Apostle at Zaragossa. It was in the year 40, and St James was having a great deal of difficulty converting the native population on the Iberian Peninsula, a land now known as Spain. He was praying along the banks of the Ebro River when the Blessed Virgin stood before him upon a pillar supported by angels. Speaking to the fortunate apostle, she encouraged St. James by revealing to him the great faith that the people of Spain would possess in the future due to his sacrifices on their behalf. She is thus known as Our Lady of the Pillar at her shrine in Spain, but it is only the first of the titles of Mary based on the location of her appearance.

The Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared in every age and at various places on earth ever since that time. It is as if to show us that she is the mother of all men, and that as the Mother of Hope she is here to inspire us in the virtues and draw us ever onward toward her Divine Son.

Our particular interest in the website at https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/ is the Marian Calendar, which contains many beautiful titles that have been given to the Mother of God over the centuries in order to honor her and for the help she always gives us. The Marian Calendar was first published when King Louis XIV of France was still a boy, and it is in reality a collection of famous sites of pilgrimage to the Blessed Virgin throughout all of Christendom. It is unnecessary to remind the reader that things have changed a great deal since the time the Marian Calendar was first published. At that time Christendom was still flourishing, and there were a great many religious buildings consecrated to the Mother of God. Thanks to various upheavals and revolutions, some of these sites are now nothing more than a pile of ruins.

In our time there are very few people who even remember the Marian Calendar, and those who do usually have nothing more than a list of devotions, such as “Our Lady of Provence,” with no explanation of the actual event they attempt to recall. The work is no longer found in libraries, and a great deal of research has often been necessary to recover the traditional beliefs that are recorded. The author of the website is committed to updating the website as his research develops new information.

The following Marian Calendar is a collection of feasts honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary, and they recollect the actions she has taken on behalf of Catholics of all nations and kingdoms throughout the ages. There is a story for each day of the year, and each has a lesson for us.

This compilation of diverse accounts provide abundant proof that Mary, the Mother of God, has indeed claimed the hearts of Christians from the earliest centuries down to the present day. They are also evidence that Catholics have long believed in the value of the Blessed Mother’s influence and mediation on the behalf of her children before the throne of God.

NOTE: There are titles for 13 of the approved apparitions that are included in the Marian Calendar. These are highlighted by bold-facing.

JANUARY
1. Circumcision of Our Lord; Mary, Mother of God
2. Our Lady of the Pillar (40 A.D.)
3. Our Lady of Sichem, Belgium (474)
4. Our Lady of Treves, Italy (746). Appeared to St. Jerome Emiliani, 1530
5. Our Lady of Abundance or Prosperity, Cursi, Italy (1641)
6. Our Lady of Cana
7. Our Lady of Egypt
8. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, New Orleans, Louisiana (1809)
9. Our Lady of Clemency, or Our Lady of Mercy of Absam, near Innsbruck, Austria (1797)
10. Our Lady of Guides, Manila, (1570)
11. Our Lady of Bessiere, Limousin, France
12. Our Lady of Conquest, Santa Fe, New Mexico
13. Our Lady of Victory, Prague, Czechoslovakia (1620), home of the Infant of Prague
14. Our Lady of the Word, Montserrat, Spain (1514)
15. Our Lady of Banneux, Belgium (1933)
16. Our Lady, Refuge of Sinners
17. Our Lady of Pontmain, France (1871)
18. Our Lady of Dijon, France (1513)
19. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
20. Our Lady of the Tables, Montpellier, France. “Arms of the city of Montpellier.”
21. Our Lady of Exile
22. Our Lady of Bethlehem
23. Feast of Our Lady’s Espousals, approved by Pope Paul III (1546)
24. Our Lady of Peace (1917)
25. Translation of the winding sheet & tomb of Our Lady to Constantinople (455)
26. Our Lady of Long Fields/Our Lady of Atocha, Madrid, Spain (1261)
27. Our Lady of Life, Provence, France.
28. Our Lady of Good Succor, (1613)
29. Our Lady of Chatillion sur Seine, France (1130)
30. Our Lady of the Rose, Lucca, Italy
31. Apparition of Our Lady to Bl. Angela de Foligno (1285)