A Catholic Fall
Each year, our liturgical calendar begins anew on the first Sunday of Advent, this year on Dec. 1. But the last three months of the calendar contain important feast days and even whole months devoted to specific prayers and remembrances. Fall is a blessed time to be Catholic! Let us celebrate these feasts and memorials and lift our prayers up for the good of the Church.
Each year, our liturgical calendar begins anew on the first Sunday of Advent, this year on Dec. 1. But the last three months of the calendar contain important feast days and even whole months devoted to specific prayers and remembrances. Fall is a blessed time to be Catholic! Let us celebrate these feasts and memorials and lift our prayers up for the good of the Church.
Feast of the Archangels
On Sept. 29, the Church celebrates St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, the three named archangels in sacred Scripture. This feast was commonly referred to as Michaelmas since each archangel maintained their own separate feast days until the liturgical calendar was updated in 1962.
Our Lady of the Rosary
October is the month of the Holy Rosary because of this special feast day celebrated on Oct. 7. Pope St. Pius V originally established the feast of Our Lady of Victory in gratitude for the intercession of Mary and the prayer of the rosary in Christians defeating the troops of the Ottoman Empire at Lepanto in 1571, off the coast of Greece. The feast was extended to the universal Church in 1716 by Pope Clement XI.
Read more about this month dedicated to the most popular Catholic devotion in FAITH Catholic’s post Celebrating the Month of the Holy Rosary.
Respect Life Month
Every October in the United States, the Church celebrates Respect Life Month, and asks us to reflect more deeply on the inherent dignity of each human being from womb to tomb.
Read more in our post October is Respect Life Month.
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
The Church maintains that every believing Christian has a guardian angel who protects and shepherds, leading the faithful toward life. (Catechism of the Catholic Church 336) We celebrate these angels on Oct. 2.
Allhallowtide
While springtime has the Easter triduum, the fall has Allhallowtide: a triduum encompassing the celebration of All Hallows’ Eve (Oct. 31), All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2). Each day commemorates the faithful departed and their souls and gives the living faithful the opportunity to not only remember those who have passed before us, but also to pray for them.
DĂa de los Muertos
Mexican Catholics celebrate the DĂa de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) during Allhallowtide. This cultural celebration features an abundance of calaveras (what many refer to as sugar skulls), marigolds and ofrendas (home altars), as well as sharing an abundance of food such as pan de muerto (sweet breads baked specially for this celebration) and foods which loved ones enjoyed during their earthly lives.
Month of Holy Souls in Purgatory
The catechism teaches that “All who die in God’s grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” (CCC 1030) The month of November remembers the Church Suffering, these holy souls who endure further purification after their earthly lives. We assist those holy souls in purgatory through our prayers, sacrifices and acts of charity.
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
This feast commemorates the Presentation of Mary by her parents in the temple in Jerusalem.The Church celebrates Mary’s willingness to submit to the word of God and become the new ark of the covenant through which our Savior entered the world and was cared for until the time of his Passion. The Church celebrates this memorial on Nov. 21.
Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
The last Sunday of the liturgical year before Advent begins celebrates Christ, the king of all creation. When militant secularist regimes threatened all of Christendom in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted this solemnity to remind all the world that Christ is Lord over all and to encourage the faithful to continue bringing the Gospel to all corners of the earth.
