The July calendar has been posted. We encourage you to notice and appreciate the richness of the meaningful liturgy of the pre-1955 liturgical celebrations, its clarity and encompassing way of presenting –through the hands of the priest– our prayers to the Lord, in unity with all the traditional intentions and orations the Holy Mother Church instructs us to recall in all Masses of the month. The pre-Bugnini liturgy is, without doubt, the best and most coherent way of defending our traditional Catholic faith in the present time.
July, dedicated to the Precious Blood, begins with the Double of the first class Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, on the Octave Day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, during the Octave of the Sacred Heart, also, the Octave of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Also in this month, Redemptorists have the privilege of celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Redeemer on the third Sunday of July, with a common octave.
We observe the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on July 2, and the Commemoration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16. We recall Our Lady’s third apparition at Fatima on July 13, the date in 1917 when she revealed the 3-part “Secret”, of which we’re still awaiting the complete revelation. The mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Anne, is honored on the 26th, and other feast days of note are St. Mary Magdalen on July 22, St. James the Greater on the 25th, and St. Ignatius of Loyola on the 31st.
Extolling the Most Precious Blood is a particularly important objective of our Society, as our motto states: “Habemus redemptionem per Sanguinem Eius — We have redemption through His Blood” (Eph. i., 7; and Col. i., 14). And for this end we offer a prayer from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book:
So, then, my Jesus, in order to save my soul, Thou hast prepared a bath of Thine own Blood wherein to cleanse it from the filth of its sins. If, then, our souls have been bought by Thy Blood, “For you are bought with a great price,” (1 Cor. vi., 20), it is a sign that Thou lovest them much; and as Thou dost love them, let us pray thus to Thee: “We therefore pray Thee to help Thy servants, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious Blood.” It is true that by my sins I have separated myself from Thee, and have knowingly lost Thee. But remember, my Jesus, that Thou hast bought me with Thy Blood. Ah, may this Blood not have been given in vain for me, which was shed with so much grief and so much love.
If you want to see calendar pages of other months in the current year or past years, you can view the Liturgical Calendars section of our website.
