Saint Augustine Feast Day - 28 August

Quoted from the Augustinians [1]:

Augustine was born in Tagaste, Souk-Ahras, Algeria on November 13, 354 to Patricius, a pagan, and Monica, a fervent Catholic. He was endowed with abundant human and intellectual gifts as well as an inquisitive mind and a passionate spirit, all of which brought him great pain at times, while leading him to great discoveries about himself, life, and God, as well. Through the generosity of a family friend he was able to do studies beyond the basic course in his hometown, and became an accomplished rhetorician and teacher in Africa and later in Rome and Milan. Though he had been admitted to the catechumenate of the Catholic Church by his mother as a child, he did not find satisfaction in the Church during adolescence and young adulthood, and instead was drawn to other forms of spiritual expression, especially in the Manichean sect and later in astrology. Finally, he embraced skepticism. In retrospect, however, he was able to discern various moments of spiritual growth or conversion until a final climactic moment when he decided to embrace Christ fully in the Catholic Church. He had already separated from the woman with whom he had lived for many years and who bore him a son, and was preparing for marriage with another, but his conversion, he felt, required that he abandon altogether any possibility of marriage and commit himself instead to a life of chastity as a celibate 'servant of God'. Following baptism in Milan in 387, together with his son and some friends, he returned with them to his hometown of Tagaste to begin a monastic life. Against his personal wishes, he was ordained priest in Hippo in 391, and became bishop of that See in 397, all the while continuing in his monastic lifestyle.

The link below goes to the e-book The Confessions of Saint Augustine:

https://gutenberg.org/files/3296/3296-h/3296-h.htm 

Quoted from the link above, italics original: "This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever." 

[1] https://www.augustinian.org/news/feast-day-of-st-augustine-august-28

Saint Bartholomew Apostle Feast Day - 24 August

Quoted from Catholic Daily Readings [1]:

Saint Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus who is also called Nathanael or Nathaniel. He hailed from Cana in Galilee and was martyred in Armenia for converting Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity. We celebrate his feast day on August 24 every year in the Catholic Church.

...

The name Bartholomew means Bar Talmai or the son of Talmai. Saint Bartholomew is mentioned in the three Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12–16, and Gospel of John he is identified as Nathanael in John 1:45-51, and 21:2. He is also mentioned in the Acts of Apostles in Acts Acts 1:13-14.

[1] https://catholicreadings.org/saint-bartholomew-apostle/#:~:text=Saint%20Bartholomew%20the%20Apostle%20%E2%80%93%20Feast%20Day%20%E2%80%93,August%2024%20every%20year%20in%20the%20Catholic%20Church., quoted without hyperlink.

The Immaculate Heart Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 22 August

Quoted from Knights Of The Republic [1]:

Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 to be celebrated on 22 August, coinciding with the traditional octave day of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. - Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969

Quoted from Catholic News Agency [2]:

... it was not until after the Apparitions at Rue du Bac concerning the "Miraculous Medal" made to Catherine Labouré in 1830, and the establishment of a society dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, at the Church of Our Lady of Victories in Paris in 1836, that this particular devotion became really well known.

Since then devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, has gradually grown more widespread in the Church, particularly since the apparitions at Fatima.

The main difference between the devotions to the hearts of Jesus and Mary is that the one concerned with Jesus emphasizes his divine heart as being full of love for mankind, but with this love for the most part being ignored or rejected, while devotion to Mary's heart is essentially concerned with the love that her heart has for Jesus, for God.

Therefore, it is not an end in itself, so the love of her heart is meant to be a model for the way we should love God. The fact that her heart is immaculate, that is sinless, means that she is the only fully human person who is able to really love God in the way that he should be loved.

Honoring Mary's Immaculate Heart is really just another way of honoring Mary as the person who was chosen to be the Mother of God, recognizing her extraordinary holiness and the immense love she bestowed on Jesus as his mother, the person who was called to share in and co-operate in his redemptive sufferings.

The aim of  the devotion is to unite mankind to God through Mary's heart, and this process involves the ideas of consecration and reparation. A person is consecrated to Mary's Immaculate Heart as a way of being completely devoted to God. This involves a total gift of self, something only ultimately possible with reference to God; but Mary is our intermediary in this process of consecration.

Because of the strong analogy between Jesus and Mary, the consecration to Mary's Immaculate Heart is closely linked to the consecration to Jesus' Sacred Heart, although it is subordinate and dependent on it. That is, although the act of consecration is ultimately addressed to God, it is an act that is made through Mary.

[1] https://www.knightsrepublic.com/single-post/2020/08/22/the-feast-of-the-immaculate-heart-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-august-22nd, italics original, paragraph toward the end of the article.

[2] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55427/the-immaculate-heart-of-mary

The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin Mary - 15 August

Quoted from franciscan media [1]:

... the Catechism teaches that Mary was taken to heaven when the course of her earthly life was finished. The Church does not declare whether Mary died and then was assumed into heaven or whether she was assumed before she died.

Quoted from Wikipedia [2]:

Many Catholics believe that Mary died before being assumed, but they believe that she was miraculously resurrected before being assumed. Others believe she was assumed bodily into Heaven without first dying.

Maybe this is where "dormition" becomes relevant. "Dormition comes from the Latin dormire, meaning 'to sleep.'" [3]

Dormition actually happened to Alphonsine Mumreke, a visionary in Kibeho, Rwanda.  Written by Thérèse Tardif in michaeljournal.org [4]:

Mystical journeys

There are also the mystical journeys. Alphonsine experienced this phenomenon on March 20 and 21, 1982. She informs the Sister directress and her classmates in advance: “I will look dead, but don't be afraid; don't bury me!” The journey lasts eighteen hours. Priests, nurses, religious, the medical assistant of the Red Cross, all can see Alphonsine plunged into a deep sleep, her body straight and very heavy. They cannot lift her nor separate her hands that are joined. During this journey, the Blessed Virgin shows her Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell.

[1] https://www.franciscanmedia.org/franciscan-spirit-blog/the-assumption-of-mary

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary, quoted without references.

[3] https://www.simplycatholic.com/marys-assumption/#:~:text=The%20title%20and%20the%20idea%20of%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20sleep,more%20on%20the%20death%20and%20burial%20of%20Mary.

[4] https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/roman-catholic-church/item/messages-of-our-lady-of-sorrows-in-kibeho-rwanda, bold emphasis original.  This section is located approximately in the middle of the page.

Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney Feast Day - 8 August

Quoted from Wikipedia [1]:

John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is often referred to as the "Curé d'Ars" (i.e. the parish priest of Ars), internationally known for his priestly and pastoral work in his parish in Ars, France, because of the radical spiritual transformation of the community and its surroundings. Catholics attribute this to his saintly life, mortification, persevering ministry in the sacrament of confession, and ardent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. His feast day is August 8. (Pre-1969 Roman Calendar)

YouTube has a movie on the saint in French [2], and [3] in French with English subtitles.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vianney, quoted without bold emphasis and hyperlinks.

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5MeDJ45dLM

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOFXIWRnCek

Feast Of The Transfiguration Of Jesus - 6 August

Quoted from Catholic Culture [1]:

This Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord became widespread in the West in the 11th century and was introduced into the Roman calendar in 1457 to commemorate the victory over Islam in Belgrade. Before that, the Transfiguration of the Lord was celebrated in the Syrian, Byzantine, and Coptic rites. The Transfiguration foretells the glory of the Lord as God, and His Ascension into heaven. It anticipates the glory of heaven, where we shall see God face to face. Through grace, we already share in the divine promise of eternal life.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #554:

From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem". A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"

[1] https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2022-08-06, bold emphasis and italics original.