With You, Mary, on August 15

With You, Mary, on August 15

by Franci Revel Eckensberger, Lead Editor

Mary’s life was one long yes to God–and a resounding yes, at that. Today, August 15, we honor that lifelong fiat with the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her yes led her to the ultimate fullness of joy when she was assumed into heaven, body and soul, to be home with the Lord. The Assumption serves as a foretaste of God’s promise for our own eventual redemption in the Kingdom of Heaven. Today, we invite you to keep Mary at the forefront of your mind: wear your brightest blue, sing a little louder at Mass, string homemade rosaries with your family. Remember that Mary walked before us, showing us the way, and remains at our side, forever unwavering. 

Below, we’ve compiled some artwork, prayers, poems, ephemera, and more to inspire you to  welcome God’s grace, Mary’s fiat, and her love for Christ, you, and yours into your life today. Hover over names and titles to read more about these pieces!

O beloved Mother, despite my smallness
Like you I have in me the Almighty
But I do not tremble when I see my weakness:
The mother’s treasure belongs to the child
And I am your child, oh my dear Mother
Your virtues, your love, are they not mine?
Also when in my heart descends the white Host
Jesus, your Sweet Lamb, believes that he rests in you!…

You make me feel it, it’s not impossible
To follow in your footsteps, O Queen of the elect,
The narrow way to Heaven, you made it visible
By always practicing the humblest virtues.
With you, Mary, I like to stay small,
Of the grandeurs of here below I see the vanity,
At Saint Elisabeth, receiving your visit,
I am learning to practice ardent charity.Excerpt from “Why do I love You, O Mary!” by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, 1897

Thérèse celebrated the 100th anniversary of her canonization this past May. More on this anniversary and her devotion to Mary can be found here. Read our blog on St. Thérèse’s influence in our lives here.

Prayer to the Immaculata

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you.  I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property.  Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and, “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the world.”  Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.  For wherever you enter, you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred Virgin.

R. Give me strength against your enemies.

Prayer by St. Maximilian Kolbe. In Let Yourself Be Led by the Immaculate, Kolbe states:

The soul offers to the Immaculate its own acts of love not as one consigns an object to just any intermediary, but as her property, as her complete and exclusive property, since it understands that the Immaculate offers to Jesus these acts as if they were her own, which means that she offers them without stain, immaculate; Jesus, then, offers them to the Father.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was cremated on this day in 1941 after being martyred at Auschwitz. A new documentary, Triumph of the Heart, zooms in on Kolbe’s final days. For more information, see our article on the film here.

The Hopeful Mysteries of the Rosary 

Visit the Hopeful Mysteries website and read our blog here for more information on how this new devotion takes Pope Francis’ message of hope to heart during this Jubilee year of 2025. Through the proceeds raised from the Hopeful Mysteries Pamphlets, The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee are establishing a shrine called Mary, Queen of the Martyrs Shrine. Audio recordings of this devotion being prayed are available in Spanish and English.

Be thou then, O thou dear

Mother, my atmosphere;

My happier world, wherein

To wend and meet no sin;

Above me, round me lie

Fronting my froward eye

With sweet and scarless sky;

Stir in my ears, speak there

Of God’s love, O live air,

Of patience, penance, prayer:

World-mothering air, air wild,

Wound with thee, in thee isled,

Fold home, fast fold thy child.

– Excerpt from Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “The Blessed Virgin compared to the Air we Breathe.” Hopkins was an influential poet with an innovative formal sensibility as well as a Jesuit priest. Here, his speaker both exalts and seeks security from Our Lady. 

From Mary we learn to surrender to God’s Will in all things. From Mary we learn to trust even when all hope seems gone. From Mary we learn to love Christ her Son and the Son of God!

– St. Pope John Paul II

Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us!

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Writer and editor Franci Revel Eckensberger holds a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Cornell University. With years of experience as a copyeditor for academics, fellow writers, and various small businesses, she takes pride in maintaining clarity, consistency, and beauty in each client’s voice. 

Franci finds grace and insight in the Catholic Church’s rich relationship to language and invites that relationship to influence both her literary and editorial work. Saint Cecilia and Catherine of Siena continue to play a vital role in her journey to the faith as an artist. She lives in coastal Delaware with her husband.