September: Month Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows

The month of September is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15.  Devotions and explanations in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows can be found here.

The principal feasts of this month are as follows:

• Sep 3rd St. Pius X
• Sep 8th Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Sep 12th Holy Name of Mary
• Sep 14th Exaltation of the Holy Cross
• Sep 15th Our Lady of Sorrows; Com. of St. Nicomedes
• Sep 17th Holy Stigmata of Saint Francis
• Sep 21st St. Matthew
• Sep 24th Our Lady of Ransom
• Sep 29th Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel
• Sep 30th St. Jerome 

Let us also not forget that the September Embertides will be upon us following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Ember days (corruption from Lat. Quatuor Tempora, four times) are the days at the beginning of the seasons ordered by the Church as days of fast and abstinence. They were definitely arranged and prescribed for the entire Church by Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after 13 December (S. Lucia), after Ash Wednesday, after Whitsunday, and after 14 September (Exaltation of the Cross). The purpose of their introduction, besides the general one intended by all prayer and fasting, was to thank God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. The immediate occasion was the practice of the heathens of Rome. The Romans were originally given to agriculture, and their native gods belonged to the same class.

Mark your calendars for this year's September Embertide: September 18, 20, and 21