Assumption of Mary and the Blessing of the Herbs on August 15th

[Red Gold]

Have you ever been in a church service that day and seen the Blessing of the Herbs?

 

[Red Gold]

I have liked that day since my childhood.

 

[Red Gold]

Who knows this?

 

[Red Gold]

Is this day not known in the US?

 

[Michie]

I just read this. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.


The special blessing seeks to increase the natural powers of healing these plants possess.

During the Middle Ages there developed an annual tradition of blessing herbs on the feast of the Assumption, August 15. It coincided with harvest time and was an opportunity to give thanks to God for the bounty received.

The custom arose primarily from Germanic countries, and the Directory on Popular Piety describes it as “a clear example of the genuine evangelization of pre-Christian rites and beliefs: one must turn to God, through whose word ‘the earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds’ (Gen 1, 12) in order … to stem the damages deriving from poisonous herbs, and benefit from the efficacy of curative herbs.”

The reason why the blessing of herbs became associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary was due “most of all because of Isaiah 11, 1, and his reference to the ‘shoot springing from the side of Jesse,’ which would bear the blessed fruit of Jesus.”

The first part of the blessing, found in the Roman Ritual, describes how God created the many plants of the earth for the benefit of humans and to heal them.

Almighty everlasting God, who by your word alone brought into being the heavens, earth, sea, things seen and things unseen, and garnished the earth with plants and trees for the use of man and beast; who appointed each species to bring forth fruit in its kind, not only for the food of living creatures, but for the healing of sick bodies as well; with mind and word we urgently call on you in your great kindness to bless + these various herbs and fruits, thus increasing their natural powers with the newly given grace of your blessing. May they keep away disease and adversity from men and beasts who use them in your name; through Christ our Lord.



Continued below.
The annual tradition of blessing herbs on the feast of the Assumption

 

[Gnarwhal]

Is this day not known in the US?

The custom arose primarily from Germanic countries

There you go, explains why I've never heard of it before. Might be observed in some enclaves here in the US that are more influenced by German culture, like the northern midwest.

 

[Red Gold]

There you go, explains why I've never heard of it before. Might be observed in some enclaves here in the US that are more influenced by German culture, like the northern midwest.

It is not just a German holiday.
Actually it is a public holiday only in parts of Germany.

But in a lot of other European countries.

 

[Gnarwhal]

It is not just a German holiday.
Actually it is a public holiday only in parts of Germany.

But in a lot of other European countries.

All the same, I haven't heard of it before in the US.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

We have a blessing of the fleet down the south coast where the fishing fleets are harbored. There is also a blessing of the pets. So it can come down to the various cultures.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

Italian North end of Boston St. Anthony’s feast.

 

[Gnarwhal]

We have a blessing of the fleet down the south coast where the fishing fleets are harbored. There is also a blessing of the pets. So it can come down to the various cultures.

That's classic New England right there. Don't they do that out in Provincetown too?

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

That's classic New England right there. Don't they do that out in Provincetown too?

In a smaller level in P-Town . The blessing of the fleet is mostly in New Bedford and also Boston. The Portuguese festivals are mostly in the New Bedford area.

New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world. They have a nice whaling museum . Homes still have widow walks which are like a balcony where wives would look to the sea.

 

[Michie]

Yes but they also have the big Portuguese festivals also.

I need to come and visit.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

I need to come and visit.

I love the ethnic festivals. Your always welcome.

 

[Red Gold]

This "Assumption" of Mary - or Mariä Himmelfahrt in German - is a public holiday in all of Austria and Italy and France, and also in other countries.

 

[Red Gold]

What Wiki says:

The Assumption of Mary (name in full Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is, according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodoxy, Church of the East, and some Lutheran and Anglo-Catholic Churches, among others, the bodily taking up of Mary, the mother of Jesus, into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.[3] The analogous feast in the Eastern Churches is known as the Dormition of the Theotokos. In Lutheranism and Anglicanism, the feast is celebrated in honour of St. Mary, Mother of our Lord.[3]

In the churches that observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on 15 August. In many countries, the feast is also marked as a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary in art has been a popular subject, especially since the 12th century.

Assumption of Mary - Wikipedia

This feast is not just a local ethnic thing.
It is a worldwide Catholic thing

 

[Red Gold]

May I ask again:

Who has heard of this feast?

 

[Red Gold]

I now have looked up "Assumption of Mary in the USA"

What Do People Do?

Many Christians in the United States attend mass (church service) and have big feasts to celebrate Mary’s rise into heaven on Assumption Day. Although it is not celebrated as extravagantly as other countries, there are many states that have festivals with music, dancing, food vendors, artwork, parades and firework shows to celebrate this event.

One of the largest Assumption Day celebrations is in Cleveland, Ohio, where there is a four-day festival that starts on August 12. The festival celebrates the Feast of Assumption in the city's Little Italy neighborhood.

Assumption of Mary in the United States

 

[Red Gold]

Now I still wonder:

Is this feast so completely unknown in the US?

Years ago I was told on a US forum that the feast of Corpus Christi also was completely unknown in the US.

I am beginning to worry: Do Catholics in the US not dare to show their face?

 

[Red Gold]

The annual tradition of blessing herbs on the feast of the Assumption

The annual tradition of blessing herbs on the feast of the Assumption


Has no one ever heard of it?

Has no one ever seen it?