On Sunday 4 September the Augustinian Family celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lady Mother of Consolation, patron of the Augustinian Order. When years ago, in the Church and in the Mendicant Orders, the devotion to our Lady Mary began to be shaped, the Augustinian Order adopted the ancient symbol of the cincture. It was in that context that the tradition grew over the years, that Mary appeared to Saint Monica and gave her this symbol as a sign of comfort and consolation as she struggled after her son Augustine and encouraged him to rediscover God.
The liturgy of the feast will be celebrated in all Augustinian churches on the very Day being the 4th September. In Malta the Feast will be celebrated with a full program in the Church of Saint Augustine in Valletta on Saturday 3rd September, and in the Church of Saint Mark in Rabat on Saturday 10th September. In both churches there are days of preparation and a devotional pilgrimage on the day of the Feast. In Gozo the Feast is celebrated in the Church of Saint Augustine in Victoria, on Sunday 4th September in the morning.
Our Lady of Consolation or as we commonly know her, Our Lady of the Cincture, is actually a very old devotion in our country and is also celebrated in various villages and Parishes where we can still find active confraternities.