The Unprofitable Servant: The Five First Saturdays

Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Five First Saturdays

A common complaint about nurses is that we are task-oriented. We have a list of duties we must accomplish each day and sometimes, in our focus on getting things done, we overlook one very important factor - the reason we complete these tasks is for the welfare of the patient, not so we can check off a to-do list.

As Catholics, I think we can become task-oriented as well. You should hear the turmoil that goes on inside my head every morning. How I ever took a job with such early hours is beyond me. Waking up and getting out of bed has always been a very difficult feat. The alarm goes off, and I start mapping things out in my mind of whether I need to get up or whether I can afford more sleep. Then the realization sets in that if I don't get up, I won't have time to pray before Mass. There are certain prayers I want to pray every day. This doesn't mean I don't pray other prayers, but there is a reason these devotions carry with them the graces that they do. So I try to pray them every day. And then I get to church, and I can't find a parking spot, and I get inside later than I planned, and now I won't have time for this devotion or that devotion before Mass begins.

And throughout all of this frenzy, Christ patiently listens and sorts it all out for me. I believe in the end, He knows that though my attention span is not the best, and I can so easily get distracted, what drives me is not necessarily what I am going to get out of all of this effort but that I do what I do to please Him and work for the souls entrusted to me.

James 5:16
"Remember this: the person who brings a sinner back from his way will save his soul from death and cancel a multitude of sins"

What am I trying to say that is not clear from my rambling? That when it comes to devotions like the Five First Saturdays, we should not strive to set aside making these devotions as though they are some kind of coupon to win us points in eternity. It becomes much easier to keep these devotions when we forget about what they promise to do for us and instead focus on how much they please Our Lord and His Holy Mother. We can be sure we will gain much more than we deserve.

If we know that First Fridays and First Saturdays are so pleasing to Jesus and Mary that they condescended to ask weak human beings to spread their message, we will not be content to stop after a certain number but rather, will work to make these devotions part of our lives forever, so long as we are physically able.

For those who are not aware, Our Lady asked Sister Lucia, the Fatima visionary, to spread devotion to her Immaculate Heart through the First Five Saturdays commitment. Mary does not ask much. In fact, I'd go so far as to suggest that since she asks the bare minimum, all Catholics should make a point of offering this devotion to her.

1. Go to Mass on 5 consecutive First Saturdays and receive Holy Communion

2. Go to confession, no longer than a week before or a week after the First Saturday Mass

3. Pray a full Mystery of the Rosary (e.g. 5 decades of the Sorrowful Mysteries)

4. Keep Mary company for a quarter of an hour ( who doesn't have 15 minutes for their mother?) by meditating on one mystery or several mysteries of the Rosary.

5. Do all of this in reparation to her Immaculate Heart

I know that anyone who is properly disposed to worthily offer this devotion to Mary will not be able to stop after 5 Saturdays but rather, will want to make this a life time commitment. In return for this small sacrifice ( I don't know how anyone can call receiving the Sacraments a sacrifice, but ok) The Blessed Virgin promises to "assist us at the hour of our death with the graces necessary for salvation".

Did you know that if you are properly disposed, you can gain an indulgence by praying the Rosary in the Presence of the Blessed Sacrament? Think of all the souls in Purgatory who can benefit if you win this indulgence and offer it for their release.

St. Therese referred to herself as a mother of souls. She viewed her work of prayer as a way of earning a livelihood for her children. We would do well to rise each day with the desire to imitate her.

3 comments:

MariaApril 2, 2011 at 1:35 PM
The "First Saturdays of Reparation" was not a new devotion, but it was even more popularized after Our Lady appeared at Fatima. It consists of, on the first Saturday of each month for five consecutive months:

1. going to Confession (may be 8 days before the Saturday as long as one stays in a state of grace).

2.receiving the Eucharist.

3.praying 5 decades of the Rosary, including the Fatima Prayer.

4. "keeping her company" for 15 minutes while meditating on all of the Mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to her. This can be done by reading Scripture or other writings relevant to the Mysteries, meditating on pictures of the Mysteries, or simple meditation.

Slightly different, huh? I am sure she is just happy we are with her, right? Love this devotion...
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Kathy Felsted UsherApril 2, 2011 at 1:48 PM
Do you have a Saturday mass other than the Saturday night mass, which is really Sunday's mass? Is the Saturday night mass the first Saturday you mean? It's the only one we have.
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TLWApril 2, 2011 at 3:06 PM
I hadn't seen that "version" before Maria. I am only familiar with that about which Sister Lucia has written. I, too, love this devotion. I am always touched by the words "keep me company". She will not forget those who did.

Kathy, yes, we have daily Mass in addition to Sunday at most if not all churches in our immediate area. I don't know of anything that would preclude you from receiving the graces promised if you had no other Mass except the Vigil Mass on Saturday, but perhaps someone else knows better.
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Saturday, April 2, 2011

The Five First Saturdays

3 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross