After a long week… how can we rest, reflect, and refresh?
Saturday is the day of the week our Catholic Church dedicates to the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a special focus on her Immaculate Heart. After a long week, what better place to turn than to our Mother?
On Saturdays, many Catholics make what is called the “First Saturdays Devotion,” which entails going to Mass and receiving Communion for the first Saturday of the month for five consecutive months in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as Our Lady requested at Fatima.
Saturday is the day for the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. If you are not able to say the Rosary all week, what better day than Saturday, the day our Church sets aside for Our Blessed Mother, the Mediatrix. What better day indeed than Saturday to focus on Mary and let her prepare you for receiving her son either in the Eucharist, either on Saturday Vigil or on Sunday.
Saturdays are also, traditionally, the days Catholics go to Confession in preparation for receiving the Eucharist on Sundays. Many churches have Eucharistic Adoration available on Saturdays, to accompany confessions. Through going to Adoration on Saturday, we can deepen our bond with Mary and honor her through spending time with her son.
A fun way to make our domestic church reflective of Mary’s glory on Saturdays? Why not start a new tradition of decorating the Saturday table with visuals to remember Our Lady? Try a blue tablecloth that is perhaps reserved just for this one day of the week: a cue to the family that it must be Our Lady’s day! Even a vase of blue flowers or a small statue of Mary in the center with a lit candle would be a nice way to honor our mother.
Our Mother will help you end your busy week and get you ready for a new week starting Sunday.
In every day of the week, there is an opportunity to experience not only chronos, or chronological time, but kairos, sacred, God-infused time. Our tradition dedicates each day of the week to a specific devotion or devotions so that we never again, once we are aware of the days’ significance, experience “just an ordinary day.”
Like the mysteries of the Rosary, our sorrowful and glorious experiences become suffused with a sacramental light, inspiring us to create a good Catholic day with both creativity and discipline as we choose which themed devotions will guide our steps. The very day of the week becomes the catalyst for great growth. It also takes away the temptation to ever think a day is boring. These daily devotions help us follow St. Paul’s advice to focus on “whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is beautiful … so that the God of peace will be with us.”
Prayer Before Holy Communion
Come, O blessed Savior,
and nourish my soul with heavenly Food,
the Food which contains every sweetness and every delight.
Come, Bread of Angels,
and satisfy the hunger of my soul.
Come, glowing Furnace of Charity
and enkindle in my sheart the flame of divine love.
Come, Light of the World,
and enlighten the darkness of my mind.
Come, King of Kings,
and make me obedient to your holy will.
Come, loving Savior,
and make me meek and humble.
Come, Friend of the Sick,
and heal the infirmities of my body
and the weakness of my soul.
Come, Good Shepherd, my God and my All,
and take me to yourself.
O most holy Mother, Mary Immaculate,
prepare my heart to receive my Savior.