Saturday, July 1, 2017

FIRST SATURDAY-FEAST OF THE PRECIOUS BLOOD

"He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty."

Ester, Chapter 5, Verse 9

That day Haman left happy and in good spirits. But when he saw that Mordecai at the royal gate did not rise, and showed no fear of him, he was filled with anger toward him.

Change one letter in the name of Haman and it becomes human. How many times have you been in good spirits and happy when bam all of the sudden something upsets you and now you are in the pit of despair. Haman was happy because his pride was enriched and he saw himself a god and then upon exiting the gate of the palace that Jew Mordecai was sitting at the gate and refused to stand and showed no fear of the great and powerful Haman and reminded him he is mortal. Bam-get even time. Haman goes home and brews telling his perfectly evil mate Zeresh.

Devil Woman[1]

Together with her husband, Haman, she plotted to annihilate the entire Jewish nation and to hang Mordecai upon a towering gallows. Thankfully, we know how well her plans worked out in the end… Every Purim, in the Shoshanat Yaakov poem, we memorialize her wickedness by gleefully singing, “Cursed be Zeresh, wife of [Haman], who terrorized me.”

Who Was Zeresh?

Zeresh’s name appears twice in the Book of Esther, both times as an advisor to her husband. She is the one who suggests that Haman rid himself of Mordechai by hanging him on a gallows 50 cubits tall. In her second appearance, she advises him that he will never be able to vanquish Mordechai, but will instead fall ignobly. Combing through the classic sources, we can piece together some parts of her personality. Her father was Tattenai, “the ruler of across the river, who makes an appearance in the Book of Ezra when he tries (unsuccessfully) to halt the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. In the first chapter of the Book of Esther, Queen Vashti refuses her drunken husband’s order to appear before him at the feast. The king consults with his wise men, and one Memuchan advises him to dispose of his rebellious wife and find a better one. Some say that Memuchan is a pseudonym for Haman, who wished to take revenge against Vashti for not inviting his wife, Zeresh, to her party for women.

Her Advice

The sources describe Zeresh as a very wise woman who even knew the secrets of sorcery. According to the Midrash, Haman had 365 advisors, but Zeresh’s advice was the best he received. She found an original way to kill Mordechai, one that had never been tried, telling her husband: You must remember that Mordechai is a Jew. If you try to kill him with a sword, know that Pharaoh attempted to decapitate Moses and failed. If you wish to stone him, remember how David slew Goliath with stones. If you try to drown him, remember how G‑d tore the sea before Israel. If you want to exile him to the desert, remember how Israel wandered in the desert for forty years and thrived. Joseph was released from jail and became the viceroy. Chananya, Mishael and Azarya went out from a fiery furnace, and Daniel left the lion’s den. Don’t try to blind him; remember how many people Samson killed whilst sightless. There is one remaining way for you: hang Mordechai on a tree. (We see this done to Christ and see how that worked for the evil forces.) Not satisfied with simply advising, Zeresh went with her husband to find the tallest tree in Shushan, which turned out to be quite a thorny specimen. With the tree chosen, the Book of Esther tells us, Haman ran to the king’s palace to discuss his plans to hang Mordechai upon it. Yet, in a divinely orchestrated twist of events, he soon found himself leading Mordechai through the streets of Shushan shouting, “Thus shall be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!” Returning home, he meets his wife, who tells him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely fall before him!"

Zeresh’s Legacy

Scripture is silent regarding the end of her life. Tradition tells us that after Haman was hanged on the tree that he had prepared for Mordecai, Zeresh fled in disgrace with his remaining 70 sons. They were reduced to begging from door to door in order to stay alive. We remember Zeresh every year when we sing the poem Shoshanat Yaakov after reading the Megillah. Interestingly, some medieval communities would stamp their feet and make noise when Zeresh’s name was mentioned during the Megillah reading, just as we do today when we hear the name of her wicked husband, Haman. In the book Mechir Yayin, Rabbi Moshe Isserles (known as the Ramah, 1530-1572) describes Zeresh as the embodiment of delusion, whose fantasies of honor and wealth distract a person from the worthwhile pursuits of intellectual enlightenment and divine wisdom.

Today let us seek enlightenment and divine wisdom

 from Christ’s mother.

First Saturday[2]

The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. 

1.      Confession: This confession can be made before the First Saturday or afterward, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. In 1926, Christ in a vision explained to Lucia (Fatima) that this confession could be made a week before or even more, and that it should be offered in reparation.

2.      Holy Communion: Before receiving Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer it in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.

3.      Rosary: The Rosary is a vocal prayer said while meditating upon the mysteries of Our Lord’s life and Passion and Our Lady’s life. To comply with the request of our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating.

4.       15-minute meditation: Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; it may include all, taken together or separately. This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said “...those who keep me company....”

Feast of the Precious Blood^[3]

July first is the Feast of the Precious Blood. This is a feast that does not exist in the new Roman Calendar of Pope Paul VI. It is still, however, in the traditional Roman calendar of the 1962 usage. Both halves of the year, in January and July, begin with the commemoration of the Precious Blood of Jesus. January 1 is the feast of the Circumcision, when the Precious Blood of Jesus was first shed. July 1 is the commemoration of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus as it is preserved in all Catholic churches at the hour of Mass. The Precious Blood of Jesus was given to Him to divinize by Mary, the Mother of God. Between Jesus and Mary there was a perpetual interflow of blood for nine months when He was a Child in her womb. Anyone can see how divinized Mary became by this interchange of blood for nearly a year. Everyone who wishes to become a son of God the Father, as he becomes by Sanctifying Grace, must also become a child of Mary the Virgin, by receiving in his mouth the Blessed Eucharist which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. All the saints of the Old Testament, when their bodies rise from the grave on the Last Day, will receive the Precious Blood of Jesus. Our Lord said of the chalice which contained His Precious Blood at the Last Supper, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the Kingdom of My Father.” The Kingdom of God the Father, Whose sons we divinely by adoption, is also the Queendom of Mary the Virgin, whose children we must incarnately become in order to enjoy the happiness of Heaven forever.

Daily Devotions/Prayers

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Novena to the Holy Face

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[1]http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/2519584/jewish/Who-Was-Zeresh.htm

[2]http://www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm

[3]http://catholicism.org/the-feast-of-the-precious-blood.html