First Saturday
BASILICA
OF SAINT MARY MAJOR IN ROME
Matthew, Chapter 14, verse 5
Although he wanted to kill him, he FEARED the
people, for they regarded him as a prophet.
This verse talks about
Herod as he wanted to kill John the Baptist. Herod’s main problem was he could
not control his emotions. When he wanted his brother’s wife, He took her. When
he wanted Salome to dance, He bribed her. Lastly his fear gave
into pride the pride of looking like a fool and he forgot his fear of the people
and killed John.
First Saturday[1]
The following is an
explanation of the conditions contained in Our Lady's request regarding the
Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays of the Month.
1.
Confess and
receive Holy Communion
On February 15, 1926,
the Child Jesus alone came to visit Sr. Lucia and asked if the devotion to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary was being propagated. Sr. Lucia spoke of a difficulty
some people have in confessing on the first Saturday and asked if they might be
allowed eight days in order to fulfill Our Lady's requests. Jesus answered: "Yes,
even more time still, as long as they receive Me in the state of grace and have
the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
2.
Recite the
Rosary
Five decades of the
Rosary may be recited at any time or place; yet, since one will be attending
Mass in order to receive Holy Communion, a very desirable time and place would
be before or after Mass in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Meditation on
the mysteries according to one's capacity is an essential condition for praying
the Rosary. Yet, involuntary distractions do not rob the Rosary of fruit if one
is doing the best he can.
3.
"Keep me
company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the
Rosary."
The question is often
asked: Does the meditation while reciting the Rosary fulfill this condition, or
is there required an additional
fifteen minutes of meditation? That an additional 15 minutes of
meditation is required was recently confirmed by Sr. Lucia of Fatima. It is
clear too from a statement by the first Bishop of Fatima.
The last entry in the
chronology of Fatima, published in the official Calendar of the Sanctuary for
the year of 1940, and signed by Dom Jose Correia da Silva, the first Bishop of
Fatima, gave a summary of Our Lady's requests concerning the Five First
Saturdays. From that official statement in the Calendar of the Sanctuary, we
read the bishop’s enumeration of the various items that pertain to the devotion
of the five Saturdays:
It consists in going
to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and
meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first
Saturday of five consecutive months. The Confession may be made during the
eight days preceding or following the first Saturday of each month, provided
that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. Should one forget to
form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may
be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at
the first opportunity.
The meditation embraces
one or more mysteries; it may
even include all, taken together or separately, according to individual
attraction or devotion; but it is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month.
Speaking of the
requirement of "keeping me company for fifteen minutes while meditating
on the mysteries of the Rosary," the bishop’s comment that "it
is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month" could apply only
to an extra fifteen minutes, for each decade of the Rosary must have its own
particular meditation. This is clear from the definition of the Rosary given in
the official document of the Church on indulgences, the ENCHIRIDION OF
INDULGENCES published by Pope Paul VI in 1968. It describes the Rosary as
follows:
"The Rosary is a
certain formula of prayer, which is made up of fifteen decades of HAIL MARYS
with an OUR FATHER before each decade, and in which the recitation of each decade is accompanied by pious
meditation on a particular mystery of our Redemption." (n. 48)
Like the Rosary, this
meditation may be made any time or place during the first Saturday. Yet again,
like the Rosary, a very fitting time and place would be in the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament before or after Mass. The question has been asked:
"Would an extra Rosary, which would require about fifteen minutes, fulfill
this request? It would seem, if fruitfully meditated, that it would. Or again,
the time could be spent reading
meditatively on one of the fifteen mysteries, which is a form of mental
prayer that involves reading with frequent pauses to reflect on the matter
read.
4.
With the
intention of making reparation.
All of the conditions
mentioned above - in numbers 1 to 3 - should be fulfilled with the intention of
making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On the occasion of the visit
of the Child Jesus to Sr. Lucia (Feb. 16, 1926), she asked: "My Jesus,
what about those who forget to make the intention?" Jesus answered: "They
can do so at their next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity
to go to Confession."
The above are the
minimum requirements for fulfilling the conditions of Our Lady's promise to
obtain for us "at the hour of death the graces necessary for salvation."
Yet, these Communions of reparation, as has been pointed out, are only a
portion of the devotion of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These few pages are
meant to help bring about a frame of mind and heart that will make us aware of
the need of reparation all through the month, and not just on the first
Saturday.
WHY FIVE SATURDAYS?
It
is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five
first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that
question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was
because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart
of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her
perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary,
blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the
neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this
Immaculate Mother.
Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome[2]
St.
Mary Major is important to Christendom for three reasons:
(a) It
stands as a venerable monument to the Council of Ephesus (431), at which the
dogma of Mary's divine Motherhood was solemnly defined; the definition of the
Council occasioned a most notable increase in the veneration paid to Mary.
(b) The basilica is Rome's
"church of the crib," a kind of Bethlehem within the Eternal City; it
also is a celebrated station church, serving, for instance, as the center for
Rome's liturgy for the first Mass on Christmas. In some measure every picture
of Mary with the divine Child is traceable to this church.
(c) St. Mary Major is
Christendom's first Marian shrine for pilgrims. It set the precedent for the
countless shrines where pilgrims gather to honor our Blessed Mother throughout
the world. Here was introduced an authentic expression of popular piety that
has been the source of untold blessings and graces for Christianity in the past
as in the present.
The beginnings of St. Mary
Major date to the Constantinian period. Originally it was called the Sicinini
Basilica; it was the palace of a patrician family by that name before its
transformation into a church by Pope Liberius. The story of its origin is
legendary, dating from the Middle Ages. The Breviary gives this version:
Liberius was on the chair
of Peter (352-366) when the Roman patrician John and his wife, who was of like
nobility, vowed to bequeath their estate to the most holy Virgin and Mother of
God, for they had no children to whom their property could go. The couple gave
themselves to assiduous prayer, beseeching Mary to make known to them in some
way what pious work they should subsidize in her honor.
Mary answered their
petition and confirmed her reply by means of the following miracle. On the
fifth of August — a time when it is unbearably hot in the city of Rome — a
portion of the Esquiline would be covered with snow during the night. During that
same night the Mother of God directed John and his wife in separate dreams to
build a church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the site where they would
see snow lying. For it was in this manner that she wanted her inheritance to be
used.
John immediately reported
the whole matter to Pope Liberius, and he declared that a similar dream had
come to him. Accompanied by clergy and people, Liberius proceeded on the
following morning in solemn procession to the snow-covered hill and there
marked off the area on which the church in Mary's honor was to be constructed.
Under Pope Sixtus III
(432-440) the basilica was rebuilt, and upon the occasion of the definition of
Mary's divine Motherhood by the Council of Ephesus, consecrated to her honor
(432). He decorated the apse and walls with mosaics from the lives of Christ
and His blessed Mother, which even to this day beautify the church and belong
to the oldest we possess. As early as the end of the fourth century a replica
of the Bethlehem nativity grotto had been added; on this account the edifice
became known as "St. Mary of the Crib." To the Christian at Rome this
church is Bethlehem. Other names for the basilica are: Liberian Basilica,
because it dates to the time of Pope Liberius; St. Mary Major (being the
largest church in Mary's honor in Rome); Our Lady of the Snow, because of the
miracle that supposedly occasioned its erection.
We could point out how the
divine Motherhood mystery dominates all Marian liturgy; for the Theotokos
doctrine has kept Mariology Christo-centric in the Church's worship. Although
recent popular devotion to Mary has become to a certain extent soft and
sentimental and has, one may say, erected its own sanctuary around Mary as the
center, devotion to our Blessed Mother in the liturgy has always remained
oriented to Christ. In the liturgy the divine Motherhood has always been the
bridge from Mary to Jesus. One need only examine Matins in honor of Mary or the
Masses from her Common to be reassured. Everywhere Christ takes the central position,
and Mary is the Christbearer.
—Excerpted
from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Patronage: Italy; diocese of Reno, Nevada;
Italy: Arzachena, Atella, Castiglione in Teverina, Conco, Rovereto, San Marco
in Lamis, Susa, Torre Annunziata; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Almagro, Spain; Utah
Highlights and Things
to Do:
- Pray
that your devotion to Mary remain solidly constructed upon dogma that is Christo-centric,
for such is the fruit of a living faith in Mary's divine Motherhood.
- Read
this article from the Catholic Culture Library on Our Lady of the Snows.
- Find
more information see:
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- New Liturgical Movement
- My Catholic Life
- Franciscan Media
- Anastpaul 1
- Anastpaul 2
- Find
out more about the Basilica of St. Mary Major:
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
II. THE LAY
FAITHFUL
897
"The term 'laity' is here understood to mean all the faithful except those
in Holy Orders and those who belong to a religious state approved by the
Church. That is, the faithful, who by Baptism are incorporated into Christ and
integrated into the People of God, are made sharers in their particular way in
the priestly, prophetic, and kingly office of Christ, and have their own part
to play in the mission of the whole Christian people in the Church and in the
World."
The vocation
of lay people
898 "By
reason of their special vocation it belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of
God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God's
will.... It pertains to them in a special way so to illuminate and order all
temporal things with which they are closely associated that these may always be
effected and grow according to Christ and maybe to the glory of the Creator and
Redeemer."
899 The
initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves
discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and
economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. This
initiative is a normal element of the life of the Church:
Lay
believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the
animating principle of human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to
have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of belonging to the Church, but of
being the Church, that is to say, the community of the faithful on earth under
the leadership of the Pope, the common Head, and of the bishops in communion
with him. They are the Church.
900 Since,
like all the faithful, lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate
by virtue of their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually
or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may
be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth. This duty is the more
pressing when it is only through them that men can hear the Gospel and know
Christ. Their activity in ecclesial communities is so necessary that, for the
most part, the apostolate of the pastors cannot be fully effective without it.
The participation of lay people in Christ's priestly office
901
"Hence the laity, dedicated as they are to Christ and anointed by the Holy
Spirit, are marvellously called and prepared so that even richer fruits of the
Spirit maybe produced in them. For all their works, prayers, and apostolic
undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body,
if they are accomplished in the Spirit - indeed even the hardships of life if
patiently born - all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most
fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. and so,
worshipping everywhere by their holy actions, the laity consecrate the world
itself to God, everywhere offering worship by the holiness of their
lives."
902 In a
very special way, parents share in the office of sanctifying "by leading a
conjugal life in the Christian spirit and by seeing to the Christian education
of their children."
903 Lay
people who possess the required qualities can be admitted permanently to the
ministries of lector and acolyte. When the necessity of the Church
warrants it and when ministers are lacking, lay persons, even if they are not
lectors or acolytes, can also supply for certain of their offices, namely, to
exercise the ministry of the word, to preside over liturgical prayers, to
confer Baptism, and to distribute Holy Communion in accord with the
prescriptions of law."
Participation
in Christ's prophetic office
904
"Christ . . . fulfills this prophetic office, not only by the hierarchy .
. . but also by the laity. He accordingly both establishes them as witnesses
and provides them with the sense of the faith [sensus fidei] and the grace of
the word"
To teach in
order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each
believer.
905 Lay
people also fulfill their prophetic mission by evangelization, "that is,
the proclamation of Christ by word and the testimony of life." For lay
people, "this evangelization . . . acquires a specific property and
peculiar efficacy because it is accomplished in the ordinary circumstances of
the world."
This witness of life, however, is not the sole element in
the apostolate; the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing
Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful.
906 Lay
people who are capable and trained may also collaborate in catechetical
formation, in teaching the sacred sciences, and in use of the communications
media.
907 "In
accord with the knowledge, competence, and preeminence which they possess, [lay
people] have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred
pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and
they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful,
with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward their
pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of
persons."
Participation
in Christ's kingly office
908 By his
obedience unto death, Christ communicated to his disciples the gift of
royal freedom, so that they might "by the self-abnegation of a holy life,
overcome the reign of sin in themselves":
That man is rightly called a king who makes his own body an
obedient subject and, by governing himself with suitable rigor, refuses to let
his passions breed rebellion in his soul, for he exercises a kind of royal
power over himself. and because he knows how to rule his own person as king, so
too does he sit as its judge. He will not let himself be imprisoned by sin, or
thrown headlong into wickedness.
909
"Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the
institutions and conditions of the world when the latter are an inducement to
sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice, favoring rather than
hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will impregnate culture and
human works with a moral value."
910
"The laity can also feel called, or be in fact called, to cooperate with
their pastors in the service of the ecclesial community, for the sake of its
growth and life. This can be done through the exercise of different kinds of
ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has been pleased
to bestow on them."
911 In the
Church, "lay members of the Christian faithful can cooperate in the
exercise of this power [of governance] in accord with the norm of
law." and so the Church provides for their presence at particular
councils, diocesan synods, pastoral councils; the exercise in solidum of the
pastoral care of a parish, collaboration in finance committees, and participation
in ecclesiastical tribunals, etc.
912 The
faithful should "distinguish carefully between the rights and the duties
which they have as belonging to the Church and those which fall to them as
members of the human society. They will strive to unite the two harmoniously,
remembering that in every temporal affair they are to be guided by a Christian
conscience, since no human activity, even of the temporal order, can be
withdrawn from God's dominion."451
913
"Thus, every person, through these gifts given to him, is at once the
witness and the living instrument of the mission of the Church itself
'according to the measure of Christ's bestowal."'
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: True
Masculinity
·
Let
Freedom Ring Day 30 Freedom from Secularism
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
No comments:
Post a Comment