May 20, 2014 Posted by tantamergo
I have been singularly impressed by the writing of Fr. Stefano Manelli, founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. God in His infinite wisdom has seen fit to test many great Saints. Fr. Manelli and the order he
Happier times
founded is certainly undergoing an absolutely brutal test of faith at present. I pray they may weather it in true virtue, and I pray the vicious repression of this holy order may cease immediately. Given the obvious sanctity Fr. Manelli exudes in his writing, I pray this suffering may be the flames that temper this order, and its founder, for future glory.
Having said that, I have been given the gift of developing a great love for Our Blessed Mother. But I have been deficient in expressing that love through consistent partaking of Saturday devotions. We “tithe” every week of the year by our (minimal) participation in Sunday Mass, and keeping the Sabbath holy. Our Blessed Mother is worthy of similar devotion, and while certainly not of Precept or absolutely necessary for salvation, there is enormous merit in taking part in Saturday devotions to Mary, as Fr. Manelli notes in his very helpful book Devotion to Our Lady:
One day a week dedicated to Our Lady meets a need to offer her something special and particular in the course of 
the week.
the week.
The Church has always realized this need, and has satisfied it by giving Saturday a special place in the Liturgy, with the weekly offering of a Mass and Office in honor of the Blessed Virgin.
The experience of centuries has approved this holy custom, which the Christian people, in particular the Saints, have loved and cherished. We may be sure that the practice of dedicating Saturdays to Mary finds clients of great holiness, including St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Alphonsus Liguori – to name a few.
The association of Saturday with Mary is found among the Saints, even in their loftiest mystical experiences. Every Saturday – unlike other days – St. Gemma Galgani had an ecstasy that involved Our Lady. This had become
so customary with her that sometimes it was only when she had an apparition of Our Lady that she realized it was Saturday!
so customary with her that sometimes it was only when she had an apparition of Our Lady that she realized it was Saturday!
After the example of the Saints, we, too, should endeavor to be particularly fond of Saturday as “Mary’s Day” – as St. Catherine of Siena called it. Let us hallow it with specific prayers, especially the Rosary (if possible all 15 mysteries). Let us not fail to make some personal sacrifice (for example, abstaining from fruit, or from meat, or from smoking). Let us add other acts of veneration for Mary, according to our preference; for example, letting Saturday be the day that we finish an important project, or make a decision, or celebrate a particular event. St. Louis Grignon, as a boy, went to Holy Communion every Saturday in a church dedicated to Our Lady, our of devotion to her. We may be sure that Our Lady is the better pleased and bestows special favors during this day consecrated to her.
———-End Quote———-
While I am certain most readers are already aware, I would also be remiss if I did not include the promises Our Lady made for those who maintain a Saturday devotion to her for 5 consecutive First Saturdays:
“See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”
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