Saturdays Dedicated to Our Lady

For hundreds of years Christians have given special attention to Mary on Saturdays. Throughout history, and in our own times as well, theologians and ecclesiastical writers have explained some of the reasons that make this devotion particularly appropriate. Thus, Saint Peter Damian writes that Saturdays commemorate the completion of God's work of creation. God rested on the seventh day, and Mary is the one in whom, "through the mystery of the Incarnation, God made for himself a holy resting-place." (1)

Saturday, the Sabbath of the Old Law, is also an anticipation of the Lord's Day, a symbol and sign of heaven. Christ, risen from the dead, is the gateway to eternal life in heaven; and the Blessed Virgin is our way to Jesus, just as she was his was for coming into the world. (2)

Saint Thomas, also, points out that Saturday is dedicated to Mary because "on that day she kept the faith in the mystery of Christ after his death." (3) In any case, we Christians need a special day to honor our Lady and show her our love in a special way.

This excerpt was taken from In Conversation with God, Vol. 4: Ordinary Time: Weeks 13-23, by Fr. Francis Fernandez Carvajal, published by Scepter.

Footnotes

(1) St Peter Damian, Opusculum 33, De Bono Suffragorum, PL 145, 566.

(2) cf G. Roschini, The Mother of God, Madrid

(3) St Thomas Aquinas, On the Commandments