Sabbath, Sunday, and Legalism

[Amo]

http://adventmessenger.org/the-ecumenical-movement-with-its-adventist-observers-is-seeking-to-impose-sunday-observance-by-law-inside-the-personal-homes-of-people/

Quoted article below is from link above.

The Ecumenical Movement with its Adventist Observers is Seeking to Impose Sunday Observance By Law Inside the Personal Homes of People

"Freikirchen," which translates to "Free Churches," is the official name of the largest ecumenical organization in Switzerland. Freikirchen is an umbrella association comprised of various Protestant churches that are not official state churches or funded by tax money, like the Roman Catholic Church. Baptists, Mennonites, Pentecostals, Methodists, the Salvation Army, and other free Evangelical churches are members of this organization. Seventh-day Adventists, on the other hand, maintain an "observer status" within the same organization.

In Switzerland, working on Sunday is generally forbidden. This has been a long-standing policy that has benefited Rome and the Sunday-keeping Protestant churches. Unless you have a special permit granted by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, you cannot do business on Sunday. However, a new law is currently being debated that seeks to allow those who do "teleworking," or remote work from home, to work on Sundays in the comfort and privacy of their own homes.

The National Council, which represents the people, is now, in 2025, debating a proposed bill called "More Creative Freedom when Working from Home," which was filed in the Swiss Legislature back in 2016. The language of the bill would allow people who work remotely from home to work on Sunday, if they so choose.

Parliamentary Initiative 16.484 says:

• "No authorization is required for Sunday work carried out in the home of employees who can largely determine their own working hours."

• "Public Sunday rest period would not be disturbed in any way if the employee carried out Sunday work at home. For Sunday work carried out in the home by employees who can set their own working hours to a large extent, a Sunday work permit should therefore not be required."

This proposal has upset the Sunday-keeping churches, and they are working to overturn this measure—which means that the churches want the state to dictate what a person can or cannot do in the privacy of their own home on Sunday.

 On December 11, 2024, Freikirchen published an official protest on behalf of their member churches and "observers," against the new law in Switzerland that is seeking to relax Sunday restrictions for employees who work remotely from home.

Freikirchen stated the following in their press release:

• "The umbrella organization Freikirchen speaks out against the parliamentary initiative 'More Creative Freedom when Working from Home' in its consultation response. Freikirchen firmly rejects the proposed exemptions to the Sunday work ban because they run counter to the principle of the general Sunday work ban."

• "Sunday is protected as a day off work in the Labor Code. Sunday is associated with central values that are of particular social and religious importance,' explains Peter Schneeberger, president of the umbrella organization Freikirchen."

• "Sunday offers society a common day to breathe and relax, thus structuring the week between working days and days when leisure, sport, community and social life, family life and, last but not least, for many people in Switzerland, attending a church service together are possible."

• "In recent years, exemptions to the Sunday work ban have increasingly been permitted. Already, more than 15 percent of employed people regularly work on Sundays and the numbers will continue to rise according to BFS data from 2023."

• "This change sends the wrong signal and ignores the need for protection of employees. Teleworking (working remotely from home) on Sundays does not meet any compelling social need."

The notion of the churches petitioning the state to prohibit individuals from working inside of their own homes on Sundays is a profound overreach that undermines personal freedom and privacy. Such a suggestion completely disregards the basic human right of people to manage their own lives. Is it now up to these misguided churches to dictate what we can or cannot do in the sanctity of our own homes?

It is one thing to force businesses to close their doors on Sunday, but it is entirely different—and absurd—to impose Sunday observance inside the personal homes of people, and especially those who do not share the same beliefs. This intrusion into the privacy of citizens reflects the danger of uniting church and state.

Our homes must remain sacred sanctuaries of privacy, where individuals are free from external pressures telling us how to live, think, and act. A man's home is his castle, meaning that a person's home is their private domain, where they have the right to feel safe, secure, and free to follow their own conscience on faith and worship without interference or intrusion from a corrupt church-state tyranny.

Today we see ecumenical alliances fighting to keep Sunday work-free in Switzerland. Once again, this highlights the problem with the ecumenical movement. Ecumenism will pave the way for the Mark of the Beast crisis.

"The Word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday" (Great Controversy, p. 578).

"When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near" (Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 451).

The ecumenical movement is laying down the foundation and preparing the world for the final crisis. Seventh-day Adventists have no business joining forces with those advocating for the legalization of Sunday rest in order to restrict our freedoms. God never called us to be "observers," but rather to be watchmen. Today, we are to lift up our voices declaring the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12) at a time when the churches are exalting Sunday.

If we fail to do the work God has entrusted to us, we risk not only losing the opportunity to see people saved, but we also risk losing our own souls. God's purposes will always prevail, and if we refuse to obey His calling, He will raise up someone else to accomplish His will.

"The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands his servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls. Christ's ambassadors have nothing to do with consequences. They must perform their duty, and leave results with God" (Great Controversy, p. 609).

[Amo]

http://adventmessenger.org/greek-labor-union-calls-for-sunday-shopping-to-end-with-a-new-campaign-slogan-sunday-closed-i-dont-shop-i-dont-work/

Quoted article below from link above.

Greek Labor Union Calls for Sunday Shopping to End with a New Campaign Slogan: "Sunday Closed! I Don't Shop! I Don't Work!"

"Trade unions will be the cause of the most terrible violence that has ever been seen among human beings" (Manuscript Release, Vol. 4, p. 23).

Whether they know it or not, labor unions are serving the interests of Rome. Rome will use anyone to further its Sunday agenda. While apostate church leaders will seek to justify Sunday-keeping through so-called moral and spiritual support, labor unions perform the dirty work of engaging in chaos, disruptions, and fighting. In Greece, labor unions today are pressuring authorities and employers to keep Sunday work-free.

On January 16, 2025, To Vima, a news media company in Athens, Greece, published an article about how trade unions are calling for Sunday shopping restrictions and are arguing that Sunday store openings violate the fundamental rights of workers.

To Vima published the following:

• "The Working Consumers of Greece (EEKE) is urging consumers to avoid shopping on Sundays as part of a broader effort to restore balance in the retail sector and protect workers' rights."

• "According to EEKE, the opening of stores on Sundays creates conditions that favor monopolistic practices, undermining healthy competition and inevitably driving many small and medium-sized businesses to closure."

• "Additionally, EEKE argued that Sunday openings disrupt personal and family life, violating fundamental labor rights that are both constitutionally guaranteed and the result of hard-fought battles by workers."

• "In its statement, the Union is urging consumers to support businesses that remain closed on Sundays. Their campaign slogan reads: "Sunday Closed! I Don't Shop – I Don't Work!"

It is not a coincidence that labor unions have designated Sunday as the day for workers to have time off for rest, family, and friends. The unions are simply joining the chorus of those calling for Sunday to become the universal day of rest for all people. In other words, this is a public call to increase awareness for Sunday closings.

The labor industry, along with the churches and the news media, is aligning itself in order to achieve one ultimate objective. They are working to obtain the same outcome. They are campaigning to make Sunday popular again. According to God's prophetic word, there will be a "popular demand" for Sunday observance:

"Rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance" (Great Controversy, p. 592).

[Amo]

http://adventmessenger.org/a-leading-catholic-publication-claims-that-the-popes-call-for-sabbath-rest-in-laudato-si-is-the-best-way-to-combat-the-dangers-of-ai-technology/

Quoted article below from link above.

A Leading Catholic Publication Claims that the Pope's Call for Sabbath Rest in Laudato Si' is the Best Way to Combat the Dangers of AI Technology

With 3.3 million followers, Aleteia is "one of the world's leading Catholic online news sites" and is published in five different languages. [1] In an article titled "Keeping the Sabbath in the Age of Artificial Intelligence," published on February 8, 2025, Aleteia asserted that Pope Francis' Laudato Si' exhortation about the "Sabbath" will help in reclaiming our humanity and combating the threats posed by AI.

Aleteia published the following about AI and the Sabbath:

• "While AI can free up more of our time, it also tempts us to fill that time with more work. Sabbath rest offers a lens through which to examine this tension."

• "The Sabbath is not just a break from labor; it's a sacred pause that acknowledges our limitations and reorients us toward what truly matters: relationships, contemplation, and gratitude."

• "AI, by contrast, operates without limits. It doesn't tire, doesn't need breaks, and can process data endlessly ... But unlike AI, we are not limitless. We are bodies—fragile, finite, and gloriously dependent on rhythms of rest and renewal."

• "In this context, the Sabbath becomes not just a religious observance but, we could say, even an act of resistance—a bold declaration that our value is not defined by productivity. Pope Francis, in Laudato Si', speaks of the need to recover time to contemplate, to recognize, and to give thanks."

• "Perhaps it's for prayer. For play. For rest that nourishes both body and soul."

• "In the end, keeping the Sabbath in the age of AI isn't just about setting boundaries with technology. It's about reclaiming our humanity—one heartbeat, one breath, one sacred pause at a time."

There you have it—the way to avoid the threat that AI poses to humanity is to embrace the Sabbath rest found in Laudato Si'.  In recent years, religious leaders of various denominations, including Roman Catholics, have increasingly expressed the importance of setting aside a "Sabbath" as a day for both physical rest and spiritual renewal. Citing the increasing pressures of modern life, they argue that society has lost a crucial rhythm of rest that not only benefits individuals but also strengthens families and communities. Pope Francis, along with other Christian leaders, has emphasized the need to reclaim the "Sabbath" to heal our relationships, and Sunday is the day they aim to secure to prioritize their efforts.

In Laudato Si', when Pope Francis speaks of a day of rest, he clearly refers to Sunday:

"On Sunday, our participation in the Eucharist has special importance. Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world. Sunday is the day of the Resurrection, the "first day" of the new creation, whose first fruits are the Lord's risen humanity, the pledge of the final transfiguration of all created reality." (Laudato Si' #237).

Rome has clearly emphasized the importance of Sunday in developing a closer relationship with God and community, and Protestant and Orthodox leaders have echoed similar sentiments. Together they urge governments and companies to respect the so-called sanctity of Sunday. This push aligns with what God's prophetic word predicts will happen when churches come together to make Sunday the universal day of rest during the mark of the beast crisis.

"The Word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday" (Great Controversy, p. 578).

As momentum to protect Sunday builds, discussions about the observance of this day will become more pronounced in public discourse. This will raise questions about how a Sunday rest initiative might shape legislation, labor policies, and social standards in the coming years. Protestants and Catholics will both be involved in this effort to secure Sunday, and it all starts when the churches find common ground. No religious leader has done more to promote the unification of the churches, especially the merger of church and state, than Pope Francis:

"When the leading churches (including Catholicism) of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the State to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result." (Great Controversy, p. 445).

[Amo]

http://adventmessenger.org/utah-lawmakers-just-advanced-a-sunday-rest-bill-recently-introduced-by-a-project-2025-contributor/

Utah Lawmakers Just Advanced a Sunday Rest Bill Recently Introduced by a Project 2025 Contributor

Back in January, we published an article about how Ken Ivory, a Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives and a contributor/author for the Project 2025 handbook, introduced a bill, HB-441, into the state legislature that would mandate time off on Sundays for rest and worship.

It turns out that the bill was just approved by the House Business, Labor, and Commerce Committee in an 8-3 vote and is now awaiting a vote by the full House, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. On February 18, 2025, the following article titled "Lawmakers Advance Bill that Could Close More Utah Stores on Sundays" was published, and it expressed the following:

• "The Utah House is weighing a bill aimed at protecting franchises from opening on religious holidays or days of worship."

• "Sponsored by Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, HB441 would expand on an initial proposal, outlined in a news release, that focused exclusively on protecting franchises from having to operate on Sundays."

• "The bill, advanced last week by the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee in an 8-3 vote."

Sunday laws are real, Project 2025 is real, and real discussions and efforts are being proposed to secure Sunday as the day of rest through legislative enactments. It is only a matter of time before we begin to see similar proposals to secure the legal recognition of Sunday as the day of rest at the federal level.

"Sooner or later Sunday laws will be passed" (Review and Herald, February 16, 1905).

"Soon the Sunday laws will be enforced, and men in positions of trust will be embittered against the little handful of God's commandment-keeping people" (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 4, p. 278).

There is no time to lose—God's people must give the warning about the beast, his image, and the mark now, before the final crisis unfolds. Once the test comes, decisions will have already been made, and if we remain quiet, many souls will be unprepared. The warning must go out while hearts are still open to truth.

Truly, our world is moving towards the fulfillment of prophecy, and events are setting the stage for the enforcement of laws that will challenge the commandment of God. Now is the time to sound the alarm, to call people to obedience and faithfulness, and to urge them to stand firmly on God's Word before the Sunday law deception and coercion sweep the world.

"Are we to wait until the fulfillment of the prophecies of the end before we say anything concerning them? Of what value will our words be then? Shall we wait until God's judgments fall upon the transgressor before we tell him how to avoid them? Where is our faith in the word of God? Must we see things foretold come to pass before we will believe what He has said? In clear, distinct rays light has come to us, showing us that the great day of the Lord is near at hand, 'even at the doors.' Let us read and understand before it is too late" (Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 20).

[Amo]

https://mariancatechist.com/blogs/devotion-to-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary/saturdays-the-immaculate-heart-of-mary-and-heavens-request

Quoted article below from link above.

Saturdays, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Heaven's Request

by Kathryn Mulderink

 

"I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

Most of us are familiar with these words of our Blessed Mother, spoken to Lucia, one of the three young visionaries of Fátima, at her convent in Pontevedra, Spain. This message, given in 1925, was a sort of "follow-up" to the words Our Lady had spoken to Lucia in the second apparition of Fátima in June, 1917, when she told Lucia that she was to remain in the world because "Jesus wishes to use you to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."

It may come as some surprise that this devotion requested by Heaven was not absolutely new. It fit precisely into the long tradition of Catholic piety that, having devoted Fridays to the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ and to honoring His Sacred Heart, found it very natural to devote Saturdays to His Most Holy Mother.

In fact, the great request of Pontevedra appears as the joyous culmination of a whole movement of devotion. It began spontaneously, was encouraged and codified by Rome, and seems to be nothing less than the providential preparation for what was to come later.

Saturdays Devoted to the Virgin

Honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday was first "officially" promoted by Saint Alcuin (735-804), the Benedictine monk who was "Minister of Education" for the court of Charlemagne and who contributed in a decisive manner to the Carolingian liturgical reform. He composed different formulas for Votive Masses for each day of the week, with two set aside to honor Our Lady on Saturday. This practice was quickly and enthusiastically embraced by both clergy and laity, the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday eventually becoming the Common of the Blessed Virgin.

There were several theological reasons for dedicating this day to Mary. A 15th century missal gives several of those reasons in a hymn: Saturday is the day when creation was completed; therefore it is also celebrated as the day of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation, which found its realization through Mary. Sunday is the Lord's Day, so it seemed appropriate to observe the preceding day as Mary's day. In addition, as Genesis describes, God rested on the seventh day, Saturday. The seventh day, and the Jewish Sabbath, is Saturday; we rest on Sunday, because we celebrate the Resurrection as our Sabbath Day. In parallel, Jesus rested in the womb and then in the loving arms of Mary from birth until she held His lifeless body at the foot of the Cross; thus the God-head rested in Mary.

The great theologians of the 12th and 13th centuries, Sts. Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, explained the dedication of Saturdays to Mary by pointing to the time of Christ's rest in the grave. On that first Holy Saturday, while everyone else had abandoned Christ, Mary continued to believe, demonstrating her deep faith by never doubting for a moment her Son's promise of resurrection. As stated in the Pontifical document, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, Saturday is designated as a memorial of the Blessed Virgin as "a remembrance of the maternal example and discipleship of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, strengthened by faith and hope, on that great Saturday on which Our Lord lay in the tomb, was the only one of the disciples to hold vigil in expectation of the Lord's resurrection; it is a prelude and introduction to the celebration of Sunday, the weekly memorial of the Resurrection of Christ; it is a sign that the 'Virgin Mary is continuously present and operative in the life of the Church.'"

The custom of dedicating Saturday Masses to Mary was fostered especially in the cloister churches of the various orders, and quickly spread throughout the whole Church. Hence, through the early centuries of the Church, Saturday acquired its great Marian tone and the existing fast on that day became associated with Mary.

During the second millennium of Christianity, other great souls furthered and refined these pious devotions. Cardinal Peter Damian († 1072) fostered Marian Saturday celebrations. During the time of the crusades, Peter of Amiens started out with a vanguard for Constantinople on a Saturday, March 8, 1096, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin. Pope Urban II (1088-1099) admonished the faithful to pray the liturgy of the hours in honor of the most holy Virgin for the crusaders.

In the centuries to follow, the Marian Saturdays were expressed in several local devotions. This was the day the faithful selected to go on pilgrimages. Sodalities held their meetings on Saturdays and called them Fraternity Saturdays or Sodality Saturdays. The seven colors or sorrows of Mary were in some places commemorated on seven consecutive Saturdays. The 15 Saturdays before the liturgy in honor of Mary as Queen of the Rosary, October 7, recalled the fifteen decades of the rosary; in some areas this was the day that the crops and harvests were blessed and celebrated. An Irish version of the Saturday devotions to Mary is known as the Fifteen Saturdays of the Rosary. The devotion consists in receiving Holy Communion and saying at least five decades of the Rosary sometime during the day or evening on fifteen consecutive Saturdays or to meditate in some other way on its mysteries. The three Golden Saturdays that followed the Feast of St. Michael were festively celebrated in Austria, Bohemia, and Bavaria with reception of the sacraments and with pomp and circumstance particularly at places of pilgrimage. Traces of the festivities are still found in these cultural areas today.

The growing devotion in honor of the Immaculate Conception by the Franciscans also contributed to furthering the Marian Saturdays. In 1633 the Order's Chapter determined that a Holy Mass in honor of this mystery was to be celebrated.

Vatican II with its liturgical reforms did not abolish the practice of Masses in honor of Our Lady. A new sacramentary and lectionary were published with 46 options for votive Masses in honor of Our Lady. Today, the strongest trace of Mary's relationship with Saturday occurs in the Liturgy. Saturday is dedicated to Mary by a Mass or Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through these liturgical acts, Christians exalt the person of Mary in the action that renews the sacrifice of Christ and in the action that prolongs his prayer.

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart

The first indication of this general Saturday devotion to the Blessed Mother being connected with her Immaculate Heart comes from St. John Eudes, (1601-1670) whom Pope St. Pius X called the Immaculate Heart's Father, Doctor and Apostle. It was through him that this devotion was made public and received ecclesiastical approbation. St. John Eudes, as a theologian, was the first to explain this devotion to Mary's Heart in his book, The Admirable Heart of Mary. The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is celebrated on the first Saturday after the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (which is celebrated on the first Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi), was established in 1644 as the paternal feast of his congregation of Priests, for which he composed a Mass and office. Later it was established throughout the French dioceses (being extended to the Universal Church in 1944 by Pope Pius XII).

Modern times have seen a further focusing and codification of this devotion. In 1889, Pope Leo XIII granted to all the faithful a plenary indulgence for the well-established practice of the fifteen consecutive Saturdays. This pope, who wrote 12 encyclicals on the Rosary, and in June of 1899 had consecrated the whole world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was asked to make a similar act to honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Both Pope Leo XIII and his predecessor, Pope Pius IX, felt this honor should be given to Our Lady but that the time had not yet come.

The First Saturday of Reparation

In 1889, an Italian woman named Maria Inglese, prompted by an interior revelation, instituted the pious practice of "Communions of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary" with the approval and recommendation of her Bishop. In 1904 she composed a series of prayers for each mystery of the Rosary, as well as prayers for the Holy Hour of Reparation to Mary. She brought these to Rome and St. Pius X indulgenced them immediately, warmly encouraging Maria to continue her apostolate. He later encouraged this devotion throughout the Church. Thus, with St. Pius X, the First Saturday Devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart was introduced. He later promoted it further by the granting of additional indulgences on June 13, 1912: "All the Faithful who, on the first Saturday or first Sunday of twelve consecutive months, devote some time to vocal or mental prayer in honor of the Immaculate Virgin in Her conception gain, on each of these days, a plenary indulgence. Conditions: Confession, Communion, and prayers for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff."

Five years later, on that same date, June 13, there took place at Fátima the great manifestation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, "surrounded with thorns which seemed to pierce it." Sister Lucia was to say later on: "We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity, which demanded Reparation." It was also on this day that Our Lady told Lucia she was to remain in the world because "Jesus wishes to use you to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."

One month later, on July 13th, in the third apparition of Fátima, the children were shown a vivid vision of condemned souls. Our Lady said to them, "You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart... I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturdays. If what I ask is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."
Our Lady would wait eight years to make that request of Lucia.

Heaven's Request

As if in anticipation of this request, five years earlier, November 13, 1920, the Church, in the person of Pope Benedict XV, encouraged the devotion of the Saturdays of Reparation by granting new indulgences to this practice when accomplished on the first Saturday of eight consecutive months.

Finally, on December 10, 1925, Heaven crystallized all these devotions, and sealed them with a magnificent promise from the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary and the Child Jesus appeared to Lucia at her convent in Pontevedra, Our Lady resting her hand on Lucia's shoulder and revealing a heart encircled by thorns.

The Child Jesus said: "Have compassion on the heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation..."

Our Lady spoke next, saying: "Look, my daughter, at my heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

How awesome it is to see Heaven at work, laying the foundation, and setting each stone in its due time, using the incremental steps of devoted souls. By the time of this apparition, all the preliminary steps had been taken, so that it seemed Heaven was only crowning a great movement of Catholic piety. In requesting the Pope to solemnly approve the devotion of Reparation revealed at Pontevedra, Our Lady was not really asking for anything new. Providence had prepared everything so thoroughly that in 1925 this devotion was right in line with a series of papal decisions refining the First Saturday devotion as we know it.

And yet, there are new elements in this message of Pontevedra, notably in the concessions which only Heaven could grant: the Virgin Mary does not require fifteen, twelve, or even eight Saturdays to be devoted to Her. She asks for only five Saturdays – as many as the decades on our Rosary.

Then, above all, the promise joined with it has increased so remarkably we would be foolish to ignore it. No longer are we merely granted indulgences [that is, the remission of punishment for sins already forgiven], but a much more irresistible grace: the assurance of receiving at the moment of death "all the graces necessary for salvation."

Such is the generosity of our God, and the tenderness of Our Lord for His Mother; in His ardent desire to see her consoled He makes such a lavish promise in exchange for our love. A more powerful promise could hardly be conceived.

Kathryn Mulderink is a home schooling mother of seven, a Consecrated Marian Catechist, a member of the Catholic Writer's Association, the Blue Army, and is a Secular Discalced Carmelite. She has given presentations at various home school conferences and she and her husband head the local chapter of the Fátima Family Apostolate. They live near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, Chapter V, has principles and guidelines regarding Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Originally published in The Tilma, Summer 2003.

The word of God -

Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.