Keeping First Friday, First Saturday devotions

Christina Galeone | CFP Correspondent 

In 1974, Jack Monahan accepted an unforgettable invitation. He was invited to attend a Mass with members of the First Friday Club – a group of Catholic men in the Worcester Diocese that participate in the First Friday devotion.   

“When the group met for lunch after Mass, I was introduced as its new president by the current president, then Worcester Fire Chief Ed Hackett,” Mr. Monahan recalled. “No one was more surprised than I was, since I was just a guest and had no idea that my friend, Chief Hackett, had made this decision. That was 47 years ago, and I have never regretted agreeing to serve the Church through the First Friday Club and to see that its devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus continued in our diocese.” 

But the club members aren’t the only ones who recognize the importance of the beloved devotion and the equally cherished First Saturday devotion. Several parishes have been keeping both alive. Through the devotions, many people continue to show love and reverence for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.   

For the First Saturday devotion, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, a person must go to confession, receive holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and keep Mary company for 15 minutes while meditating on rosary mysteries. Everything is done in reparation to Mary for the blasphemies against Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The first time Mary mentioned the devotion was when she appeared in the world-famous Fatima apparitions of 1917.  According to The Divine Mercy website, www.thedivinemercy.org, Mary told Servant of God Lucia dos Santos that she promises “to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation” everyone who completes the devotion. 

The First Friday devotion is done to make reparation to and honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus brought this devotion to the world, in the 1600s, through revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. According to The Divine Mercy website, Jesus did so to “rekindle the fire of love in the hearts of the faithful.” The website also states that Christ told St. Margaret Mary: “I promise you in the excessive mercy of my heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive holy Communion on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.” 

Since the First Friday Club began in 1950, its members have embraced Jesus’ words as well as the club’s stated desire to “bring about the ever-increasing reign of the Sacred Heart of Christ in their own hearts and in the hearts of all mankind.” Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the members would fulfill that mission by gathering for an 8 a.m. First Friday Mass – followed by a breakfast meeting – from October through June.  

Although the club wasn’t able to meet from April through June of 2020, it was able to resume in October. “Although smaller in numbers, a group of 50 to 70 men were able to gather at Mass,” Mr. Monahan explained. “Since COVID restrictions forced us to eliminate the breakfast, we simply remained seated at the end of the Mass and focused on the message of the celebrant who would deliver his presentation.” 

Mr. Monahan said that he is “amazed at the number of men who have continued to gather for the First Friday devotion,” and he’s thankful for their commitment. He added, “I am even more amazed, however, that…this remarkable group of men continued to honor their devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in spite of the worldwide pandemic.” 

Father Alex Joseph, the pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Maronite Catholic Church in Worcester, said that he believes that the pandemic has strengthened his faith and the faith of others. And it has made them more determined to live their faith. 

When asked why it’s important to keep the Church’s First Friday and First Saturday devotions going, Father Joseph said that it’s because of hope and community.  

“If the Church cannot be a place that fosters hope, then it needs to re-examine its priorities,” he said. “What better way to seek out hope than sitting before the Lord in communal prayer? The attendees of these programs look forward to seeing their friends and coming together …with a common goal.” 

And Father Joseph believes that goal is vital.  

“Throughout history, when society and all that encompasses it goes astray and becomes difficult, the Church has been … the foundation to bring about comfort, love, support and stability,” he said. “In an ever-changing world, Christians through their baptism are asked to become that beacon of light that fosters the upbuilding of Jesus’ Church here on earth.” 

Father Richard W. Polek, the pastor at Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Worcester, said that the First Friday devotion has always been a very strong tradition in Poland and Polish parishes.  

“Since I was a child, I remember that First Friday devotion was very important in our parish and family,” he shared. “As First Communion class, we were encouraged to practice the nine First Fridays, and, as I remember, we never stopped after making nine First Fridays, but continued … praying. First Friday devotion became part of my spiritual life.”    

The parish, which celebrates Mass in English and Polish, offers robust ways to celebrate the devotion.  

“Every First Friday afternoon, we begin the adoration at 3 p.m. with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy,” Father Polek said. “Then, at 6 p.m., two priests are available for confessions. At 6:30, we have a Litany to Sacred Heart of Jesus and Benediction, followed by Mass.”  

Additionally, on the first Friday, the parish – which also honors the First Saturday devotion – provides sacraments to people who are ill or homebound.  

“It has a very special meaning to me, and every time we celebrate this day here in the parish, we remember the special First Friday intentions, as we call them,” Father Polek said. “They are the Catholic missions, the sick and homebound … and conversion of the sinners.”  

When Father David Mary Engo arrived at St. James Parish in South Grafton in February 2020, he began First Friday and First Saturday devotions at the church.  

“We understood that if we were going to experience the renewal of faith, we would have to begin at the hearts of Jesus and Mary,” Father Engo explained. “The renewal of each of our hearts had to start by being reignited by the flames of divine love that flow out from the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” 

During the pandemic church closures, the parish moved the Masses online. But it reinstated the devotions as soon as the restrictions were lifted. Since then, Father Engo said that attendance at both continues to grow, and he believes the devotions have inspired the parishioners. 

“I see more and more people attending daily Mass,” he revealed. “More and more of our parishioners are frequenting confession, and I see an increased number of people attending eucharistic adoration. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is being lived out by our people falling more deeply in love with Jesus in the holy Eucharist, and the devotion of First Saturdays is leading people into a deeper devotion to their heavenly mother Mary.” 

Like that unforgettable invitation that Mr. Monahan received, both devotions are transforming individual lives. And their impact on churches is extraordinary.