First Friday and Saturday of May 2024
3rd May 2024
The First Friday and Saturday in May, being the holy month of the Blessed Virgin Mary, will be Friday 3 May and Saturday 4 May. Mass will be celebrated at the following times:
Friday - Rosary 11.30am / Mass 12 Noon followed by Adoration and Benediction
Saturday - Rosary 8.30am / Mass 9am
There will be Holy Hour on Friday afternoon from 4.30pm to 5.30pm. Our Parish Priest will be available to hear confessions during Holy Hour from 5pm and from 8.00am to 8.30am on Saturday morning.
Please come and join us in observing these holy and blessed days in honour of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Prayer in Honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Hail Mary, White Lily of the Glorious and always serene Trinity. Hail brilliant Rose of the garden of heavenly delights: O you, by whom God wanted to be born and by whose milk the King of Heaven wanted to be nourished! Nourish our souls with effusions of divine grace. Amen. 🙏💖💐
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
O Heart of Jesus pierced for our sins and giving us Your Mother on Calvary! O Heart of Mary pierced by sorrow and sharing in the sufferings of your Divine Son for our redemption! O sacred union of these Two Hearts! Praised be the God of Love Who united them together! May we unite our hearts and every heart so that all hearts may live in unity in imitation of that sacred unity which exists in these Two Hearts. Triumph, O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary! Reign, O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus! - in our hearts, in our homes and families, in the hearts of those who as yet do not know you, and in all nations of the world. Amen. 🙏💐💖
History of May being the Holy Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The month of May is traditionally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a tradition that dates back at least 700 years.
One reason given for the choice of May is the particular season in which it falls (at least in the Northern Hemisphere where the tradition began). The springtime beauty with its flowers and blossoms brings to mind the idea of promise and hope. In his Meditations and Devotions, St John Henry Newman writes: ‘The first reason is because it is the time when the earth bursts forth into its fresh foliage and its green grass after the stern frost and snow of winter and the raw atmosphere and the wild wind and rain of the early spring. It is because the blossoms are upon the trees and the flowers are in the gardens. It is because the days have got long, and the sun rises early and sets late. For such gladness and joyousness of external Nature is a fit attendant on our devotion to her who is the Mystical Rose and the House of Gold.’ Further on, he admits that May is sometimes a rainy, cool month. However, it always remains a month of promise and hope, the prelude to summer, the season of light. It is in this sense that it represents Mary. She reflects the light of Christ.
Another reason given is the historical association of May with the beginning of new life and motherhood in nature. Christians therefore adopted May as the month of our Lady, the Mother of God and our heavenly Mother. She brought life into the world by giving birth to her Son, Jesus, Who brought about a new spring.
Finally, May is normally part of the Easter season. It is a fitting time to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary, to recall her unique role in God’s plan of salvation and in His holy Church, to remember her intense joy over her Son’s Resurrection, the motherly comfort and guidance she gave to the Apostles, and her presence at the birth of Christ’s Church. Holy Scripture confirms that she prayed with the Apostles in the upper room as they waited for the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). Pope Benedict XVI stated in his Sunday address on 1 May 2006: ‘In the days that followed the Lord’s resurrection, the Apostles remained gathered together, comforted by the presence of Mary and, after the Ascension, persevered with her in prayer, awaiting Pentecost. The Virgin was for them mother and teacher, a role she continues to carry out for Christians of all times. Every year, during Eastertide, we live this experience more intensely and, perhaps, precisely for this reason, popular tradition has consecrated the month of May, which normally falls between Easter and Pentecost, to Mary.’