Saturday is Mary's day (II)

(Continued from September 1)

Humbert of Romans, a French Dominican friar who served as the fifth Master General of the Order of Preachers from 1254 to 1263, gives 3 further reasons for dedicating Saturday to the Virgin Mary:

5 - Just as Saturday is the day between Friday, the day of sorrow, and Sunday, the day of joy, without which we cannot pass from sorrow to glory, so Mary is situated between us, who live in the land of exile, and Christ, already glorious in heaven. There is thus an awareness of Mary's mediating function.

6 - On Saturday, Christ was languishing in the tomb, and the apostles, disbelieving and discouraged, hid themselves "for fear of the Jews" (Jn 20:19), so the Church's faith was concentrated entirely in Mary;

7 - The Mother of Jesus herself showed her preference for this day, in the church of Blacherne in Constantinople. Every Friday evening, without any human intervention, the veil covering the icon of the Theotokos is removed. Suspended in the air, it is visible to the faithful until the ninth hour of Saturday, when, without human intervention, the icon is once again covered and returned to its usual place. Although the West and East are now divided, Humbert evokes this miracle.

Ignazio Calabuig

Il culto di Maria in occidente, in Pontificio Istituto Liturgico sant'Anselmo.

Scientia Liturgica, sotto la direzione di A.J. Chupungco, vol V, Piemme 1998. pp. 342