The Communal First Saturdays® Signature Meditation has 10 things that allow for an increase in grace in us. The Communal First Saturdays Signature Meditation:
- Increases our attention to the presence of the Holy Eucharist within us.
- Allows us to give our attention to Jesus for a period of time while He is really present within us in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
- Is done in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is essential to fulfilling the First Saturdays. This reparation helps remove blockages to the flow of grace from the Holy Eucharist.
- Uses Holy Scripture, the word of God. Jesus speaks to us in His word. The word of God disposes us further to receive sanctifying grace from Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.
- Asks that the Holy Scripture be read out loud to those gathered together communally. This reading of Holy Scripture calls for our response. We read in 1 Tim 4:13, “give attention to the public reading of scripture…” The communal reading of scripture and our response can dispose us to grace more than a private reading.
- Also, the Communal First Saturdays® Signature Meditation puts into practice what the Church advises in Verbum Domini: “One must avoid the risk of an individualistic approach, and remember that God’s word is given to us precisely to build communion, to unite us in the Truth along our path to God. While it is a word addressed to each of us personally, it is also a word which builds community, which builds the Church. Consequently, the sacred text must always be approached in the communion of the Church. In effect, “a communal reading of Scripture is extremely important, because the living subject in the sacred Scriptures is the People of God, it is the Church…” (n. 86).
- The Communal First Saturdays® uses lectio divina, an ancient method of meditation, which is highly recommended by the Church in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Church document Verbum Domini, uniting us with the Church in what we do so as to be more meritorious. In regards to the lectio divina, Pope Benedict XVI said “If it is effectively promoted, this practice will bring to the Church – I am convinced of it – a new spiritual springtime” ( September 16, 2005).
- Includes asking Our Lady for help to meditate on the Scripture. By asking Our Lady for this help, we are also able to keep her company, which Our Lady asked us to do during the meditation.
- Enhances our participation in the Liturgy by harmonizing with the liturgical cycle. For example, the meditation is on the Joyful Mysteries during Advent and the Sorrowful Mysteries during Lent, etc. The Devotional has a distinct Scripture Meditation for each month.
- Has a greater power to please God and make reparation as it is done communally (cf. 1 Tim 4:13, Verbum Domini, n. 86, The Secret of the Rosary, Forty-Sixth Rose, and Paenitentiam Agere, 23).
St. John XXIII: “Clearly the most efficacious kind of prayer for gaining the divine protection is prayer that is offered publicly by the whole community; for Our Redeemer said: “Where two or three are gathered together for my sake, there am I in the midst of them.”
Law of Public prayer: “Somebody who says his Rosary alone only gains the merit of one Rosary, but if he says it together with thirty other people, he gains the merit of thirty Rosaries. This is the law of public prayer.” (St. Louis de Montfort)
We can also expect in the Communal First Saturdays® to gain far greater merit and make much reparation because we are doing the First Saturdays together with others rather doing it alone.
So, in the Communal First Saturdays®, we have a meditation that has greater power in 10 different ways because it helps us be better disposed in 10 different ways to receive the flow of grace from the Holy Eucharist. So, the Communal First Saturdays® Signature Meditation can result in an explosion of grace! Yes, an explosion of grace!
Yet, is this explosion of grace something we feel? Does the explosion of grace affect us emotionally? Feeling and emotion are not essential to the grace we receive. Our response should rather be an act of Faith. As Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (Jn 20:29). In fact, it is more meritorious if we exercise our Faith without any additional consolation of the senses. However, God may judge that because a soul is not sufficiently advanced, a soul could be more encouraged if God gave him or her a sensible experience during Jesus’ Real Presence within.