1st Friday
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We recall below the promises that the same Jesus himself made for the
Practice of the 1st Friday of the month
The Lord asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that the knowledge and love of her Heart spread in the world, as a divine flame, to rekindle the charity that languished in the hearts of many.
Once the Lord, showing her his Heart and complaining about the ingratitudes of men, asked her to attend Holy Communion, especially on the first Friday of every month.Spirit of love and reparation, here is the soul of this monthly Communion: of love that tries to reciprocate the ineffable love of the divine Heart towards us; of reparation for the coldness, the ingratitudes, the contempt with which men repay so much love.Many souls embrace this practice of Holy Communion on the first Friday of the month because of the fact that, among the promises that Jesus made to St. 
Margaret Mary, there is that with which He assured final penance (that is, the salvation of the soul) to who for nine consecutive months, in the First Friday, had joined him in Holy Communion.But it would not be much better to decide for Holy Communion on the first Friday of all the months of our existence?
Margaret Mary, there is that with which He assured final penance (that is, the salvation of the soul) to who for nine consecutive months, in the First Friday, had joined him in Holy Communion.But it would not be much better to decide for Holy Communion on the first Friday of all the months of our existence?We all know that, next to groups of fervent souls who have understood the hidden treasure in the weekly Holy Communion, and, even better, in the daily one, there is an exterminated number of those who rarely during the year or only at Easter, remember that there is a Bread of life, even for their souls; without taking into account those who do not even feel the need for heavenly nourishment at Easter.The monthly Holy Communion constitutes a good frequency for the participation of the divine mysteries. The advantage and the taste that the soul draws from it, perhaps will gently induce to diminish the distance between an encounter with the other with the divine Master, even to the daily Communion, according to the most vivid desire of the Lord and of the Holy Church.But this monthly meeting must be preceded, accompanied and followed by such sincerity of dispositions that the soul truly comes out refreshed.
The most certain sign of the fruit obtained will be the observation of the progressive improvement of our conduct, that is of the greater likeness of our heart to the Heart of Jesus, through the faithful and loving observance of the Ten Commandments."He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (Jn 6.54)
THE PROMISES OF OUR LORD FOR THE DEVOTEES OF HIS SACRED HEART
Blessed Jesus, appearing at S. Margherita Maria Alacoque and showing her his Heart, shining like the sun of very bright light, made the following promises for his devotees:
- I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will establish peace in their houses.
- I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
- I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
- I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
- Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
- I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
- I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
- I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who shall receive communion on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
The twelfth promise is called "great" because it reveals the divine mercy of the Sacred Heart towards humanity.
These promises made by Jesus have been authenticated by the authority of the Church, so that every Christian can safely believe in the fidelity of the Lord who wants all saved, even sinners.
These promises made by Jesus have been authenticated by the authority of the Church, so that every Christian can safely believe in the fidelity of the Lord who wants all saved, even sinners.
CONDITIONS
To make yourself worthy of the Great Promise it is necessary:
To make yourself worthy of the Great Promise it is necessary:
1.Approach the Communion. Communion must be done well, that is, in the grace of God; therefore, if one is in mortal sin, one must premise confession.
2. For nine consecutive months. So who started the Communions and then for forgetfulness, illness, etc. he had left even one, he must start from the beginning.
3. Every first Friday of the month. Pious practice can be started in any month of the year.
2. For nine consecutive months. So who started the Communions and then for forgetfulness, illness, etc. he had left even one, he must start from the beginning.
3. Every first Friday of the month. Pious practice can be started in any month of the year.
SOME DOUBTS
IF, AFTER THE FIRST NINE FRIDAYS DONE WITH THE RIGHT DISPOSITIONS,YOU FALL IN DEADLY SIN AND THEN SUDDENLY DIE, HOW WOULD YOU SAVE?
Jesus has promised, without exception, the grace of final penance to all those who have done well the Holy Communion on the first Friday of every month for nine consecutive months; therefore one must believe that, in the excess of his mercy, Jesus gives that dying sinner the grace to emit an act of perfect contrition, before dying.
WHO COMPLETED THE NINE COMMUNIONS WITH THE INTENTION TO CONTINUE THEN MORE THAN QUIETLY TO SIN, COULD HE HOPE IN THIS GREAT PROMISE OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS?
Certainly not, indeed would commit many sacrileges, because approaching the Holy Sacraments, it is necessary to have the firm resolution to leave sin. One thing is the fear of returning to offend God, and the other malice and intention to continue to sin.
SUGGESTION FOR MEDITATION
MEDITATIONS FOR THE FIRST FRIDAY
I FRIDAY Repentance.
MEDITATIONS FOR THE FIRST FRIDAY
I FRIDAY Repentance.
O Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of love for all men redeemed by You with Your passion and death on the Cross, I come to You to humbly ask you for forgiveness of so many sins with which I have offended Your infinite Majesty and I have deserved the punishment of Your justice.
You are full of mercy and for this I come to you, confident of obtaining, together with forgiveness, all the graces you have promised to those who would have approached the holy sacraments of Confession and Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months.
I recognize myself as a vile sinner, unworthy of all your favor, and I humble myself before Your infinite goodness, for which you have always sought me and patiently waited for me to come to You to enjoy Your infinite mercy.Here I am at your feet, my lovable Jesus, to give you all the adoration and all the love of which I am capable, while I beg You: "Mercy, my God, pity of me according to Your great mercy. Wash me from all my faults, purify me and I will be cleansed, washed and will be whiter than snow If you want you can heal my soul You can do everything, my Lord: save me. "
You are full of mercy and for this I come to you, confident of obtaining, together with forgiveness, all the graces you have promised to those who would have approached the holy sacraments of Confession and Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months.
I recognize myself as a vile sinner, unworthy of all your favor, and I humble myself before Your infinite goodness, for which you have always sought me and patiently waited for me to come to You to enjoy Your infinite mercy.Here I am at your feet, my lovable Jesus, to give you all the adoration and all the love of which I am capable, while I beg You: "Mercy, my God, pity of me according to Your great mercy. Wash me from all my faults, purify me and I will be cleansed, washed and will be whiter than snow If you want you can heal my soul You can do everything, my Lord: save me. "
II FRIDAY Faith.
Here I am, my Jesus, on the Friday of the second month, a day that reminds me of the martyrdom to which you have subjected yourself to reopen the gates of Paradise and to escape me from the slavery of the devil.
This thought should suffice to understand how great is your love for me. Instead I am so late in mind and so hard of heart that I have always struggled to understand you and to answer you. You are near me and I feel you far away, because I believe in You, but with a faith so weak and so clouded by so much ignorance and so much attachment to myself, that I can not feel Your loving presence.Then I beseech you, O my Jesus: increase my faith, annihilate in me what does not please You and prevents me from seeing Your features of Father, of Redeemer, of Friend.
Give me a living faith that makes me attentive to Your word and makes me love it like the good seed thrown into the ground of my soul. Nothing can disturb the faith I have in you: neither doubt, nor temptation, nor sin, nor scandal.This thought should suffice to understand how great is your love for me. Instead I am so late in mind and so hard of heart that I have always struggled to understand you and to answer you. You are near me and I feel you far away, because I believe in You, but with a faith so weak and so clouded by so much ignorance and so much attachment to myself, that I can not feel Your loving presence.Then I beseech you, O my Jesus: increase my faith, annihilate in me what does not please You and prevents me from seeing Your features of Father, of Redeemer, of Friend.
Make my faith pure and crystalline, without the weight of my personal interests, without the conditioning of the problems of life. Make me believe only because you speak. And you alone have words of eternal life.
III FRIDAY Trust.
My Jesus, I come to You to fill my heart in need of love, because it often feels alone. Too many times I have trusted men and often my trust has been betrayed. Today I give you my trust, I give it to you in the most absolute measure, because I know that You will take me in Your arms, towards the best goals. You are the only one who deserves the trust of man: complete trust, total, because you have never failed in your word. You are the faithful God, the Creator who has spread the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. The world gives vertigo; You give love, serenity and peace. You give the certainty of being saved and in your name every Friday so many souls rise to the life of grace.In your name I too today rose again in the certainty of being saved, because You promised it. With Your Great Promise you have manifested Your power, but with Your mercy you have shown love. And ask me for a response of love.
Here I am, O Lord, I reply to you by giving you all my trust, and because I trust you, I trust you, in the certainty that every prayer, every renunciation, every sacrifice offered to you with love will obtain from you hundred per cent.
IV FRIDAY Humility.
My Jesus, I believe you in the Most Holy Sacrament, an inextinguishable source of all good. For Your Body that you give me in Holy Communion, let me contemplate Your face in the Celestial Fatherland. Immerse me in the pure wave of Your Blood, O Lord, so that I learn that in the hiding, in the humble self-sacrifice, peace and joy of hearts are born.
The world is pride, exhibition and violence. Instead you teach humility that is service, meekness, understanding, goodness.
You made my food and drink with the Sacrament of Your Body and Your Blood. And you are my God! You have thus shown me that, to save me you had to make yourself humble, to hide yourself, to let yourself be annihilated. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Your annihilation:
The world is pride, exhibition and violence. Instead you teach humility that is service, meekness, understanding, goodness.
You made my food and drink with the Sacrament of Your Body and Your Blood. And you are my God! You have thus shown me that, to save me you had to make yourself humble, to hide yourself, to let yourself be annihilated. The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Your annihilation:
anyone can worship or trample on you. And you are God! Human insipidity is capable of any desecration. And You call with love, wait for love. Humble and hidden in the Tabernacle You have become the God of waiting. From the bottom of my nothing I ask for forgiveness for when I have not heard Your Voice. My Lord, on this fourth Friday I ask you for the gift of humility. It is humility that saves human relationships, which saves the unity of families, but above all it is humility that makes my relations with you real and constructive.
Because You love the humble and despise the proud, let me be humble in order to be loved by You. May I know how to imitate the humble your maid, the Virgin Mary, whom you loved for her virginity, but whom you chose for her
humility. This is the gift I want to bring you today: my purpose to be humble.
Because You love the humble and despise the proud, let me be humble in order to be loved by You. May I know how to imitate the humble your maid, the Virgin Mary, whom you loved for her virginity, but whom you chose for her
humility. This is the gift I want to bring you today: my purpose to be humble.
V FRIDAY The reparation.
I come to you, my Jesus, with so many sins and many faults. You have forgiven me in the sacrament of Confession, but I still owe so much love of reparation: love that erases all traces of my sin, first inside me, and then in the Church, my spiritual mother, which I have damaged with my sin diminishing love in Your Kingdom in it. For this reparation I offer You Your own immolated Body and Your blood shed for the salvation of many.Although very unworthily I offer you, in union with Your divine sacrifice, the renunciation of all illicit satisfaction, I offer you every sacrifice required by fidelity to the duties I have towards my family, the sacrifices required by my daily work; I offer you all my physical and moral sufferings, so that the numb consciences, the sick and upset families, the lukewarm hearts rediscover the way of faith, the brightness of hope, the fruitful ardor of charity. And You, my Jesus Eucharistic, come to me with Your Holy Spirit, Perfect Consoler. Enlighten my mind, inflame my heart, that I may love you with all my strength above all things and thus repair my sins and those of the whole world. Grant me to know how to make you love even from all my dear ones, until one day you will gather all together in Your eternal Kingdom to enjoy Your mercy in happiness that has no end.
VI FRIDAY The donation.
My Lord Jesus, You gave yourself to me in the Holy Eucharist to show me how great and powerful is Divine Love.
I want to give it to you with unlimited confidence and without reserve, so that you can see the sincerity of my love. But precisely because my love, although sincere, is so weak and distracted by the things of the world, I wish to offer you my total and unconditional donation. I trust that You, with Your grace, make it ever more true I firmly believe in you, then I seek you loving you, and I give you all my being and all my things together with my dearest affections, to the point of constituting with you one thing, because Your life throbs in my soul. I am sure that if this happens, you will be the consolation that no one else can give me; you will be my strength, my comfort in every day of my life. You have given yourself to me and I give myself totally to you, so that I can understand how great your love is.On this day you give me your light to the full, and you make me understand that in order to realize this gift, I must be humble and strong in faith. This is why I need your help, your assistance, your strength. This is what I ask of you with so much love, because I desire to achieve the most intimate closeness to the Eucharist, not only today, but in all the days of my life. And You, my Lord, make sure that, for this gift to You, I resist every seduction of people, things, money, pride, and always be Your witness, always looking for Your love and Your glory .
I want to give it to you with unlimited confidence and without reserve, so that you can see the sincerity of my love. But precisely because my love, although sincere, is so weak and distracted by the things of the world, I wish to offer you my total and unconditional donation. I trust that You, with Your grace, make it ever more true I firmly believe in you, then I seek you loving you, and I give you all my being and all my things together with my dearest affections, to the point of constituting with you one thing, because Your life throbs in my soul. I am sure that if this happens, you will be the consolation that no one else can give me; you will be my strength, my comfort in every day of my life. You have given yourself to me and I give myself totally to you, so that I can understand how great your love is.On this day you give me your light to the full, and you make me understand that in order to realize this gift, I must be humble and strong in faith. This is why I need your help, your assistance, your strength. This is what I ask of you with so much love, because I desire to achieve the most intimate closeness to the Eucharist, not only today, but in all the days of my life. And You, my Lord, make sure that, for this gift to You, I resist every seduction of people, things, money, pride, and always be Your witness, always looking for Your love and Your glory .
VII FRIDAY The abandonment.
Too many times I got confusedand fret myself. Then I lost sight of you, my true good, and I forgot the intentions that I gave you in the previous Friday.
Now I ask you, my Jesus, to take care of me and my things. I want to abandon myself completely in You, certain that You will resolve all my spiritual and material situations.
I want to peacefully close the eyes of my soul, avert the thought from every trouble and from every tribulation and return to you, because you only work, telling yourself: think about it! I want to close my eyes and let myself be carried by the current of Your grace on the infinite sea of Your love. I want to abandon myself to you to let me work with you, who are the Almighty, with all the trust of my heart. I just want to tell you: think about it! I no longer want to worry about myself, because it is You, who are infinite Wisdom, to worry about me, my loved ones, my future. Only I ask you: my Lord, think about it. I want to abandon myself in You and rest in You, blindly believing in Your infinite goodness, in the certainty that You will train Me to do Your will and you will carry me in Your arms towards what for me is the true good.
In my spiritual and material needs, leaving aside troubles and anguish, I will always tell you how I now tell you: My Lord, think of You.Now I ask you, my Jesus, to take care of me and my things. I want to abandon myself completely in You, certain that You will resolve all my spiritual and material situations.
I want to peacefully close the eyes of my soul, avert the thought from every trouble and from every tribulation and return to you, because you only work, telling yourself: think about it! I want to close my eyes and let myself be carried by the current of Your grace on the infinite sea of Your love. I want to abandon myself to you to let me work with you, who are the Almighty, with all the trust of my heart. I just want to tell you: think about it! I no longer want to worry about myself, because it is You, who are infinite Wisdom, to worry about me, my loved ones, my future. Only I ask you: my Lord, think about it. I want to abandon myself in You and rest in You, blindly believing in Your infinite goodness, in the certainty that You will train Me to do Your will and you will carry me in Your arms towards what for me is the true good.
VIII FRIDAY Prayer.
I really have to learn to pray. I understood that instead of doing Your will, I have always asked You to do mine. You came for the sick, but I, instead of asking Your care, I have always suggested mine. I forgot to pray as You taught us in our Father and I forgot that you are my Father full of love. Let your name be sanctified in this necessity of mine. Your kingdom come, also through this situation, in me and in the world. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, disposing of my necessity as best I like you, for my temporal and eternal life.I believe that You are infinite goodness, so I am sure that You intervene with all Your omnipotence and resolve the most closed situations. If even the evil one presses, I will not shake, but I will close my eyes and with such confidence I will tell you: Your will be done. And I will be sure that you will intervene and compose, as a divine doctor, every healing, even the miracle if necessary. Because there is no medicine more powerful than your intervention with love.
I will no longer confide in men, because I know this is what hinders the work of Your love. My trusting prayer will always be addressed to You, because in You I believe, in You I hope, I love You above all things.IX FRIDAY The purpose.
I have reached the end of the Nine First Fridays requested by You to fill me with the graces provided by Your Great Promise. During these nine months you have helped me to grow in faith and in the life of grace. Your love attracted me to you and made me understand how much you suffered to save me and how great is your desire to bring me to salvation. All the love of a God has been poured out on me, has enlightened my soul, strengthened my will and made me understand that it is of no use to man to gain even the whole world if he loses his soul, because lost the soul is lost everything, saved the soul is saved everything. I thank you my Jesus, of many gifts and I offer you, as a testimony of my gratitude, the intention of approaching more often the sacraments of Confession and of Holy Communion with the adoration, respect, devotion and fervor of which I can be able .And you continue to assist me, oh my Jesus, with Your love always alert and always merciful, so that I learn to love you for yourself, even more than for Your benefits. I want to be able to always say with sincerity: My love I love you so much. And You who said: "I myself will lead my sheep to pasture and I will let them rest" (Ezekiel 18, 15), lead me too, because I feed on Your love and rest always on Your heart.
In particular I want to offer you in thanksgiving of all your benefits, the purpose of never leaving Mass on Sundays and other holidays, and also to teach my family members the observance of this third Commandment that You gave us because we come to to draw from your love the joy and serenity that no one else can give us.