Memory of Mary on Saturdays (II)

Humbertus de Romanis, Master General of the Order, gave three more reasons for choosing to dedicate Saturdays to the Blessed Virgin Mary: 5.Just as Saturday is the day placed between “sorrowful” Friday and “joyful” Sunday -so we cannot reach Saturday without going from sorrow to glory. Mary is therefore placed between us creatures living in this land of exile and Jesus Christ already in His heavenly glory. We can discover Mary’s role as Mediatrix in this awareness. 6.On Saturday Christ languished in the sepulchre and the apostles, unbelieving and discouraged, had hidden “by fear of the Jews” (Jn 20:19), so the faith of the Church was concentrated in its entirety on Mary. Therefore, each Saturday is the memory of the Virgin Mary who believes and who awaits the resurrection of her Son. 7. The Mother of Jesus herself showed a preference for this day, in the church of Blacherne in Constantinople. Each Friday evening, without any human intervention, the veil covering the icon of the Theotokos was lifted and floated in the air, allowing the faithful to see the icon until 9:00 PM on Saturday when the icon was again veiled without any human intervention and returned to its usual position. Humbertus evokes this miracle although the West is separated from the Oriental Orthodoxy.