Day 6: First Fridays

The sixth day of the Sacred Heart Novena turns to the traditional Catholic devotion of First Fridays, drawn from the Twelfth Promise of the Sacred Heart given by the Lord Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Twelfth Promise is one of the most extraordinary in the modern Catholic tradition and has shaped the practical lives of millions of Catholics for over three centuries.

Today's invocation

O most Holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing... (the full opening prayer)

Today's meditation

The Twelfth Promise of the Sacred Heart, recorded by Saint Margaret Mary in her writings, is generally cited in the form: "I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving the sacraments; My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."

The promise is conditional. The Catholic theological tradition has been careful to note that the promise presupposes the worthy reception of Holy Communion on each of the nine First Fridays (in the state of grace, having confessed grave sin sacramentally beforehand if any), the genuine intention of the consecutive nine months (not merely the mechanical fulfillment of a numbered list), and the perseverance of the soul in the Catholic life thereafter. The promise is not a magic charm; it is the gracious assurance of the Sacred Heart that the soul who has formed in itself a serious devotion to the Heart of Jesus by faithful First Fridays will be given the help necessary at the hour of death to die in the state of grace.

The Catholic devotional practice that follows from the promise is the keeping of the First Friday of every month: the reception of Holy Communion, the offering of the day in reparation to the Sacred Heart, and (often) the keeping of a holy hour of Eucharistic adoration in the company of the Catholic faithful in the parish. The practice is widespread in Catholic parishes around the world; many parishes maintain a First Friday Mass and adoration as a regular feature of the parish calendar.¹

Today's intention

Today, if you have not yet made a serious commitment to the First Fridays devotion, consider making it. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I commit myself today to receiving Holy Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months, in reparation to Your Heart and in confidence in Your promise of final perseverance.

If you have already kept the First Fridays in earlier years, today is a fitting day to renew the commitment, particularly if the practice has lapsed.

Bring also your principal intention to the Sacred Heart.

Reflection

The Catholic spiritual tradition is divided in its judgment of the proper interpretation of the Great Promise. Some Catholic writers (including the great Jesuit theologian Father Karl Rahner in his twentieth-century writings) treat it as the Lord's expression of the ordinary working of grace in the soul that has been faithfully formed by long Catholic devotional practice; others treat it as a more specifically gratuitous promise that goes beyond the ordinary working of grace. In either reading, the promise is conditioned on Catholic fidelity and not a license for Catholic presumption.

The practical Catholic effect of the First Fridays devotion is striking. The discipline of going to Holy Communion at least once a month, with prior sacramental Confession if needed, has shaped the Catholic life of generations. Many Catholic faithful who began the First Fridays in their youth have testified that the discipline kept them in the practice of the faith through difficult periods of their adult lives, and that the promise of the Sacred Heart was, in their experience, faithfully kept at the hour of death.

Closing prayers

Pray three times each: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Your promise. Be my refuge at the hour of my death.

Footnotes

1. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, Autobiography, on the Twelfth Promise. The Catholic devotional tradition of First Fridays is documented in the Raccolta and in the standard parish manuals of the modern Catholic Church. ↩