Saturday To the Queen of the Apostles

The purpose of the first Saturday is to know, love, and imitate Mary, our Queen, Mother, and Teacher, and to pray to her always more.

1. O most loving Queen of heaven and of earth, favored Daughter of the Father, sublime Mother of the divine Son, illustrious Spouse of the Holy Spirit, I honor and praise you for your unique privilege.

You pleased God in your humility and faith, and so, while preserving your spotless virginity, you became the great Mother of the divine Savior, our Master, true Light of the world, uncreated Wisdom, Source of all truth, and first Apostle of truth. You gave the world the book to read, the Eternal Word. For the indescribable joy you felt, and for that privilege so sublime, I bless the august Trinity, and I ask you to obtain for me the grace of heavenly wisdom, to be a humble and fervent disciple of Jesus, a devoted child of the Church, the pillar of truth. Make the light of the Gospel shine to the farthest bounds of the earth, overcome errors, gather everyone around the See of Peter. Enlighten doctors, preachers, and writers, O Mother of Good Counsel, Seat of Wisdom, Queen of all Saints.

Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.

2. O Mary, Queen of all the angels, full of grace, conceived without sin, blessed among creatures, living tabernacle of God, remember that painful and solemn moment in which the dying Jesus from the cross gave you John as your Son, and in him all humanity, and especially all the apostles. What tender love flooded your heart at that moment for those consecrated to the apostolate, to the following of the cross, to the love of Jesus.

Because of your unspeakable sufferings and those of your divine Son, and through the love of your motherly heart, O Mary, increase the number of apostles, missionaries, priests, and virgins. May all who are called be resplendent for sanctity of life, integrity of morals, solid piety, the deepest humility, firm faith, and the most ardent charity. May they all be holy, purifying salt of the earth and light of the world.

Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.

3. O Virgin most pure, noble Queen of Martyrs, Morning Star, safe Refuge of sinners, rejoice for the days in which you were Teacher, Comforter, and Mother of the apostles in the Cenacle. You invoked and received the divine Paraclete, the Spirit with the seven gifts, Love of the Father and of the Son, Transformer of the apostles. With your all-powerful intercession and by your humble and irresistible prayers, which always move God’s heart, obtain for me the grace to understand the value of every human person ransomed from hell with Jesus’ most precious blood. May each one of us be enthusiastic about the beauty of the Christian apostolate. May the charity of Christ urge us on. May the spiritual misery of poor humanity move us.

Grant that we may feel in our hearts the needs of childhood, of adolescence, of adulthood, of old age. Grant that vast Africa, immense Asia, promising Oceania, troubled Europe, the two Americas may exercise a powerful attraction on our souls. May the apostolate of example and word, of prayer and the press, of films, radio, and television, and of every means of communication, of the souls in purgatory, win over the hearts of many generous persons, even to the point of the most heroic sacrifices. O Mother of the Church, O Queen of the Apostles, our Advocate, to you we sigh, mourning in this valley of tears.

Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.

4. O our tender Mother Mary, Gate of heaven, source of peace and happiness, Help of Christians, trust of the dying, and hope even of the desperate, I recall the blessed moment for you in which you left the earth to fly to the loving embrace of Jesus. It was the omnipotent favor of God that assumed you into heaven, beautiful and immortal. I see you exalted above the angels and saints, confessors and virgins, apostles and martyrs, prophets and patriarchs, and even I, from the mire of my faults, dare to add the voice of an unworthy but repentant sinner to praise and bless you.

O Mary, convert me once and for always. Give me a repentant life, that I may have a holy death and one day join my voice to that of the saints to praise you in heaven. I consecrate myself to you and through you to Jesus. With full awareness and here in the presence of all the heavenly court, I renew the promises made in holy Baptism. I renew the resolution, which I place in your heart, to fight my self-love
and to combat unceasingly against my principal defect, which so often has cast me into sin. O Mary, gain for yourself the greatest glory: change a great sinner into a great saint, O Refuge of sinners, O Morning Star, O Comforter of the afflicted.

Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.

5. O Mary, Star of the Sea, my gentle sovereign, our life and Queen of peace, how great and how wonderful the day on which the august Trinity crowned you Queen of heaven and earth, dispenser of all graces, our most lovable Mother. What a triumph for you! What happiness for the angels, for the saints, for the earth, for purgatory! I know, O Mary, that those who love you will be saved, and that those who love you greatly will be holy and will participate one day in your triumph in heaven. I do not doubt your clemency or

your power; I fear my inconstancy in praying to you. Obtain for me perseverance, O Mary; be my salvation. I feel my passions, the devil, the world. Keep me close to you and to your Jesus! Do not permit me to fall, do not leave me even for an instant, O Mother. It is consoling to cast the first glance upon you in the morning, to walk under your mantle during the day, to fall asleep under your gaze at night. You have smiles for innocent children, strength for struggling youth, light for working men and women, comfort for the elderly awaiting heaven. O Mary, to you I entrust my entire life; pray for me now and in the final battle at the hour of my death. Receive my soul when it breathes its last, and do not leave me until I kneel before your throne in heaven to love you for all eternity. O Mary, my Queen, my advocate, my sweetness, obtain for me holy perseverance.

Queen of the Apostles, pray for us.

Before or after meditation, or during the Hour of Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament, the following is said or sung:

Receive our prayer, O Mary, our Mother, Queen and Teacher. Beseech your Divine Son, the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his vineyard. Alleluia.

Suscipe nos, Mater, Magistra, Regína nostra: roga Fílium tuum, Dóminum messis, ut mittat operários in messem suam (alleluia).

(Magnificat, p. 303)