Earlier this year I think I shared how I struggled to explain in a few words to my gym companions what the "First Friday" meant and why I had to hurry or there would be no parking left around the Church for the noon Liturgy. It is amazing how many people in Miami have such a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart who asked St. Margaret Mary to have Catholics receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of the month and who promised wonderful things for those who did this. Now, the Church never tells us that we need to believe private revelations, but this devotion became so popular that churches all over began to have the Mass of the Sacred Heart on First Fridays.
When my mother, wanting me to have the experience of a parochial school during 7th and 8th grade so I would have friends in the neighborhood, took me out of the Visitation, I found joy in joining the choir and learning to sing the Mass of the Sacred Heart, "Cogitationes" - all in Latin! What I probably loved most about First Friday at that aage was the breakfast with cinnamon rolls in the church basement every First Friday. Then, I went to the Academy of the Sacred Heart for high school as a boarder and learned to love Jesus more deeply and to be aware of His constant, unconditional love. He wanted my heart and gave me His Heart.
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