Dr. Wojciech Kosek
in collaboration with Beata Krochmal
Please click here to download the same text in format: a/. Word, b/. PDF
Meditations led by eight people:
B, D, G, M – women; J, P, W, Z – men.
This translation was published here on 14 Oct 2023.
To see the original Polish text ← click, please!
(Duration of meditations and songs: about 52 min.)
(Duration with recitation of the Rosary: about 82 min.)
Introductory meditations
(Duration of this meditations: about 19 min.)
Z Beloved Jesus! On the first Saturday of March 2016, we came to you with Immaculate Mary, Your and our Mother. We desire to abide in sacramental union with You lovingly, O Jesus, who came to us in Holy Communion. We abide in prayerful adoration after the Eucharist so that with our conscious presence with You, we may respond to the Gift You willed to be for us by coming in Holy Communion. We abide with loving attention directed toward You because we earnestly desire to become like the Blessed Virgin Mary in love with which She loved You. (1:01)
Z Song: Jesus, Veiled in the Sacred Host – 1-2 stanza (1:22)
G In our love for You, O Jesus present under the Eucharistic species, we wish at this adoration to imitate Mary, standing on Calvary Hill beside You hanging on the cross tree. We remember that it was there, on Calvary, at the moment belonging to the most challenging moments of Your and Her life, that You gave us Your Mother for our Mother, and You entrusted us to Her as Her children. Therefore, when we have received You in Holy Communion – You in the state of giving life on Calvary – we desire with Mary and like She to be close to You. (0:58)
G Song: Holy Mother to Your Heart – 1st stanza (0:34)
P Beloved Jesus! When the Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria publicly proclaimed the First Saturdays Devotion in 1939, he wrote these words, explaining the purpose of these services: “Offenses to children embitter their good mothers more than those made to them. The same happens with the most loving Heart of Mary Immaculate. Mother of Jesus – offenses against Her Divine Son deeply hurt Her Heart. That is why on Calvary, at the foot of the Cross, there was the Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows. ” [1] A MOMENT OF SILENCE “… offenses against Her Divine Son deeply hurt Her Heart.” A MOMENT OF SILENCE (1:06)
P Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 1st stanza (0:28)
D The Bishop of Leiria next wrote thus in connection with the First Saturday Devotion: [2] “Our Mother – entrusted by Jesus in His testament during His agony; A MOMENT OF SILENCE “Our Mother – entrusted by Jesus in His testament during His agony; therefore, the hatred, the evil that people commit against each other are real offenses against the Heavenly Mother.” A MOMENT OF SILENCE … “the hatred, the evil that people commit against each other, are realistically offenses against Heavenly Mother” – because she is “our Mother – entrusted by Jesus in His testament during His agony” (1:02)
D Song: Holy Mother to Your Heart – 2nd stanza (0:34)
W Beloved Savior! Now, as we abide in Eucharistic union with You, we poignantly confess that we deeply believe in this miracle that it is given to us to be with You and Mary not only here in our parish church in 2016 but also there at Golgotha, in the year 33, when You, O Beloved, utter from the height of the cross the words of entrusting us to the Mother of Sorrows. With solemnity standing at the hour of Your agony on Golgotha, we humbly accept the sad truth of our personal inclination to evil, our tendency to injure You and Your Mother. A MOMENT OF SILENCE O Christ! In this hour of grace, we humbly beg for a miracle of transformation of the heart of each of us, a miracle of its departure from yielding to weakness, a miracle of loving God and Mary. A MOMENT OF SILENCE In this hour of grace, we humbly implore You, O Christ, for holiness for each of us… May the transformation of our hearts, O Lord, be a consolation to You and Mary. A MOMENT OF SILENCE Through the intercession of Your and our Mother, with the words of song, we implore a holy transformation of our hearts (1:52)
W Song: Holy Mother to Your Heart – 1-5 stanza (2:50)
B Dear Jesus! Here we are today, gathered for the First Saturday Devotion. The purpose of this devotion was explained by the Bishop of Leiria in 1939 in the words: “This devotion flows naturally from the apparitions in Fatima in 1917. It is the Heart of Mary, pained by the loss of so many souls, that brought Her from Heaven to Cova da Iria to talk with small shepherds. She appeared and spoke to the children – unapproachably beautiful, but with the sad smile, as it is at the Mother full of bitterness. She gave them instructions for believers not only of Portugal but also of the whole world.” [3] (1:02)
B Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 2nd stanza (0:28)
J The Bishop of Leiria wrote next as follows about the cause of the sorrow of Your, O Jesus, Mother Mary: “Unfortunately, Her Dear Jesus is still insulted; wicked men insult Him with blasphemy and offend Him, the good Lord, with the most horrendous sins. Nations officially distanced themselves from God, and as a consequence, the terrible war has broken out again, which directly or indirectly affects all people and threatens to subvert the whole world in a sea of hatred and blood!” [4] (0:51)
J Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 3rd stanza (0:28)
M Finally, the bishop posed the tasks we should perform in connection with it that You, O Lord, are insulted and through which the Immaculate Heart of Mary suffers immeasurably. He wrote thus: “Unfortunately, Her Dear Jesus is still insulted … How not to feel the bitterness of the Heart of Mary, Mother of God and our Mother!? We must seek to make reparation for Him by obeying the commandments of God’s law, obedience to the Holy Church, prayer, and frequent reception of the sacraments.” [5] (1:09)
M Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 4th stanza (0:28)
Z O Beloved Lord Jesus! We desire to love You as Your and our Mother, Mary, loves You. Although we realize we do not have the spiritual power to imitate Mary’s love for You fully, we believe our desires and sincere efforts will be effective if we open our hearts through prayer to the action of Your almighty grace. We wish, therefore, to enter now through the Holy Rosary into the sacred space of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that through Her cause and Her example, we may abundantly draw spiritual power from You, O God, hidden under the species of the Most Holy Host. O Lord, guide us into the mysteries of the perfect life – Your and Your Mother’s life. Amen. (1:14)
Z Song: Welcome, Mother of the Holy Rosary – 1-2 stanza (1:18)
The Holy Rosary
(Duration of the Rosary meditations: about 6 min.)
The First Mystery:
The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
G What did the young girl feel when she took into her hands the world’s fate? The same humility in her awareness of her limitations was a strength in her answer. It was not only her acceptance of a plan that had been written down centuries ago; it was, above all, her cooperation with grace. Having infinite power, God left to man’s free will the fulfillment of His will. How many times does my life rely on calculation? I only enter situations where I see profit because I rely on myself. Today, I ask Our Lady to teach me how to respond ‘fiat’ to God. What is my annunciation in life? It is the other person – given and entrusted. When I allow the other person to dwell within me, I become a temple of the Holy Spirit. (1:14)
The Second Mystery:
The Visitation of St. Elizabeth by the Blessed Virgin Mary
P Mary, carrying Jesus under her heart, sets out on a journey. It is not an easy road, but Mary, full of joy, goes. Jesus, called the Word, is the good news. Mary carries this first gospel despite the hardship. The missionary of the living Word gives us an example of proclaiming Christ. She is the patroness of evangelization. How do we transcend ourselves while carrying the Word of God? Help to trust that every print and pain is a harbinger of eternal life. Teach to go out of self-centeredness to the ends of the self for another person. Even though the sense of my existence could be one person to whom I could have brought Jesus, I feel fulfilled. (1:04)
The Third Mystery:
The Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem
D God comes into this world as a human being. Mary never rested on her laurels. She renewed this “Yes!” many more times in everyday life. Mary shared every received fruit of grace with those closest to her and sowed its seeds back into the ground. She multiplied the wealth given to her by being faithful to the most minor things. I look into her cherished gaze and see a place for myself in it. This image from a quiet Bethlehem stable teaches how to look at another human being. St. Joseph’s courage and humility are clues to how to abide with Jesus. A reverie about the creation of man gets me. It was the first adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the history of the world. I remain in this silence. (1:13)
The Fourth Mystery:
the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem
by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph
W In giving Mary and Joseph parental authority over His son, God left His fate to their decision. They offered Him to God, and it was not just a matter of law. There, they were seen by Simeon, a man who had subordinated his entire life to looking for Jesus. He believed in the Infant and glorified Him, singing the ending to the Magnificat. Simeon, pray for us that we may be able to see God under the species of the Eucharistic Bread and greet Him with due reverence in every tabernacle. Remove from our eyes the scales behind which we write our own scripts so that we may recognize Christ with our hearts under the species of Bread and Wine and in another human being. Lord, increase our faith! (1:11)
The Fifth Mystery:
The Finding of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem
by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph
B Once again, we meet the Holy Family, obeying the precepts of law and tradition. Probably looking at them, Jesus was learning obedience – in total freedom. However, on that day, he made them humanly disappointed. His frightened parents found Him only in the Temple. In response, they heard that, after all, He was in what belongs to His Father. Jesus caused His parents’ grief to give a clear answer to those still looking for Him today: “You know where to look for Me.” Jesus is waiting for us in every tabernacle. No gadgets, counseling, or ideologies can soothe our sorrow and lack. They are only substitutes that break off, magnifying the wound. Only Jesus in the Eucharist can do that. (1:13)
Meditations after praying the Holy Rosary
(Duration of meditations and songs: about 35 min.)
J Dearest Savior! We received You in Holy Communion at the Holy Mass to respond to Mary’s invitation to especially intense prayer of reparation on First Saturdays. We know that the most hoped-for gift with which we can console You is to grow in holiness of ourselves and our neighbors. Therefore, to not miss the chance to receive holiness from You, we consciously stand in prayerful vigil right now when we are in unimaginably close communion with You by the power of Holy Communion. (1:01)
J Song: Adoro Te Devote – 1st stanza (0:42)
M Beloved Jesus! We are conscious that it is painful for You and Your Mother Mary when we, Your children, depart from the wisdom of God’s commandments – the path You gave us to lead us towards the fullness of life and the fullness of being conformed to God in holiness. O Jesus, desiring to console You and Your Mother Mary, we earnestly ask You to multiply holiness in our hearts to enable us to keep God’s commandments. We believe, O Lord, that by imploringly stretching our hands toward You now, we will be heard by You during our Eucharistic union, O Jesu-Holy Host. We stand thus believing that You act especially intensely during our mutual union as Savior, freeing Your beloved from entanglement in evil. (1:20)
M Song: Adoro Te Devote – 2nd stanza (0:42)
Z Beloved Savior! Just now, in the Rosary meditations, we opened our hearts to the action of Your grace, capable of transforming us into holy people devoted to God, similar to the Immaculate Mary in her devotion to God and His plan for the salvation of humankind. We believe that Your Divine power awaits the opening of our hearts and minds to the truth of the demands that You Yourself make on us through the mouths of our shepherds. We believe that today, on the first Saturday of the month, we should listen with renewed attention to what the Bishop of Leiria has written. (0:58)
Z Song: Adoro Te Devote – 3rd stanza (0:42)
G We believe, O Beloved Jesus, that You expect us to open our hearts and minds in meditation on the truth of the demands You are making on us through the Bishop of Leiria. With this meditation, we now wish to fulfill Mary’s call to meditate on one mystery of the Holy Rosary. Thus, we want to meditate on the mystery of Your Death at Golgotha and the mystery of our cooperation with You for the full efficacy of this Sacrifice. Following the example of Immaculate Mary, we want to unite ourselves with You, working in us by the power of that Sacrifice which You made at Golgotha and in which we participated through the Holy Mass and received Holy Communion. (1:05)
G Song: Adoro Te Devote – 4th stanza (0:42)
P Beloved Savior! On 13 October 1930, the Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria, where Fatima is located, officially recognized the Fatima apparitions of Our Lady, but only those that took place in 1917. At the time, the bishop wrote thus: “In virtue of what we have explained, and of other matters which we omit for brevity’s sake, invoking humbly the Divine Spirit, and placing our confidence in Mary most holy, after accepting the opinions of the Consulters of our Diocese, we have the pleasure. (1) First, to declare as worthy of credence the visions of the children in Cova da Iria, Parish of Fátima, of this Diocese, on the days between 13 May and 13 October 1917; (2) Secondly, to permit officially the devotion of Our Lady of Fátima.” [6] (1:16)
P Song: Adoro Te Devote – 5th stanza (0:42)
D Dearest Jesus! Having announced the truthfulness of the 1917 apparitions, the bishop addressed to the members of his diocese the words that we also should take seriously. The bishop then wrote, “It now remains for us, beloved children in Our Lord, to warn you that if the favour the Virgin most holy has bestowed upon us is a great source of joy and consolation to us, our duty to reciprocate her goodness is even greater.” A MOMENT OF SILENCE “It now remains for us, beloved children in Our Lord, to warn you that if the favour the Virgin most holy has bestowed upon us is a great source of joy and consolation to us, our duty to reciprocate her goodness is even greater.” [7] (1:11)
D Song: Adoro Te Devote – 6th stanza (0:42)
W Dear Lord Jesus! Looking at You, so closely present under the species of the Most Holy Host, we ask today: “In what concrete way should we respond to the grace of the Fatima apparitions? In what concrete way should we reciprocate for the goodness of Mary, who appeared in Fatima? What should we do so we do not waste this grace?” We find the answer in the following words of the Bishop of Leiria: (0:43)
B “The experience of years has shown that ‘the eyes of God are open and His ears attentive to supplications in this place.’ However, it is necessary that by the purity of our life, by the observance of the Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church, by respect and submission to instructions of the Apostolic See, we show ourselves to be perfect Catholics, for ‘not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of My Father, Who is in Heaven, he shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” [8] (0:58)
B Song: Adoro Te Devote – 7th stanza (0:42)
J Kneeling with Immaculate Mary before You, O Jesus, our Beloved Bridegroom, each of us in the depths of our hearts today asks questions: Do I strenuously strive for the purity of my heart? Do I strenuously strive for purity of thoughts and words? Do I strenuously strive for the purity of my actions? Do I strenuously strive for the purity of my relationships with my sisters and brothers? Is my response to the grace of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima the holy purity of my heart? Is my response to the grace of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima the holy purity of those with whom I meet? What like is my heart? Is my heart pure? What is the likeness of my heart to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? (1:14)
M Kneeling with the Immaculate Mary before You, O Jesus, our Beloved Bridegroom, each of us in the depths of our hearts today asks questions: Do I show myself to be a good Catholic by keeping the commandments of God and the precepts of the Church? Am I convinced of the truth, revealed in the First Epistle of the Holy Apostle John, that “the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1John 5:3)? A MOMENT OF SILENCE Am I convinced of the truth revealed in the biblical statement that “the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome”? (1:09)
Z Beloved Jesus! How we long to imitate the Immaculate Mary in obedience to God: how we long to believe with all our hearts in this fundamental truth that God’s commandments are the most essential source of wisdom for life, wisdom that assures us both a successful life in mortality and happiness forever in eternity. However, we realize that the evil spirit and the world tempt us to deviate from the requirements of God’s commandments. Therefore, with all the more attention, we wish to draw from the experience of the many tribes of Israel, from which, according to the flesh, came the Immaculate Mary and, consequently, You, Jesus. Here in the pages of the Holy Scriptures are recorded such words of encouragement and warning: (1:15)
G “Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life: listen, and know prudence! How is it, Israel, that you are in the land of your foes, grown old in a foreign land, Defiled with the dead, accounted with those destined for the nether world? You have forsaken the fountain of wisdom! Had you walked in the way of God, you would have dwelt in enduring peace. Learn where prudence is, where strength, where understanding; That you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. Who has found the place of wisdom, who has entered into her treasuries? (Bar 3:9–15 ) (1:03)
P Learn where prudence is, where strength, where understanding; That you may know also where are length of days, and life, where light of the eyes, and peace. Who has found the place of wisdom, who has entered into her treasuries? Where are the rulers of the nations, they who lorded it over the wild beasts of the earth, and made sport of the birds of the heavens: They who heaped up the silver and the gold in which men trust; of whose possessions there was no end? They schemed anxiously for money, but there is no trace of their work: They have vanished down into the nether world, and others have risen up in their stead. Later generations have seen the light, have dwelt in the land, But the way to understanding they have not known, they have not perceived her paths, or reached her; their offspring were far from the way to her.” (Bar 3:14-21) (1:22)
D “She has not been heard of in Canaan, nor seen in Teman. The sons of Hagar who seek knowledge on earth, the merchants of Midian and Teman, the phrasemakers seeking knowledge, These have not known the way to wisdom, nor have they her paths in mind. O Israel, how vast is the house of God, how broad the scope of his dominion: Vast and endless, high and immeasurable! In it were born the giants, renowned at the first, stalwarts, skilled in war. Not these did God choose, nor did he give them the way of understanding; They perished for lack of prudence, perished through their folly.” (Bar 3:22-28) (1:03)
W Who has gone up to the heavens and taken her, or brought her down from the clouds? Who has crossed the sea and found her, bearing her away rather than choice gold? None knows the way to her, nor has any understood her paths. Yet he who knows all things knows her; he has probed her by his knowledge – He who established the earth for all time, and filled it with four-footed beasts; He who dismisses the light, and it departs, calls it, and it obeys him trembling.” (Bar 3:29–33) (0:50)
B “Such is our God; no other is to be compared to him: He has traced out all the way of understanding, and has given her to Jacob, his servant, to Israel, his beloved son. Since then she has appeared on earth, and moved among men. She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her.” (Bar 3:36–4,1). A MOMENT OF SILENCE “Such is our God … He has traced out all the way of understanding, and has given her to Jacob … She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her. A MOMENT OF SILENCE She is the book of the precepts of God, the law that endures forever; All who cling to her will live, but those will die who forsake her.” (1:25)
B Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 1st stanza (0:43)
J Kneeling with the Immaculate Mary before You, O Jesus, our beloved Bridegroom, each of us in the depths of our hearts today asks the questions: Am I convinced of the truth, handed down to us by God through St. John Paul II, that love for the Church is expressed in obedience to the liturgical norms, the observance of which is entrusted to both priests and the People of God? Am I inwardly, in my heart, convinced that, as St. John Paul II wrote, “Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church.” [9] (1:14)
J Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 2nd stanza (0:43)
M Kneeling with Immaculate Mary before You, O Jesus, our beloved Bridegroom, each of us in the depths of our hearts today asks the questions: Am I convinced of the truth, communicated to us by You through St. John Paul II, contained in the following words, “I therefore exhort all the faithful to observe the proposed legislation with a sincere spirit and good will in the hope that there may flower again in the Church a renewed discipline; and that consequently the salvation of souls may be rendered ever easier under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.” [10] (1:04)
M Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 3rd stanza (0:43)
Z Kneeling with Immaculate Mary before You, O Jesus, our Beloved Bridegroom, each of us in the depths of our hearts today asks the questions: Am I convinced of the truth conveyed to us by You through St. John Paul II in the following words: “Christ the Lord, indeed, did not in the least wish to destroy the very rich heritage of the Law and of the Prophets which was gradually formed from the history and experience of the People of God in the Old Testament, but He brought it to completion (cf. Matt 5:17), in such wise that in a new and higher way it became part of the heritage of the New Testament. Therefore, although St. Paul, in expounding the Paschal Mystery, teaches that justification is not obtained by the works of the Law, but by means of faith (cf. Rom 3:28; Gal 2:16), he does not thereby exclude the binding force of the Decalogue (cf. Rom 13:28; Gal 5:13-25; 6:2), nor does he deny the importance of discipline in the Church of God (cf. 1Cor chapters 5, 6). Thus the writings of the New Testament enable us to understand still more the importance itself of discipline and make us see better how it is more closely connected with the saving character of the evangelical message itself.” [11] (1:59)
Z Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 4th stanza (0:43)
G Am I inwardly, in my heart, convinced that, as John Paul II wrote, “Our time, too, calls for a renewed awareness and appreciation of liturgical norms.” [12] Is it not a sin on my conscience to incite the community to disregard the liturgical norms in force during Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament? Is it not because of me that priests or the faithful no longer care about obedience to the laws and precepts with which, out of love for the People of God, the Holy See normalizes the selection of songs during the Eucharistic liturgy? Do I value obedience to the Church’s norms governing the reception of Holy Communion? Do I believe God will lavishly reward those who stand up for the Church’s holy discipline? (1:24)
G Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 5th stanza (0:43)
P Am I inwardly, in my heart, convinced that, as the bishop of Leiria wrote, “it is necessary that by the purity of our life, by the observance of the Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church, by respect and submission to instructions of the Apostolic See, we show ourselves to be perfect Catholics, for ‘not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he who does the will of My Father, Who is in Heaven, he shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” [13] (0:55)
P Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 6th stanza (0:43)
D Dearest Jesus! We are slowly coming to the end of our encounter with You and Mary. We wish the exhortations the Bishop of Leiria addressed to the members of his diocese in 1930 in his letter proclaiming the truth of Mary’s apparitions at Fatima remain in our hearts. May Your grace find a response from our hearts so that we fulfill what is written at the end of this precious document in the following words: (0:43)
W “In a special manner, we do recommend to our beloved Diocesans the love of Our Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist, devotion to the most holy Virgin, to St. Joseph, to the holy souls in Purgatory, the daily recital of at least five decades of the Rosary, flights from sins of the flesh, from immodest fashions and immoral reading, the practice of penance on which Jesus so much insisted and of which the Virgin, Our Lady, spoke so much, charity towards all our brethren and principally towards the sick and the poor.” [14] (0:57)
W Song: Be Hail, Living Host – 7-8 stanza (1:26)
B Beloved Savior! Today, on the first Saturday of March, in obedience to Immaculate Your and our Mother Mary, with gratitude for Your Eucharistic presence, we stand in prayerful appeal for the sanctity of our hearts and the hearts of all people. By rising from our sins, by advancing in holiness – we wish to console You, to make reparation for all that offends God… May a song of love and reparation flow from our hearts to You, O Christ, and to the Immaculate Mary, greatly grieved by all the sins with which humankind offends You, such a good God! From this moment on, as our loving abiding with You and Mary slowly draws to a close, we wish to abide until the Appeal of Jasna Gora in silence. May Your and Mary the Mother’s love permeate our hearts… May our love comfort Your Divine Heart and Her Immaculate Heart. Amen. (1:32)