In the Spirit of Sanctæ Mariæ Sabbato (Saturday of Our Lady) ~ Class IV
Scripture for the Saturday within the 13th Week after the Octave of Pentecost
1st of September
“In all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.”
— Ecclus. 24:11
“Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts that gave Thee suck. But He said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”
— Luke 11:27-28
The Saturday commemoration of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Sanctæ Mariæ Sabbato—provides the faithful with a liturgical space to contemplate the Mother of God in the peaceful glow of the week’s end. Particularly on this Saturday in early September, falling within the thirteenth week after the Octave of Pentecost, the appointed readings from Ecclesiasticus and St. Luke’s Gospel bring us to ponder Mary’s place as the living Ark of the Covenant and the model of divine receptivity.
Mary as the Seat of Wisdom
The passage from Ecclesiasticus 24:14–16 speaks of Wisdom dwelling in the midst of the people, taking root in an honored people, and resting in Zion. The Church, steeped in patristic tradition, has long understood this passage as a mystical prefiguration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, that mellifluous Doctor of the Church, interprets this imagery as not only referring to divine Wisdom (i.e., the Second Person of the Trinity) but also to Our Lady, who became the dwelling-place of that Wisdom Incarnate:
“She is the throne of Solomon, the ark of the covenant, the temple of the Holy Ghost… She is that city of God whose foundations are in the holy mountains.” (Sermo de Aquaeductu)
Here, Mary is not only honored because she bore Christ, but because she was the chosen sanctuary in whom Eternal Wisdom made His tabernacle. In her, Wisdom did not merely pass through; it “took root”—an echo of the permanence, fidelity, and sanctity of her fiat.
St. John Damascene likewise praises the dwelling of Wisdom in Mary, saying:
“You became the purest temple of the only Son of God… in you He made His dwelling place, sanctifying you from before your birth.” (Hom. I in Dorm. B.M.V.)
The Old Testament imagery of Jerusalem, rooted trees, and glorious resting places are not simply poetic flourishes; they become living realities in the Theotokos.
Hearing and Keeping the Word
The Gospel reading from Luke 11:27-28 includes a surprising exchange. A woman cries out in admiration of the Lord’s human mother—“Blessed is the womb that bore Thee!”—but Our Lord redirects the blessing: “Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”
This was not a rebuke of His Mother, but a deeper affirmation of her true glory. St. Augustine, ever precise, explains:
“Mary was more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ.” (De Sancta Virginitate, 3)
In other words, what made Mary truly blessed was not merely her physical maternity, though that alone would command all honor, but the interior disposition of faith—her hearing and keeping of the Word. She is beata twice over: in body and in soul, in motherhood and in discipleship.
St. Leo the Great adds:
“The Lord preferred to point out to His listeners the spiritual relationship than the bodily, saying that those are more blessed who hear the Word of God and keep it, which is to say, those who imitate what they hear.” (Sermo 25, In Nativitate Domini)
Our Lady, Model of Interior Life
This Saturday devotion reminds us that the Blessed Virgin is our exemplar in the interior life. In the calm of Saturday—symbolic of the Old Testament Sabbath rest and of the stillness before Resurrection—we find in Mary a figure who holds and ponders the mysteries of God in her heart.
Dom Guéranger beautifully describes the meaning of these Marian Saturdays in the liturgical year:
“The Saturday is the day which the Church, led by a tradition dating from the beginning of Christianity, reserves for the honour of Mary. It is the day which is consecrated to her in a more special manner, and that in memory of her firm faith on the Saturday which followed the death of her Son.”
Even when the world lay silent after the Crucifixion, it was Mary who kept the light of faith alive. That same faith is spoken of in today’s Gospel as the blessedness of those who hear and keep the Word.
Conclusion: The Marian Way of Wisdom
As we meditate on this Saturday of Our Lady, let us contemplate the Marian path laid out before us—rooted in wisdom, faithful in contemplation, and fruitful in obedience. She is the Daughter of Zion, the seat of Wisdom, and the first and most perfect disciple of Christ.
Let us take her as our model, not only to admire her exalted role but to imitate her quiet interiority, her unwavering consent to God’s will, and her tender mediation for us, poor banished children of Eve.
Suggested Prayer
O God, who didst vouchsafe to choose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the dwelling-place of Thy Wisdom made flesh, grant, we beseech Thee, that following her example, we may ever treasure Thy word in our hearts and faithfully keep it through all trials and consolations. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.