God winked at me on First Friday
First of all, you may be asking yourself what is First Friday?
“First Friday” is the first Friday of the month and is marked by a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion dates back to 1673 when Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary of Alacoque and spoke to her of His Sacred Heart. Jesus promised Margaret Mary that special favors, such as the grace of final perseverance, would be given to those who received Holy Communion on nine successive first Fridays. After Margaret Mary’s death, the First Friday practice steadily spread in the Church. It was endorsed by popes and promoted by saints and greatly increased in popularity when Margaret Mary was canonized as a saint in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV.
It remains a popular practice among parishes to celebrate First Friday Mass devoted to the Sacred Heart and to the Precious Blood of Jesus. The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and July to His Most Precious Blood. My parish in Forsyth, Missouri is no different in celebrating First Fridays. However, this past April during First Friday Mass, Jesus “dropped by” and winked at me. Let me explain.
I had just finished reading the prayer petitions and began setting the altar in preparation of the Liturgy of the Eucharist. As I poured wine into the two chalices, the presiding priest, Fr. Samson, whispered to me that I had poured too much wine into his chalice and asked that I pour some from his chalice into the second chalice. In doing so, I was careful to use a purificator (a white linen cloth used to wipe the chalice) to catch any drops of wine from getting on the altar cloth. When I placed the purificator on the altar next to the chalice, I noticed that one of the drops of wine on the purificator was in the shape of a heart. I was amazed by what I saw.
Was this a coincidence that this occurred on First Friday? I don’t think so. Did the wine on the purificator change into the Precious Blood of Jesus? No, the consecration prayer had not yet occurred, nor was there ever any intent by the priest to change wine not in the chalices into the blood of Christ. Regardless, Fr. Samson and I witnessed a God moment, a Godwink - a beautiful sign from God reminding us of his love.
Before the final blessing, I explained to the congregation what occurred on the altar prior to the Eucharistic prayers. And as we processed out I placed the purificator next to the baptismal font for all to see after Mass.
Although this event was not a true Eucharistic miracle, I’ll never forget what happened during that First Friday Mass. God winked and made his presence known in a most wonderful and unexpectant way.
Author Bio:
Deacon Dan Vaughn