The early Christians were forced to accept the established names for the days of the week, which honored pagan deities. The names remain unchanged but in the course of time the days have been rededicated to God, Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the Angels.
It is a popular custom among Catholics to devote each day of the week to a particular devotion. The Missal recognizes a similar practice by providing a particular votive Mass for each day of the week, to be used if a feast day is not being celebrated. According to custom, the following devotions are assigned to each day:
Even without its dedication to the Holy Trinity, Sunday is peculiarly the Lord’s Day. Referring to this, Pope Pius XII says: “The results of the struggle between belief and unbelief will depend to a great extent on the use that each of the opposing fronts will make of the Sunday. ‘Six days there are for doing work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest . . .’ (Exodus 31:15). How will these Christians not fear spiritual death, who perform servile work on feast days, and whose rest on these days is not devoted to religion and piety . . . Sundays and holydays, then, must be made holy by divine worship, which gives homage to God and heavenly food to the soul . . . Sunday must again become the day of the Lord, the day of adoration, of prayer, of rest, of recollection and reflection, of happy reunion in the intimate circle of the family.”
From The Prayer Book-Beautiful and Helpful Prayers from Ancient and Modern sources edited by Reverend John P O’Connell, MA, STD and Jex Martin, MA The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago Illinois in 1959. 17. © 1954 Imprimatur Samuel Cardinal Stritch, Archbishop of Chicago May 10 1954. Print.