Join us Saturday, January 2 at the 8:15 am Mass for the celebration of the First Saturday. After Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed and we will pray the Rosary and spend 15 minutes in private meditation before Our Lord, followed by Benediction.

History

During the third apparition on July 13, 1917, Our Lady revealed that she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and for the Communion of Reparation of the Five First Saturdays.

Sister Lucia received a vision on December 10, 1925 where the Blessed Mother appeared alongside a Boy who stood over a luminous cloud. Our Lady rested one hand on the Boy’s shoulder while she held on the other hand a heart pierced with thorns around it. Sister Lucia heard the Boy say, "Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ingrate men pierce it at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to pull them out."

Our Lady expressed her request in the following words: "See, my daughter, My Heart surrounded with thorns with which ingrates pierce me at every moment with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, make sure to console me and announce that all those who for five months, on the first Saturdays, go to confession, receive Communion, say five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the purpose of making reparation to Me, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls."

The Devotion consists of:

• Going to Confession, once monthly, not necessarily on the First Saturday;
• Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion on the First Saturday;
• Saying five decades of the Rosary on the First Saturday; and
• Meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary on the First Saturday.

Why five Saturdays?

The reason Our Lord gave to Sister Lucia were the five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are:

1. Blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception.
2. Blasphemies against her Perpetual Virginity.
3. Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity and the refusal to accept her as our Mother.
4. Instilling indifference, scorn or hatred towards her in the hearts of children.
5. Disrespect or desecration of her sacred images.

Let us keep the above reasons firmly in our minds. Devotions have intentions attached to them and knowing them adds merit and weight to the practice.