| Devotion to Our Lady |
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BOTH OUR LORD AND OUR LADY ASKED FOR THE PRACTICE OF THE
"FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS" DEVOTION!
Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
"FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS" DEVOTION!
Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
THE CONDITIONS OF THE DEVOTION
During her third apparition at Fatima, in July, 1917, Our Lady said to Lucia, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” No more was said on this subject throughout the remainder of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima in 1917, but on December 10, 1925, Our Lady again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain, where Lucia had been sent to the Dorothean Sisters in order to learn to read and write. It was then that Our Lady clarified and completed her request for the Five First Saturdays and gave her great promise.
The Infant Jesus was also present in that apparition at Pentevedra, and He said to Lucia: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”
Our Lady then said: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist, at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”
The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One should make this intention before carrying out Our Lady’s requests. A renewal of the actual intention at the time is best; however, if such an intention is made now, it will fulfill the requirements if, for instance, the actual intention is forgotten at the time of Confession.
It consists in (1) going to Confession, (2) receiving Communion, (3) reciting five decades of the Rosary and (4) meditating for fifteen minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of the month, for five consecutive months, (5) and all this should be done with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offences committed against her.
1. Going to Confession
In an apparition to Sr. Lucia, on February 15, 1926, the Child Jesus asked Lucia if the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was being propagated. Sr. Lucia mentioned to the Child Jesus that some people were having difficulty in confessing on the first Saturday, and had asked if they could be granted eight days within which to fulfill Our Lady’s requests. Jesus answered: “Yes, even more time still, as long as they receive Me in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (For an examination of conscience click here)
2. Receiving Holy Communion on the First Saturday
Today, in the climate of lukewarmness and indifference that pervades the Catholic Church, many have lost the sense of sin and think little of their state of soul when they go to Holy Communion. We are not allowed to receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin—which means having an unconfessed and unrepented serious sin on our conscience, which has robbed us (whether we realize it or not) of the grace of God. It should be an additional serious sin—a sacrilege on top of that—to receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin. Grace must be restored to the soul by the making of a good Confession prior to receiving Holy Communion. Alas, many perhaps, are making ‘bad’ Communions these days, which, as Holy Scripture tells us, means that they are eating and drinking damnation to themselves. No sin is so great that it cannot be forgiven, so, as Our Lord requested to Lucia, let us make sure we are in a state of grace before receiving Holy Communion—whether it be on the First Saturday or any other day.
Before receiving Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer it in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.
3. Praying the Rosary
A minimum of five decades of the Rosary must be prayed. It must be remembered that that a true Rosary involves saying all fifteen decades, however, five will suffice. Nevertheless, we can remind ourselves of the words of Our Lady, regarding the little boy Francisco at Fatima, when she said he would not go to Heaven until he had prayed MANY Rosaries!
The Rosaries may be prayed anywhere and at any time, however, since you will be assisting at Mass, so as to fulfill the condition of the Holy Communion of reparation, it would be very appropriate to pray your Rosary before or after Mass, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. To fulfill Our Lady’s request, the Rosary must be prayed in a spirit of reparation and prayed properly while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
4. ”Keep me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary”
There has been some confusion over the issue of “praying the Rosary” and “meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.” People ask if “you can kill two birds with one stone” in the sense that is it allowable to meditate on the mysteries while reciting the Rosary at the same time? Sr. Lucia of Fatima explained that these are two separate things and that one does not fulfill the obligation by doing both at the same time. An additional fifteen minutes of meditation is to be added to the praying of the Rosary. This was also confirmed in a statement from the first Bishop of Fatima.
The meditation can be made on one or more, or all five mysteries—that depends on your personal preference. However, it must be noted that to meditate on all five mysteries would risk making the meditation somewhat superficial and hasty, so we recommend that you meditate on one mystery each month.
Like the Rosary, this meditation can be made anytime or anywhere on the first Saturday on the month. However, as we mentioned for the Rosary, there would no better location or time that in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament before or after Mass. Some have asked if an extra Rosary, which would require about fifteen minutes, fulfills this request? It would seem, if fruitfully MEDITATED, that it would. Or again, the fifteen minutes can be spent reading meditatively on one of the fifteen mysteries, which is really a form of mental prayer that involves reading with frequent pauses to reflect on the matter read.
5. Having the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
All of the preceding four conditions—Confession, Communion, Rosary and Meditation—mentioned above, should be fulfilled with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity. For when the Child Jesus appeared to Sr. Lucia on February 16, in 1926, Lucia asked: “My Jesus, what about those who forget to make the intention?” Our Lord answered: “They can do so at their next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity to go to Confession.”
These five conditions are the minimum conditions required for Our Lady’s promise to obtain for us “at the hour of death the graces necessary for salvation.” Yet, these Communions of reparation are only a beginning or a start of what should be a growth in devotion of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us not be minimalists in our devotion to Our Lady. The ideal would be aim at studying, making and living St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. What begins as an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the start of the month, should, ideally, continue all through the month, and not just on the first Saturday.
WHY FIVE SATURDAYS?
It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.
To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise which she, as Mediatrix of All Graces, will certainly fulfill: “I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation.” This means that our Blessed Mother will be present, at the hour of death, with the actual grace of final perseverance, which is such an important grace.
After completing the Five First Saturdays, one may continue the devotion simply to console the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady. A tender love of our Blessed Mother will lead one to do all he can to make reparation for the sins which pierce her Immaculate Heart.
During her third apparition at Fatima, in July, 1917, Our Lady said to Lucia, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” No more was said on this subject throughout the remainder of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima in 1917, but on December 10, 1925, Our Lady again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain, where Lucia had been sent to the Dorothean Sisters in order to learn to read and write. It was then that Our Lady clarified and completed her request for the Five First Saturdays and gave her great promise.
The Infant Jesus was also present in that apparition at Pentevedra, and He said to Lucia: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”
Our Lady then said: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist, at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”
The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One should make this intention before carrying out Our Lady’s requests. A renewal of the actual intention at the time is best; however, if such an intention is made now, it will fulfill the requirements if, for instance, the actual intention is forgotten at the time of Confession.
It consists in (1) going to Confession, (2) receiving Communion, (3) reciting five decades of the Rosary and (4) meditating for fifteen minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of the month, for five consecutive months, (5) and all this should be done with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the offences committed against her.
1. Going to Confession
In an apparition to Sr. Lucia, on February 15, 1926, the Child Jesus asked Lucia if the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was being propagated. Sr. Lucia mentioned to the Child Jesus that some people were having difficulty in confessing on the first Saturday, and had asked if they could be granted eight days within which to fulfill Our Lady’s requests. Jesus answered: “Yes, even more time still, as long as they receive Me in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (For an examination of conscience click here)
2. Receiving Holy Communion on the First Saturday
Today, in the climate of lukewarmness and indifference that pervades the Catholic Church, many have lost the sense of sin and think little of their state of soul when they go to Holy Communion. We are not allowed to receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin—which means having an unconfessed and unrepented serious sin on our conscience, which has robbed us (whether we realize it or not) of the grace of God. It should be an additional serious sin—a sacrilege on top of that—to receive Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin. Grace must be restored to the soul by the making of a good Confession prior to receiving Holy Communion. Alas, many perhaps, are making ‘bad’ Communions these days, which, as Holy Scripture tells us, means that they are eating and drinking damnation to themselves. No sin is so great that it cannot be forgiven, so, as Our Lord requested to Lucia, let us make sure we are in a state of grace before receiving Holy Communion—whether it be on the First Saturday or any other day.
Before receiving Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer it in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.
3. Praying the Rosary
A minimum of five decades of the Rosary must be prayed. It must be remembered that that a true Rosary involves saying all fifteen decades, however, five will suffice. Nevertheless, we can remind ourselves of the words of Our Lady, regarding the little boy Francisco at Fatima, when she said he would not go to Heaven until he had prayed MANY Rosaries!
The Rosaries may be prayed anywhere and at any time, however, since you will be assisting at Mass, so as to fulfill the condition of the Holy Communion of reparation, it would be very appropriate to pray your Rosary before or after Mass, in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. To fulfill Our Lady’s request, the Rosary must be prayed in a spirit of reparation and prayed properly while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
4. ”Keep me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary”
There has been some confusion over the issue of “praying the Rosary” and “meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.” People ask if “you can kill two birds with one stone” in the sense that is it allowable to meditate on the mysteries while reciting the Rosary at the same time? Sr. Lucia of Fatima explained that these are two separate things and that one does not fulfill the obligation by doing both at the same time. An additional fifteen minutes of meditation is to be added to the praying of the Rosary. This was also confirmed in a statement from the first Bishop of Fatima.
The meditation can be made on one or more, or all five mysteries—that depends on your personal preference. However, it must be noted that to meditate on all five mysteries would risk making the meditation somewhat superficial and hasty, so we recommend that you meditate on one mystery each month.
Like the Rosary, this meditation can be made anytime or anywhere on the first Saturday on the month. However, as we mentioned for the Rosary, there would no better location or time that in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament before or after Mass. Some have asked if an extra Rosary, which would require about fifteen minutes, fulfills this request? It would seem, if fruitfully MEDITATED, that it would. Or again, the fifteen minutes can be spent reading meditatively on one of the fifteen mysteries, which is really a form of mental prayer that involves reading with frequent pauses to reflect on the matter read.
5. Having the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
All of the preceding four conditions—Confession, Communion, Rosary and Meditation—mentioned above, should be fulfilled with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity. For when the Child Jesus appeared to Sr. Lucia on February 16, in 1926, Lucia asked: “My Jesus, what about those who forget to make the intention?” Our Lord answered: “They can do so at their next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity to go to Confession.”
These five conditions are the minimum conditions required for Our Lady’s promise to obtain for us “at the hour of death the graces necessary for salvation.” Yet, these Communions of reparation are only a beginning or a start of what should be a growth in devotion of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us not be minimalists in our devotion to Our Lady. The ideal would be aim at studying, making and living St. Louis-Marie de Montfort’s True Devotion to Mary. What begins as an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the start of the month, should, ideally, continue all through the month, and not just on the first Saturday.
WHY FIVE SATURDAYS?
It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.
To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise which she, as Mediatrix of All Graces, will certainly fulfill: “I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation.” This means that our Blessed Mother will be present, at the hour of death, with the actual grace of final perseverance, which is such an important grace.
After completing the Five First Saturdays, one may continue the devotion simply to console the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady. A tender love of our Blessed Mother will lead one to do all he can to make reparation for the sins which pierce her Immaculate Heart.