The First Saturday Devotion
The History of First Saturday Devotion
The First Saturday Devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fátima to atone for sins against her Immaculate Heart. It is one of the principal points of the Fatima message. Our Lady promised to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all who observe this devotion.
On the third apparition of Our Lady in Fatima 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.
The Vision of Sr. Lucia
While staying at the Convent of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra, Spain, Sister Lucia received a vision on December 10, 1925, where the Blessed Mother appeared alongside Child Jesus who stood over a luminous cloud. Our Lady rested one hand on the Child's shoulder while she held in the other hand a heart encircled with thorns.
Sister Lucia heard the Child say, "Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother which is covered with thorns with which ungrateful 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 ingratitude men pierce me at every moment with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, make sure to console me and announce that all those who, on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months, 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."
Key Elements of the Devotion:
- Requirements (for 5 consecutive first Saturdays):
- Confession: Can be made within 8 days before or 8 days after the First Saturday.
- Holy Communion: Received in a state of grace.
- Rosary: Recitation of five decades of the Rosary.
- Meditation: 15 minutes of meditation on one or more mysteries of the Rosary.
- Intention: All acts must be done with the intention of making reparation.
Why Five Saturdays?
Sister Lucia’s confessor questioned her about the reason for the five Saturdays. She answered him in a letter dated June 12, 1930. In it she related a vision she had of Our Lord while staying in the convent chapel part of the night of the twenty-ninth to the thirtieth of the month of May 1930. The reasons Our Lord gave were as follows:
The five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They are:
- Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
- Blasphemies against her virginity
- Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men
- Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
- Direct insults against Her sacred images