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First Saturdays Devotion

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The First Saturdays Devotion, also called the Communion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Catholic devotion which, according to Sister Lúcia of Fátima, was requested by the Virgin Mary during the apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal, on 13 July 1917 and during an apparition in Pontevedra, Spain, on 10 December 1925. The purpose of this devotion is to perform acts of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a promise of assistance at the hour of death by Mary was reportedly attached to this devotion during the Pontevedra apparition.[1][2][3][4]

History

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A religious statue depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary as it was revealed in the 1917 Marian apparitions which occurred at Fátima, Portugal.

The pious practice of honoring the Blessed Mother on Saturday is an ancient custom largely attributed to the Benedictine monk Alcuin (735-804), "Minister of Education" at the court of Charlemagne, who composed a Votive Mass formulary for each day of the week. Alcuin assigned two formularies to Saturday in honor of Mary. The practice was quickly adopted by both clergy and laity.[5]

The practice of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the First Saturday was initiated in Rovigo, Italy, by Maria Dolores Inglese, a Servite tertiary in 1889. She started among her friends the pious practice of "Communion in Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary". The practice was endorsed by Bishop Antonio Polin of the Diocese of Adria and was taken up by sodalities throughout Italy and elsewhere.[5] On July 1, 1905, Pope Pius X approved and granted indulgences for the practice of the First Saturdays of twelve consecutive months in honor of the Immaculate Conception. This practice greatly resembled the reported request of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Pontevedra apparitions.

Inglese wished to establish a religious congregation dedicated to the apostolate of Marian reparation. Bishop Tommaso Pio Boggiani recommended that she join the Servite sisters, known for their devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. She joined the Servites as Sister Maria Dolores in 1911. She and foundress Mother Mary Elisa Andreoli revised the rule, making propagation of Communion of Reparation on the First Saturday of each month the congregation's main apostolate. They also changed the name of the group from "Servants of Mary" to "Servants of Mary of Reparation". The sisters also published a monthly magazine that helped spread the devotion throughout Europe.[6]

Fátima

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Further information: Our Lady of Fátima

At the age of 10, Lúcia dos Santos, one of the three Portuguese seers of the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima, reported in her 1941 memoir that Mary asked the following during the third apparition in Fátima on 13 July 1917.[1][3]

The war is going to end. But if people do not stop offending God, another, even worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you shall see a night illuminated by an unknown light know that this is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its many crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the first Saturdays.[1]

According to Lúcia, this is the first reported request for a First Saturdays Devotion directly from Mary and she was "to return" and ask to establish the devotion. This was part of the message of Our Lady of Fátima and requested in order to prevent the World War II from happening. The purpose of this devotion is to perform acts of reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[1]

In 1939, she also wrote: “Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”[2]

Pontevedra

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Further information: Pontevedra apparitions
Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, now known as the Sanctuary of the Apparitions, in which Sister Lúcia lived and received Marian apparitions.

Four years later, Lúcia dos Santos was admitted at the age of 14 as a boarder to the school of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy in Vilar, near the city of Porto.

On 24 October 1925, she entered the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy as a postulant in the convent in Tui, Spain, just across the northern Portuguese border.

According to a document she wrote and as recorded in her book “Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words”, Sister Lúcia later reported that on 10 December 1925, the Virgin Mary appeared to her at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, and by her side on a luminous cloud was the Child Jesus. According to Lúcia, Mary requested the institution of the Devotion of the Five First Saturdays in reparation to her Immaculate Heart and attached a personal promise to the devotion:[1][2]

Look, My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me.[3]

Devotees of Fátima believe that the First Saturdays help to console the sorrows of God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary for the sins against her Immaculate Heart.

Practice

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The First Saturdays Devotion consists of several practices that are performed on five consecutive first Saturdays of the month, with the intention of making reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

  1. Go to Sacramental confession (may be before or after the first Saturday, as long as in a state of grace to receive Communion)
  2. Receive Holy Communion
  3. Pray five decades of the Rosary
  4. Meditate on one or more of the mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes (in addition to the recitation of the Rosary)

According to Lúcia dos Santos, this devotion shall be done with the intention of making reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary[1] and a promise of assistance at the hour of death and all the graces necessary for salvation was made by Mary during the Pontevedra apparition on 10 December 1925.[2][3][4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f CNA. "Why is the First Saturdays devotion called the 'unfulfilled part of the Fatima message'?". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  2. ^ a b c d EWTN (2024-05-03). "How to Practice Our Lady of Fatima's Forgotten Call to the 5 First Saturdays Devotion". EWTN. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  3. ^ a b c d "What is the First Saturday Devotion and what is the promise associated with it? – EWTN Global Catholic Television Network". Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  4. ^ a b "First Saturday Devotion Requirements, Including Time Frame for Confession". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
  5. ^ a b "Saturday Devotions : University of Dayton, Ohio". udayton.edu. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  6. ^ Queen of the Missions, October 1954]
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