(LifeSiteNews) — The First Saturday of the month is nearly upon us again, and Catholics are reminded to observe the practices of the First Saturday devotion in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
There are only SIX First Saturdays left until the centennial of Our Lady revealing this devotion to Sr. Lucia in December 1925.
As war looms across the world, LifeSiteNews is starting a new campaign promoting exactly what Heaven told Sr. Lucia was necessary to secure peace.
Sign up TODAY to receive free and exclusive videos from John-Henry Westen, editor-in-chief of LifeSiteNews, and join him and his family in the First Saturday devotions.
What is the First Saturday devotion?
There are great promises attached to this devotion, both for the world, and for individuals. Our Lady said to Sr. Lucia, one of the three seers of Fatima:
I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation.
To obtain this grace, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, Catholics must each month fulfil the following four conditions, made in reparation to the Immaculate Heart:
- Go to Confession
- Receive Holy Communion
- Pray five decades of the Rosary
- Meditate for 15 minutes on the Rosary mysteries (in addition to the Rosary)
As mentioned, there are only SIX First Saturdays left until December 10, which will mark 100 years since Our Lady requested this devotion of Sr. Lucia.
Before we consider the providential concessions made by Heaven for those unable to fulfil the conditions on the First Saturday itself, let us see more about how and when this devotion was revealed.
How it was revealed
In 1917, Our Lady revealed three “secrets” to the three shepherd children of Fatima, including a vision of Hell and a prophecy of war, persecution of the Church, and many other chastisements for the sins of men.
“To forestall this,” She said, “I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.”
She added that if Her requests were fulfilled, Russia would be converted; otherwise the promised chastisements would occur.
On December 10, 1925, Our Lady returned to Lucia – then a Dorothean postulant in the convent – and delivered the formal request She had foretold in 1917.
It was then that Our Lady revealed the astounding promise attached to the devotion. Sr. Lucia recounts the words of the Blessed Virgin, Who showed her a heart encircled by thorns:
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.
Heaven’s generosity towards the faithful
In a locution with Our Lord on February 15, 1926, Sr. Lucia appealed on behalf of those who find it difficult to confess on the First Saturday itself and asked if this Confession could be made “within eight days.” Our Lord replied:
Yes. It can even be made later on, provided that the souls are in the state of grace when they receive Me on the first Saturday, and that they had the intention of making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Mary.
Our Lord also told her that if penitents forget to form this intention, “They can form it at the next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity to go to confession.”
At a later date, in 1930, Our Lord even told Sr. Lucia that “the practice of this devotion will be equally acceptable on the Sunday following the first Saturday when My priests, for a just cause, allow it to souls.”
Sr. Lucia was also told that the five First Saturdays were linked to “five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary”:
- Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.
- Blasphemies against Her Virginity.
- Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize Her as the Mother of men.
- The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred of this Immaculate Mother.
- The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her holy images.
Implications for the world
This devotion also has implications beyond the individuals who practice it. Sr. Lucia wrote in March 1939:
Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven.
In June of the same year, she wrote:
Our Lady promised to delay the scourge of war, if this devotion was propagated and practiced. We see that She will obtain remission of this chastisement to the extent that efforts are made to propagate this devotion; but I fear that we cannot do any more than we are doing and that God, being displeased, will pull back the arm of His mercy and let the world be ravaged by this chastisement which will be unlike any other in the past, horrible, horrible.
War was declared two months after this statement.
So don’t delay. In 1929, Our Lord said something to Sr. Lucia which suggests that the centennial in December could be an important date…
With only SIX First Saturdays left before then, let’s start THIS MONTH to make sure we complete all five in time.
Sign up today for the LifeSiteNews First Saturday campaign, and we will send you videos from John-Henry Westen and his family to guide you through the four components of the devotion.
The centennial
So what happened in 1929?
In 1929, Our Lady and Our Lord issued the request, through Sr. Lucia, for the Pope and all the bishops to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
As Sr. Lucia struggled to have this request taken seriously, Heaven compared the reluctance of the hierarchy to that of Louis XIV, the King of France, who failed to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart. She received at least four separate messages making this comparison.
What was meant by this comparison? St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received this request in 1689 and relayed it to the court. Louis XIV and his successors failed to comply. In 1789, the French Revolution began – bringing the ancien régime of the French monarchy to an end. Louis XVI was beheaded in 1793.
While the First Saturday request is distinct from the later request for the Consecration of Russia, both are presented in the Fatima message as essential means to prevent chastisement and obtain peace.
Sign up for the campaign today
We can leave aside the question of whether Russia has been consecrated, and observe that most Catholics do not practice the First Saturday devotion.
Now is the time to start. We have six First Saturdays left before the centennial in December. The next First Saturday falls on June 7, 2025. Catholics who begin then will have completed the devotion by December.
If you’re confused about any aspect of the devotion, then don’t worry. Just sign up for free and exclusive videos from John-Henry Westen, who will guide you through the four components of the First Saturday devotions with his family.
They’ll take you through the 15-minute meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, as well as help you make a good confession and Holy Communion. You can even join them in saying the Rosary.
Despite its simplicity, this devotion is perhaps the most urgent call Heaven has made to the faithful in the last hundred years.
All texts taken from Frère Michel’s, The Whole Truth about Fatima, Vol. II.