Reverend Father,
Each Pastor’s job is to be a saintly shepherd, guiding and protecting his flock. Most pastors are aware of their obligation to protect their flock, but few recognize their obligation to grow it. (The Parable of the Talents. Matthew 25:14-30) This task was always difficult, but as communist and totalitarian regimes gain power, and the remainder of the “free world” is mostly run by anti-Christian liberals (including Minnesota), when the number of Catholics is shrinking and atheism is flooding the world, growing the flock seems impossible.
In difficult times our Heavenly Father sent an envoy to deliver a straightforward remedy for the challenges facing the Catholic Church.
In 1917, in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal, the Blessed Virgin Mary “a Lady more brilliant than the Sun”, showed Herself seven times to three shepherd children – Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
The message given by the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima is mainly directed to Her beloved sons, the priests, and can be summed up as a passionate appeal for the world’s conversion through devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. This devotion was to be manifested in the Communion of Reparation of First Saturdays and the consecration of Russia.
On December 10, 1925, the Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Lucia (Lúcia Santos, one of the visionaries of Our Lady of Fátima) at the convent in Pontevedra, Spain, and by Her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was the Child Jesus. According to Lucia, Mary requested again the institution of the Devotion of the Five First Saturdays in reparation to Her Immaculate Heart. Then She promised to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all who, with the intention of making reparation to Her, will practice the following devotion on the first Saturday of five consecutive months.
The apparition in Fatima was accompanied by the “Miracle of the Sun,” observed by about seventy thousand people and was later approved by the Church and endorsed by the Holy See. All Popes beginning with Pius XI have visited the apparition site. Tragic events foretold in Fatima (WWII, the spread of Communism, millions slaughtered and condemned to fires of hell) became historical facts.
When on March 25, 2022, Pope Francis consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it was a great opportunity to reintroduce and establish the First Saturday Devotion in every parish.
Unfortunately, this great opportunity was neglected. We can’t change the past, but today is a new day, and another opportunity to do good, serve God, and enact the First Saturday Devotion in your parish.
The First Saturdays Devotion, the foundation for consecrating our state to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is our ticket to Heaven. Ignoring this opportunity would be a grave mistake. Our Lady proclaimed that Her request will one day be fulfilled; it is in our best interest to be present and participate when this comes to pass. No large investments nor immense lifestyle changes are necessary, only the faith and good will of priests and their parishioners. From Minnesota this devotion may spread, and like a gentle rain, wash over the world.
Father, we would like to have the short announcement (below) published in the bulletin for two weeks prior to a first Saturday each month for four months.
May God Bless You!
Fatima First Saturday Devotion to Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In 1917, in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal, the Blessed Virgin Mary “a Lady more brilliant than the Sun”, showed Herself seven times to three shepherd children – Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
The message given by the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima summed up as a passionate appeal for the world’s conversion through devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. This devotion was to be manifested in the Communion of Reparation of First Saturdays.
On December 10, 1925, the Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Lucia (Lúcia Santos, one of the visionaries of Our Lady of Fátima) at the convent in Pontevedra, Spain, and by Her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was the Child Jesus. According to Lucia, Mary requested again the institution of the Devotion of the First Saturdays in reparation to Her Immaculate Heart. Then She promised to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all who, with the intention of making reparation to Her, will practice the following devotion on the first Saturday of five consecutive months.
To practice the First Saturday Devotions:
- Go to the Sacrament of Confession. While preparing for the Sacrament, in addition to contrition for sin, one must be intent on making reparation for the offences against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (You may receive the Sacrament of Confession up to eight days prior to First Saturday, provided that no mortal sin is committed between Confession and First Saturday.)
- Attend Holy Mass on the First Saturday of the month.
- Receive Holy Communion, offering up the benefits thereof in reparation for offenses against the Immaculate Heart.
- Recite five decades of the Holy Rosary, including the Fatima prayer after each decade.
- Keep Our Lady company for fifteen minutes, while meditating with her on the mysteries of the Rosary.
“As I was returning from Savigneux, the little birds were singing in the woods. I began to weep. Poor little creatures, I thought within myself, the good God has made you to sing, and you sing. And man, who was created that he might love God, loves Him not.” (St. John Marie Vianney)