First Saturday

A more recent practice in the Church that is lesser-known and is often confused with the First Friday devotions is the observance of the five consecutive First Saturdays in reparation to Our Lady. It is a separate devotion that was specifically requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary for the troubling times that we live in. Connected to the visions of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, the central theme of the devotion is repentance, conversion, and reparation.

To help us better understand this “new” devotion in the life of the Church, here are five things to know.

1. How did the First Saturday Devotion begin?

Saturdays have traditionally been a day to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary for many centuries, but it wasn’t until 1925 that the First Saturday devotion was revealed. On December 10, 1925, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Lucia at a convent in Pontevedra, Spain. Sister Lucia had previously been the recipient of Marian visions in Fatima, Portugal, along with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco. In this new private revelation eight years after the visions at Fatima, Mary requested the institution of the five consecutive First Saturday devotions in reparation to her Immaculate Heart.

2. Why five consecutive months?

The five months correspond to five different blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary as revealed by Our Lady to Sister Lucia:

1.) against her Immaculate Conception
2.) against her perpetual virginity
3.) against her place as the Mother God and mother of all humanity
4.) those who openly seek to foster in the hearts of children indifference, or even hatred, for this Immaculate Mother
5.) those who directly insult her holy images

3. What am I supposed to do on First Saturdays?

Go to Mass and receive Holy Communion with the intention of making reparation for the blasphemies and ingratitude done to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Going to confession is also a requirement of this devotion, along with reciting the five decades of the rosary and meditating on the mysteries (one or all) of the rosary for 15 minutes.

4. What are the “promises” connected to this devotion?

Our Lady said to Sister Lucia, “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with 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 15 minutes while meditating on 15 mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

This means that anyone who practices this devotion with faith will be given extra graces at the moment of their death with the promise of reaching the gates of heaven