Do you know how to practice Our Lady of Fatima's Five First Saturdays Devotion?
In 1917, Our Lady of Fatima appeared six times to the three shepherd children–Lucia dos Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto.
Our Lady said during the July 1917 apparition:
“I shall come to ask… that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.”
On Dec. 10, 1925, Our Lady returned to Sister Lucia dos Santos at the Dorothean Sisters' convent in Pontevedra, Spain.
She appeared with the Infant Jesus standing on a cloud, requesting acts of reparation for the blasphemies and ingratitude committed against her Immaculate Heart.
Jesus said:
"Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them."
Then Our Lady said:
"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."
In 1939, Sister Lucia added:
“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.”
Jesus told Sister Lucia:
"The souls who make the five first Saturdays with fervor and to make reparation to the Heart of your Heavenly Mother, please Me..."
How to Practice the Five First Saturdays Devotion
Do the following on the first Saturday of the month for five consecutive months:
1. Go to Confession
2. Receive Holy Communion
3. Pray five decades of the Rosary
4. Meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes
However, Our Lord adjusted these requirements for more flexibility:
Confession may be received before or after the first Saturday, as long as the devotee intends to make reparation. One must also receive Holy Communion in the state of grace. Jesus adds that if the individual forgets to offer the Confession beforehand, one may offer the next confession as an act of reparation.
Why Five Saturdays?
Our Lord revealed to Sister Lucia that the number five represents the five sins committed against her Immaculate Heart: