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Lucie (of Fatima) came very young in the convent. It is October 25, 1925, that she reached the convent of the Sisters Dorothean, Pontevedra, where she would again be witnessed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. On the evening of December 10, 1925, the young postulant had withdrawn to her cell, was visited by the Virgin and next to Her, driven by a luminous cloud, the Child Jesus. The Blessed Virgin showed her a Heart surrounded by thorns She held in her hand. The Child Jesus said: " Have compassion of the Heart of your Most Holy Mother surrounded by thorns which ungrateful men pierce at every moment, without any person to do an act of reparation to remove them. " Then, our Heavenly Mother said, " Look, my daughter, my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, console me and say that all those who, during five months, the first Saturday, will go to confession, will receive Holy Communion, will recite a Rosary (5 decades), and will keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, in a spirit of reparation, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls. "
Note here that this request for communion on the first Saturday is parallel to the one of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary for the first Fridays. Also, it should be understood that the primary intention of the (reparatory) devotion of the Five First Saturdays is not to obtain the grace of final perseverance, namely: to be helped at the hour of our death to go to Heaven; but to console the Heart of Our Mother in Heaven by removing the thorns that we are causing ourself by our sins, and those from the heretics, impious, apostates put into Her Heart, whereby the Madonna promises support when our soul will appear before God. (Of the five kinds of offenses and insults uttered against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, read the apparition of Tuy, 29 May 1930). A letter from Father Aparicio, dated 10 January 1938 and addressed to Bishop José da Sila, tells us that the young nun told him in 1927 about the devotion of the first five Saturdays of the month. The priest asked her if she had spoken to someone else about that. She replied yes she even put it in writing on the order of her confessor then, don Lino Garcia ; but then she had spoken to Mother Magalhaes, Superior of the convent, and, without specifying that contained written , had asked permission to burn, that permission had been granted to her and she had executed it immediately (in 1927). Then Father Aparicio ordered to her to write everything again and give him. By humility she showed reluctance to write it in the first person because she had not yet been recovered from the order to keep silence on his identity, given by Bishop da Silva to her, at fourteen, when she left her native country. Father Aparicio told her she could write in the third person, and so she did. This is the reason why the document is written in the third person. THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS DEVOTION OF THE MONTH
During the apparition of July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin said: "To prevent war, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation of the First Saturdays." The latter devotion, the Blessed Virgin has indeed came to ask Sister Lucy by appearing to her December 10, 1925 in Pontevedra (Spain). She told her: "Look, my daughter, my heart surrounded by thorns which ungrateful men, at any time, pierce it with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the First Saturday for five consecutive months, shall confess, receive the holy Communion, recite 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. " The presence of our Lord to the side of his holy Mother means that Jacinta was right when she said, seven years before, to Lucy, "You will say that Jesus wants the Heart of His Mother to be honored with His Hearth" and we also recalls the teaching of the Angel of Peace when we learned that the Heart of Mary inevitably leads to the Heart of Jesus." 15 mysteries = 15 minutes ; so 1 minute only per mystery. Our Lady has therefore shown her Heart surrounded by thorns that represent our sins. To remove these thorns, she asked that we make honorable amends acts by the devotion of the First Five Saturdays of the month. As a reward she promises us "all the graces necessary for our salvation". Jesus, the next two years - February 15, 1926 and December 17, 1927 - insisted on the propagation of this devotion. Lucie wrote: "From the practice of the devotion of the First Samedis united to the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary depends the war or the peace of the world". FIVE: WHY? It is indeed five Saturdays because, according to a revelation of Jesus, there are five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: 1) blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception; 2) against the Virginity of Mary; 3) against her Divine Motherhood and against the refusal to recognize her as Mother of Men; 4) There are people who seek to put in children's hearts indifference, scorn, and even hate, against this immaculate Mother; 5) There are those who outrage her directly in her holy images. CONDITIONS There are four conditions for winning the privilege of the First Five Saturdays of the month. 1. The confession - For each First Saturday a confession is required with a reparative intention; it can be done any day (8 days) before or after the First Saturday, provided you receive communion in a state of grace that day. - The seer asked Our Lord, "O my Jesus! And those who will forget to form this intention (repair)? »; Jesus answered, "They can formulate it in the following confession by taking the first opportunity to confess." The other three conditions must be
fulfilled on the first Saturday unless a priest, for just reasons, allows
them to be performed on the following Sunday; Those are : 3. The rosary To deserve the great promise of the graces necessary for salvation, Our Lady still asks for the recitation of a rosary on this day of the first Saturday. To Christians and religious who have the pious habit of the daily rosary, so much recommended by Our Lady of Fatima, it will be enough for them to offer it that day to the intentions of the Immaculate Heart. This was the often repeated message of the Mother of God to the little shepherds. In addition to the recitation of the Rosary, the first five Saturdays, recite it every day of your life. More than that, imitate the example of the little Jacinta and try to make it recited every day at night with your family. Our Lady always held a rosary in her hands during the apparitions. She also asked the
three children to recite a special prayer after each decade: "You will
also recite after each" Glory be to the Father " of each decade the
following prayer:" O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire
from hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who need your
mercy the most. After each dozen of our rosaries, let us recite this
beautiful prayer, which is in perfect harmony with the spirit of Fatima's
apparitions. It is of the utmost importance to remember that meditation on
the Mysteries by reciting the prayers of the rosary is an essential
condition to recite it well; otherwise it could so easily become a pure
mechanical repetition of words. In these four acts one must intend to make amends to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. THIS DEVOTION HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE BISHOP OF LEIRIA-FATIMA ON 13 SEPTEMBER 1939 So these are the conditions of the devotion of the first Saturdays, as expressed in the Great Promise. They are what we could call the minimum required. However, the spirit of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary implies something else. His requirements go further. You will find, many times the expression during the talks between the Blessed Virgin and the children of Fatima. For generous souls -
and we know there are many - who wish to go "to the end" of this sublime
devotion, we believe that it is useful to add this: Any formula of consecration
suffices. You must, however, entrust yourself to Mary without reserve. 2. Sacrifice yourself for sinners. The sacrifice
and the repair required by the Blessed Virgin were very specifically
defined by Lucie herself. Our Blessed Mother asked that her children be
ready to make any sacrifice required by the practice of their Christian
duties. "Our Lord allows himself to be appeased," the Blessed Virgin told
her in a private revelation, "but He himself complained very bitterly and
painfully of the small number of souls in a state of grace, who consent to
give up everything that requires the observance of His law. Many people,
says Lucy, thinking that the word penance implies heroic austerities and
not feeling the necessary strength for great sacrifices, become
discouraged and continue to live in lukewarmness and sin. She reports that
Our Lord told her, "The sacrifice I ask of every person is the fulfillment
of their state duties and the observance of My law. This is the penance
that I ask and require now. (Letter from Sister Lucy, February 28, 1943). The sacrifice that
God demands is in no way opposed to the laudable and pious practice of
voluntary mortification for those who want to do more than the minimum
required. But nowadays, God demands at least this minimum of each person,
and in this paganized century, it takes an almost heroic virtue to be
faithful to his duties as Christians, especially to his duties as spouses. ************************************************************** * Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, we come to You this day, to compassionate your sorrows, and to consecrate ourselves to You. We come to consecrate ourselves to Your Heart and to console it. May our hearts beat in union with Yours. We want to live like You and with You, in love of purity, O Immaculate Heart, in the generosity of sacrifice, O sorrowful Heart, in an ardent love for God and for our brothers and sisters, a fruitful and true love, O Maternal Heart. Triumph soon, O Immaculate Heart, powerfully plead our cause at the tribunal of God. That through You, Mercy triumphs over Justice. Convert us. Convert sinners. Cause O triumphant Heart, to have established on earth, a true and lasting peace, the peace of Christ, in the reign of Christ. Amen. |
