The Catholic Practice Of The First Saturdays Devotion To The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Artist: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685).

The Virgin Mary in Prayer.

By Sassoferrato.

17th-Century.

Date: Between 1646 and 1650.

Current location: National Gallery, London.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art: 
Image. Info about artwork.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The First Saturdays Devotion (or Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary) is a Catholic practice, which, according to the Visionaries, has been requested by the Virgin Mary in several visitations, notably Our Lady of Fátima, and the subsequent Pontevedra apparitions. This Devotion, and the Marian apparitions, have been officially embraced by the Roman Catholic Church.

The Devotion fits with the Catholic Tradition to Venerate the Virgin Mary, particularly on Saturdays, which originated in the scriptural account that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, Her Heart was to be pierced with a sword, as prophesied during the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple; such sword was the bitter sorrow during the Crucifixion of Jesus (which Catholic Devotees understand as the union of the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus -- see Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Apparitions).

Such sorrow is particularly bitterly endured on Holy Saturday, after Jesus was placed in the Sepulchre (before the Resurrection at Easter). Devotees of Fátima believe that the First Saturdays help to console the sorrows of God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary, for the sins against Her Immaculate Heart.

When Lúcia Santos experienced the Pontevedra apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she heard Her promise to grant great Graces, especially at the hour of death, in particular the salvation of the Soul, for the believer who, for Five Consecutive First Saturdays of the Month (five Saturdays in five months), receives Holy Communion and practices the following exercises as an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven:

Sacramental Confession.

The Confession can take place days before, or even after, the Holy Communion is received, but the Holy Communion shall be received with dignity, in a state of Grace, keeping in mind that Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist (Transubstantiation). 

The Intention of making Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary may be kept to oneself; it is not necessary to notify the Confessor Priest;

To receive Holy Communion.

The Holy Communion has to be received within the twenty-four hours of the first Saturday of the Month. Attendance at Holy Mass is optional. Receiving Holy Communion, as part of this Devotion, must be consciously intended as an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart.

The Devotee need not tell anyone else, but keep it in mind. To avoid omitting the Intention every Saturday, the General Intention for the Devotion of the Act of Reparation can be mentally or outspokenly stated before starting the First Saturdays (or in between).

If a person has a valid reason not to attend Mass (Masses not available on Saturdays, difficult mobilisation, other major event), the Devotee may consult a Priest about receiving Communion privately, or on another day, with the intention of making this Communion as part of the Devotion;

A Five-Decades Rosary is recited.

The Rosary must also be recited with the intention of making Reparation;

A Fifteen-Minute Meditation is made on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

This Meditation should also be done in an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Rosary Meditations can be done on all fifteen of the Mysteries, or fewer, but must last for fifteen minutes. This Meditation is in addition to the recitation of the Rosary. It can be done alone, or in a group, and with or without the aid of Sacred Scripture.

The activities of the Five First Saturdays Devotions are different from similar Devotions on other days, in that all should be done with the specific intention in the heart of making Reparation to the Blessed Mother for blasphemies against Her, Her name and Her Holy Initiatives.

Sister Lúcia, the only Fátima Visionary to survive into adulthood, reported that the Blessed Mother came to her in her Convent, at Pontevedra, Spain, with the following statement:

Look, my daughter, at My Heart, encircled by these thorns, with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console Me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the Grace necessary for Salvation, all those who, with the intention of making reparation to Me, will, on the First Saturday of Five Consecutive Months, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, say Five Decades of the Beads, and keep Me company for Fifteen Minutes, while Meditating on the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary.

The First Saturdays Devotion had already been an established custom in the Catholic Church. On 1 July 1905, Pope Pius X approved and granted Indulgences for the practice of the First Saturdays of Twelve Consecutive Months in honour of the Immaculate Conception. This practice greatly resembled the reported request of Mary at the Pontevedra apparitions.