Day Six, GLORIOUS MYSTERIES, July 4, First Saturday

"[You] cannot imagine how great is my joy in thinking about the consolation ... that the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary are going to receive and of the great number of souls who are going to be saved through this amiable devotion." ~ Sr. Lucia

The Five First Saturdays

On the evening of Thursday, December 10, 1925, after supper, Sister Lucy dos Santos (then a postulant in the Dorothean house at Pontevedra, Spain) received a visit by the Child Jesus and the Virgin Mary in her convent cell. Showing the young nun a heart surrounded by thorns, Our Lady said to her:

"See, My daughter, My heart surrounded by thorns which ungrateful men pierce at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude... Say to all those who, for five months, on the first Saturday, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep Me company for 15 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."

Charged with this mission by Heaven's King and Queen, the 18-year-old nun immediately began the work of making their requests for this new devotion known. She informed her Mother Superior at once as well as her priest-confessor, Father Lino Garcia. It was he, in fact, who ordered Lucy to immediately write down everything which concerned the revelation. Later, she would write at even greater depth to Bishop Pereira Lopes and many others, striving to establish in the hearts of those around her the urgency of promoting this wonderful new gift of grace.

Writing to her own mother two years following Our Lord and Our Lady's visit, Sister Lucy begged her to adopt this new devotion which "I know is so pleasing to God and which our dear Heavenly Mother has requested." In another letter written after the first steps had been taken to gain official Church approval of the devotion, she emphasized its critical importance in saving souls: "[You] cannot imagine how great is my joy in thinking about the consolation ... that the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary are going to receive and of the great number of souls who are going to be saved through this amiable devotion."

Through the tireless efforts of Sister Lucy and others, this great, yet simple devotion has, over the last seven decades, spread around the world, uniting millions in a universal and continuous act of reparation that seeks to console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and to save souls everywhere. Sister Lucy herself has written that "the greatest joy," she feels, "is to see the Immaculate Heart of our so tender Mother known, loved and consoled by the means of this devotion."

from Fatima Center website, www.fatima.org 

RESOLVE TO PERFORM THE FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION. Follow this link to print a checklist to post in a prominent place as a reminder!
First Saturday Checklist, from the Fatima Center