First Saturday in July -- today!

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Sorry to be late in posting this reminder. Since yesterday was still June, and First Friday is not until next week – this First Saturday “dawned on me” only last night after I was almost asleep and so here I am this afternoon late with a reminder!

This morning I was in a hurry since my husband and I were trying to leave the house by 8:30 for 9 am Mass. You were in my prayers, and hope you will be close to Mary and through her close to Jesus this day, offering reparation to their pierced Hearts.

Remember Mary’s words to Sister Lucia were that Jesus wants…to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Finished all my requirements about an hour ago Like many I am trying to do the 5 First Saturdays between the first one (last month) and October, for the Fatima anniversary. I hope I’m doing everything right, I really want to make Our Lady happy, I love her.

The church I have gone to last month and this month for the devotion always has a special pro-life Mass on the first Saturday and then we go to the local PP clinic and say 15 decades of the Rosary outside and say the Divine Mercy on the way home. A pretty large group participating.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

I am in the way of doing every first Saturday now. As well as , this year, celebrating the 100 year Anniversaries on the 13th.

Why stop at 5

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I am in the way of doing every first Saturday now. As well as , this year, celebrating the 100 year Anniversaries on the 13th.

Why stop at 5

I am planning to do 6 of them so the 6th one can be for Thanksgiving as well as to make up just in case I didn’t do one right.

But you are right, we should strive to do as many as we can. I anticipate having to miss one eventually for travel or something.

I think Our Lady said we should try to always go to Communion on the First Saturdays after we finish the Five Saturdays devotion. I remember my mother would always try to go to Mass on that day although I don’t remember her doing the other elements. It’s possible that she did the Five First Saturdays long before and was just keeping up with doing the Communions and of course saying the Rosary every time she had a spare minute like most Irish housewives did then.

 

[ClearWater]

I appreciate the reminder, because I was one thing short on the requirements. Your reminder was very timely, indeed! Thanks! Keep reminding us!

 

[abinjoy]

1. I did confession yesterday.
2. I could not receive Communion yesterday as the confession happened after the mass. But I think there is relaxation that you can do confession 1 week before or after the First Saturday. Should be able to receive Communion today
3. Said 5 decades of rosary
4. Did not do meditation properly

However, this is only the second time that I attempted the First Saturday Devotion.
First being May 2017. back then I tried doing this very half-heartedly. I said only 2 decades of the rosary but happy that this time I finished 5 decades + attempted to meditate.

I don’t like doing meditation.

 

[MariaChristi]

Finished all my requirements about an hour ago Like many I am trying to do the 5 First Saturdays between the first one (last month) and October, for the Fatima anniversary. I hope I’m doing everything right, I really want to make Our Lady happy, I love her.

The church I have gone to last month and this month for the devotion always has a special pro-life Mass on the first Saturday and then we go to the local PP clinic and say 15 decades of the Rosary outside and say the Divine Mercy on the way home. A pretty large group participating.

Dear “Tis Bearself”,

Thanks for your reply and for loving our Mother. Love is the most important “ingredient” for any devotion, it seems to me. As any human mother knows (and fathers too – but thinking especially of Mary, our Mother here) when a child comes with a “gift” of anything – a scribbled note, or a picture colored all outside the lines, or a weed the child thought was a flower – just about anything and says “I love you”, any mother smiles.

God knows our spiritual growth in charity is most important and He has told us to “Behold your Mother” because He knows our human weaknesses and frailties need a human Model to show us how to love Him more and to become all He intended in creating us. We are all called to holiness and Mary shows us the wonders God can do in humble person, who loves Him and says “Yes” to His Will. Your prayers at the PP clinic are a beautiful way to spend First Saturday!

 

[MariaChristi]

1. I did confession yesterday.
2. I could not receive Communion yesterday as the confession happened after the mass. But I think there is relaxation that you can do confession 1 week before or after the First Saturday. Should be able to receive Communion today
3. Said 5 decades of rosary
4. Did not do meditation properly

However, this is only the second time that I attempted the First Saturday Devotion.
First being May 2017. back then I tried doing this very half-heartedly. I said only 2 decades of the rosary but happy that this time I finished 5 decades + attempted to meditate.

I don’t like doing meditation.

Dear abinjoy,

Thanks for your reply and for your love of Jesus and Mary prompting you to practice the First Saturday devotion.

Meditation is a form of prayer that grows from vocal prayer. It is “pondering” or a thoughtful “paying attention” to the mysteries of the Rosary. St. John Paul II in his apostolic letter, “On the Holy Rosary” can give you some help with Meditating on the Mysteries. St. John Paul compared meditating on the mysteries to the experience of looking at a “Family Album” of pictures.

It is a form of prayer that one grows in the more one prays and asks for the grace to pray well. Prayer ultimately is our relationship with God and pondering the mysteries of the Rosary or meditating on any Truth we read and ponder from scripture helps us to know, love and serve God better. Be patient and keep praying the Rosary with attention and devotion and by God’s Grace I believe you will grow spiritually.

 

[Beepa]

I am new to this beautiful devotion, and have some questions that I can’t seem to get a consistent answer for. Any help or clarification will be appreciated! Thank you!

I understand that the confession should precede the communion, so we will be in a state of grace, which makes perfect sense. Here are the contradictions I have heard, and the difficulties:

1. One must receive communion during the regular Saturday Mass, not the Saturday vigil Mass. My difficulties with this are that some churches don’t have a Saturday morning Mass, and if they do, the confession times are later in the day, before the vigil Mass, but not before the morning Mass.
2. If one receives communion for this devotion during the Saturday vigil Mass, then the Mass will not “count” for the Sunday obligation, and one must go to Mass the next day as well.
3. I have even seen posted on the SSPX site that going to Mass is not actually required, but only receiving communion, so that sick and homebound people may also participate in this devotion if they have a priest come to their home to hear their confession and give them communion. Personally, every time I see the guidelines written out for this devotion, it only says “receive communion”, which for most of us means attending Mass. But then the people who split hairs about whether it’s the Saturday Mass or the Vigil Mass would seem to be incorrect.

This has become a precious devotion to me, and I just want to do it correctly. I’m getting ready to make my fifth Saturday, so there is joy in my heart! I hope to make this a monthly practice, and not just for five months! Thank you!!

 

[MariaChristi]

I am new to this beautiful devotion, and have some questions that I can’t seem to get a consistent answer for. Any help or clarification will be appreciated! Thank you!

I understand that the confession should precede the communion, so we will be in a state of grace, which makes perfect sense. Here are the contradictions I have heard, and the difficulties:

1. One must receive communion during the regular Saturday Mass, not the Saturday vigil Mass. My difficulties with this are that some churches don’t have a Saturday morning Mass, and if they do, the confession times are later in the day, before the vigil Mass, but not before the morning Mass.
2. If one receives communion for this devotion during the Saturday vigil Mass, then the Mass will not “count” for the Sunday obligation, and one must go to Mass the next day as well.
3. I have even seen posted on the SSPX site that going to Mass is not actually required, but only receiving communion, so that sick and homebound people may also participate in this devotion if they have a priest come to their home to hear their confession and give them communion. Personally, every time I see the guidelines written out for this devotion, it only says “receive communion”, which for most of us means attending Mass. But then the people who split hairs about whether it’s the Saturday Mass or the Vigil Mass would seem to be incorrect.

This has become a precious devotion to me, and I just want to do it correctly. I’m getting ready to make my fifth Saturday, so there is joy in my heart! I hope to make this a monthly practice, and not just for five months! Thank you!!

Dear Beepa,

Thanks for your devotion to Jesus through Mary. The First Saturdays devotion was revealed to Sister Lucia of Fatima, as you may know, and Sister asked the Lord for clarification on some parts of this devotion. So in answer to your first question:

On February 15, 1926 the Child Jesus alone came to visit Sr. Lucia and asked if the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was being propagated. Sr. Lucia spoke of a difficulty some people have in confessing on the first Saturday, and asked if they might be allowed eight days in order to fulfill Our Lady’s requests. Jesus answered: “Yes, even more time still, as long as they receive Me in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Regarding Holy Communion, the conditions below do not mention Mass, although the Catholic Church always encourages Holy Communion to be received within the Mass. Exceptions are made for those who cannot attend Mass for many different reasons, such as those incapacitated who cannot attend Mass but can only receive Communion or those who can only receive at a Saturday vigil Mass. If it is impossible to find a Church near you which has a First Saturday Mass, it seems reasonable that your reception of Holy Communion at either the Vigil or on Sunday during the day would be acceptable to Our Lord and Our Lady – that is my personal opinion. I think I read somewhere that this has been determined as reasonable by those in Authority as well, but I can’t at this moment remember where I read that. The following quote as well as the one above is taken from the Rosary Center website see HERE administered by the Dominicans. I would not go by the website of SSPX as they are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church.

The last entry in the chronology of Fatima, published in the official Calendar of the Sanctuary for the year of 1940, and signed by Dom Jose Correia da Silva, the first Bishop of Fatima, gave a summary of Our Lady’s requests concerning the Five First Saturdays. From that official statement in the Calendar of the Sanctuary, we read the Bishop’s enumeration of the various items that pertain to the devotion of the five Saturdays:

It consists in going to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. The Confession may be made during the eight days preceding or following the first Saturday of each month, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity.

I’ll try to find a more authoritative source on the Saturday vigil Mass and reception of Holy Communion for you and post it if I can find it. Perhaps someone else has more information but I hope this helps a bit. Thanks again for your desire to fulfill the requests made by Jesus and Mary to offer reparation to her Immaculate Heart.

 

[Beepa]

Dear Mother of Joyful Hope,
Thank you so much for this information! It is very helpful indeed! I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions thoroughly, and the quotes were great. Bless you!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Mother of Joyful Hope,
Thank you so much for this information! It is very helpful indeed! I appreciate the time you took to answer my questions thoroughly, and the quotes were great. Bless you!

Dear Beepa,

I wrote an e-mail to the Rosary Center for Info and they gave me a link to Deaconbob Ellis at World Apostolate of Fatima, who replied:

JMJ

The First Saturday Communion of Reparation may be received during a Vigil Mass on Saturday. If it is not possible to receive on the Saturday itself, the Sunday following is perfectly acceptable. When Sister Lucia asked Our Lord “What if they cannot fulfill all the requirements on the Saturday itself, would the Sunday following due?” He said yes.

People in nursing homes can receive and confess whenever the sacraments are available to them.

In the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Deacon Bob Ellis
National Coordinator World Apostolate of Fatima
920-371-1931 or rellis@bluearmy.com
PO Box 150, Washington NJ 07882-0150

Happy we were able to find some answers to be sure we’re doing things as best we can

 

[Beepa]

Dear MariaChristi,
This is wonderful information, and so helpful! What a great and super-credible source, I thank you so much for investigating this further for me! Hopefully, this information will be helpful to others with questions as well! Many blessings on you!