Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

There are many devotions to Our Lady. The most common is the Rosary which for over 800 years has been one of the most powerful prayers practiced by Catholics throughout the world. Other traditional devotions to Our Lady include: the Feast of our Blessed Mother on Saturdays (incorporated in the Saturday Mass), the daily wearing of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the recitation of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and most recently, the First Saturday Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Each of these devotions brings us many graces. We know that Mary is the most pure and holiest human being and the closest one to God, Our Father. Every Sunday, we profess our faith that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary. Every time we pray the Hail Mary, we profess that Mary, full of grace is the Mother of God and that Jesus is the fruit of her womb. By staying close to Mary, we stay close to Jesus. By staying close to Mary, we stay close to God Our Father. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he told each one of us: “Behold, your mother!” Mary is not only the mother of the beloved disciple John. Mary is the mother of each one of us, and Jesus is our brother. We are all invited to put forward our prayers to God through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and this is what we are all invited to do on First Saturday.

The First Saturday Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary contains some of the other devotions to Mary: recitation of five decades of the Rosary, a 15-minute meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary (with the intention of making reparation to Our Lady) and attending a Saturday Mass (and receiving the Eucharist). In addition, one is to go to Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation). The promise made by Our Lady at Fatima in 1917 is “to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:

1. Attend Mass for 5 Consecutive First Saturdays.

2. Confession (within 8 days before or 8 days after every first Saturday for the five months. Confession every two weeks will always cover you.)

3. Receive Holy Communion. 

4. Recite 5 decades of the Rosary.

5. Keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.

6. Have the intention of making reparation to Our Lady”. “You, at least, try to console me.”

 May Our Lady Help of Christians protect us all!

-Fr. Alain –