Why Do Catholics Ignore the Most Important Devotion of Our Times?

The Five First Saturday Devotion

This December 10 marks the 100th anniversary of the devotion commonly called the Five First Saturdays. However, most Catholics have not done this devotion, and many have never heard of it. Yet, this devotion is as important as the request to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to obtain world peace. Why do Catholics continue to ignore it?

The History of the Devotion

This devotion was foreshadowed in the June 13, 1917, apparition when Our Lady of Fatima showed the three seers her Immaculate Heart. This is how Sr. Lucia, one of the seers, described it; “It was in that moment, when she said, ‘My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God,’ that [Our Lady] opened her hands and communicated to us for the second time the reflection of an immense light. (...) Over her right palm was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced all over with thorns, injured by the sins of mankind, and asking for reparation.”

The first reference to it was in the July 13 apparition, in which Our Lady of Fatima called the devotion by a different name: the Communion of Reparation. This is how Sr. Lucia described it.

“To save [souls], God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If the world does what I will ask of you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace. The war will end. But, if mankind does not stop offending God (...), a worse war will begin. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that this is a great sign which God gives you that He will punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecutions of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturdays. If you listen to my requests, Russia will convert, and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred.” ¹

This message identifies the sins of mankind as the root of the problem, which in turn leads to wars. She indicates the solution as the consecration of Russia and the Communion of Reparation. Though the requests for both the consecration and reparation were still to be formally requested, Our Lady had already clearly laid out the conditions for obtaining world peace.

The Formal Requests

The formal requests were made in a series of apparitions to Sr. Lucia. The Fatima Shrine in Portugal refers to them as the Cordimarian cycle of apparitions, referring to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The first apparition happened on December 10, 1925, at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Spain. This is how Sr. Lucia described it (translation ours).

“The Most Holy Virgin appeared with a boy standing on a cloud. On one hand, she showed a heart covered with thorns. She placed the other hand on the boy’s shoulder who said, ‘Have pity on your Most Holy Mother’s Heart, which ungrateful men pierce with thorns unceasingly. No one removes them by making acts of reparation.’ The Most Holy Virgin added, ‘My daughter, look at my heart covered with thorns which ungrateful men pierce unceasingly with blasphemies and ingratitude. (...) Tell people that I promise to be present with them at the moment of their death with all the graces needed to save their souls, anyone who, on the first Saturdays of five months, goes to confession, receives Holy Communion, prays five decades of the Rosary, keeps me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, and has the intention of repairing my injuries.’”²

The second apparition happened only a few months later, on February 15, 1926, which shows the urgency of the request. It happened in the same convent. Some days earlier, Sr. Lucia cornered and spoke to a child in the convent who should not have been inside its cloister. She told him to go to the nearby Church and pray some Hail Marys. Days later, this scene happened.

“On February 15, 1926, as I came back in after leaving the trash bin in the backyard, I came upon a child who seemed to be the same one I had encountered. I asked him, 'Did you ask for the Child Jesus from the Heavenly Mother?' The Child turned to me and said, 'And, have you spread in the world what the Heavenly Mother asked of you?' The Child became resplendent. I realized it was Jesus and told Him, 'My Jesus, You know well what my confessor said in the letter I read to you. He said that the vision had to happen a second time and that facts are needed so it may be believed. And my Mother Superior is not able to spread this request all by herself.’

The Infant Jesus responded: 'It is true that, alone, your Mother Superior can do nothing. But, with My grace, she can do everything. It is enough for your confessor to give you permission and for your Superior to tell it to people, for it to be believed, even if they don’t know to whom [the request] was revealed.’ ³

With these three apparitions, it should be clear how insistent God was in promoting the devotion of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, the insistence and the motive became even more evident in the 1929 apparition.

This apparition happened in the Dorothean convent in Tuy, Spain. A large cross made of light appeared in the convent’s chapel. The Immaculate Heart of Mary holding her heart was under the right branch. Our Lady said this to Sr. Lucia.

“The time has come in which God asks for the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. So many souls are condemned by God’s Justice for sins committed against me. I have come to ask reparation.” ⁴

Why Is This Devotion so Important?

God is offended by the sins of mankind, particularly those against the Immaculate Heart. The result is chastisements by means of wars, persecution of the Church, famine, the martyrdom of the good, etc. The worst punishment is the eternal fires of hell.

Holy Mother Church gave her children many means of salvation. In her bountiful richness, many paths can obtain pardon of sins and heaven. However, God did not ask generic prayers, litanies, and devotions to avoid His punishment. For these times, He only asked for the devotion of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be spread throughout the world.

Because of this, the Fatima devotion stands unique among all the devotions the Church promotes, especially for these times. No other apparition bears the promises of universal conversion, world peace, and the resulting triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Thus, this devotion of reparation is God’s solution for man’s “unsolvable” problems.

Can This Devotion be the Means to World Peace?

It has been almost one hundred years since Our Lady formally requested this devotion. World affairs continue to be discussed in committees to obtain peace and order. The solutions presented are based on the best available political, economic, technological, scientific and other practices. Nothing seems to work, as the world constantly finds itself on the brink of another world war.

Leaders propose new and better alliances, treaties, and accords to maintain peace. All of them eventually fail. Yet, world leaders insist upon returning to the same principles that have failed time and again.

All the while, God’s solution remains shelved and ignored even by those who should promote it. While the secular world ignores all supernatural solutions, Catholics must be first to point to this vital devotion.

In the hierarchy of importance, God’s solution must be placed above all others. However, this does not mean all natural solutions must be discarded. Indeed, supernatural solutions can cooperate with natural means.

However, God’s solution to the present problem goes far beyond issues like a stabilized economy or a secured border. Indeed, Our Lady at Fatima promised much more when she said, “Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph." This prophecy proclaims a universal and lasting hope and peace to a suffering humanity. It will return the whole world to order. What promise can be better than the triumph of the Immaculate Heart?

While the world ignores this devotion, Catholics who stand with Our Lady of Fatima must continue promoting it.

Thus, make a resolution to do or renew the Five First Saturdays devotion. Become more aware of all the sins that offend the Immaculate Heart and offer acts of reparation for these outrages.

Only when devotion to the Immaculate Heart is spread throughout the world will the world truly have peace.

These sentiments are contained in an article written by one of the greatest promoters of Fatima in the twentieth century, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. The article is titled "Devotion to the Heart of Mary Will Save the World from Communism." It reads:

"In addition, I must point out that Providence seems to go above and beyond [His promotion of the devotion to the Sacred Heart] by redirecting men's object of pity to the Heart of Mary. To a certain degree, it is the refinement and highest elevation of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She entrusted Sister Lucia with the mission of staying on earth to draw men to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion is recommended several times during the visions. This Most Holy Heart even appears to us in the second apparition, crowned with thorns for our sins, asking for men's prayers of reparation. It seems to us that this point sums up all the treasures of the messages of Fatima.

As a whole, the apparitions of Fatima on the one hand instruct us about the terrible gravity of the world situation and the true causes of our ills. On the other hand, they teach us the means by which we must avoid the earthly and eternal punishments that threaten us.

To the ancients, God sent prophets. In our days, He has spoken to us through the Queen of Prophets herself.” ⁵

Footnotes:

• 1 https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages...
• 2 ibid
• 3 -ibid
• 4 _ibid
• 5 https://www.pliniocorreadeoliv...