Your mother would like a word about some unfinished business – your Blessed Mother, that is, who in 1925 asked the faithful to fulfill the First Saturdays devotion.
It’s a request that – on its Dec. 10 centennial – is often referred to as “forgotten” among the supernatural events surrounding Fatima. But following the better known 1917 apparitions, Sister Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos – one of three Fatima visionaries, who later became a Carmelite nun – revealed Mary returned to her twice while she was boarding at a convent in Pontevedra, Spain, and specifically requested the practice.
Catholics worldwide were asked to dedicate the first Saturday of the month – for five consecutive months, thus “Five First Saturdays” – to confession, reception of holy Communion, and the rosary and meditation on its mysteries.
“I think 100-year anniversaries are significant because it helps remind a new generation of these devotions that don’t die off,” Barbara Ernster, communications manager and editor for the World Apostolate of Fatima USA, told OSV News.
While no canonical inquiry was made, the First Saturdays devotion was approved by the bishop of Leiria, Portugal, on Sept. 13, 1939.
“Our Lady asked us to do this, and the Fatima message is timeless,” said Ernster, “because it is the Gospel message. It’s never going to be outdated.”
Speaking from Fatima – where she was participating in a centenary program and conference as part of the World Apostolate – Ernster reinforced the message of peace.
“One of the things that Lúcia had said so often, is that it could help stave off wars and help contribute to the peace of the world. And we see ourselves in situations now where we hear of a third world war – anything could spark it. Even in our own country, there’s so much division … And so,” Ernster concluded, “we do this so that we can help bring about peace – peace to our families, to our nations, to our Church.”
St. Carlo Acutis shared that, in a dream after Sister Lúcia’s death, she told him, “The practice of the five First Saturdays of the month could change the destiny of the world.”
Cardinal Raymond L. Burke – former prefect of the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal and archbishop of St. Louis from 2004-2008, has urged greater participation in the First Saturdays devotion, backing a French-led initiative known as the “Alliance of the First Saturdays of Fatima,” which also launched the “First Saturdays of Fatima Jubilee 2025” on Jan. 4.
“The approaching centennial of the apparition of the infant Jesus and his Most Holy Mother to Sister Lucia at Pontevedra on Dec. 10, 1925, invites the faithful to renew, with deeper faith and greater fervor, their practice of the First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation,” Cardinal Burke said in a message sent to OSV News.
“This devotion, insistently requested by Our Lady herself as an act of loving reparation to her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, remains of enduring importance for the salvation of souls and for peace in the world,” added the prelate, who, as bishop of La Crosse, Wisconsin, (1995-2004), founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe there.
On Dec. 10, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe will celebrate Mass to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Pontevedra.
“I encourage all to persevere in this devotion,” invited Cardinal Burke, “with Our Lady’s confidence in God’s fidelity to his promises of victory over sin and the victory of eternal life.”
Father Edward Looney, secretary of the Mariological Society of America, also said the faithful should heed Mary’s petition.
“When it comes to Fatima, we all strive to pray the rosary every day as she requested. The diehards observe the First Saturday devotion,” he shared. “If all practicing Catholics kept to this request, as a priest, I would be very busy with confessions.”
Noting that First Saturdays are also meant to be in reparation for offenses against Our Lady, Father Looney added, “We’ve seen statues that have been vandalized and people speaking ill of Mary. The First Saturdays call us to renew our love for Mary and to spread it so that her immaculate heart will triumph!”
For those who can’t make a trip to Fatima or Pontevedra, the World Apostolate of Fatima USA is offering a virtual First Saturday Pilgrimage to 12 sacred sites related to Fatima and the three visionaries. Short videos filmed on location will include a reflection on the events and the devotion.
“The biggest thing is that this was the part that we were supposed to do, that was given to us,” Ernster emphasized. “The Church was given its part at Fatima, but the laypeople were given their part – and so we do this to help respond to the message that Our Lady brought to us.”
