Chapel of the De La Salle Brothers, 1312 High Street Armadale, 3143.

Every First Saturday of the Month (Except for First Saturday January - Due to Divine Mercy Mission to India)

9:45AM - 11:00AM Adoration, Rosary and Holy Mass (Confessions available)

 

The observance of the First Saturday in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intended to make reparation to it for the sins of mankind.  This devotion was revealed by the Blessed Virgin to three children, Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia to whom she appeared at Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

On June 13, 1917, Our Lady specifically stated in speaking to Lucia: "Jesus wants to make use of you to make me know and loved.  He wants to establish in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart".

 

Our Lady repeated this in the July 13th apparition when, after the vision of Hell that was granted to the three children, she said "You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go.  To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."

 

"Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion,

along with the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  This is why I desire

its propogation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother

in Heaven". - Sr Lucy (March 19, 1939)

 

During her July apparition at Fatima, Our Lady said to Lucia,

"I shall come to ask...that on the First Saturday of every month,

Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world".  

Although she made no further mention of this devotion at Fatima,

on December 10, 1925, our Blessed Mother again appeared at Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain.  

It is there Our Lady completed her request for the Five First Saturdays and gave her

great promise.

 

Appearing with the Queen of Heaven in that apparition was the Infant Jesus, Who said to Lucia: Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation".

 

Our Lady then spoke: "See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns which ungrateful men pierce at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude.  Do you, at least, strive to console me.  Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, and say five decades of The Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary."

 

Regarding the First Saturdays Our Lady said: "Do these things for love of me and know I offer all for love of you... In the completion of these five Saturdays, grace shall be given to your soul as a gift from my Immaculate Heart.  This is asked by God the Father to honour my Immaculate Heart.  He is greatly pleased by this, for you are also paying homage to Him in this way..."

 

Our Lady asks for reparation.  "There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condems for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation;" reparation to this Heart for the sins of mankind, in particular the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namel:

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception

2. Blasphemies against her perpetual virginity

3. Blasphemies against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary

4. Blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images

5. The neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother "O my Jesus, I offer this for the love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." (Sacrifice Prayer)

 

The following First Saturday devotions are effacious in honoring the Immaculate

Heart of Mary:

1. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

2. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

3. Act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

4. Act of reparation

5. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary

6. The Sacrament of Reconciliation

 

"I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation,

whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall:

 

1. Confess and Receive Holy Communion.

2. Recite five decades of the Holy Rosary.

3. Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of

the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.

 

The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which

must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  One should make

this intention before carrying out Our Lady's requests.  A renewal of the actual intention

at the time is best; however, if such an intention is made before one commits oneself to

do the First Saturdays, it will fulfill the requirements if, for instance, the actual intention

is forgotten at the time of confession.

 

1. Confession: This confession can be made before the First Saturday or afterward, provided tha Holy Communion be received in the state of grace.  In 1926, Christ in a vision explained to Lucia that this confession could be made a week before or even more, and that it should be offered in reparation.

 

2. Holy Communion: Before receiveing Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer it in reparation to Our Lady.  Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, "This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my Priests allow it so".  So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday.  If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.

 

3. Rosary: The Rosary is a vocal prayer said while meditating upon the mysteries of Our Lord's life and Passion and Our LAdy's life.  To comply with the request of our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating.

 

4. 15 minute meditation: Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; It may include all, taken together or seperately.  This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said "...those who keep me company...."

 

To those who faithfully follow Our Lady's requests for the First Five Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise, which she, as a Mediatrix of all Graces, will certainly fulfill: "I promise to assist at the hour of death with graces necessary for salvation".  This means that Our Blessed Mother will be present at the hour of death with the actual grace of final perserverance, (which after the gift/grace of Faith), is the most important grace.

 

After completing the Five First Saturdays, one may continue the devotion simply to console the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady.  A tender love of our Blessed Mother will lead one to do all he can to make reparation for the sins of which pierce her Immaculate Heart.  Let us remember too, that although Our Lady made this promise to those who would observe five such First Saturdays in succession, in her July apparition she asked simply that Communions of reparation be made on every First Saturday to atone for the sins of the world.