St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS


The First Saturday Devotion was taught to Sister Lucia Santos, the only then-surviving Fatima visionary, when Our Blessed Mother appeared to her in her convent on December 10, 1925.

"Look, my Daughter, at my Heart, surrounded by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me
 at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me."

She then made this assurance:
 
" I promise to assist at the hour of

death, with the graces necessary for

salvation, all those who, on the First

Saturday of five consecutive months,

shall confess, receive Holy

Communion, recite five decades of the

Rosary, and keep me company for

fifteen minutes while meditating on

the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary,

with the intention of making

reparation to me."


Sister Lucia, writing to her godmother in 1930, said, "I think....that we will be happy at being able to give our dearest heavenly Mother this proof of love which we know She wishes us to offer Her. As for me, I must confess that I never feel so happy as when the First Saturday arrives. And isn't it true that our greatest happiness is being all for Jesus and Mary, and loving Them, and Them only, unreservedly?"


As on other Saturdays at St. Thomas Aquinas, there is an 8 am Mass in the Divine Mercy Chapel on the First Saturday of the month. Followers of the First Saturday Devotion use this opportunity to receive Holy Communion, stay after Mass to recite five decades of the rosary, and keep Our Lady company for at least fifteen additional minutes.

Confession is also available every Saturday from 4:00 pm until 4:45 pm or by appointment.