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 Sanctuary 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.