The First Saturday

15 Minutes of Meditation on the Mysteries of the Roasry

2009-07-04T15:22:00.008+01:00

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

This is probably one of the most overlooked and misunderstood aspects of the First Saturday Devotion and one that many confuse with simply saying the Rosary whilst meditating on the set of Mysteries of the day. In order to clarify matters I wish to comment on this one aspect of the conditions attached to the First Saturday Devotion.

The question is often asked: Does the meditation while reciting the Rosary fulfill this condition, or is there required an additional fifteen minutes of meditation? That an additional 15 minutes of meditation is required was recently confirmed by Sr. Lucia of Fatima. It is clear too from a statement by the first Bishop of Fatima.

The last entry in the chronology of Fatima, published in the official Calendar of the Sanctuary for the year of 1940, and signed by Dom Jose Correia da Silva, the first Bishop of Fatima, gave a summary of Our Lady's requests concerning the Five First Saturdays. From that official statement in the Calendar of the Sanctuary, we read the Bishop's enumeration of the various items that pertain to the devotion of the five Saturdays:

It consists in going to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. The Confession may be made during the eight days preceding or following the first Saturday of each month, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity.

The meditation embraces one or more mysteries; it may even include all, taken together or separately, according to individual attraction or devotion; but it is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month.

Speaking of the requirement of "keeping me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary," the Bishop's comment that "it is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month" could apply only to an extra fifteen minutes, for each decade of the Rosary must have its own particular meditation. This is clear from the definition of the Rosary given in the official document of the Church on indulgences, the ENCHIRIDION OF INDULGENCES published by Pope Paul VI in 1968. It describes the Rosary as follows:

"The Rosary is a certain formula of prayer, which is made up of fifteen decades of HAIL MARYS with an OUR FATHER before each decade, and in which the recitation of each decade is accompanied by pious meditation on a particular mystery of our Redemption." (n. 48)

Like the Rosary, this meditation may be made any time or place during the first Saturday. Yet again, like the Rosary, a very fitting time and place would be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament before or after Mass. The question has been asked: "Would an extra Rosary, which would require about fifteen minutes, fulfill this request? It would seem, if fruitfully meditated, that it would. Or again, the time could be spent reading meditatively on one of the fifteen mysteries, which is a form of mental prayer that involves reading with frequent pauses to reflect on the matter read.

Fatima and The Sacred Heart

2009-06-04T20:37:00.010+01:00

I referred in an earlier post to the fact that I was given the gift of a Miraculous Medal on the occassion of making my First Holy Communion on the 13th of May 1978. Of course I did not know then what the medal signified but as life went on it became most clear that Our Lady was moving in my life. There are far too many instances to go into but all point to the fact that as soon as I had the medal blessed and put on my neck in 1978 it was as if Our Lady placed me under her mantle and guided my steps. Of course all steps led to Christ as is always the case with souls who turn to Our Lady and take hold of her hand.

The first time that it became apparent to me that the role of Our Lady in my life was to lead me to Christ came during my first visit to Fatima in 1992. A dear, holy and gentle soul, Fr Andrew O'Toole CSSP, invited me, through a friend, to consider travelling to Fatima for a week that August. I knew absolutlely nothing about it but considering that fact that it was a much warner country than Ireland, I could not and did not refuse the invitation. It took a few days for the atmospehere and the message to seep in but when it did, I was changed for ever. The emotions encountered during that week in 1992 are as strong today as they were then a sure sign that something supernatural happened deep within me during that pilgrimage.

There in Fatima, the full significance of the Miraculous medal or should I say the symbolism on the back of the medal began to dawn on me. For almost 14 years I was wearing a medal that showed and promoted the unity behind the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Up to this point I had never heard of the Immaculate Heart of Mary nor really had I time for any serious Marian devotion. This was all to change during that special week.

Being June, however, I feel obliged to comment of those aspects of the Fatima phenomonen that pertain directly to the Heart of Christ. The Fatima message, indeed the message behind every Marian apparition has its origin in the Heart of Christ. During the Fatima apparitions there is direct mention of this most wonderful Heart from both the Angel of Portugal and later from the children themselves who were all the time enraptured by love for the two Hearts of Jesus and Mary and were constantly devoted to making acts of reparation to God for the outrages sacrileges and indifference by which these two Hearts were offended.

The first mention of the Sacred Heart of Jesus came from the Angel of Portugal to the children as they attended their sheep at the Cabeco ledge. From here they had a wonderful view of the entire hamlet that was Fatima. The Angel appeared to them and after telling them who he was he carried out theis wonderful action. We let Lucia's own words speak here. "Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the ground, and made us repeat these words three times: "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You." Then rising he said: "Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications."

There are two beautiful things in this account of the visitation of the Angel. The first is the way the angel changed his posture to one of complete adoration as he prayed. In bowing down, the Angel performed an act of sacred reverence before God, demonstrated his submission to God, uttered with his body a wonderful salutation, and revealed in a most beautiful way recognition of His Divinity. Now we must remember that angels have free will like us, but what a wonderful way they choose to use it. I remember hearing about this for the first time whilst standing at the site of the Cabeco and having a deep desire to do the same before every Tabernacle. I am still waiting to pluck up the courage to do so. At best I watch my genuflections very carefully now and make them with reverence and respect.

The seond thing that really moves me is the last line: The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications. If we truly believed this, we wold not cease praying. To think of Jesus and our Most Holy Mother being all the time attentive to our prayers should fill us with a deep sorrow for the times we have carlessly prayed and whilst praying have been attentive to worldly matters. Why, one wonders, are the Hearts of Jesus and Mary attentive to our supplications? God only knows I get bored listening to myself sometimes! I know as a teacher that the kids in my class get bored from listening to me very often, more often that I would care to contemplate! The united Hearts of Jesus and Mary never tire of being attentive to us. I never understood why until I recently came across a passage I read in a book called "The Essence of Christianity" by Michael Schmaus, which revealed something awesome about our personal prayer. Actually, it is in the first section of the book that outlines the entire treatise and it deals with the action of the Holy Spirit during our times of prayer. It presents the following on p25: "The Holy Ghost, the almighty love of God, like an all-powerful bond, surrounds Christ and those who are united with Him. He is also present in the innermost being of every believer in Christ; in him, he calls continually through the Son to the Father. In the human words that the Christian addresses to the Father, the Father hears the loving words of the Holy Ghost. In man's very silence, the Father hears the Holy Ghost speak."

This explains it all. The three divine persons in the Most Holy Trinity are always attentive to one another and when we think of what St Paul wrote concering prayer in Romans 8:26 we can see why the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to our supplications. It is because we simply cannot pray as we ought and so our prayer is presented to them through the ineffible groanings of the Holy Spirit. No prayer is possible unless the Holy Spirit moves first. What a wonderful advoacte we have in the Holy Spirit. We should be continuously thankful to Him.

The second time he appeared to the children was at the family well where once again they were playing together. It was sudden and unannounced as was the first visit. Addressing the children he said "What are you doing? Pray much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you." Each and every moment we know that the united Hearts are turned towards. Their love for us beyond all human comprehension, disposes them to argue readily for our good. Our salvation is their goal and the pathway? Through Mary to Jesus! This is how their Hearts are united. This invitation to pray much, is delivered to the children but meant for all of us.

The Sacred Heart of Christ took as its physical template that of His Mother Mary. Mercy originates from the Heart of Christ and is passed lavishly through the Heart of Mary to be applied to us for the of our transgressions. Indeed we should always cry out to God the Father to be merciful to the whole world for this is His desire. We only have to ask to effect it.

And just how should we ask? The angel gave the three children the perfect formula on how to ask for this mercy when he taught them this prayer

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners."

Jacinta said "If I could only put into the hearts of all, the fire that is burning within my own heart, and that makes me love the Hearts of Jesus and Mary so very much!"

"One day, I was given a holy picture of the Heart of Jesus, quite a nice one, as man made pictures go. I took it to Jacinta: "Do you want this holy picture?" She took it, looked at it attentively and remarked: "It's so ugly! It doesn't look like Our Lord at all. He is so beautiful! But I want it; it is He just the same." She always carried it with her. At night and during her illness, she kept it under her pillow, until it fell apart. She kissed it frequently, saying: "I kiss the Heart because I love it most! How I would love to have a Heart of Mary! Don't you have one? I would love to have the two together."

The death of Pope John Paul II - 2nd April 2005

2009-04-04T18:07:00.003+01:00

I can still remember the day well. It is engraved in my mind forever. That time, that I spoke about as a young boy was approaching. The one ever promise that I made myself when I was much younger was that I would go to John Paul's funeral. I told my parents that I would go. I felt so close to him. Very close in fact. I don't know why but he was a tower in my life. He was the only Pope I knew.

Perhaps the closeness came from the fact that my three day old brother died just as the Holy Father left Ireland. The way my Mother broke the news to me was that God needed more Angels to look after the Pope in America. I was fine with that. That was a good reason for my brother to go to God.

Perhaps it was the fact that when I heard he was shot I, a very young 10 year old boy, wrote to him and told him that he could not die yet as I was to be the next Pope and I was too young to take over now. Imagine the joy in my family when we actually received a reply to that letter in the August of 1981!

What ever the reason was for loving him dearly when I was younger I came to understand the reason why I felt so close to him as I went through my late adolescence and adult years to date. His devotion to Mary was always an example to me. I visited Fatima in 1992 and only then began to learn of his deep devotion to Our Lady especially Our Lady of Fatima who is credited with saving his life by extending a maternal hand to him at the moment of the assassination attempt on 13th May of 1981.

On the 13th of May 1978 I was vested with the gift of a Miraculous Medal from my parents. The reason? It was the day of my First Holy Communion. That medal, still about my neck, has more than lived up to it's name! I did not realise it then but Our Blessed Mother had plans for me which obviously God had sanctioned; plans that would ake some time to emerge and mature but obvious plans none the less. Isn't it funny how, when looking back it is all so clear but when you are in the moment it is all so confusing and seemingly haphazard?

Make everything you do a sacrifice!

2009-03-07T17:45:00.007Z

During the second apparition of the Angel to the children at Fatima they were asked to "Offer sacrifices continually to the Most High". Their response was "How must we sacrifice ourselves?" I think I will spend some time on this question before I move on to the answer. Isn't it a wonderful question to begin Lent with? Isn't it a wonderful question to keep asking ourselves from the moment we wake until the moment we fall asleep? Wouldn't it be a great question to keep in mind in order to mould us and shape us in holiness?

The thing is, that most of us make sacrifices in one way or another whether it be in a mindful manner of offering them to God or not. I suppose I could sum up all sacrifices into two groups: the times when we did not do that which we wished to do and the times when we did that thing which we did not want to do exactly when we should have done it. These are real sacrifices.

Of course then there are the sacrifices that we choose to undertake or offer simply for love of God and in reparation for sin. The most fitting ssacrifices we try to make and offer during this time of Lent are those of prayer, fasting and alms giving. Prayer a sacrifice? Of course! In saying this I am reminded here of the quote from Grimm which says that "Sacrifice is only a prayer offered with gifts."

In the eyes of God only one thing matters in relation to all sacrifices we undertake and that is the spirit in which they done and offered. Remember the little children of Fatima and how they wore the thick rope 24/7 until Our Lady thold them "God is pleased with your sacrifices. He does not want you to sleep with the rope on, but only to wear it during the daytime." We know that these little children wore these blood stained ropoes for over a year until they burned them having fallen ill in 1918. Imagine if we could hear those words "God is pleased with your sacrifices". We don't need to hear them. We are reminded at Holy Mass that He is pleased with sacrifices that are offered "with humble and contrite hearts".

The opposite is also true. If we abstain from something we want or do something we don't want to do with a grumble and a harsh word or a revealing frown, then it is not acceptable by God. Why? This is because offerings do not become a sacrifice until a real change has been effected in the visible gift.

Many of the readings we hear at Holy Mass during this time of Lent remind us exactly how not to make a sacrifice to God so in essence those of us who want to learn we have no excuse for thinking that a sacrifice is acceptable to God irrespective of how it is exercised. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn..” we are told on Ash Wednesday each year and again on the following Friday we are reminded that a true sacrifice a true fast is what the Lord looks for: one that originates in, transforms the heart and effects us universally. And again on the Friday after Ash Wednesday we were asked by the Lord in Isaiah 58:5 "Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? Is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?" we are reminded further on in verse 9 that it is our good works that will find favour with the Lord when we are told "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am."

This change we look for now is one that takes place at heart level and one that is permanent. If we continue with the sacrifices we already experience and undertake and simply learn to change our heatrs in relation to how we do them, then they will become acceptable to God: as acceptable as the gifts of His servant Abel, the sacrifice of Abraham our father in faith and the bread and wine offered by His Priest, Melchizadech. In this way we will have the sure and certain knowledge that we are offering sacrifices continually to the Most High.

And so now by thinking on this question that the children posed to the Angel of Fatima we can understand the answer of the Angel when he said "Make everything you do a sacrifice."

Offering up one's Holy Communion

2009-02-07T16:59:00.007Z

"In July 8, 1891 we find St Therese writing to her sister Céline about a certain Hyacinthe Loyson, who apostatized from the priesthood. Again the burden of her letter is a plea for holiness, but now as a sacrifice to obtain Loyson’s conversion through the Mother of God. “We must not grow weary of praying” for the unfortunate man, she says. “Confidence works miracles…. And in any event it is not our merits but those of our Spouse, which are ours, that we offer to our Father who is in heaven, in order that our brother, a son of the Blessed Virgin, should come back vanquished to throw himself beneath the cloak of the most merciful of mothers.” Thérèse, who had prayed for the apostate throughout her religious life, offered her last Communion for him in 1897, August 19, the feast of St. Hyacinthe. Loyson is known to have been converted on his death bed, fifteen years later."

I can remember the first time I read of this wonderful act of St Therese for a lapsed Priest and can vividly recall how enthralled I was at the prospect that from that moment onwards it was my absolute privilege to be able to offer my Holy Communions for the many intentions and needs that filled my heart and soul both for myself and for others. To this day I thank the Almighty for indeed "he has done great things for me".

What does it mean to "offer one's Communion"? Well the Catholic Encyclopedia tell us that "the pious custom of the faithful of "offering their Communion" for relations, friends, and the souls departed, is to be considered as possessing unquestionable value, in the first place, because an earnest prayer of petition in the presence of the Spouse of our souls will readily find a hearing, and then, because the fruits of Communionas a means of satisfaction for sin may be applied to a third person, and especially per modum suffragii to the souls in purgatory."

And what exactly do we offer to God when we offer up our Holy Communion for a special intention? At first I myself was under the impression that all graces received were simply returned to God to be applied in the area of the intention prayed for. Of course this is not the case. Let us look at the chief effects of a worthy Holy Communion. They are first, a closer union with Our Lord and a more fervent love of God and of our neighbor; second, an increase of sanctifying grace; third, preservation from mortal sin the and remission of venial sin; fourth, the lessening of our inclinations to sin and the help to practice good works.

Of couse this action of grace and privilege is rooted in the Message of Fatima. How many times have I let the prayer of the Angel fall from my lips carelessly without thinking about that fact that I was offering my Communion, to God as an act of Reparation.

"O MOST HOLY TRINITY, FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT, I ADORE YOU PROFOUNDLY. I OFFER YOU THE MOST PRECIOUS BODY, BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST, PRESENT IN ALL THE TABERNACLES OF THE WORLD, IN REPARATION FOR THE OUTRAGES, SACRILEGES AND INDIFFERENCE BY WHICH hE IS OFFENDED. THROUGH THE INFINITE MERITS OF THE sACRED HEART OF JESUS AND THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, I BEG THE CONVERSION OF POOR SINNERS."

It never entered into my mind what I was doing simply becuase I was never told I could do so. Even though I muttered the words of offering I did so copying the example of the Angel of Portugal and the children of Fatima. I did not understand the great theological significance of the prayer and the action contained within until the simple example of St Therese enlightened my mind.

It is something that I would encourage you to do. There are always times when we are asked to pray for someone or some situation and this we do. How many of us offer up our reception of Holy Communion for this intention? Perhaps we could buy a small liturgical calendar and mark off some days where we will offer our reception for the Holy Father's needs and intentions. Mark off the birthdays of your spouse and children. Mark off the important anniversaries for the living and the dead and some birthday rememberances. In doing that there will be great joy for some souls who are awaiting our efforts . In doing that our Holy Communions will not only be beneficial to ourselves but to those for whom we offer them. In doing that souls will depend on us so let us also never forget to do it with the greatest of reverence and preparation.

The 5 First Saturdays

2009-01-31T20:27:00.004Z

In the apparition of July 13 in Fátima, Our Lady announced: ‘In order to avoid war, I’ll return to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Reparation Communion of the First Saturdays’.
She returned to ask for the latter devotion, when She appeared to Sr. Lucy on December 10, 1925, in Pontevedra, Spain. She said then: ‘Look, My daughter, at My Heart surrounded by the thorns with which ungrateful men at every moment pierce Me through blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me and tell that I promise to assist, at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for their salvation, all those who, in the First Saturday of five consecutive months, went to Confession, received Holy Communion, recited five decades of the Rosary and made Me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating in the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, all with the intent of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart’.
Our Lady showed then Her Heart surrounded with thorns, which represent our sins. She called for acts of reparation, in order to remove them, namely the reparation devotion of the five First Saturdays of the Month. In exchange, She promises us ‘all the graces necessary for salvation’.
Jesus Himself, appearing to Sr. Lucy in the following two years, on February 15 of 1926 and December 17 of 1927, insists on the spreading of this devotion. Sr. Lucy wrote: ‘War or peace in the world depend on the practice of this devotion of the First Saturdays, together with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary’.

Why five?

The First Saturdays are five, according to this revelation of Jesus, because ‘five are the kinds of offenses and blasphemies directed at the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
1.Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Conception.

2. ...against Her Virginity.

3. ...against Her Divine Maternity, including the refusal to receive Her as Mother of all men.

4. Offenses of those who try to instill in the hearts of children indifference, contempt and even hate against this Immaculate Mother.

5. ...of those who offend Her directly in Her sacred images’.
Conditions
The conditions to gain the privilege of the First Saturdays are four:
l. Confession. For each First Saturday a confession with intention of reparation is needed. It may be made in any day, before or after the First Saturday, provided one is in the state of grace when receiving Communion.
The seer asked: - ‘My Jesus, people may forget to formulate that intention (of reparation)!? Jesus replied: - They can do it in the following confession, taking advantage of the first opportunity they have to go to Confession’.
The other three conditions must be fulfilled on the First Saturday itself, except if a priest, for just cause, grants that they may be fulfilled on the following Sunday.

2. Communion of Reparation.

3. Five decades of the Rosary.

4. Meditation, during 15 minutes, on one, several or all mysteries. It is equally good to meditate, instead, for three minutes, before each of the five decades of the Rosary being recited.

In all these practices one must have the intention of doing reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the Month was approved by the Bishop of Leiria on September 13,1939, in Fátima.

A Marian Blog

2009-01-31T15:53:00.003Z

I plan to run this blog in conjunction with my other blog called 'Ceile De'. I have been a devotee of our Lady of Fatima since August 1992 after I made my first pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady at Fatima. The effect of the messsage Our Lady brought to us from God is as powerful for me today as it was in 1992. Ave Maria!