Dear Parishioners,

I would like to talk to you today about the Five First Saturdays devotion in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As you probably already know, I’m going to start this devotion in September with a Traditional Latin Mass and then continue it for the months after through January. You are probably curious about why I’m doing this and what it involves.

The First Five Saturdays devotion comes from the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. With this appearance, Our Lady tells the three children that they ought to pray for peace by praying the rosary, consecrating Russia, dedicating everything we do to God and to pray in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart on five consecutive Saturdays. The sins against the Immaculate Heart are the blasphemies against Our Lady. This includes blaspheming the Immaculate Conception, doubting her perpetual virginity and that she is the Mother of God. Also, it is in reparation for those who cause others to turn against Our Lady and for profaning her sacred images. If we cling to and venerate the Mother of God, she promises that she will grant peace in the world. However, we did not do many of these things and we instead had one of the most bloody centuries in the history of the world which included two World Wars, a cold war and more deaths of Christians than all the previous centuries combined.

This devotion is still relevant today because we are now in a period of unsure stability and social unrest. We need to turn to Our Lady for help and she will grant the world a great conversion. The promises of Fatima still have not been fulfilled since we have not done what she requested and we know this because her Immaculate Heart has not yet triumphed. Pope St. John Paul II consecrated the world to her which included Russia. As a result, we saw the fall of communism in that country. The only thing left to do now is to fulfill what we have to do to see a real change in the world.

The First Five Saturday devotions requires the following steps. First, go to confession. This can be done the week before or after. I will have confession available after all the Frst Saturday Masses. Second, receive Holy Communion on the First Saturday of the month. Third, pray the rosary some time during that day. Lastly, meditate for fifteen minutes on the Mysteries of the Rosary.

I made this devotion before I entered seminary and I look forward to sharing it with all of you who would like to participate in it. If you cannot come out for these devotions at all, then please at least make a spiritual communion and do what you can. I’m sure our Lord will bless any effort done out of love for Him and His Mother.

God bless!

Fr. Carter