Hello Child of Mary!
Did you land here looking for answers to your questions in regards to the
First Saturdays Devotion?
If so, you landed on the right page!
We will do our best to answer all of your questions… So let’s begin!
It's been 100 years since Our Lady of Fatima asked for a Special Request:
The First Saturdays Devotion
Common Approaches to the First Saturdays and Our Lady of Fatima
This is Mariana, member of the Communal First Saturdays Apostolate. And as such, I will be happy to guide you in all of those questions that made you land here. You may have learned from videos, the internet, family, friends, or even a priest about the commonly known Five First Saturdays Devotion in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. You may also have heard that this is a request from Our Lady of Fatima… request that, by the way, is turned 100 years this past December 10th, 2025. But let’s be honest, how many of you have celebrated her feast on May 13th without understanding the depth of her message? Count me in!
You may also have the following questions, which include:
- What is the place of the First Saturdays within the entire Fatima Message?
- Why should I practice this devotion for 5 consecutive First Saturdays?
- How can I properly fulfill Our Lady’s conditions for the First Saturdays with the correct prayers?
- Where can I get resources to learn more about all of this (videos, books, podcast, conferences, courses, pamphlets)?
Well… we have great news for you! The Communal First Saturdays Apostolate has and keeps producing a variety of resources that will help you answer the questions mentioned above as well as many others, including a Pilgrimage for this coming October 2026 to Portugal and Spain celebrating the Vatican-declared Jubilee Year of the First Saturdays devotion. We hope the different Communal First Saturdays Apostolate resources help serve your personal needs and preferences.
Just click on any of the following boxes below, and you can access our available material for you!
Our Apostolate
The Communal First Saturdays Apostolate has the specific and really important mission to spread the First Saturdays devotion throughout the world in a very special way, which is the Communal First Saturdays®. The Communal First Saturdays® is canonically and liturgically approved. Not only does The Communal First Saturdays book have an imprimatur, but its order of devotion accompanying the Mass has a separate church approval. We try to help anyone in the world to fulfill this devotion (which is also devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary) properly and help you understand what it is about and its unique importance.
If you want to learn more about our apostolate, make sure to click here. If you would like to learn more about our special status in the Catholic Church, click here!
The Place of the First Saturdays within the entire Fatima Message
Our Lady did mention the First Saturdays to the three little shepherds at Fatima. So, why does hardly anyone mention or talk about it? Good question. However, we do talk about it.
First, let us recall Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima, especially the one on July 13, 1917. After showing them a vision of hell, Our Lady let the children know that hell is where the souls of poor sinners go. Our Lady showed them this vision with the purpose of not only letting them (and us) know that there are consequences to our actions but also to increase our love for others. This love is manifested by offering prayers and sacrifices for sinners so that they don’t go to hell. Our Lady also said that to save souls from going to hell, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart. Our Lady said that if we do what she tells us many souls will be saved and a period of peace will be given to the world.
She also prophesied famine, persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father and war which occurred. This war included World War II, which became the greatest war in history. Our Lady warned us about this saying they would occur if people “did not cease offending God.” Although these things have occurred, Our Lady’s prophecy can most certainly apply to future events. So, we need to listen to her words and do what she tells us (cf. Fatima and the First Saturdays book)
Our Lady said that to prevent these things from happening she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. She said, “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.” Our Lady’s words in regards to Russia will be converted need to be examined in the context of the entire apparition.
The consecration of Russia has been fulfilled. However, the conversion of Russia, and the world, will take place once we fulfill Our Lady’s second request for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays (First Saturdays Devotion). Conversion means sanctification of the people. Sanctification of the people cannot result only from the Pope and bishops making the consecration. People need to do their part to fulfill the First Saturdays to help bring about this sanctification and conversion of not only Russia but the whole world.
As you can see, July 13, 1917 was the first time in the whole Fatima Message that Our Lady mentioned the need for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. However, when did she come back to ask for this? What did she say we need to do to fulfill the devotion? Let’s fast forward to December 10th, 1925.
The Special Request for the First Saturdays
Lucia, one of the three little children from Fatima entered a Dorothean Convent in Pontevedra, Spain. (cf. Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words). There, on December 10, 1925, she received a locution from both Our Lord and Our Lady. This was the first out of three Post-Fatima Apparitions.
The Child Jesus spoke first saying:
“Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother covered with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation”.
Then, Our Lady said:
“My daughter, look at My Heart surrounded with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me, and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation all those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me”.
It is to be noted that it is not only Our Lady, but also Our Lord who explicitly asks us to console and have compassion on the Heart of His Mother by making reparation to her Immaculate Heart. “Reparation” is one of the main key words in the Fatima Message and the First Saturdays Devotion. If we want to practice the message that both Our Lord and Our Lady brought us and we are not thinking about reparation, we still have a lot to learn!
“According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Every offense committed against justice and truth entails the duty of reparation, even if its author has been forgiven…” (n. 2487). By offering our sacrifices to God, with His help, we can try to make reparation for sin. Even when we are forgiven by God, we must still try to make reparation for our sins. On the other hand, any reparation made for the sins of others is offered as an act of mercy, and yet also as an act helping to restore a kind of justice between God and others.” (The Communal First Saturdays, 2017).
Where should I start if I want to practice the First Saturdays Devotion?
The Four Practices to Fulfill the First Saturdays Devotion
In order to start practicing this devotion, we need to be clear what the 4 conditions or practices are and the intention for each. As we read above, Our Lady explicitly asked us for 4 practices, each for the 1 intention of making reparation to her Immaculate heart. All of this needs to be done in order to fulfill her request for the First Saturdays:
1.- Confession: “By the Sacrament of Penance, it is possible for all of us to come back to life spiritually […]. And even when we do not need to restore the life of grace, this Sacrament is available on a regular basis to help us go deeper in our self-examination, to help us resist mortal sin, to grow spiritually, and so answer the call to be saints. Thus, the Sacrament of Penance helps us to prepare us to receive fruitfully a Communion of reparation, removing those obstacles to our love for Jesus and Mary”.
2.- Rosary: Ordinarily, we pray the 4 different mysteries (Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious) on specific days of the week (cf. Rosarium Virginis Mariae). We we usually pray the Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Saturdays, the Luminous Mysteries on Thursdays, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday and Sunday. This is simply to help us to pray all of the possible mysteries of the Rosary during the week. Yet, it is permissible to depart from the ordinary practice of praying certain parts of the Rosary on certain days of the week. For example, we can pray the Glorious Mysteries on the Feast of the Assumption. On the First Saturday, we can pray the Sorrowful Mysteries during Lent and the Glorious Mysteries during the Easter Season. One must keep in mind, that to pray the Rosary on the First Saturday, and even daily, as Our Lady requested at Fatima, means to pray 5 decades of the Rosary.
3.- Communion of Reparation: “The Communion of reparation” is first and foremost a reception of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. […] “The Communion of reparation,” as introduced by Our Lady in the Fatima secret, refers to receiving Jesus in Holy Communion as a Sacrament with the added intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the sins that have pierced her Heart. All sin offends God and needs to be repaired.
4.- Meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary in Our Lady’s company: “You can do this any time on the First Saturday. If possible, a special time to do this is after Mass and receiving Holy Communion. […] A nearby statue of Our Lady can serve to remind us of her presence as she directs us beyond herself to Jesus within us, while we remain in her company. […] The recommended method of meditation is the lectio divina, based on Verbum Domini by Pope Benedict XVI. Moreover, the lectio divina is a way to “ponder” these mysteries in our hearts as Mary pondered the same mysteries in her Heart.”
Our intention for each practice should be in Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Reference: (The Communal First Saturdays, 2017).
If you continued reading up to here (which is great), I’m sure you must be wondering if there is a prayer book or guide to help one follow these conditions more easily…great thinking! The answer is yes! Our apostolate offers The Communal First Saturdays Devotional available either as a paperback book or as an app. This devotional is a guide for participating each month in the First Saturdays communally. (It is also suitable for individual use) This Devotional is a very complete tool not only because it helps you to fulfill the First Saturdays devotion, but also because it complements it with beautiful introductory prayers and beautiful treasures from the Church. It includes a guide for Confession, special Rosary reflections, Scripture Meditations for each month, and much more. (Once you get it, you will not want to use anything else to fulfill the First Saturday devotion, trust me!).
Is it Enough to Fulfill Our Lady’s request on five consecutive First Saturdays?
Let us shed some light in regards to the concept of the “5 First Saturdays Devotion”. We may have heard that we only need to practice this devotion for 5 consecutive First Saturdays of the month, but is that it? Why five First Saturdays? When Our Lady appeared on July 13th, 1917, she made the first promise in regards to fulfilling the First Saturdays. She promised the salvation of souls and a certain period of peace in the world; however, she did not place a limit on the number of First Saturdays to be fulfilled… Let’s take a look to what our literature says about this matter:
“On December 10, 1925, Our Lady made a second promise and also told us how to practice the First Saturdays devotion. Our Lady promises to assist at the hour of death, will all the graces necessary for salvation all those who fulfill four conditions, each with the intention of making reparation to her Immaculate Heart. To obtain the second promise mentioned here by Our Lady, we need to do this on five consecutive first Saturdays. It is hoped that the graces obtained by fulfilling five consecutive First Saturdays will also enable us to persevere in the ongoing practice of the First Saturdays for our neighbor and peace in the world” (Fatima and the First Saturdays, 2021). In a letter from June 6, 1930, Sister Lucia presented the question: “Why five First Saturdays?” to Our Lord, Jesus. Jesus gave the reasons for the number five (cf. Fatima and the First Saturdays, 2021).
“We too can participate in the promised triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the continued practice of the First Saturdays, which will foster our daily practice of the Fatima message. Our Lady did not place any limit on the number of First Saturdays of reparation to practice as a means to her triumph. Our Lady’s triumph will be the triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His merciful love through her. Thus, we are encouraged to continue the practice of the First Saturdays for the consolation of Jesus and Mary, as well as the salvation of ourselves and our neighbors, even after completing five First Saturdays” (The Communal First Saturdays, 2017).
I still have unresolved questions, what should I do?
No worries at all! If you have more questions, please go to the top of the page where you can find additional resources that we offer. There is always a lot more to discover and learn when it comes to Our Lord and Our Lady.
We really hope this page was useful for you, and if it was not what you expected, please send us an email to info@communalfirstsaturdays.org and let us know!
You may also be interested in the Catholic pilgrimage we will be leading this October 1-11th, 2025. It is the 2025 Fatima & the First Saturdays Marian Eucharistic Pilgrimage that will be through Portugal & Spain, including Fatima, the Church of the Eucharistic Miracle in Santarem, Lisbon, and Santiago de Compostela. Please see below for more information.
God bless you and thank you for all your efforts to do what Our Lady asked.
Join our Fatima & the First Saturdays Pilgrimage 2026
