At Fatima on 13 July 1917 Our Lady told the three shepherd children that she would come to ask for the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays, and on 10 December 1925, at Pontevedra in Spain, she made the request to Sister Lucia: confession, Holy Communion, five decades of the Rosary and fifteen minutes of company with her while meditating on the mysteries, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, with the intention of making reparation to her Immaculate Heart. She promised to assist at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, those who do this. The apparitions were judged worthy of belief by the Bishop of Leiria in 1930, and the devotion has been kept in parishes ever since; the promise remains private revelation, and the Church commends the devotion for what it plainly is — five months of confession, Communion, the Rosary and quiet meditation, offered in love to the Mother of God.

What you need

• A rosary and the list of the mysteries
• A calendar with the first Saturday of the next five months marked
• A parish with Saturday Mass, or a plan for reaching Communion that day
• Fifteen unhurried minutes, in church or at home, for the meditation

When to pray it

On the first Saturday of five consecutive months. Many parishes keep First Saturday with morning Mass, confessions and the Rosary; the devotion sits naturally beside the Nine First Fridays, and its feast is the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Saturday after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.

Steps

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   Step 1: Understand what Our Lady asked

   Sister Lucia recorded Our Lady's words at Pontevedra: to all who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep her company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to her, she promised to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation. Lucia later explained that the number five corresponds to five kinds of offence against the Immaculate Heart: against her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, her divine motherhood, the teaching of her to children, and insult to her images. Read this once, slowly, so that you know what you are undertaking: four simple acts, five months running, one intention.

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   Step 2: Go to confession

   Make a good confession — the guide 'How to Go to Confession' walks through it — in the days around the First Saturday, and make your Act of Contrition▾ with the added intention of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Lucia recorded that the Lord accepted the confession being made earlier or later than the Saturday itself, so long as you are in the state of grace for Communion and keep the intention; many parishes hear confessions on Saturday morning before Mass, which makes the timing simple. If you go to confession only at the start of the five months and remain in grace, that is enough, though most people confess monthly while keeping the devotion.

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   Step 3: Receive Holy Communion

   On the First Saturday go to Mass and receive Holy Communion in reparation to the Immaculate Heart. Before receiving, renew the intention in a sentence: 'Mother of God, I receive your Son today in reparation for the offences committed against your Immaculate Heart.' After Communion, make a real thanksgiving; the Anima Christi▾ or a few minutes of silence is enough. If Saturday morning Mass is impossible, a Saturday evening Mass fulfils the devotion — the day, not the hour, is what matters — but a vigil Mass of Sunday is still a Mass celebrated on Saturday, so Communion received there counts for the Saturday.

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   Step 4: Pray five decades of the Rosary

   Pray a full five-decade Rosary, in church after Mass or at home, with the same intention of reparation. Open with the Sign of the Cross, the Apostles' Creed▾, an Our Father▾, three Hail Marys▾ and a Glory Be▾; then for each mystery an Our Father▾, ten Hail Marys▾, a Glory Be▾ and the Fatima Prayer▾, which Our Lady gave the children at Fatima: 'O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.' Close with the Salve Regina▾. Saturday's mysteries are the Joyful, but any set may be prayed; the guide 'How to Pray the Rosary' has the full order.

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   Step 5: Keep Our Lady company for fifteen minutes

   This is the part most often forgotten. Set aside fifteen minutes, distinct from the Rosary, to meditate on one or several of the mysteries of the Rosary while keeping Our Lady company — Sister Lucia's phrase. The simplest way is to take one mystery, read the Gospel passage that belongs to it (the Annunciation in Luke 1:26-38, for instance), and stay with it: picture the scene, notice what Mary does and says, and speak to her about it as you would to a mother. It is meditation, not study; when the fifteen minutes are up, thank her and go. Kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament is the ideal place, but a quiet corner at home is fully acceptable.

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   Step 6: Keep five consecutive months

   The Saturdays must be the first Saturday of five months in a row. Mark them now, and plan around holidays and travel; a First Saturday that falls on a feast day or on a journey still counts if the four acts are done. If a month is missed, the traditional understanding is that the five begin again from the next First Saturday. Do not be discouraged by that — the months already offered were not wasted, and the Mother who asked for this is not counting against you. Simply begin again, and tell someone you are doing it; the devotion is far easier kept with a companion.

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   Step 7: Hold to the intention of reparation

   What makes these five Saturdays the devotion Our Lady asked for is the intention: reparation to her Immaculate Heart for the offences against her. Renew it explicitly at each of the four acts — before confession, before Communion, before the Rosary, before the meditation — even in a single sentence. Reparation is also lived, not only prayed: a habit of speaking of Our Lady with reverence, of teaching children to love her, of treating her images with honour, is the reparation continued into the week. Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, which the guide 'How to Consecrate Yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary' describes, is the natural fruit of the five months.

Tips

• The four parts are confession, Communion, the Rosary and the meditation — the fifteen minutes of meditation are separate from the Rosary, not the Rosary itself. Give them their own time.
• Sister Lucia recorded that the confession may be made within the days before or after the Saturday, provided you are in the state of grace when you receive Communion and the intention of reparation is kept.
• Say the intention out loud at least once each First Saturday: 'in reparation for the offences against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.' The intention is what makes these five Saturdays this devotion.
• Having finished the five, many Catholics simply continue every First Saturday. The devotion was never meant to be a one-time transaction but a habit of the heart.