The devotion of the Nine First Fridays comes from the revelations of the Sacred Heart to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray-le-Monial in the 1670s. Among the things she recorded, the Lord asked for Holy Communion on the first Friday of each month in reparation for the coldness and ingratitude with which his love is met, and promised his grace of final repentance to those who receive Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays. The Church has approved the devotion and, in Pius XII's encyclical Haurietis Aquas, commended the worship of the Sacred Heart as a summary of the whole Gospel. The promise is private revelation, never defined as doctrine; the devotion's real value is the nine months of faithful, reparative love it asks for.

What you need

• A calendar with the first Friday of each of the next nine months marked
• A parish where you can attend Mass on Fridays, or a plan to reach one
• The state of grace for each Communion — confession beforehand when needed
• The Litany of the Sacred Heart and an act of reparation, from any Catholic prayer book

When to pray it

On the first Friday of nine consecutive months, at Mass. Many parishes keep First Friday with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, confessions and Benediction, and the devotion is naturally joined to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, the Friday after the second Sunday after Pentecost.

Steps

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   Step 1: Understand the devotion and its promise

   Saint Margaret Mary recorded that the Lord, showing her his Heart, asked for a Communion of reparation on the first Friday of every month, and that he promised the grace of final perseverance — that those who receive Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays would not die in his displeasure nor without receiving the sacraments. The Church has judged the revelations worthy of belief and has spread the devotion for three centuries, while teaching that no devotion dispenses anyone from living in grace. Make the Nine First Fridays, then, not as an insurance policy but as nine months of returning love for love, which is exactly what the Sacred Heart asked.

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   Step 2: Mark the nine months

   Find the first Friday of next month and mark it, then the first Friday of each of the following eight months. The Fridays must be consecutive: nine months in a row, without a gap. Note that a First Friday that falls on a holy day or during travel still counts if you receive Communion that day, so plan ahead for holidays and work trips. Tell your family or a friend; the devotion is easier to keep when someone else is keeping it with you.

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   Step 3: Go to confession beforehand

   Holy Communion must be received in the state of grace, so go to confession before the First Friday whenever you are conscious of mortal sin, and it is a good custom to confess regularly during the nine months in any case — many parishes offer confessions on First Fridays or the Thursday evening before. Confession is not itself a condition of the devotion, but the devotion is one of reparation for sin, and a heart that has just been reconciled makes the best reparation.

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   Step 4: Attend Mass and receive Communion on the First Friday

   On the First Friday, go to Mass and receive Holy Communion with the explicit intention of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Before Communion, renew the intention in a sentence: 'Lord, I receive you today in reparation for the sins that wound your Heart, my own first of all.' After Communion, make a thanksgiving; the Anima Christi▾ or a quiet minute of adoration is enough. If you cannot get to Mass in the morning, an evening Mass on the Friday fulfils the devotion; the day, not the hour, is what matters.

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   Step 5: Make an act of reparation

   Reparation is the heart of the devotion, and the Church gives it words. On the First Friday, or during adoration if your parish has exposition, pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus▾ and an act of reparation or of consecration to the Sacred Heart; the Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart▾ used by many families is fitting here. Some also pray the Morning Offering▾ with special attention that day, since it offers the whole day 'for the intentions of your Sacred Heart... in reparation for sin.' Reparation is completed by a concrete act of charity: a kindness done, a wrong repaired, a Friday abstinence kept.

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   Step 6: If you miss a First Friday

   If a month is missed, the traditional understanding is that the sequence of nine begins again from the next First Friday. Do not be disheartened; the Communions already made were not wasted, and the Lord who asked for this devotion is not a bookkeeper. Simply begin again. Many Catholics, having completed the nine, go on receiving Communion in reparation every First Friday for the rest of their lives, which is the devotion's true aim: a heart that returns, month after month, to the Heart that first loved it.

Tips

• Keep the intention explicit: at each Communion, offer it in reparation to the Sacred Heart. The Communion is the devotion; the intention is what makes it this devotion.
• First Friday is also a day of penance like every Friday. Fasting or abstinence that day fits the spirit of reparation well.
• The First Saturdays devotion of Fatima pairs naturally with the First Fridays; many keep both.
• Never let the counting overshadow the love. The Lord's promise is a promise of his fidelity, not a mechanism.