Chapter Eight
COMMUNIONS OF REPARATION
That which is especially asked of us now, and which the bishops of the world are asked to promote in this post-consecration period, is the "reparatory " devotion of the First Saturdays.
For those who may not know this devotion, we will summarize it here. (Those who know all about it, or have read the author's book Too Late?, might just scan through to the next chapter.)
The details of the devotion were given to Sister Lucia while she was a postulant in the convent of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra, Spain, on December 10, 1925, although it had been previously announced to her at Fatima eight years before.
Our Lady appeared in Lucia's tiny room (only about three feet between the little bed and the wall) with the Child Jesus at Her side. Her Heart shone through, pierced by many thorns. The Holy Child, elevated so that Lucia could look into His eyes at the same time that she looked into the eyes of His Mother, was the first to speak:
"Have compassion on the Heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them!"
Loving Intimacy
The space in the little room was so narrow that Our Lady was resting Her hand on Lucia's shoulder, making this one of the most intimate of all recorded apparitions. Lucia was deeply saddened by the words of the Holy Child as He referred to Our Lady's suffering heart as the heart of YOUR Mother! (Oh, how intimately the thorns and love of Her Heart make us one with Jesus!)
"Look, my daughter," Our Lady now said, "at my heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude... You at least try to console me."
Our Lady then made the great promise, already mentioned above, to all who would fulfill the following conditions:
"On the first Saturday of five consecutive months-confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."
Jesus Comes Back
Lucia told the Prioress about the request of Our Lady and of the Holy Child for this First Saturday devotion. The superior replied that there was nothing she could do about it. And without the support of the superior, what could Lucia do? She was filled with concern.
On February 26, 1926, while she was transferring waste from a cesspool to a street sewer, a little boy, who seemed to be passing by, paused at the gate.
He seemed sad and lonely. "Don't you have anyone to play with?" she asked. The boy did not reply. Something about him, and his sadness, caused Lucia to ask if he knew the Hail Mary. He remained silent, sad. She had her duties to fulfill. Was there any way she could console him?
"Why don't you go around the corner to the Church of St. Mary Major and ask Our Lady to give you the Child Jesus to keep you company?"
At that, the little boy was transformed. It was Jesus, just as she had seen him six weeks before with Our Lady in her little room.
Although transformed, He was still sad as He asked: "What is being done to promote the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of My Mother in the world?"
Pausing in astonishment from her lowly work, and struck by the same sadness, Lucia answered: "I told the Mother Superior and she said there was nothing she could do."
"Of herself, no," Jesus replied, "but with My Grace, she can do it all."
What Is Being Done?
To set an example to the world, Pope John Paul II has personally led the First Saturday Rosary month after month, year in and year out, during the later years of his Pontificate.
But it seems that this devotion depends on each of us.
When the Holy Child said that even the Dorothean Prioress could, with His grace, do all that was needed to promote this devotion, was He not speaking to each of us? With His grace, can we not all become successful apostles in proclaiming Our Lady's great promise, and the desire of the Sacred Hearts for this simple devotion?
Much depends upon it.
When Our Lady first announced this devotion, She had made a series of prophecies ending in the words: "Several entire nations will be annihilated." Then, She said that She would come to ask for this devotion, these First Saturday Communions of Reparation, "TO PREVENT THIS."
From the time Our Lady said this at Fatima, on July 13, 1917, little Jacinta who had not been old enough to make her first Communion, often said: "I am so grieved not to be able to receive Communion in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!"
But why is Holy Communion the object of reparation? Why on First Saturdays, and why accompanied by the Rosary, fifteen minutes of meditation, and confession even if we are not in mortal sin?
What Most Offends Their Sacred Hearts
Anything which offends the Heart of Jesus offends the Heart of His Mother. The greatest offenses are those directly against Our Lord Himself in the Sacrament of His Love.
Our Lady said at Pellevoisin: "What most offends my Immaculate Heart are careless Communions."
Today, how many Communions are not only careless but even sacrilegious!
Our Lord had asked for Communions of Reparation to His Sacred Heart on nine First Fridays. And now He reminds us of the same thorns piercing the Heart of His Mother. He asks for Communions of Reparation to HER Immaculate Heart. We are asked to prepare ourselves for that Communion by confession, fifteen minutes of meditation, and by praying the Rosary.
What Most Consoles Their Sacred Hearts
More and more generous souls are saying: "Dear Lord, You ask so little on the First Fridays to console Your Heart; You ask so little on First Saturdays to console our Mother's Heart.
"We will give Your Sacred Hearts not just those few hours, but the entire night! We will begin on First Friday evening, in honor of Your Sacred Heart, and keep You company in the Sacrament of Your Love to the morning of First Saturday, in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary!"
These are known as the Vigils of the Two Hearts.
Thousands of generous souls throughout the world are now making this response. Some feel it is this which will tip the balance of God's Justice.
Our Lord said to Lucia in March, 1939:
"Ask, ask again insistently for the promulgation of the Communion of Reparation in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the First Saturdays. The time is coming when the rigor of My Justice will punish the crimes of diverse nations. Some of them will be annihilated. At last the severity of My Justice will fall severely on those who want to destroy My Reign in souls." (Documentos, pg. 465).
Why Five?
St. Pius X indulgenced the devotion for twelve First Saturdays. Granting still further indulgences, Pope Benedict XV made it eight. Our Lady, extending the conditions, made it five. Why?
One might suppose first of all that Our Lady wanted to ask of us as little as necessary to change us and to change the world. But Sister Lucia explains further:
"While in the chapel with Our Lord part of the night between the 29th and 30th of May, 1930, while speaking to Our Good Lord about this question, I felt myself being more possessed by the Divine Presence and the following was made known to me:
"Jesus said: 'My daughter, the reason is simple. There are five ways by which people offend and blaspheme against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1) Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Conception;
2) Blasphemies against Her Virginity;
3) Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity, refusing at the same time to accept Her as the Mother of all mankind;
4) Those who try publicly to implant in the hearts of children indifference, contempt, and even hatred against this Immaculate Mother;
5) Those who insult Her directly in Her sacred images.
"'Here, My daughter, are the reasons why the Immaculate Heart of Mary compelled Me to ask for this little act of reparation and, due to it, to move My Mercy to forgive those souls who had the misfortune of offending Her. As for you, try unceasingly with all your prayers and sacrifices to move Me to Mercy toward those poor souls.'"
Must It Be On Saturday?
Saturday is "Our Lady's Day" because on the Saturday after Good Friday, Our Lady's passion continued. She suffered not only the aftermath of Calvary but the knowledge that Her Jesus was dead. She longed to be with Him in the tomb. At the same time, She suffered because the apostles were scattered. She worried especially about Judas and Peter. She was now the Mother of the Church.
Therefore, it is ideal to fulfill all four conditions of the First Saturday on the day itself, all with the intention of making reparation-of helping to remove the thorns encircling Her maternal Heart.
However Our Lord told Lucia that, for a good reason, His priests may change the day as, for example, when no priest is available on the Saturday but only on the next day, a Sunday.
Also, it has become common practice for the all-night vigils to choose the Saturday after First Friday on the rare occasions when a Saturday may fall on the first day of the month.
Confession Even If Not In Mortal Sin
One of the essential conditions of the First Saturday devotion is confession.
It may be within eight days provided the recipient of First Saturday Communion is in the state of Grace. But again, it is advisable to go to confession on the First Saturday (or prior to the First Friday Communion) if possible.
A great advantage of the night vigil is that one fulfills the requests of the Sacred Heart for First Friday, and of the Immaculate Heart for First Saturday, at the same time. And during the night, there is ample time for confession, for the fifteen minute meditation, for the Rosary, and above all, for the making of a truly worthy Communion of Reparation. Fittingly, the vigils have come to be known as "The Night of Love." (For further information on the vigils, see book of this same name, The Night Of Love, see inside back cover.)
"Keep Me Company"
One of the wonders of the First Saturdays is the invitation of Our Lady to "keep me company for fifteen minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary."
At the moment of the epiphany of Jesus in the temple,
there was an epiphany of Our Lady's Heart. While seeing the Savior of the world, the prophet Simeon saw Our Lady's Heart. "Your own Heart a sword will pierce," the holy man exclaimed, "that out of many hearts thoughts might be revealed."
This prophecy is fulfilled on the First Saturday as we keep Mary company, as we share in the mysteries of Her Heart and of the Heart of Jesus.
It is not so much that we keep Our Lady company as that She keeps company with us!
The great Marian apostle of Poland, Anatol Kaszczuk, exclaimed: "Oh, how I look forward to the First Saturdays, when Our Lady shares with us the mysteries of Her Heart!"
It is a blessed experience.
"These Souls Will Be Beloved"
In the apparition of June 13, 1917, Our Lady told the children of Fatima: "Jesus wishes to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To those who embrace it, I promise salvation, and these souls will be beloved by God, like flowers placed by Me to adorn His Throne."
The beatification of the two younger children of Fatima, Francis and Jacinta, was approved by Pope John Paul II in June, 1999. The message of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which made them saints was at the heart of the entire Fatima message.
When Our Lady promised, in 1917, to come "soon" to take Francis and Jacinta to Heaven, Lucia asked sadly, "Must I stay here alone?"
Our Lady answered: "No, My daughter, I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your consolation, and the way that will lead you to God."
Do we wish to be souls beloved of God? Do we wish to be like flowers placed by Our Lady Herself to adorn His Throne? Do we wish never to be alone, always having Her Immaculate Heart as our consolation, and the way that will lead us to God?
Special Blessings
These are the blessings of this devotion! What is more, when enough persons are fulfilling the basic requests of Our Lady by means of the Scapular, Rosary, and Morning Offering, and by completing the Five First Saturdays, we will see more wonders in the world, just as we saw the sudden downfall of the Soviet Union. Annihilation of nations may be prevented.
The reign of the Sacred Hearts has been promised at Fatima. That promise has been confirmed by Our Lady of All Nations. The love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary will bring peace to the nations of the world.
It is now up to the laity to make the first move.
This and other books by John M. Haffert
God's
Final Effort | Too Late? | The Day I Didn't Die