A Brief History
On June 13, 1917, at Fatima, Our Lady – for the first time in history – visibly revealed Her Immaculate Heart.
Sister Lucia reported: “In front of the palm of Our Lady’s right hand was a Heart encircled by thorns that pierced It. We understood that this was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity and seeking reparation.”
At the same time, the Blessed Virgin Mary announced a great design of God’s providence for the whole world.
“Jesus wishes to make use of you to make Me known and loved. He wills to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To whoever embraces this devotion I promise salvation; these souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne. … My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”
On July 13, 1917, Our Lady showed the three shepherd children of Fatima a vision of hell, saying to them.
“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wills to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.”
Our Lady then promised:
“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. 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 Returns1
On December 10, 1925, when 18-year-old Lucia was a postulant at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Spain, Our Lady fulfilled Her promise to return. It was here, during an apparition of the Child Jesus and Our Lady, that She revealed the first part of God’s plan for the salvation of sinners: the reparatory Communion on the First Saturdays of the month.
Lucia narrated what happened, speaking of herself in the third person – perhaps, in humility, to divert attention from her role in the event:
“On December 10, 1925, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to her [Lucia], and by Her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was the Child Jesus. The Most Holy Virgin rested Her hand on her shoulder, and as She did so, She showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which She was holding in Her other hand. At the same time, the Child said:
“‘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.’
“Then the Most Holy Virgin said:
“‘Look, My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess,2 receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me.’” (emphasis added)
The Great Promise and Its Conditions
As Fatima author Mark Fellows noted:
“The Blessed Virgin did more than ask for reparatory Communion and devotions on five First Saturdays: She promised Heaven to those who practiced this devotion sincerely and with a spirit of reparation. Those who wonder whether it is Mary’s place to promise eternal salvation to anyone forget one of Her illustrious titles: Mediatrix of all Graces.”3
Our Lady promises the grace of final perseverance – the most sublime of all graces – to all those who devoutly practice this devotion. The disproportion between the little requested and the immense grace promised reveals the great power of intercession granted to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the salvation of souls.
Here is a brief summary of the conditions associated by Our Lord and Our Lady with this great promise.
- The First Saturday of five consecutive months: Knowing our inconstancy, Our Lady asks for only five Saturdays – and as Our Lord explained to Sister Lucia several years later, in a revelation on May 29, 1930 – for the five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
- Confession: Though the confession is not required to be made on the First Saturday itself,4 it is preferable – as far as possible – that it be made on a day close to the First Saturday.
- Communion of Reparation: The Communion of Reparation is the most important act of the devotion of Reparation.5 To understand its significance, consider that the Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. In Holy Communion, Christ gives Himself to us – so there can be nothing greater.
- Daily Rosary: In each of the six apparitions of 1917, Our Lady asked the three children to pray a five-decade Rosary every day.
- The 15-minute meditation on the 15 Mysteries of the Rosary: In addition to praying the Rosary, Our Lady asks for a separate 15 minutes of meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary. But, as Sister Lucia has explained, not all 15 Mysteries need to be meditated upon each month. One may, by their choice, meditate on only some of the Mysteries each month.6
- The intention of making Reparation: As Sister Lucia has written, this condition is essential and concerns the general intention with which all the other five conditions must be fulfilled. They must each be accomplished “in the spirit of Reparation” towards the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Without this general intention, without the desire to make Reparation to Our Lady to console Her, all these external acts are by themselves insufficient to obtain the magnificent promise attached to this devotion.
Note: For more detailed information, see The Magnificent Promise for the Five First Saturdays (Section III, pp. 8-16).7
100 Years of Disobedience
On June 13, 1929, during the great Trinitarian apparition to Sister Lucia in Tuy, Spain, Our Lord commanded the Pope and bishops to consecrate Russia “now” to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
In August 1931, Our Lord appeared to Sister Lucia in Rianjo, Spain and warned: Given that the Pope and bishops “follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My command, they will likewise follow him into misfortune.”
- On June 17, 1689, Our Lord commanded the King of France to consecrate France to His most Sacred Heart.
- On June 17, 1789, after 100 years of disobedience, the Third Estate stripped the King of France of his legislative authority, launching the atheistic French Revolution.
- On January 21, 1793, after 3.5 years of bloodthirsty violence attacking Altar and Throne, the King of France was publicly executed at the guillotine.
The failure of the Kings of France (Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI) to obey Our Lord’s command to consecrate France to His Sacred Heart ended with the French Revolution and the annihilation of the French Throne, and great devastation to the Church in France. All of Europe then fell into an ‘Age of Revolution’ and liberal ideas attacking the Church and the Kingship of Christ throughout every European colony across the globe.
December 10, 2025 marks 100 years since Our Lord commanded the practice of the First Saturday Devotion.
June 13, 2029 marks 100 years since Our Lord commanded the Pope, in union with all the bishops, to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
We have now reached the 100th anniversary of God’s command for the First Saturday Devotion and it has not been obeyed. The devotion is only sparsely practiced – in some parishes here and there. Most parish priests don’t promote the First Saturdays. We know of no diocesan bishop in the USA or Canada currently promoting it across his diocese. And the devotion has not yet been formally promulgated by any Pope.
To date, God’s command regarding the Consecration of Russia also has not been obeyed. June 13, 2029 will mark 3.5 years since December 10, 2025. Will a worldwide chastisement commence during or at the end of this time period?
How much worse must things get in the Church and the world before we obey?
What You Should Do Now
If you haven’t yet made the Five First Saturdays, do so as soon as you can. After that, make every effort to fulfill this devotion every First Saturday and offer it for others, in reparation for the Church’s disobedience.
The Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays is central to devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We must make reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart and console our Mother. There is no sweeter, more merciful, and more glorious way to achieve such reparation than by devotedly practicing devotion to the Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on every First Saturday.8
So let us faithfully practice at least the devotion of the Five First Saturdays – not only for the salvation of our own soul, but then again for the wayward souls of loved ones!
Without the practice of the First Saturday Devotion and the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Church and the world cannot have peace. Time is running out. Only Our Lady can help us now!
Our Lady, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, pray for us.
1 Sources: Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II: The Secret and the Church, pp. 246-249; Father John de Marchi, The True Story of Fatima, p. 87.
2 That is, make a good sacramental Confession.
3 Mark Fellows, Sister Lucia: Apostle of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, p. 116.
4 The confession can be made up to 8 days before or after the First Saturday, as long as the person is in the state of grace on the First Saturday. However, it can be fulfilled even beyond eight days if due to necessity, but there must at least be a monthly confession.
5 It is best to receive that Holy Communion on the First Saturday. However, Our Lord said that with the permission of the priest, His minister, the Communion may be received on the following Sunday. One should only avail himself of this exception when it is truly necessary. (Our Lord even allows His priests to select another day if the conditions are sufficiently grave to warrant such latitude.)
6 Ibid., pp. 27-28 (both booklets).
7 In 2022, The Fatima Center revised and reprinted this popular 28-year-old booklet, which had been out of stock. In the new booklet, entitled The Magnificent Promise: The Forgotten Fatima Devotion, see Sections IV-VI, pp. 11-20.
8 It is for this reason that our 2026 Fatima Center Devotional Calendar invites all Catholics to fulfill this devotion every single First Saturday of the year and provides a page where to easily keep track of how one maintains fidelity to this devotion. You can order your copy of this beautiful calendar here. The 2026 calendar also includes a timeline that illustrates the parallel of the 100 Years of Disobedience to Our Lord and Our Lady regarding the Devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Devotion to the Immaculate Heart.