J.M.J.
“Most important in the First Saturday devotions is the fervor with which we perform them, specifically as acts of reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Father Gruner, 2014.
February 11, 2017
The Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes
Our Lady of Lourdes
Dear Friend of Our Lady,
In the preface of the enclosed booklet, First Saturday Meditation Manual, the above quoted words of Father Gruner were followed with:
“Our Lady of Fatima summed up the motive of all Her apparitions and requests with these poignant words: ‘So numerous are the souls which the justice of God condemns for sins committed against Me, that I come to ask for reparation’. This is the very heart of the First Saturday devotions – Our Lady’s urgent and heart-rending plea that we make reparation on behalf of sinners who will otherwise be lost.
“Nowhere is this plea more movingly expressed than in Our Lady’s formal request for the promulgation of the Five First Saturdays”.
As you know, one of the main goals of our Triumph 2017! campaign is getting all of Our Lady’s Apostolate supporters to sign the Sanctification Pledge form which was mailed to supporters this past October in anticipation of, and preparation for, the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima.
There is no more fitting gift to give to Her in return for the tremendous gift She gave to mankind, than to have millions of Catholics do as She asked of all, beginning with Her Apostolate supporters.
One of the five things She asked us to do is to make reparation for the five blasphemies committed against Her Immaculate Heart, by making the Five First Saturdays Communion of
Reparation.
This consists of going to Confession, receiving Holy Communion, praying one set of mysteries of the Holy Rosary (i.e. either the Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious Mysteries), AND keeping Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. This is to be done on the first Saturday for five consecutive months.
Now this sounds pretty simple, but for one very good reason, it seems to be one of the things Our Lady asked us to do that is the most difficult to accomplish. What is the reason? Satan doesn’t like Our Lady’s promise – which is to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation all those who embrace this devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.
Since satan’s sole obsessive goal is to pull souls away from God into hell for all eternity to suffer as he is suffering, this display of devotion and reparation to the Immaculate Heart is totally unacceptable. Therefore, he does all he can to interfere with souls attempting to make the Five First Saturdays.
Those preparing to make the Five First Saturdays should ask their Guardian Angel and Our Lady to help in accomplishing this goal. And ask for the graces to do so properly and in a manner pleasing and acceptable to Almighty God and the Blessed Virgin.
Those who have successfully completed the Five First Saturdays are strongly encouraged to continue making them and not stop at just five.
This devotion is a gift which Our Lady appealed to and obtained from God, not for Herself, but to help souls not in the state of grace. That is, souls who will go to hell without our sacrifices and prayers, such as making the Five First Saturdays Communion of Reparation.
Plain and simple, we owe Her for this gift, and for the gift of knowing about the Message of Fatima and the Five First Saturdays. This devotion is, as stated above, not only one of the most difficult to complete, but it is one of the requests Our Lady made that seems to have been kept even more suppressed than the Fatima apparitions in general.
It is not uncommon for those professing knowledge of the apparitions at Fatima to be ignorant of the Five First Saturdays devotion.
Years ago, in speaking with a bishop who believed he was knowledgeable about the Fatima apparitions, when offered free literature to promote this devotion in the parishes of his diocese, he admitted he had never heard of the Five First Saturdays Communion of Reparation.
Over the years, in reaching out to hundreds of thousands of Catholics with the book True Story of Fatima, Our Lady’s Apostolate has received calls from people stating that they had heard of Fatima and thought they knew about Our Lady’s requests – until they read this book and discovered the request for the Five First Saturdays, which they had never heard of.
To help promote and encourage the practice of this devotion, The Fatima Center has produced a number of pieces of literature on the Five First Saturdays over the years.
The First Saturday Meditation Manual is the newest piece, which Father Gruner decided was necessary in order to help people with keeping Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary.
At first glance this booklet may seem redundant, since Our Lady’s Apostolate has produced other booklets with meditations on the Mysteries of the Rosary. In the last few years before his death Father Gruner did three booklets – one for each of the three mysteries of the Rosary.
All three have extensive quotes demonstrating the biblical basis for each of the mysteries and are designed to have a person spend their entire 15 – 30 minutes of daily meditation just on one mystery.
Because Our Lady asked that we keep Her company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries – that is one minute per mystery (though many spend more than 15 minutes) – the First Saturday Meditation Manual has very brief quotes that take seconds to read and are designed to give quick support in keeping the person focused. The idea is not to spend the 15 minutes reading about the mysteries, but just to have a brief glance and then meditate on the respective mystery.
You will notice that each of the meditations provided contains a verse (or verses) from the Old Testament followed by verses from the New Testament – both of which pertain to the particular mystery.
The quotes are followed by a prayer also focused on the mystery. This is for those who are moved to spend more than 15 minutes with Our Lady. An extra gift to Her.
For anyone needing motivation to make the Five First Saturdays Communion of Reparation for the first time or continuing to make them, read the Preface written by Father Gruner. His love of Our Lady and steadfastness in promoting the Fatima Message – moving people to heed Her requests – are unparalleled.
An added bonus is that the booklet has an Imprimatur which is on the inside front cover.
Other literature produced and distributed over the years by The Fatima Center to promote the Five First Saturdays devotion are:
The Magnificent Promise for the Five First Saturdays – Issue 49 of The Fatima Crusader, a 32-page booklet solely on this devotion. First printed in the 1990s, with subsequent reprints and in five different languages, millions of copies have been printed and given away over the years.
A Short Explanation of the Five First Saturdays leaflet – easy to carry in a purse or pocket to have as a reminder of the requirements for making the Five First Saturdays. This is also available in five different languages.
First Saturdays Checklist – First printed in 2010, a handy form on sturdy cardstock designed as a checklist for use in making the Five First Saturdays, making sure none of the requirements are missed. It is designed to carry in a purse or pocket for easy and convenient transport.
Greatest Offer Ever! Stairway to Heaven – Another type of checklist intended to instruct on the importance for salvation, the practice of the Five First Saturdays devotion with motivating pictorial and textual content. This colorful leaflet is on sturdy high gloss paper and sized to carry in a purse or prayer book.
For more copies of the First Saturday Meditation Manual or copies of any of the above listed literature to help promote the Five First Saturdays Communion of Reparation, call us at 1-800-845-3047 or return the enclosed reply form.
News Updates!
“Woe to you when men shall bless you: for according to these things did their fathers to the false prophets”.(Lk 6:26) “For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. (Jn 12:43)
Once again the New World Order Pope, Francis, is delighting the enemies of Christ while leading Catholics astray by paving the way for another heretical protestant group – the Anglican Church – to have an interfaith service; this time in Saint Peter’s Basilica, the very heart of the Catholic Church.
On March 13, 2017, Evening Prayer (commonly known as Evensong) – a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening – will take place in the Basilica. This is sacrilegious and no true Catholic may participate or applaud such plans. Reparation must be done!
Canadian supporters beware. The following was reported in LifeSite News on January 26, 2017:
“Canadian study: Gov’t can save over $100 million by euthanizing the ill instead of treating them” was the headline.
“A pair of Canadian researchers have published a cost-benefit analysis predicting that euthanasia and assisted suicide will save Canadian taxpayers as much as $139 million a year. Critics say the study provides the bridge needed by governments to pressure the elderly into believing it is their ‘duty to die’ to save the health system.
“‘This kind of study will create a new type of social pressure,’ Alex Schadenberg, head of the London-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSite News. The ‘new model of good citizen’ will now be the one who, falling seriously or terminally ill, realizes that it is a matter of public duty to die and ‘the sooner, the better,’ he added.”
To read the full article go to:
Euthanasia is murder, and so is helping someone to commit suicide. Suicide is the sin of despair against the Holy Ghost and cannot be forgiven without a near-miraculous last-second repentence.
No Catholic may contemplate or participate in these grievous sins of euthanasia and suicide.
The above news once again is more of the punishment brought upon the Church and the world by Catholics not heeding the Message of Fatima. Everything that has happened in the Church and the world for the last 100 years goes back to Our Lady’s Fatima Message.
It will not change nor will these crises stop until the Consecration of Russia is done. And the Consecration of Russia will not be done until enough of the lay Catholic faithful do what the Mother of God asked at Fatima. It begins with us!
In the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts,
Joanna Swords
P.S. You won’t find another Catholic organization which has done more to promote the Five First Saturdays Communion of Reparation and to spread the full Fatima Message – or given away for free more literature and sacramentals to accomplish these goals – than The Fatima Center.
It is estimated that over the years Our Lady’s Apostolate has given away more than 100 million pieces of literature and sacramentals in doing this work. And this was accomplished solely by the generosity of our apostolate supporters and their hard work in spreading the Message. Of course, nothing was or could be accomplished without God’s grace through the hands of Our Lady.
May God bless you for your prayers, sacrifices and hard work.