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Thin Edge of the Wedge - Part C1 Devotion to the Immaculate Heart - The First Saturday Devotions

I went to schola practice today and afterwards stayed for Mass.

I have to admit that it is a great opportunity to attend Mass without the responsibilities and necessary distractions of singing in the schola and choir.  Of course, not having my little children present also reduced the distraction level.

I picked up one of my families missals and opened it to some of the Holy card bookmarks.

Here is what I found immediately following the First Friday Devotions:



Origin
In the year 1917, from May 13th to October 13th, our Blessed Mother appeared on six occasions to three children near the village of Fatima in Portugal.

Upon the last occasion, in the presence of more than 70,000 witnesses, Our Lady performed a great miracle.  The sun started to revolve like a giant pinwheel, sending lights of different colors in all directions. For a moment the sun stopped, and then began an even more dazzling display.  This happened a third time.

Suddenly the sun, in a zigzag manner, plunged towards the crowd. Terrified, the great mass of people fell on their knees.  For an awful moment they prayed and called aloud for help. Then, in the same zigzag manner, the sun climbed back and became the same routine planet of everyday. The display, which had lasted about 10 minutes, was over.

Thus did the Blessed Virgin confirm, by an outward sign, her appearance to institute the devotion to her Immaculate Heart.  Our Blessed Mother made many prophecies to the children and showed them visions of future wars and the eternal agonies of lost souls.  However, Our Lady promised peace to the world and salvation to sinners if we pray, make sacrifice, and dedicate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart.

The three children who saw Our Lady were Francis and Jacinta Marto, and their cousin , Lucy Dos Santos. As foretold by Our Lady, Francis and Jacinta died in early childhood.  Lucy, in 1925, joined the convent of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Tuy, Spain, under the name of Sister Marie of the Sorrows.

The Great Promise of the First Saturday

On Dec. 10th, 1925, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Sister Marie in her cell, and said:
See, my daughter, how my heart is encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and announce that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the First Saturday of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite part of My Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on its mysteries with the intention of offering me reparation.
In 1927, Our Lord appeared to Sister Marie on two occasions, confirming the requests of His Mother for devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Prayers of Fatima

On July 13th, 1917, Our Lady taught this prayer to the children. It is to be recited after each decade of the Rosary.
O my Jesus, forgive us. Deliver us from the fire of hell.  Draw the souls of all to Heaven, especially those in greatest need.
As a prelude to the appearances of Our Lady, the children received a visitation from the Guardian Angel of Portugal. He taught them the following prayer:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.
The Angel also taught them this prayer, which they recited on their knees, with their foreheads touching the ground:
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the most precious body, blood, souls and divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences with which He is offended, and by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary I ask Thee for the conversion of poor sinners.


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