On Saturdays, Catholics traditionally have taken part in the "First Saturdays Devotion" which entails going to Mass and receiving Communion for the first Saturday of the month for 5 consecutive months in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion is not to be confused with the First Friday's Devotion, which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
On July 1, 1905, Pope Pius X approved and granted indulgences for the practice of the First Saturdays of twelve consecutive months in honor of the Immaculate Conception. The First Saturday Devotion did not originate as part of the apparitions of our Blessed Lady in Fatima, but the devotion did quickly spread further following our Lady's series of appearances to the three shepherd children in 1917.
Our Blessed Lady's words to Sr. Lucia of Fatima:
Look, my daughter, at my Heart encircled by these thorns with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making reparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the beads, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.The First Saturday Devotion consists of offering the First Saturday of the month for five consecutive months in reparation for the many and grievous sins committed in our world. A further explanation of our Lady's request is below:
- You must go to the Sacrament of Confession. Your reception of the Sacrament may be 8 days before the Saturday as long as you stay in a state of grace.
- You must receive the Holy Eucharist and as always, it must be in the state of grace or risk the most grievous sin of sacrilege
- You must pray 5 decades of the Holy Rosary of our Lady, including the Fatima Prayer.
- Finally, the last requirement consists of "keeping Mary company" for 15 minutes while meditating on all of the Mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to her. This can be done by reading Scripture or other writings relevant to the Mysteries, meditating on pictures of the Mysteries, or simple meditation. Materials for meditation and education on each of the Rosary mysteries are available online.
While the laity is not bound to pray the Divine Office, they are still encouraged to pray the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours). To pray the Divine Office, I would highly encourage you to pray the 1962 Breviary or even the 1955 version as opposed to the modern version which I find lacking in the spiritual depth present in the earlier editions.
Since you are not bound under ecclesial law to pray the Office, you can and should start by praying the English version of the Breviary. You can find the Little Office in its traditional form available on Amazon. For centuries Catholics prayed most commonly not with personal prayers and devotion as such individual prayers originated from protestant individualism. Instead, Catholics prayed the Liturgical texts of the Church (e.g. the Prayers of the Holy Mass, the Rosary, etc) daily and many were saved. In our world we see the majority of mankind entrenched in sin and debauchery. Let us pray for a return to our praying the Liturgical prayers of the Holy Church. Pray the Daily Rosary as Mary has asked of us!
However, please also consider, in addition, or instead of the standard Divine Office, the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary for your daily prayers!
The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a shorter form of the Divine Office in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has long been the Church’s daily liturgical prayer to Our Lady, and these hours of praise have been used by Priests, religious and the laity throughout the centuries. Lay people used to flock to the great Cathedrals to publicly recite The Little Office during the Middle Ages, and during the great persecution, when the practice of the Catholic Faith was illegal in Great Britain, Bishop Challoner commended The Little Office to his flock.Green Scapular
Through its psalms, antiphons, readings, responsorials, and prayers the Little Office stresses the role Our Lady played in salvation history, and how through her fiat the divine Word took flesh in her womb and achieved salvation for us all; and how Our Lord granted her the first fruits of the general resurrection in her holy and glorious assumption.
All Catholics are called to a consistent prayer life. For those who do not feel called to recite the Divine Office, but still wish to participate in the liturgical prayer of the Church, or for those who have a particular devotion to the holy Mother of God, there is no finer form of prayer than the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
While certainly not only permitted for use on Saturdays, Saturday is an appropriate time to focus on the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin and on her great promises with the Green Scapular. Many of you should be familiar with the Brown Scapular as you should have been invested in the Brown Scapular following your First Holy Communion. I have written before on the merits of the Brown Scapular. While they are not to be underestimated, I will not focus additional time on the Brown Scapular. Instead, we focus in this post on the Green Scapular of our Lady.
The website of Fish Eaters succinctly and accurately describes the Green Scapular of our Lady:
In 1840, Mary appeared to Sister Justine Bisqueyburu (a Seminary Sister of the Daughters of Charity) in Paris, France and commended the Green Scapular to her. It's known as "the Scapular of Conversion," and its promises are the strengthening of faith, protection against Satan, a happy death for Catholics, and, most of all, for conversion for those outside the Church. It's to be worn or carried by the faithful, or given to an unbeliever for their conversion.
The following prayer is to be said daily by the wearer:
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death
Latin version:
Cor immaculatum Mariae, ora pro nobis nunc et in hora mortis nostrae
If the scapular is given to an unbeliever for their conversion, the person giving the scapular prays the prayer for them if the unbeliever does not want to pray the prayer himself. If the unbeliever does not want the scapular, it may be hidden in their vicinity and the prayers said for him. Enrollment in a Confraternity is not necessary for this scapular, but the scapular should be blessed by a priest before use.
2 comment(s):
why does the legion of Mary miss out on the Fatama prayer when reciting the Tessera
My guess would be that since Frank Duff founded the Legion in 1921 & the Fatima prayer wasn't approved for use until a decade later - it was simply never incorporated. The Legion method clearly states however that if you are already offering a rosary for any other intention, it is not necessary to recite an additional one for the purpose of your daily "Tessera" prayers. For uniformity worldwide, when said in meetings (given all that each has written below), it makes sense to go with the original version as was done when the Legion was born.
My take is that it's more important that we actually PRAY the Rosary as requested by the BVM than to get lost in the little things. (Isn't that what the Pharisees & Saduccees were guilty of in JC's time?) Let's be DOERS and not get lost in our own heads. Blessings & Peace be upon you!! :)
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