First Friday & First Saturday
DEVOTIONS

The nine consecutive
Fridays in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Our Lord appeared to St.
Margaret Mary Alocoque (1647-1690), a French nun in the Visitation Order, and
gave her the special task to spread devotion to His Most Sacred Heart at a time
when religion was growing cold in the hearts of mankind.
For those who did this
faithfully, he made what St. Margaret Mary referred to as the “Great Promise”.
“I promise you in the unfathomable
mercy of my heart that my omnipotent love will procure the grace of final
penitence for all those who receive communion on nine successive first Fridays
of the month; they will not die in my disfavor [the grace of final repentance],
or without having received the sacraments, since my divine heart will be their
sure refuge in the last moments of their life.”
The Church
invites the faithful to enter more deeply into the mystery of God's love
through the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
On First Friday,
we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus by participating in Holy Mass, receiving
Holy Communion worthily, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration, and offering
acts of reparation for sins committed against His loving Heart.
On First
Saturday, we respond to the Blessed Virgin Mary's request at Fatima by making reparation to her Immaculate Heart
through Confession. Holy Communion, praying five decades of the Rosary,
and meditating for fifteen minutes on its mysteries. May these beautiful
devotions renew our faith, deepen our love for Christ and His Blessed Mother,
and inspire us to live lives of holiness, prayer, and charity. As we entrust
ourselves, our families, our nation, and the whole world to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, may we receive God's abundant mercy,
lasting peace, and countless graces.
💖Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
💙Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
NINE FIRST FRIDAYS
DEVOTION
When Our Lord
appeared to Saint Margaret Mary in 1673, He promised to grant the following
favors to all those who practiced devotion to His Sacred Heart:12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary:
1) I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of
life.
2) I will give peace in their families.
3) I will console them in all their troubles.
4) I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5) I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6) Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of
mercy.
7) Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8) Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9) I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart
shall be exposed and venerated.
10) I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11) Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally
written in my Heart.
12) In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all
powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First
Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will
not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart
will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
A veritable treasure chest of spiritual gems! And what does He ask of us in
return?
How to complete the Nine First Fridays Devotion:
On the first Friday of nine consecutive months:
1. Receive Holy Communion on each of the First Fridays; Note:
If you have knowledge that you are not in a state of Sanctifying Grace (that
is, you are knowledgeable of mortal sin(s) on your soul, and thus unable to
receive Holy Communion) you will also need to go to Confession prior to
receiving your Holy Communion on the First Friday.
2. The nine first Fridays must be consecutive;
3. They must be made in honor of and in reparation to His Sacred
Heart for all the blasphemies, outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences
committed against it.
FIVE FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION
The five consecutive
Saturdays in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The practice of the First
Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three
shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917.
She said to Lucia, the oldest
of the three children:
“I shall come to ask . . .
that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in
atonement for the sins of the world.”
Years later she repeated her
request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three young Fatima
seers, while she was a postulant sister living in a convent in Spain :
“Look, my daughter, at my Heart,
surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very moment by
their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me, and say 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,
shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the rosary, and
keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the
rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
► In December of
1925, Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia, giving her the following guaranty of
salvation for those who complete the First Five Saturdays Devotion: “I promise
to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the
salvation of their souls."
Why Five
Saturdays?
The five first
Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed
against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1) Blasphemies
against the Immaculate Conception.
2) Blasphemies
against her virginity.
3) Blasphemies
against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the
Mother of all men.
4) Instilling
indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the
hearts of children.
5) Direct insults
against Her sacred images.
How to complete
the Five First Saturdays Devotion:
On the first
Saturday of five consecutive months:
1. Go to
confession;
2. Receive Holy
Communion;
3. Say five decades
of the Rosary;
4. Keep Our Lady
company for 15 minutes, meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary;
5. Have the
intention of making reparation to Our Lady for the offenses listed above
► On February 1926,
the Child Jesus appeared to Lucia asking her if she promoted the devotion to
our Blessed Mother. Lucia talked about the difficulties she encountered in
order to fulfill this mission. Jesus responded that His grace is sufficient…Our
Lord Himself says: "Have compassion for your Mother's Heart. It is surrounded
with thorns that ungrateful men pierce at each moment, and there is no one who
does acts of reparation to remove them."

GREATER DIFFICULTY, GREATER
REWARD
While keeping up with these
devotions over five or nine consecutive months is not easy, the reward for
making the effort is eternal. Look again at those promises from Jesus and Mary.













