Reflection / Natalie Hoefer
After 100 years, First Saturday Devotion still calls us to pray for Mary’s aching Immaculate Heart
Dec. 10, 2025, marked the 100th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s request for the Five First Saturdays Devotion in reparation for blasphemies against her Immaculate Heart.
Mary first mentioned the devotion during an apparition to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, on July 13, 1917, saying she would share more later.
On Dec. 10, 1925, she appeared with the Christ Child to Lucia dos Santos, one of the shepherd children who would later become a Carmelite sister.
During the apparition, the Blessed Mother outlined the details of the “Five First Saturdays” devotion.
She asked that Catholics go to confession on the first Saturday of five consecutive months (or on the Saturday preceding or following the first Saturday of the month), and to receive Communion, pray five decades of the rosary and reflect for 15 minutes with Mary on one or more mysteries of the rosary—all with the intention of making reparation to her Immaculate Heart.
Mary promised “to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls,” all those who complete the devotion. She also promised salvation for sinners and peace in the world.
The devotion was not a sterile request. Rather, it was made fraught with emotion and a call for compassion.
The Blessed Mother said, “Look, my daughter, at my Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men at every moment pierce me by their blasphemies and ingratitude.”
The Christ Child also pleaded on Mary’s behalf, saying, “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother that is covered with thorns which ungrateful men at every moment nail on her without anyone making an act of reparation to remove them.”
In another apparition to Sister Lucia on May 29, 1930, Christ explained that the five first Saturdays of the devotion are tied to five particular blasphemies: against Mary’s immaculate conception; against her perpetual virginity; against her divine maternity and at the same time refusing to recognize her as the Mother of all; of those who seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn or even hatred of the Blessed Mother; and of those who desecrate her holy image.
Four years prior, the Child Jesus said to Sister Lucia in an apparition on Feb. 15, 1926: “It is true, my daughter, that many souls begin [the Five First Saturdays devotion], but few finish them, and those who do finish them, do so to receive the graces that are promised. It would please me more if they did five decades [of the rosary] with fervor and with the intention of making reparation to the Heart of their heavenly Mother, than if they did fifteen decades in a tepid and indifferent manner.”
The call for the practice of the devotion seems to have been reiterated recently. In My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother, written by the saint’s mother Antonia Salzano Acutis, she noted that, “A few days after the death of Sister Lucia in 2005, Carlo dreamed of her. She told him that the practice of the Five First Saturdays of the month could change the destiny of the world.”
Phyllis Burkholder of St. John Paul II Parish in Sellersburg has a deep love for Mary and the First Saturday Devotion.
In a recent e-mail to me, she described her parish’s monthly First Saturday activities: Confessions are heard from 8-8:30 a.m. while prayers are said in the church—including Fatima prayers, the rosary, the Litany to the Blessed Virgin and a prayer of consecration to Mary—followed by Mass at 8:30 a.m.
She also sent the following suggestions in carrying out the First Saturday devotion:
—“In the Dec. 10, 1925, apparition, the Infant Jesus asked for pity on his Mother’s heart. The more our pity for her grows, the more important this devotion will be in our hearts.”
—“Think about the pain of her Immaculate Heart completely covered with thorns. Think of the severity of her injuries and the need of reparation for all the offenses that cause her heart pain.”
—“Consider the blasphemies [outlined above]. … We can defend pictures and statues of Mary … and protest ‘art’ exhibitions and presentations [that desecrate her image]. We can include reparation for these incidents of blasphemy when meditating while doing this devotion.”
—“Do not injure Our Lady with ingratitude. We should consider the many graces and blessings we have received from her. We turn to her for family problems, health issues, financial difficulties, etc. We often do not consider those who offend her—thereby we should come to her aid.”
—“In the 1925 apparition to Sister Lucia, the Infant Jesus made it clear that the person being injured is not just his Mother, but our Mother. Too many do not consider this tender relationship between our Blessed Mother and us.”
Please consider fulfilling Mary’s request of the Five First Saturdays—and maybe do the devotion every first Saturday out of love and pity for her pained Immaculate Heart.
As a Dec. 6, 2025, National Catholic Register article quoted of Marian Father Donald Calloway: “If Our Lady was offended by things happening 100 years ago, imagine how offended she must be today!”
(Natalie Hoefer is a reporter for The Criterion.) †