FATIMA -- DID YOU KNOW PART FOUR

The Reason for the Five First Saturdays

. . . Later, when Lucia was at the convent at Tuy, her confessor, Father Jose Bernardo Goncalves, S.J., wrote Lucia asking her to explain the reason for five First Saturdays of devotion.  Why not nine or fifteen, as these devotions already existed.  

After completing a holy hour in front of the Blesses Sacrament one Thursday morning, Lucia wrote him back:

“When I was in the chapel with Our Lord part of the night of May 29-30, 1930, and I spoke to Our Lord about questions four and five, I suddenly felt myself more intimately possessed by the Divine Presence and, if I am not mistaken, this is what was revealed to me:

“My daughter, the reason [for the Five First Saturdays] is simple.  There are five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.

2. Blasphemies against Her Perpetual Virginity.

3. Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity, refusing at the same time to 

    recognize Her as the Mother of men.

4. The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children     

     indifference or scorn, or even hatred of the Immaculate Mother.

5. The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her holy images.

“Here, My daughter, 

is the reason why the Immaculate Heart of Mary 

inspired Me to ask for this act of reparation. . . 

and in consideration of it, to move My mercy 

to pardon souls who have had the misfortune 

of offending Her.  

As for you, 

always seek by your prayers and sacrifices 

to move My mercy to pity for these poor souls.”

Father Joaquin Alonso, who served as the official archivist of Fatima for more than 16 years, until his death in 1981, provided a fascinating commentary on the above five reasons for the Five First Saturdays and how they directly relate to the present time.

The First Blasphemy – Against the Immaculate Conception:  Father Alonso asks, who are those who might commit this offense against the Immaculate Heart of Mary?  He answers, “In the first place and in general the Protestant sects who refuse to receive the dogma defined by Pope Pius IX and who have continued to maintain that the Blessed Virgin was conceived with the stain of original sin and even personal sins.  The same can be said of the {dissident.}  Eastern Christians, since in spite of their great Marian devotion they too refuse this dogma.”

The Second Blasphemy – Against Our Lady’s Perpetual Virginity:  Although accepted by the Orthodox schismatics, the dogma of Our Lady’s perfect and perpetual Virginity “before, during and after giving birth” is rejected by the majority of Protestants.

The Third Blasphemy – Against Our Lady as the Mother of God and of Men:  Although accepted by the Orthodox Protestants theoretically accept the Divine Maternity of Mary defined at the Council of Ephesus, many do not.  Moreover, Protestants as a whole refuse to recognize Her as the Mother of men in the Catholic sense, which implies Her co-redemption and Her role as Mediatrix of All Graces.

The Fourth and Fifth Blasphemies – The Perversion of Children Against Our Lady, and the Desecration of Her Images:  Enemies of Our Lady strive to inculcate indifference, scorn and even hatred in children for the Immaculate Virgin; and they seek to outrage Her in Her holy images.  Thse last two sins are the logical consequences of the first three, and often go together with them.  Scorn for the Immaculate Virgin and the disrespect of Her Holy Images born from Protestantism is passed on to the children of those in these false religions.

Tragically, today these crimes and outrages against the Immaculate Heart of Mary are by no means restricted to non-Catholics only.  The ignorance and coldness exemplified in these five types of blasphemies are not characteristic of many Catholics as well.  Since the time of the Second Vatican Council, all too many Catholics—including a frightening number of clergy and religious—have disregarded these great Marian truths reiterated by Almighty God Himself. . .

. . . Clearly the Five First Saturdays of Reparation is an important devotion for our time, and is needed now more then ever, especially since Lucia herself reminds us that without reparation, many souls will be lost.

Excerpt taken form “The True Story of Fatima: A True Account of the Fatima Apparitions” by John de Marchi, I.M.C.  published by THE FATIMA CENTER