(LifeSiteNews) — On December 10, 2025, the Church observed the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima’s apparition to Sister Lucy in which She requested the establishment of the Five First Saturdays Devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.
The devotion is aimed at ending the time of confusion and suffering in the Church and in the world. But importantly, Our Lady also promises those who practice it the salvation of their individual souls.
“Our Lady of Fatima, with the Infant Jesus at her side resting on a bright cloud, appeared to the Venerable Servant of God Lucia dos Santos, the surviving shepherd child of Fatima, who was, at the time, a Postulant with the Sisters of Saint Dorothy in Pontevedra, Spain,” noted Cardinal Raymond Burke in advance of the centenary.
He explained: “During the apparition, Our Lady rested one of her hands on the shoulder of Lucia and, with the other hand, showed Lucia her Immaculate Heart encircled with thorns. The Child Jesus then spoke to Lucia with these words: ‘Have compassion on the Heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.'”
Mary then spoke:
Look, my daughter, at my Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me every 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 all 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 fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.
Our Lady was referring to the second part of the Secret or Message of Fatima revealed to the shepherd children of Fatima on July 13, 1917. At the conclusion of that apparition, Our Lady showed the children a terrifying vision of Hell and said:
You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.
“Our Lady taught the shepherd children that the devotion to her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart is a devotion of reparation for the many and grievous sins which offend the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, her Divine Son, and, therefore, offend her Heart perfectly united to His Most Sacred Heart,” noted Cardinal Burke. “The reparation made to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary for the grievous offenses caused by man’s sins thus rescues souls from eternal death and brings peace to the world.”
Mary then made known what Our Lord was asking through Her apparition, declaring:
To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.
Our Lady also offered words of hope:
In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.
Cardinal Burke summarized the substance of the devotion:
- a profound realization of how sin offends Our Lord and His Immaculate Mother,
- a humble and contrite heart which strives to make reparation for sins committed and the offense they cause to Our Lord and His Immaculate Virgin Mother, and
- trust in the promise which accompanies the devotion, that is, Our Lady’s promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, those who observe the First Saturdays with true repentance and the desire to make reparation.
“The devotion is not an isolated act but expresses a way of life,” he explained, “namely, daily conversion of heart to Christ’s Most Sacred Heart, under the maternal guidance and care of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.”
Sister Lucia spoke to St. Carlo Acutis about first Saturdays in a dream
“A few days after the death of Sister Lucia in 2005, St. Carlo Acutis dreamed of her. She told him that the practice of the five first Saturdays of the month could change the destiny of the world,” according to his mother Antonia Salzano Acutis account in her book, My Son Carlo: Carlo Acutis Through the Eyes of His Mother.
“Given the significance of St. Carlo’s life and contribution to the Church, this seems to be another call from Sister Lucia to take this request seriously,” David Carollo, executive director of the World Apostolate of Fatima, told the National Catholic Register (NCR) in 2025.
“The Blessed Mother doesn’t ask for things unless it is important,” Carollo emphasized to NCR.
“Today, we hear rumblings of a third world war, increasing apostasy and godlessness, of technological advances that can annihilate our view of humanity as made in God’s image,” stated Carollo. “Sister Lucia never stopped appealing to us to practice the Five First Saturdays devotion, as it would be the means by which we can maintain peace in the world until the Fatima events and mission are completed.”
How to Make the First Saturdays Devotion
On the first five Saturdays of consecutive months:
- Go to Confession (within 20 days before or after the Saturday or reception of Holy Communion)
- Receive Holy Communion (within 24 hours of the Saturday)
- Say five Decades of the Rosary
- Keep Mary company for 15 minutes meditating on any Mysteries of the Rosary