Category: First Saturday of the month

We suggest this intention : on this first Saturday of the month, let us offer our prayers and sacrifices in order to atone for the blasphemies of those who offend Our Lady in Her holy images.

St John Damascene (676-749), who was born in a Christian Syriac family, has always been an active defender of icones. He is  Father and Doctor of Catholic and Orthodox churches.

In the Byzantine court, in the VIIIth century, the movement of iconoclasm was suddenly started. It was a movement which wanted to forbid people from praying in front of images. St John, who was then a high-ranking officer in the court of the Omeyyade Caliph, wrote several treaties attacking  those who criticized these holy images. This caused a great turmoil among the faithful. Therefore, he was called by the caliph. As he was anable to convince the caliph, the latter ordered his soldiars to cut his hand off. He would also lose his post. He then intensely prayed to Our Lady and his hand was miraculously reattached. So he returned to see the caliph who recognized the truth of St John’s treaties and wanted John back on his post. St John refused as he wanted to retire and become a monk. Since this episode, some icons of  Our Lady with three hands started to be seen.

After that, the Council of Nicea (787) declared that the devotion to the images of Saints was a devotion to the Saints themselves and not an act of idolatry.

« Those who have loved  someone, will automatically venerate the things that belonged to that person » says Saint Thomas Aquinas (who died in 1274).

When we admire an object that was used by a loved one, our affection is not directed towards this object but towards the person whom we have cherished. These objects remind us of that person and of the good times we have spent together.

The worship of images takes its origins in such a natural human behaviour. If we keep « souvenirs » of persons whom we have admired, then, of course, we can venerate the image of a Saint who was a disciple of Jesus Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. This applies even more to Our Lady.

Our Lady is the mediator of all graces, She is Co-Redemptor and therefore all Her statues remind us of the love of God for us.

The Catholic Church has always maintained that statues and pictures are channels through which we can receive God’s graces. The images of Our Lady and of many Saints help us to approach them more easily. They are tangible devices given to us to help us lift up our hearts and souls and follow the examples of those who have served and loved God and, in this way, have become saints of the Holy Church.

In August 2018, on the island of Noirmoutier (Vendée, France), a statue (three and a half metres high) of Our Lady holding the Infant Jesus, was profaned. Our Lady and the infant Jesus were beheaded. This statue was erected by a villager on a plot of land given in acknowledgement of a favour granted by Our Lady. « My grandmother had promised to give a plot of land if her three sons came back safe after the war ».

Nowadays, we can see an upsurge of similar events : desecration of holy objects, profanation of churches and even sacrilege towards the Holy Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. On this first Saturday of October, let us offer our prayers and sacrifices in atonement for all those blasphemies, especially those against Our Heavenly Mother.

Blessed be God.

Blessed be his holy name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

Blessed be the name of Jesus.

Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be his most precious Blood.

Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.

Blessed be her holy and immaculate Conception.

Blessed be her glorious Assumption.

Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.

Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.

Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.

Almighty Father, give us priests.

Almighty Father, give us holy priests.

Almighty Father, give us many holy priests

and many holy religious vocations.

(Divine praises recited during benediction in atonement for blasphemies)

 

 

We suggest this intention : on this first Saturday of the month, let us offer our prayers and sacrifices in order to atone for the blasphemies of those who publicly try to put  indifference, despise or even hatred towards Our Lady in children’s hearts.

On many occasions during His public life, Jesus praised children for their simplicity and trust.

« Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. » (Matthew, 5,3)

He scolded His apostles when they wanted to prevent  children to come closer to Him and He admired their purity of intention. « Let the little children come to me. Don’t forbid it to them, for it is to those that the kingdom of God belongs » (Matthew, 19,14).

Saint Peter also mentioned the purity of children who accept , in complete confidence, whatever their parents give them to grow « in grace and wisdom ». « Wherefore putting aside all malice, and all guile, and dissimulations, and envies, and all detractions, as newborn babies, desire the spiritual milk, that thereby you may attain salvation » (1st Epistle of Saint Peter, ch 2, 1-2).

The holy humanity of Christ was given to Him by His mother so that « Jesus’ attitude, His charm, His refinement, His smile are similar to those of His Mother (RP Spicq, op). While dying on the cross, He entrusted His mother to us and therefore, if we are willing to accept it, He shares this maternal love with us. Thus, any offence towards Christ  also offends His Mother, Our Mother, and, inversely  any offence towards Our Lady also offends Jesus and offends God in His Holy Trinity.

« He is like the blasphemer who abandons his father, he is cursed by the Lord the one who irritates his mother » (Ecclesiastic 3,16). This old say reflects our society which, through many ways, forgets, rejects or even mocks the model of perfect life given to us by Our Lady.

An interior life under God’s gaze  is the sole way to gradually attain the fulfilment of the human nature. Then our interior life will continue to grow for our greater good and for the good of our fellows. Then we shall see the numerous fruits of the sanctifying grace received on the day of our baptism and increased by the reception of the other sacraments. Saint Theresa of Lisieux, who was much troubled by her mother’s death, is an example often mentioned.

Children, who are frail creatures, learn from what surrounds them and from those who teach them. In Fatima, as in almost all the places where She appeared, Our Lady spoke to children and asked them to deliver Her messages. She taught them that prayer is the link between Heaven and earth and that prayer permits them to express their love for God, for Jesus and for Herself. We all know that children’s prayers are very pleasing to God. Many people will be able to testify the generosity and capacity of children to talk to God. Their spirit, still free of ties, feels His presence even in very simple things like nature or a smile. By conveying to them, from an early age,  the love of Our Lady, those whose mission is to develop their minds, help them to keep their natural qualities of humility, purity, sweetness and charity. Then they will become adults, much concerned about the common good, and following  the examples of Jesus and Our Lady. What we learn on our parents’ lap remains engraved forever…

So we need not be surprised when, on 29th May 1930,  Our Lord insistently asked Sister Lucia to offer prayers and sacrifices in reparation for everything  that promotes and develops, in children’s hearts, indifference, despise or even hatred towards Our Lady, Our Immaculate Mother.

Our Lord told Saint Faustina (1905-1938), a Polish mystic nun, called « the apostle of divine mercy » : «Please bring me gentle and humble souls as well as those of children : immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. They are similar to my heart and they have fortified me during my painful agony. I saw them as if they were earthly angels. To them I shall give many graces  because my graces can only be given to humble souls. I place my trust in those souls ».

So let us continue and try to protect the souls of children  and help those who look after them to do so.

For all children who have not yet received the sacrament of Baptism, that gives them Sanctifying Grace, necessary  to increase their love for God, Our Lady of Fatima, Mother of Divine Grace, pray for them.

For children who suffer spiritually, emotionally or physically, Our Lady of Fatima, Mother admirable, pray for them.

May God help all those who are responsible for children’s souls (parents, clergy and teachers) so that they  may also live as children of God  and be witness to His love. Our Lady of Fatima, Mother of Good Counsel, pray for them.

 

 

 

We suggest this intention : on this first Saturday, let us offer our prayers and sacrifices in order to atone for the blasphemies against the divine maternity of Our Lady by those who, at the same time, refuse to consider Her as their mother.

« I believe in God … and in God the Son who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary …. » (the Apostles’ Creed)

« And the Word was made flesh … » (St John, 1, 14). In order to confirm the union of the human and divine nature in the person of Jesus Christ, against Nestorius’ heresy,  fundamental element of our Faith, the Council of Ephesus (431) presided by Saint Cyrillus of Alexandria, called Our Lady « Theotokos », this is Mother of God. Therefore, the popular tradition honouring Our Lady as « mother of Jesus », the Son of God, encouraged Pope Celestin I to confirm the hypostatic union of the two natures (human and divine) of Jesus Christ. «How can She not be the Mother of God, She whose Son is God ? », said Saint John Damascène.

Our Lady entered the mystery of the Holy Trinity in a way that we, human beings, cannot understand. Through Her « fiat », She gave the Son of God the immaculate humanity which was Hers. By carrying the Word of God in her womb, She became the Mother of God. By combining, in Our Lady’s virginal womb, the human and divine nature of Christ, God enabled all human beings to share His own divinity.

At the foot of the cross, Our Lady, whose primary mission was to give Jesus to us, became our mother too. While dying on the cross, Our Lord established Mary, in the person of Saint John, as mother of all human beings. « Woman, this is your Son » (Saint John, 19, 26-27). We are at the centre of the mystery of the coredemption. The Church, mystical spouse of Jesus Christ, is also entrusted to Our Lady, her spiritual mother.

« This maternity is not only the source and foundation of all the exceptional sanctity of Mary and of her particular participitaiton in the salvation of the world. It also maintains a maternal link with the Church because She was chosen by the Most Holy Trinity as Mother of Christ … (Col. 1. 18)

On Maundy Thursday,  before leaving His apostles, Jesus told them : « If you love Me, keep my commandments, and I shall ask my Father to give you the Paraclete (Advocate, Intercessor, Comforter) to be with you for ever. On that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me and I in you… (St John, 14, 15-21)

Our Lady and the apostles were praying while waiting for « their Advocate », who was going to be given to them fully on the day of Pentecost. By the presence of Our Lady when the Holy Spirit came upon each of the Apostles, God confirms the spiritual maternity of His mother. God wants His Mother to be honoured as Mediator of all graces, as Mother of Jesus Christ, God-made-Man, as Mother of the Church and of all human beings.

Our Lady, Mother of God, Mother of Christ, Mother of divine grace, Mother of our Creator, Mother of our Saviour, refuge of sinnners, Queen of apostles, relief of Christians, Queen of peace, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

We suggest this intention : to offer this first Saturday to atone for the blasphemies against  the virginity of Our Lady.

« Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners ».This is how, for two thousand years, Catholics have greeted  the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and their mother too.

Our Lady is at the same time Virgin and Mother. This is the faith of the Church. The perpetual virginity of Our Lady, before, during and after Jesus ‘ birth is an article of faith, professed by the Church in all Her Credo : « I believe in Jesus Christ, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary ».

Mary’s virginity is an additional quality of Her Divine Maternity. It differs from all other human maternities and therefore is above all of them. It respects the natural laws concerning the properties of the maternity. Her perpetual virginity shows us the miraculous conception and birth, as well as the divine nature of Our Saviour. Our Lady is the mother of Jesus Christ, God-Man. Our Lady’s maternity  proves the real and perfect humanity of Jesus. Her perpetual virginity proves His divinity.

In one of the antiphonies to Our Lady – Alma redemptoris mater -, the Church claims this perpetual virginity, before, during and after the birth («virgo prius ac posterius »), being a Virgin before and after the birth. The virginity of Our Lady was planned from all eternity for the incarnation of the Word of God who is really God Himself. The birth of Jesus Christ «has not weakened but consecrated the virginal integrity of His Mother. We can say that Mary’s virginity has fertilized Her maternity. The liturgy of the Church calls Our Lady: “ Aeiparthenos” . This means: « always virgin ».

Holy temple of God, Our Lady is the virginal sanctuary, prepared with love by the Holy Spirit to allow the consecration of Jesus as Supreme Pontiff. (R.P. Le Rohelec)

The consecrated virginity, like the perpetual virginity of Our Lady, becomes, for the Church and for all the faithful, the condition wanted by God so that they may receive all divine graces.

The Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with the words « full of grace ». By Her union with Our Lord’s life and passion, She has deserved the grace of spiritual maternity for all human beings when Jesus, dying on the Cross, entrusted Saint John to Her. Through this virginal maternity, Mary is the « mother of divine grace ». She is the « new Eve » who makes us participant of the divinity by our baptism. She helps us to love Jesus daily more and more through all He gave us: the gospel, the cross, the Church, the sacraments and the respect of the commandments. She is the universal Mediator of graces leading us to Christ and uniting us to Him.

To refuse the perpetual virginity of Our Lady is a grave offence to the divine mercy which has arranged everything for the salvation of souls. The rejection of this article inevitably leads up to the depreciation of the value of the consecrated virginity within the Church. To deny Mary’s virginity undermines the fecundity of Our Holy Mother Church, opens the path to the destruction of the consecrated celibacy and to endless moral excesses.

Like Our Lady, each one of us has to transmit the love of God and, in particular, the priests as Jesus told His apostles (John, 15, 16). «You did not take me for yourselves, but I took you for myself, and I gave you the work of going about and producing fruit which will be for ever ». In this way, the priests, like Our Lady, give us Jesus in the sacrament of the Eucharist.  Singing the divine glory, « My soul doth magnify the Lord » (St Luke, 1, 46), on the day of his ordination, the priest becomes another Christ. He brings the eternal salvation to the faithful through the sacrifice of the Mass. Entirely consecrated to Her Son, full of the Holy Spirit, co-redeemer, queen and mother of all priests, Our Lady fully gives us Jesus. Through the graces and mental attitudes of his heart, the priest conveys to us the graces of his priesthood by his union to Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls.

Let us thank God for having given Our Lady to us, holy tabernacle of His Son and let us ask our divine Mother to support the priests in their sacred mission.

« Holy Mother of the Redeemer
Gate of Heaven, always open
Star of the sea
Come and help the faithful who fall
And try to get up
You gave birth to God
Who created You
And You remain a virgin
Accept Gabriel’s greeting
And have mercy on us, poor sinners ».

Intended intention: To offer this first Saturday to repair the blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

In 1854, Pius IX issued the Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

The main reason put forward by Pope Pius IX was that the Word Incarnate, who came to earth to destroy the work of the devil, by His passion and death on the Cross, could not have had a Mother who was, even for a moment, subject to Satan.

The Immaculate Conception is therefore the greatest work of the grace and divine mercy of Jesus for Himself. While he was on the cross, He entrusted His Mother to us – Woman, here is your son – so that we could also take part, by our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in His sanctifying action and thus be cured of the wounds of our souls that are caused by sin.

Mary, the Immaculate Virgin, is the model of the most perfect purity that all men must imitate in order to please God. The Immaculate Conception is the model of the graces that the mercy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus wants to pour on us. But He wants these graces to be granted to us through Mary’s hands. When She appeared in the Rue du Bac in Paris, in 1830, the Immaculate Virgin told us that we must pray in order to receive divine graces.

Saint Catherine Labouré tells us about her vision. Our Lady was holding a small globe in Her hands. This globe was surmounted by a golden cross. She was offering it to God in supplication. Suddenly, Her fingers wore rings with diamonds and the diamonds were shedding rays everywhere. She then said :

«This is the image of the graces I give to the people who ask them of Me ». And to explain why certain diamonds were not shedding rays, She said : «This is the image of the graces that people forget to ask Me ». At that moment, an oval band appeared around Our Lady, and Saint Catherine could read the invocation written in golden letters : « O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee ».

This devotion to Mary is intimately linked to the devotion to the Sacred Heart that Jesus, in the 17th Century, asked Saint Marguerite-Marie to spread throughout the world.

In our world, which is in great need of Peace and Love, Jesus wants to establish the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, according to what Our Lady revealed to us in Fatima on 13th June 1917.

Mary’s love for us leads us to God through Jesus. « My Immaculate Heart will be the way which will lead you to God », she said to Sister Lucia. God began our redemption in Her Immaculate Heart. When she pronounced Her « fiat », She gave Her blood to Jesus for the salvation of souls. Co-redeemer by Her union in the passion and death of Jesus on the cross, She continues Her mission as Mother of souls by giving us all graces. In Fatima, She asked us to put our little drop of water into the work of Redemption and reparation for the sins that  gravely offend God, in the work of the salvation of souls. If we accept, She will help us to do this. When we pray the rosary, she gives us the fruits of Her life and the fruits of the life of Christ.

God asked us, through the voice of Sister Lucia, for the devotion of reparation of the five first Saturdays of the month. When Jesus appeared to Sister Lucia in December 1930, He gave her the reasons for that devotion.
See:https://www.rosaryontheborders.be/2019/04/16/the-devotion-of-the-five-first-saturdays-of-the-month/

Let us therefore offer the first Saturday of the month of June, 1st June, especially for the reparation for the blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Here is a fact that shows that the requests of Our Lord are not baseless; we are experiencing this unfortunately more and more today. 

In the monthly magazine « Voz de Fatima » of 13th December 1961, the official publication of the Fatima sanctuary, which has been published on the 13th of each month since 13th October 1922, the following information was published :

An impious association was, one day, created in a certain country. The members of this association promised to utter blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin. This association especially recruited its members among children, encouraging them to repeat endless  litanies of insults against the Mother of God. How far can the malice of some souls go… So, it is the duty of every good Christian, who sees the honour of His mother outraged,  to repair for those awful crimes. One of the most instant requests of Our Lady in Fatima was precisely the REPARATION for the offences towards Her Immaculate Heart. She even taught the little shepherds a short prayer to be said before making any sacrifice : « O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, in REPARATION for the offences towards the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the conversion of poor sinners. »

These offences are really true, and we especially ask you to make reparation for them on the first Saturday of the month of June. Bishop Joao Venancio, bishop of Leiria-Fatima, was very struck by this information and he wrote a special prayer of reparation for such blasphemies :

O Mary, my very Holy Mother, I want to make reparation for the offences against  Your Immaculate Heart, especially for the blasphemies against You. I offer you these humble praises in order to console You for all Your ungrateful children who do not love You and to console the very Holy Heart of Jesus who suffers so much when people insult You.

Please accept, O tender Mother, my humble and poor tribute. I want to love You more and make more sacrifices every day, and I ask You to look upon those poor sinners  with merciful eyes, so that they may rapidly convert and find refuge in Your maternal womb. Amen.

O Sacred Virgin, please accept my praise.
Give me strength against your enemies.
Blessed be God.
Blessed be the August Mother of God, the Most Holy Virgin Mary.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart.
Blessed be her Virginal Purity.
Blessed be her Divine Maternity.
Blessed be her Universal Mediation.
Blessed be Her Tears and Sorrows
Blessed be God’s Graces that made Her Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Glory be to the most Holy Virgin Mary, beloved Daughter of the Father.
Glory to the most Holy Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of the Son.
Glory to the most Holy Virgin Mary, Virginal Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
O most holy Virgin, my good and tender Mother, I love You for all those who don’t love You; I praise You for all those who swear against You; I give myself entirely to You for those who do not want to see You as their Mother.

Hail Mary …

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, be our salvation.

Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Imprimatur : We grant a partial indulgence to those who will devoutely pray this act of atonement.

Leiria, 13th April 1961.

Joao, Bishop of Leiria-Fatima.

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On 10th December 1925, in Pontevedra (Spain), shortly after her arrival to the Postulate of the Sisters of Saint Dorotheum, Sister Lucia received this message coming from Our Lady and the Infant Jesus : « Look at my heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me and tell the people that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for their salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, will confess their sins, receive Holy Communion, pray the rosary and keep me company during a quarter of an hour while meditating on one or several mysteries of the rosary,  with the intention of atoning for the offences to my Immaculate Heart ».

To prepare for the 102th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, we suggest you to express your gratitude to Our Lady.  So why not take the opportunity of the month of Mary to offer Her a special moment of prayer.

On Saturday 4th May 2019 at 3 pm,

first Saturday of the month.

Let us all pray, at home or outside,  alone or with others,

Let us all pray the rosary, make the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary but also let us do what Our Lady has asked us since she appeared in Fatima in 1917:

The reparating communion of the five first Saturdays of the month.

Our Lady wants us to do this to establish the devotion to Her Immaculate Heart  worldwide.

How can we do that?

“To all who

• During five consecutive months, on the first Saturday of that month
• Will confess their s
• Will receive Holy Communion
• Will say the rosary
• And will keep me company during a quarter of an hour meditating on one or several mysteries of the rosary
• With the intention of atoning for the offences to my Immaculate Heart

I promise to assist them at the hour of their death, with all the graces necessary to save their souls” as Our Lady said to Sister Lucie, 10th December 1925.

Why ?

To make reparation for the five types of offences and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary (cf Our Lord to Sister Lucie, Thuy, 29th May 1930)

1. Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Conception
2. Blasphemies against Her Virginity
3. Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity, at the same time refusing to consider Her as Mother of all human beings
4. Blasphemies of all those who publicly try to fill children’s heart with indifference, scorn or even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother
5. Blasphemies of all those who directly attack statues and pictures.

Today the Immaculate Heart of Mary still suffers and even more than ever.

So let’s generously fulfill Her requests and continue our efforts on the four following first Saturdays (1st June, 6th July, 3rd August, and 7th September) in that same spirit.

All these efforts will be a present to Our Lady and, on her feast day, as we did last year, we shall all pray the rosary with our families and friends

On Sunday 13th October 2019 at 3 pm

Our Lord and Our Lady, whose Hearts are very close in sufferings and in joys, will be touched by our prayers asking Them to protect and increase Faith, Life and Peace in Belgium and throughout the world.

Let us spread this information as much as we can.

Let us invite our friends and neighbors to join us, to create other prayer groups inside our parishes or elsewhere.

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