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Our Lady returned
to Sister Lucy at Pontevedra on December 10, 1925 as She promised at Fatima
that She would. She came to ask for the Communion of Reparation on the Five
First Saturdays. She promised eternal salvation for Catholics who fulfill Her
Five First Saturday requests. |
The Five First
Saturdays:
THE APPARITIONS OF
PONTEVEDRA
In the evening of
Thursday, December 10, 1925, after supper, Lucy received the visit of the Child
Jesus and the Virgin Mary in her cell.l Let us listen to her
testimony:
«On December
10, 1925, the Most Holy Virgin Herself appeared, and beside Her, borne by a
luminous cloud, the Child Jesus. The Most Holy Virgin put Her hand on her
shoulder and showed her, at the same time, a Heart surrounded by thorns which
She held in the other hand. At that same moment, the Child said to
her2:
"Have
compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, surrounded with thorns with
which ungrateful men pierce Her at every moment, without there being anyone to
make an act of reparation in order to take them away."
«Then the
Most Holy Virgin said to her:
"See, My
daughter, My Heart surrounded by thorns which ungrateful men pierce at every
moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me
and say to all those who, for five months, on the first Saturday, confess,
receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary, and keep Me company during fifteen
minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, in a spirit of
reparation, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces
necessary for the salvation of their souls."»
Charged with this
new mission, the young postulant — Lucy was then eighteen years old —
did everything possible to make known the requests of Our Lady.3 She
opened up at once to her superior, Mother Magalhaes, who had been won over to
the cause of Fatima and was ready, as far as she was concerned, to conform to
the desires of Heaven4. Lucy also shared this with the confessor of
the house, Father Lino Garcia: «He, she relates, ordered me to write down
everything which concerned [that revelation] and to keep the writings which we
might need.» But then he waited. Lucy then wrote the account of the event
to her confessor of the Asilo de Vilar, Bishop Pereira Lopes, who expressed
some reserve and advised waiting. A few days after February 15, Lucy answered
the bishop while revealing to him in detail the sequence of events.
Fortunately, this letter has been preserved for us. Here are some abundant
extracts from it.
«My most
Reverend Father, I come respectfully to thank you for your gracious letter
which you kindly wrote me. When I received it and saw that I was still unable
to comply with the wishes of the Holy Virgin, I felt a little sad. But I
realized at once that the wishes of the Most Holy Virgin were for me to obey
you. I became calm and the next day, when I received Jesus in Communion, I read
Him your letter and said to Him: "O My Jesus! I, with Thy grace, prayer,
mortification and confidence, will do everything obedience permits me, and what
Thou inspire me; the rest is up to Thee". . .
«On the
15th, I was very busy with my chores, and I scarcely thought of it [the
apparition of the preceding December 10]. I was about to empty the garbage can
outside the garden. At the same place, several months previously, I had met a
child whom I had asked if he knew the Hail Mary. He had replied yes, and I had
asked him to say it for me, in order to hear him. But as he would not say it
alone, I had recited it three times with him. At the end of the three Hail
Mary’s, I asked him to say it alone. As he remained silent and did not
appear capable of saying it alone, I asked him if he knew the church of Saint
Mary.5 He answered yes. I then told him to go there every day and to
pray thus: "Oh my Heavenly Mother, give me Your Child Jesus!" I taught him that
prayer and departed6. Then on February 15, while returning as usual
[to empty a garbage can outside of the garden], I found there a child who
appeared to me to be the same (as previously), and I then asked him: "Have you
asked Our Heavenly Mother for the Child Jesus?" The Child turned to me and
said: "And have you revealed to the world what the Heavenly Mother has asked
you?" And saying that, He transformed Himself into a resplendent Child.
Recognizing then that it was Jesus, I said to Him:
«"My
Jesus! You know very well what my confessor said to me in the letter I read to
You. He said that this vision had to be repeated, there had to be facts
permitting us to believe it, and that the Mother Superior alone could not
spread this devotion.
It is true
that the Mother Superior, alone, can do nothing, but with My grace, she can do
anything. It is enough that your confessor gives you permission, and that your
Superior announce this for it to be believed by the people, even if they do not
know who it was revealed to.
But my
confessor said in his letter that this devotion already exists in the world,
because many souls receive Thee every first Saturday of the month, in honor of
Our Lady and the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
It is true,
My daughter, that many souls begin, but few persevere to the very end, and
those who persevere do it to receive the graces promised. The souls who make
the five first Saturdays with fervor and to make reparation to the Heart of
your Heavenly Mother, please Me more than those who make fifteen, but are
lukewarm and indifferent.
My Jesus! Many
souls find it difficult to confess on Saturday. Will You allow confession
within eight days to be valid?
Yes. It can
even be made later on, provided that the souls are in the state of grace when
they receive Me on the first Saturday, and that they had the intention of
making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Mary.
My Jesus! And
those who forget to form this intention?
They can
form it at the next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity to
go to confession."
«Right
after that He disappeared, without me finding out anything more about
Heaven’s desires, up to the present. And as for myself, she continued, it
is a flame of Divine Love which is lit in souls so that, sustained in that
love, they truly console the Holy Heart of Mary. I at least have the desire to
console my dear Heavenly Mother a great deal, while suffering a great deal for
Her love.7»
Sister
Lucy’s Exhortations
to Practice the Reparatory Devotion of the First
Saturdays
Sister Lucy is so
attached to this «agreeable devotion» that she comes back to it
unceasingly in her correspondence. Let us quote some of her letters, drafted
shortly after the revelation of Pontevedra.
On July 24, 1927,
she wrote to her mother, Maria Rosa:
«My mother,
I would like also for you to give me the consolation of adopting a devotion I
know is so pleasing to God and which our dear Heavenly Mother has
requested. As soon as I became aware of it, I wanted to adopt it and see the
whole world practice it. As a result, I hope, mother, that you will answer me,
saying that you are going to practice it and seek to have everyone over there
practice it. You could not give me a greater consolation. It consists only in
doing what is written on that little image. The confession can be made on a day
other than Saturday. The fifteen minutes [of meditation], is what can, it seems
to me, give you difficulty; but it is quite easy. Who after all cannot
contemplate the mysteries of the Rosary? Of the Annunciation of the Angel to
Mary, and of the humility of our dear Mother who, in seeing Herself exalted in
such a manner, called Herself the handmaid [of the Lord]; of the Passion of
Jesus Who suffered so much for our love, and of our Most Holy Mother near Jesus
on Calvary? Who cannot spend fifteen minutes in these holy thoughts, near the
most tender of mothers?
«Good-bye, my dear mother. Console thus your Heavenly Mother, and seek
to have many others console Her the same way. Thus you will also give me an
unimaginable joy.
«Your entirely devoted daughter, who kisses your
hand.8»
On November 1,
1927, she wrote to her confirmation godmother, D. Maria Filomena Morais de
Miranda:
«I do not
know if you have already become aware of the reparatory devotion of the Five
First Saturdays to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As it is still recent, I
should like to inspire you with it, for it is requested by our dear Heavenly
Mother, and Jesus has manifested His wish that it be practiced. Also, it seems
to me that you will be happy, dear godmother, not only in knowing it, and
giving Jesus the consolation of practicing it, but also of making it known and
embraced by many other people...
« It seems
to me, my good godmother, that we are fortunate in being able to give our dear
Heavenly Mother this proof of our love, for we know that She wants our devotion
offered to Her. As for me, I confess that I never feel as happy as when the
First Saturday comes. Is it not true that our greatest happiness is to belong
entirely to Jesus and Mary and to love Them, Them alone, without reserve? We
see that so clearly in the lives of the Saints... They were happy because they
loved, and we, my good godmother, we should strive to love like them, not only
to enjoy Jesus here below, which is the least important, — for if we do
not enjoy Him here below, we will enjoy Him in Heaven — but to give Jesus
and Mary the consolation of being loved... and thus in exchange for that love
they can save many souls. Good-bye, my dear godmother, I embrace you in the
Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary.9»
On November 4,
1928, after the first steps to obtain the official approval by Bishop da Silva,
she wrote to Father Aparicio:
«I hope
therefore that our good God will deign to inspire His Most Reverend Excellency
with a favorable response, so that among so many thorns, while still on this
earth, I will be able to pick that flower of seeing the maternal Heart of the
Most Holy Virgin loved and honored. That is now my wish because it is also the
Will of the Good God. The greatest joy I feel is to see the Immaculate Heart of
our so tender Mother known, loved and consoled by means of this
devotion.10»
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When Saint Philomena
(above) was martyred over 1,000 years ago, she was about the same age as
Jacinta of Fatima when she died. |
On March 31, 1929,
concerning Canon Formigao and Father Rodrigues, who wanted to preach the
reparatory devotion, Sister Lucy wrote Father Aparicio:
«I hope that
Jesus, according to my desire for the spreading of this amiable devotion, will
make them two ardent apostles of the reparatory devotion to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. Your Reverence cannot imagine how great is my joy in thinking
about the consolation through this amiable devotion, that the Holy Hearts of
Jesus [and of Mary] are going to receive, and of the great number of souls who
are going to be saved by means of this amiable devotion. I am saying who will
be saved, because in the little time that remains to them, our Good God, in His
Infinite Mercy, has asked me to seek through my prayers and sacrifices to make
reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to implore pardon and mercy for
souls who blaspheme against Her, because the Divine Mercy will not pardon those
souls without reparation.11»
In a letter which
Father Martins quotes,12 Sister Lucy writes:
«Here is my
way of making the meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary on the First
Saturdays: The First Mystery, the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Our
Lady. First preamble: to imagine I myself, see and hear the Angel greet Our
Lady with these words: "Hail Mary, full of grace". Second preamble: I ask Our
Lady to infuse into my soul a profound sentiment of humility. First point: I
will meditate on the manner in which Heaven proclaims that the Most Holy Virgin
is full of grace, blessed among all women and destined to be the Mother of God.
Second point: The humility of Our Lady, recognizing and calling Herself the
handmaid of the Lord. Third point: How I should imitate Our Lady in Her
humility, what are the faults of pride and haughtiness by which I have the
habit of displeasing Our Lord, and what are the means I should use in order to
avoid them, etc.»
«The second
month, I meditate on the second Joyful Mystery. The third, on the third and so
forth, while following the same method for meditating. When I have finished
those five First Saturdays, I begin five more and I meditate on the Sorrowful
Mysteries, then the Glorious and when I have finished them, I begin again the
Joyful.13»
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O my Jesus forgive
us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven,
especially those most in need. |
Sister Lucy thus
reveals to us, far from contenting herself with the five First Saturdays, she
practices each month «the reparatory amiable devotion» indicated by
Our Lady. Why not follow her example and renew often this pious practice? More
especially we will be able then to ask this good Mother, with the firm hope of
being heard, that She would be willing to grant, to such and such a soul that
we entrust to Her,14 the special assistance promised at the hour of
death «with all the graces necessary for salvation» , in
consideration of that «small devotion» accomplished through love
and in a spirit of reparation.
FOOTNOTES:
1) In 1972, at the suggestion of Father
Alonso, the Spanish "Ejercito Azul" bought the convent of the Dorothean Sisters
of Pontevedra, which was falling into ruins. (cf. "Fatima, apostolat mundial;"
pages 191-196). Sister Lucy’s cell being very narrow, in order to
transform it into a chapel, it was necessary to bring down a partition and use
an adjacent room. Thereafter, people could go there on pilgrimages.
2) Documentos, page 401. That text was drawn
up by Sister Lucy at the end of 1927, at the request of her confessor, Father
Aparicio, S.J. «Through humility, he explains, Sister Lucy shows her
repugnance to write in the first person, to which I replied that she write in
the third person; which is what she did.» (Letter to Father da Fonseca of
Jan. 10, 1938, quoted by Father Alonso, "Ephemerides Mariologicae" 1973, page
25).
3) In the great plan of God, the reparatory
devotion and the consecration of Russia are so intimately connected with one
another, that in our next chapters (cf. chapters 10-16), we will relate at the
same time how Lucy, tirelessly, made known to the hierarchical authorities of
the Church those two demands of Our Lady. Up to this year 1991, in which we are
writing, the Popes, disobedient to the voice of Our Lady, have refused to
accomplish Her commands.
4) In addressing her wishes to Bishop da
Silva, in a letter drafted scarcely three weeks after the apparition, Mother
Magalhaes provides some news of her protegé, Maria das Dores, (Sister
Lucy) and already makes an allusion to that revelation: «Maria das Dores
has already told me that she had received here a great grace from the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and I do not doubt it, because the little one has virtue and
simplicity in such great abundance that she must charm the Most Holy Virgin!
For those matters, I am the most incredulous person there could be in this
world, but about her, I do not doubt at all, I do not know what that can mean!
I have never spoken to her about this topic, and I do nothing more than just
listen to what she has just told me spontaneously because she judged it her
duty to tell me. For all the difficulties she has, I send her to her spiritual
director, Dom Pereira Lopes, so that he may resolve them, since for those
things, I am worse than a mole.» (Letter of Dec. 25, 1925, quoted by
Father Alonso, "Ephemerides Mariologicae", 1973, pages 30-31).
5) The Basilica St. Mary Major is quite close
to the house of the Dorothean Sisters, on the street called Passage Isabelle
II.
6) Let us admire the marvellous soul of Lucy.
Near the portal of the garden, she meets a child and at once, the idea comes to
her to speak about the Blessed Virgin Mary. The little prayer which she teaches
the child was surely her own in that 1925 Advent.
7) Quoted by Father Martins does Reis in
"Uma Vida," pages 337-357; cf. Documentos, pages 477-481.
8) Documentos, page 403.
9) Quoted by Father Alonso (Ephemerides
Mariologicae, 1973, pages 41-42) and by Father A. M. Martins (Novos Documentos,
pages 118-119; and "Fatima e o Coraçao de Maria" [FCM], pages
22-23).
10) Ephemerides Mariologicae,1973, page 54,
Cf. in the same sense, the letter of Dec. 20, 1928; cf. "Fatima e o
Coraçao de Maria" [FCM], pages 25-27.
11) Ephemerides Mariologicae, 1973, page 577.
"Fatima e o Coraçao de Maria" [FCM], pages 27-28.
12) Unfortunately, Father Martins does not
indicate the date of this letter.
13) Letters, pages 19-20.
14) Although that promise does not figure
explicitly in the writings of the seer, numerous texts guarantee us that it is
indeed in the spirit of Our Lady. Sister Lucy, for example, writes on May 27,
1943, concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: «The Holy
Hearts of Jesus and Mary love and desire this devotion, because they use it to
attract souls to Them, and there is found all their wishes: Save souls, many
souls, all souls, Salvar almas, muitas almas, todas as almas.»
("Fatima e o Coraçao de Maria [FCM], pages 62-63).
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