First Saturday
Mark,
Chapter 12, Verse 12
They
were seeking to arrest him, but they feared
the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they
left him and went away.
It is natural to fear something you cannot control.
Christ could not be controlled by the men in charge of the Temple system; so,
they feared Him and they feared the crowd that followed Him. Christ’s message
was good news to the crowd who were but pawns in the Jewish Temple system of
wealth and power. We in times of trouble should be like Tobit and seek to walk
all the days of our lives in paths of truth and righteousness. It was Tobit who
defied those in power to do an act of mercy by burying the dead. While his
neighbors mocked him and saying to one another: “He is still not afraid! Once
before he was hunted down for execution because of this very thing; yet now
that he has scarcely escaped, here he is again burying the dead!” (Tobit 2:8)
Love makes sacrifices. He (Christ) laid down His life for us. We should also
lay down our live for our brothers. (1 John 3:16) Most of us by the grace of
God are never confronted with such terrors of evil. Yet, we too in our quiet
lives can lay down ourselves in service to our brothers.
First Saturday Devotion[1]
Five consecutive Saturdays in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The practice of the First Saturday devotion was requested by Our Lady of Fatima, who appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, multiple times starting in 1917. She said to Lucia, the oldest of the three children: “I shall come to ask . . . that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.” Years later she repeated her request to Sr. Lucia, the only one still living of the three young Fatima seers, while she was a postulant sister living in a convent in Spain: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very 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 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 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
Conditions to Fulfill the First
Saturday Devotion
2. Go to confession (within eight days before or after the first Saturday).
3. Receive Holy Communion.
4. Say five decades of the Holy Rosary.
5. Meditate for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary with the goal of keeping Our Lady company (for example, while in church or before an image or statue of Our Lady).
Read How to Make Your First Saturday Rosary Meditation According to Sr. Lucia
Why Five Saturdays?
1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
2. Blasphemies against Our Lady’s perpetual virginity
3. Blasphemies against her divine maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize her as the Mother of men
4. Blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children, indifference or scorn or even hatred of their Immaculate Mother
5. Offenses of those who outrage Our Lady directly in her holy images
Never think that Jesus is indifferent to whether or not His mother is honored!
Here are the secret whispers of Jesus to his little bride Faustina on how to protect herself from the attacks of the devil. These instructions became Faustina’s weapon in fighting the good fight.
Jesus began, “My daughter, I want to teach you about spiritual warfare” (1760).
1. Never
trust in yourself but abandon yourself totally to My will. Trust
is a spiritual weapon. Trust is part of the shield of faith that St. Paul
mentions in chapter six of Ephesians: the armor of God. Abandonment to God’s will is an act of trust; faith in
action dispels evil spirits.
2. In
desolation, darkness and various doubts, have recourse to Me and to your
spiritual director. He will always answer you in my name.
In times of
spiritual warfare, immediately pray to Jesus. Invoke His Holy Name that is
feared in the netherworld. Bring darkness into the light by telling a spiritual
director or confessor and follow his instruction.
3. Do
not bargain with any temptation; lock yourself immediately in My Heart.
In the Garden of
Eden, Eve bargained with the devil and lost. We have recourse to the refuge of
the Sacred Heart. In running to Christ, we turn our backs on the demonic.
4. At
the first opportunity, reveal the temptation to the confessor.
A good confession,
a good confessor, and a good penitent are a recipe for victory over temptation
and demonic oppression—without
fail.
5. Put
your self-love in the last place, so that it does not taint your deeds.
Self-love is
natural but it should be ordered, free of pride. Humility defeats the devil
that is perfect pride. Satan tempts us to disordered self-love to lead us into
his pool of pride.
6. Bear
with yourself with great patience. Patience is a secret weapon that helps us to keep our
peace of soul even in the great storms of life. Bearing with oneself is part of
humility and trust. The devil tempts us to impatience, to turn against our
selves so we become angry. See yourself from God’s view. He is infinitely patient.
7. Do
not neglect interior mortifications. Scripture
teaches that some demons can only be evicted by prayer and fasting. Interior
mortifications are weapons of warfare. They can be small sacrifices offered
with great love. The power of sacrificial love evicts the enemy.
8. Always
justify to yourself the opinions of your superiors and of your confessor. Christ is speaking to St. Faustina
who lives in a convent. But we all have people in authority over us. The devil
aims to divide and conquer so humble obedience to authentic authority is
a spiritual weapon.
9. Shun
murmurs like a plague. The
tongue is a powerful vessel that can do great harm. Murmuring, gossiping, is
never of God. The devil is a liar who stirs up false accusations and gossip
that can kill a person’s
reputation. Shun murmurs!
10. Let
all act as they like; you are to act, as I want you to. To mind one’s own business is key in spiritual
warfare. The devil is a busybody attempting to drag everyone down. Please God
and let the opinions of others go by the wayside.
11. Observe
the rule as faithfully as you can. Jesus
is referring to the rule of a Religious Order here. Most of us have made some
vow before God and Church and we should be faithful our promises—i.e. Marriage vows and baptismal
vows. Satan tempts to infidelity, lawlessness and disobedience. Fidelity is a
weapon for victory.
12. If
someone causes you trouble, think what good you can do for the person who
caused you to suffer. Being
a vessel of divine mercy is a weapon for good and for defeating evil. The devil
is about hatred, rage, revenge, and unforgiveness. Others have hurt us all at
some time. What good can we do in return? Returning a blessing breaks curses.
13. Do
not pour out your feelings. A
talkative soul will more easily be attacked by the devil. Pour out your
feelings to the Lord only. Remember, the good and evil spirits hear what you
say aloud. Feelings are fleeting. Truth is the compass. Interior recollection
is a spiritual armor.
14. Be
silent when you are rebuked. Most
of us have been rebuked at some time. We have no control over that, but we can
control our response. The need to be right all the time can lead into demonic
traps. God knows the truth. Let it go. Silence is a protection. The devil can
use self-righteousness to trip us up also.
15. Do
not ask everyone’s
opinion, but only the opinion of your confessor; be as frank and simple as a
child with him. Simplicity
of life can drive out demons. Honesty is a weapon to defeat Satan, the Liar.
When we lie we put a foot in his camp and he will try to seduce us all the
more.
16. Do
not become discouraged by ingratitude. No one likes to be taken for granted. But when we are
met with ingratitude or insensitivity, the spirit of discouragement can weigh
us down. Resist all discouragement for it is never of God. It is one of the
devil’s most
effective temptations. Gratitude in all things wins the day.
17. Do
not examine with curiosity the roads down which I lead you. The need to know, and curiosity
about the future is a temptation that has led too many people into the
backrooms of psychics, witches, etc. Choose to walk in faith. Decide to trust
in God who leads you on the path to heaven. Resist the spirit of curiosity
always.
18. When
boredom and discouragement beat against your heart, run away from yourself and
hide in My heart. Jesus
delivers the same message a second time. Now He refers to boredom. Earlier in
the Diary he told St. Faustina that the devil most easily tempts idle souls.
Beware of boredom, a spirit of lethargy, or acedia—the noonday devil. Idle souls are
easy prey for demons. Be about the business of God.
19. Do
not fear struggle; courage itself often intimidates temptations, and they dare
not attack us. Fear
is the second most common tactic of the devil (pride is the first). Courage
intimidates the devil—he
will flee in the face of persevering courage that stands on Jesus, the rock.
All people struggle, God is our provision.
20. Always
fight with the deep conviction that I am with you. Jesus instructs a Sister in a
convent to “fight” with conviction. She can do so
because Christ accompanies her. Christians are called to fight with conviction
against all demonic tactics. The devil tries to terrorize souls, demonic
terrorism—resist!
Invoke the Holy Sprit throughout the day.
21. Do
not be guided by feeling, because it is not always under your control; but all
merit lies in the will. All
merit lies in the will because love is an act of the will. We are completely
free in Christ. We must make a choice, a decision for good or evil. What camp
do we live in?
22. Always
depend upon your superiors, even in the smallest things. Christ is instructing a Religious
here. But, we all have the Lord as our Superior. Dependence upon God is a
weapon of spiritual warfare because we cannot win on our own. Proclaiming
Christ’s
victory over evil is part of intentional discipleship. Christ came to defeat
death & evil. Proclaim Him!
23. I
will not delude you with prospects of peace and consolations; on the contrary,
prepare for great battles. St.
Faustina suffered physically and spiritually. She was prepared for great
battles by the grace of God who upheld her. Christ clearly instructs us in
scripture to be prepared for great battles, to put on God’s armor and resist the devil. Be vigilant
and discerning always.
24. Know
that you are on a great stage where all heaven and earth are watching you. What message is our life giving?
What radiates from us—shades
of light, darkness or grey? The way we live attracts more light or more
darkness. If the devil does not succeed in pulling us into darkness, he tries
to keep us in the category of the lukewarm, which is not pleasing to God.
25. Fight
like a knight, so I can reward you. Do not be unduly fearful, because you are
not alone. The
Lord’s words
to St. Faustina can become our mantra: Fight like a knight! A knight for Christ
knows well the cause that he fights for, the nobility of his mission, the King
who he serves, and with blessed assuredness of the victory, he fights to the
end, even at the cost of his life. If a young, uneducated, simple Polish nun,
united to Christ, can fight like a knight, every Christian can do the same.
Trust is victorious.
On those who waver, have mercy; save
others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring
even the outer garment stained by the flesh.
Daily Devotions
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
·
Please
Pray for Senator
McCain and our country; asking Our Lady of Beauraing to
intercede.
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