October is filled with several major Catholic feast days, and this week is no exception!

October 16th is the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and October 13th commemorated the final appearance of Our Lady of Fatima, the day the sun miraculously danced in the sky. 

St. Margaret Mary was a Catholic nun in France in the 17th century. Sister Lucia, the oldest of the Fatima children, entered the convent in 1925. They lived over 250 years apart from each other! 

Yet these two people are bound together by a very important mission.

Both women were made responsible (by Heaven!) for promoting two different devotions that are connected with one simple word:

REPARATION

What does “reparation” mean? 

Simply put, it means “to repair.”

Imagine that someone hurt your friend very badly. They called him terrible names, spread nasty stories about him, and didn’t treat him with the respect he deserved.

Perhaps you can’t change the bullies’ minds or stop them from doing these horrible things to your friend.

However, you can wipe your friend’s tears, tell them a funny story, write them a card, and offer to spend time with them. Your acts of love help comfort your friend who is hurting.

Every child needs to learn this–it’s one of the 14 Works of Mercy and should become a virtuous habit, a response as generous as that of the Good Samaritan.

Sadly, there are many in the world who do not understand the love of God or treat Jesus with the respect He deserves. There are also many who do not see the beauty of His Mother’s care and intercession for us.

When we practice the Nine First Fridays or the Five First Saturdays devotions, we are making reparation to God for the damage wrought by the sins of the world. Jesus’ heart is literally aching to love us, and by joining our prayers and sacrifices with His own Sacrifice, we both comfort Him and grow deeper in friendship with Him.

Jesus gave St. Margaret Mary the beautiful devotion of Nine First Fridays.

Jesus appeared to her when she was 26 years old, telling her all about His Most Sacred Heart. He gave 12 Promises to those who venerate His Sacred Heart through the First Fridays devotion. Among these promises, Jesus said:

“I promise you, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment.”

His Blessed Mother gave Sr. Lucia another devotion called the Five First Saturdays.

This devotion is focused on the Immaculate Heart of Mary and has four steps. When we go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, pray the rosary, and spend time in prayer with the Blessed Mother on the First Saturday of the month, we specifically make reparation for the sins against Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Jesus is terribly grieved and offended at sins against His Mother–wouldn’t you be, too?

When Lucia was 18, she joined the Dorothean sisters in Spain as a Postulant. That same year, Mary appeared to her with an important message. Instead of 12 Promises, Mary only named one, very important one. She said,

“I promise to assist [those who practice the devotion of 5 First Saturdays] at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.”

Ultimately, both these devotions are a means to raise our hearts and minds towards Heaven (and a way to help draw others along with us)!

St. Margaret Mary and Sr. Lucia lived centuries apart, but they both understood the power and necessity of reparation to bring souls to Christ. 

Think of it: we are not just asked by God to keep out souls clean and free from sin; we are also asked to take actions to repair the sins of others in the world.

This is acting just like Jesus did, isn’t it? He acted to repair all the sins in the world, even though He never sinned at all!

Now that you know what reparation means… why not choose a devotion to practice as a family?

Either the Nine First Fridays devotion or the Five First Saturdays devotion are beautiful ways to unite the family in prayer together! Now, the tricky thing about these devotions is that they have to be sequential… if you miss a day, you start over from the beginning. Don’t worry, God uses your prayers for good, even if you miss a day!

We know how hard it is when the First Saturday of the month sneaks up on you, so we created this First Saturdays Scorecard to help avoid those slip-ups and keep your family on track.

We post ours on the fridge, filling in the dates so we are ready! Put it up in your home to keep track of how many Saturdays you’ve reached (and use the stickers to “check off” the actions Our Lady requested for each Saturday). It’s fun, interactive, and focuses on small minds; it’s especially good for kinesthetic and visual learners! It even comes in a pack of 2 (that way, you have an extra in case tiny hands put the stickers in the wrong place).

Want to learn more about these devotions?

These handy dandy pamphlets help explain both devotions in terms even the youngest kids can understand! They come in packs of 5 so you can hand them out to family and friends to encourage them to also complete these devotions! We also like to leave them in the back of our adoration chapel so other visitors can learn about them! Our parish priest sets a stack of them out starting the week before the First Fridays and Saturdays for anyone to pick up.

The First Friday Pamphlet includes:

• The 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart
• The Steps for fulfilling the First Friday Obligation
• How to Meditate on the Sacred Heart
• Jesus’ appearances to St. Margaret Mary

The First Saturday Pamphlet includes:

• The 4 actions requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary
• What Jesus Himself told Lucia the night of Dec 10, 1925
• Why 5 Saturdays? Jesus Himself answered this, too!
• Lucia’s own personal method of meditation (easy for children and adults)
• The promise made to all who fulfill this Devotion

For more resources on teaching children about the Sacred Heart of Jesus (including this adorable pillowcase, coloring pages, and more), check out www.HolyHeroes.com.