The
devotion known as The Five First
Saturdays is intended to honor and make reparation
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for all the blasphemies
and ingratitude of men. This devotion and the wonderful
promises connected with it were revealed by the Blessed
Virgin at Fatima, a small village in Portugal. In 1917,
she appeared there to three children, and one of the little
girls, Lucy, tells us that she said, among many other things:
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I
promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces
needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday
of five consecutive months shall:
-
Confess
and receive Communion;
-
Recite
five decades of the Rosary;
-
And
keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating
on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with
the intention of making reparation to me.
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Rosary
Indulgences
A
plenary indulgences is granted, if the Rosary is recited
in a church or public oratory or in a family group, a religious
Community or pious Association: a partial indulgence is
granted in other circumstances.
To
earn the plenary indulgence, it is required that:
At
least 5 decades of the Rosary are vocally recited continuously.
The recitation is accompanied by fervent meditation on
the mysteries.
In public
recitation the mysteries must be announced in the manner
customary in the place; for private recitation, however,
it suffices if the recitation is accompanied by meditation
on the mysteries.

The
54 Day Novena
The
practice of saying the Rosary nine times in the form of
a Rosary Novena in petition or thanksgiving is another way
of heeding Our Lady of Fatimas admonition to Pray
the Rosary.
The
54 Day Novena Devotion which originated in 1884 at the Sanctuary
of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompei, consists of the daily
recitation of five decades of the Rosary for twenty-seven
days in petition and five decades for twenty-seven additional
days in thanksgiving. In reality you will be making three
Novenas in petition for a particular favor and three Novenas
in thanksgiving for a particular favor.
1st
day say 5 Joyful Mysteries.
2nd day say the 5 Sorrowful Mysteries.
3rd day say the 5 Glorious Mysteries.
4th day begin again the 5 Joyful Mysteries, etc.
Fatima
is a call from the Mother of God for a renewed fidelity
to penance and prayer, which basically is the message of
the Gospel. Too, it brings out the desire of Our Lord that
His Mother be better known, loved and venerated through
devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

How
to Say the Rosary
Saying
the Rosary involves repeating a series of prayers as you
move from bead to bead, beginning at the criss, and moving
down until you go completely around the circle. On the
next pages, we've provided a detailed description of How
to Say the Rosary, and the Prayers
of the Rosary.