Here is a new series of 9 cards that will help us in our preparation for the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, on May 13th 2023. To honour a person is to fulfil their wishes and to make reparation for the sins committed against them…
Meditation on May 5th
“Have compassion on the Heart of your Blessed Mother, covered with thorns which ungrateful men are always thrusting into it, without there being anyone to remove them by acts of reparation.
Then the Blessed Virgin said:
“Look, my daughter: my Heart, surrounded by the thorns that ungrateful men thrust into me every moment with their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me and say that all those who, for five months, on the first Saturday will,
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- go to confession,
- receive Holy Communion,
- pray the Rosary
- keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary,
- do all these things in the spirit of reparation,
I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme poverty of my soul, please help me to go to confession to make reparation for the outrages and offences against your Immaculate Heart.”
Meditation on May 6th
“Have compassion on the Heart of your Blessed Mother, covered with thorns which ungrateful men are always thrusting into it, without there being anyone to remove them by acts of reparation.
The essence of devotion to the Immaculate Heart is communion of reparation. Let us return for a moment to the notion of “reparation.”
We already saw that it is the most important expression of our love as repentant sinners. If one were to love someone with all one’s heart but offend him terribly without just cause, then this grieves the erring person more than he can say and he would wish that he could undo the wrong. Such a loving person would make every effort to prove to the beloved person who has been offended how sorry he is to have done such a thing to him. He would like to make amends, remove with words and deeds the wrong that was done, by doing better than ever before. This is reparation!
Therefore, if one goes to Holy Communion in the spirit of reparation for the sins which have been committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, then one sees himself standing before Christ, Who is the One most affected when someone insults His dearest Mother. We try to console Him and with that motivation make reparation for those offences. This means that Mary guides us to have the most profound dispositions, by which we can receive Christ most worthily.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the great need of my soul, help me, I beg you, to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist with the dispositions of your Heart in order to make reparation for the outrages and offences committed against you.”
Meditation on May 7th
You, at least, try to console me…pray the holy Rosary…in the spirit of reparation. »
The prayer of the Rosary in the spirit of reparation consists in a fervent search to find in each of the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary what made them suffer and which today still corresponds to the sufferings we cause them. To consider their suffering and to have compassion for them is the best way to repair and console their hearts. In the Annunciation, the news of the Saviour is accompanied by the sword of sorrow; after the Visitation, the Immaculata was back home, leaving her Spouse, St Joseph, in anguish over her; at Christmas, the Immaculata gives birth to her God and Son in the cold, our coldness, our neglect of the sacraments… Thus does every mystery.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the great poverty of my soul, please help me to pray the whole Holy Rosary, in order to make reparation for the outrages and offences committed against you.”
Meditation on May 8th
You, at least, try to console me…meditate on the mysteries of the holy Rosary…in the spirit of reparation. »
The devotion of the Holy Rosary consists in the meditation on its fifteen mysteries, nothing more or less. She also wanted to make this rather difficult prayer more easily accepted by the faithful who could be put off if it were lengthy.
We should also ask ourselves what we do in the space of fifteen minutes in our daily lives? We would be surprised when considering many routine preoccupations of daily life — the time needed to rise in the morning, to wash and dress, take breakfast or coffee, the break between two lessons — to find that each is approximately a quarter of an hour.
On a spiritual level, the average time of a priest’s sermon or catechism for adults, thanksgiving after Holy Communion, common recitation of Lauds and Vespers, the Chant of Compline — all this also generally takes fifteen minutes.
Our Lady wants to encourage an appreciation for a better use of each fifteen minute period during the day. Why not enliven each minute with the spirit of reparation and consolation? Why not make these portions of time a meditation on a mystery of the Rosary, such as the life of Our Lord and Our Lady?
The first fifteen minutes of the day can be offered as consolation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the evening prayer can be united to the same intention as the prayer of the Holy Family in Nazareth at the close of the day.
Whatever may be her precise intention for this fifteen minute period, it is sure that the space of fifteen minutes certainly has significance in our daily schedules. Similarly, fifteen minutes of meditation are significant for our spiritual lives, to enlighten each day with the object of our meditations.
In other words, a fifteen minute meditation has a power coming from heaven to sanctify the whole day and to remind us of the presence and protection of Our Lord and Our Lady.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the great poverty of my soul, please help me to meditate on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, which are the mysteries of your life, in order to make reparation for the outrages and offences committed against you.”
Meditation of May 9th
“You, at least, try to console me…during five first saturdays of five consecutives month…in the spirit of reparation.”
Sister Lucia wanted devotion to the Immaculate Heart to penetrate our whole lives. She often declared that the first Saturday devotion to the Immaculate Heart is a pattern which can be applied to our everyday lives, simply because we must carry our devotion to her every day, not only once a month.
If we were to ask ourselves what our spiritual lives should look like, we would have to admit that we are faced with a dilemma:
how do we fulfill our daily duties of state and at the same time “pray without ceasing”?
We find it difficult to put harmony and order into our day, since the atmosphere of the world militates against the peace of order, and the rhythm necessary for the cultivation of good habits is disrupted by restlessness, constant preoccupation, noise, changing trends, and the countless distractions of technological media. We are far removed from the proverbial times of simple peasants or contemplative monks, whose daily lives were peacefully governed by laws of nature and a natural environment. The very pressure of life has made it difficult for us to concentrate, especially in our prayer life.
Our Lady’s message takes these difficulties into consideration and the devotion to her Immaculate Heart is her answer to these problems. The simple spiritual practices she taught at Pontevedra help us understand what is really important in our daily lives.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme indigence of my soul, please help me to remember you and to console you at least every first Saturday of the month for five consecutive months and more in order to make reparation for the outrages and offences done against you.”
Meditation of May 10th
Wanting to have more clarity regarding the devotion to the Immaculate Heart, Sr. Lucia’s confessor asked: Why does Our Lady want the consecration of five Saturdays — not nine, or seven in honor of the sorrows of Our Lady? In a revelation on the 29th of May 1930, Our Lord Himself gave a reply:
“My daughter, the reason is simple. There are five types of offences and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
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- Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.
- Blasphemies against her Virginity.
- Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize her as the Mother of all mankind.
- The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred of this Immaculate Mother.
- The offences of those who outrage her directly in her holy images.
Hear, My daughter, the motive for which the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspired Me to ask for this little act of reparation, and in
consideration of it to move My mercy to pardon souls who have had the misfortune of offending her. As for you, always seek by
your prayers and sacrifices to move My mercy to pity for these poor souls.”
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme need of my soul, please help me to remember that many souls blaspheme against your Immaculata Conception and sometimes I myself have been able to participate in these outrages by my doubts and voluntary thoughts against the Faith and against God, by my scepticism, my liberal morals, my liberalism, my crooked teachings, by my voluntary conceptions or thoughts against purity, and finally, by my worldly and superficial conceptions of life. .. “
Meditation of May 11th
Each blasphemy, each offence against the Immaculata is like all the thorns that wound her Heart, as she showed the three children of Fatima. Against these attacks, Our Lord asks for acts of reparation which are acts of resistance and of repression of the assaults against this world of sin and in this final battle between the devil and the Woman of the Apocalypse.
Through reparation we stand with her and protect her honour from enemy hostility. The more the devil and his powers insult Her, the more we must surround Her with love and faithfulness. Each act of reparation, at once, repels the enemy, weakens his power and reduces his forces by converting souls and committing them to the army of Our Lady as knights who understand and defend the honour of their Mother.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, moved by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme misery of my soul, please help me to counteract my faults, my wounded nature and the temptations of the devil in order to console you and make reparation for the 5 offences committed against your Immaculate Heart.”
Meditation of May 12th
“Many souls begin, but few persevere to the very end, and those who persevere do it so as to receive the graces promised. The souls who make the five First Saturdays with fervour and to make reparation to the Heart of your Heavenly Mother, please me more than those who make fifteen, but are lukewarm and indifferent.” Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Lucy
Our Lord refers to two real disorders in the spiritual life which often render many of our efforts impotent, so that what was begun with enthusiasm often ends in defeat. These two defects diminish the value and efficacy of our devotions: it is the failure to persevere and a personal selfishness which only looks for “profit”, which only performs the devotion in order to receive favours. It is easy to see how these two attitudes are closely related: if after some time we do not experience any noticeable benefits, we are inclined to abandon the devotion. Therefore we must always be vigilant against such an attitude and purify our intentions.
Frequent meditation on the immense love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will lift our spiritual life from the heavy weight of human selfishness and help us accomplish her will firstly and most importantly as a personal and reciprocal act of love towards her, enlivened with a pure desire for God’s glory, for her honour and consolation, and to bring her “bouquets of flowers”, i.e. many souls.
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, inspired by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme indigence of my soul, help me, I beg you, to persevere during the 5 Saturdays and help me to flee from negligence, forgetfulness and lukewarmness in order to console you and make reparation for the 5 offenses committed against your Immaculate Heart.”
Meditation of May 13th
“Many souls begin, but few persevere to the very end, and those who persevere do it so as to receive the graces promised. The souls who make the five First Saturdays with fervour and to make reparation to the Heart of your Heavenly Mother, please me more than those who make fifteen, but are lukewarm and indifferent.” Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Lucy
The reward promised by Our Lady to those who practice the devotion of reparation on the first five Saturdays of the month must not be the driving force, the interest of our approach. It is first and foremost an act of spontaneous love, a desire to console Our Lady who is our sorrowful Mother. Her Heart is suffering and grieving, and like a child who suffers to see his Mother cry, our acts of reparation must be like those two loving arms that surround and embrace her.
It is human to look at the reward, but true love requires that we look away to redirect our intention and purify it: “I want to console you, O Immaculata, not for your promise but because I love you.”
Prayer to Our Lady of the Rosary
“Most Holy Virgin Mary, animated by the desire to console you but seeing the extreme need of my soul, help me, I pray you, to console you and to repair the 5 offenses committed against your Immaculata Heart just out of love without looking at the reward, just because I love you dearly.”
PHOTOS GALERY
