Our Lady of the Rosary appeared to the saintly children of Fatima in 1917. It is often forgotten that Our Lady continued to speak to Sr Lucia of Fatima a few more times, and in 1925 the Blessed Virgin specifically asked that on the first Saturdays of the month, we should:
- Make a good confession in a spirit of reparation for blasphemies against Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart;
- Receive Holy Communion in a state of grace, and as an act of reparation for sins against Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart;
- Pray five decades of the Rosary;
- Fifteen minutes of meditative prayer on the Mysteries of the Rosary, ie: the Gospels. A lectio divina will be done during Adoration to aid this. This meditation is in addition to the praying of the Rosary.
For a fuller explanation of the first Saturday devotion, which is approved by the Church, please refer to these sites: http://www.rosary-center.org/firstsat.htm and https://worldfatima-englandwales.org.uk/the-five-first-saturdays-devotion-explained/.
As this is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, we wish to honour Our Lady’s requests, and to provide a means for people in London to observe the First Saturday acts of reparation. Please see the poster above, and do come and join us in prayer, meditation, Mass, Confession, and a Rosary Procession, every first Saturday of the month. Attendance at the monthly Rosary Procession at the start of the month is also encouraged by Pope Leo XIII for all members of the Rosary Confraternity.