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.