In an effort to draw attention to the First Saturday devotion of Fatima and its centennial anniversary on Dec. 10, 2025, the World Apostolate of Fatima USA – Our Lady’s Blue Army – is inviting Catholics to participate in a First Saturday virtual pilgrimage that will launch on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. Often known as the “forgotten request” of Our Lady of Fatima, the 100th anniversary offers an opportunity for the faithful to learn more about this powerful devotion and the promises associated with it.
Sister Lucia, the Fatima visionary who died in 2005, never stopped imploring people to fulfill Our Lady’s request for prayer and penance, and to practice the First Saturdays of reparation for conversions, to maintain peace in the world, and prevent a third world war. After the Fatima apparitions in 1917, Mary appeared to Sister Lucia again on Dec. 10, 1925, at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Spain, to request the First Saturday Communions of Reparation to her Immaculate Heart. The requirements are to
- 1) Go to confession,
- 2) Receive Holy Communion,
- 3) Pray a 5-decade rosary
- 4) Keep Mary company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the rosary.
Mary said these acts of reparation to her Immaculate Heart would help save souls, stave off war and prevent the spread of atheistic communism from Russia. According to Antonia Acutis the mother of the recently canonized St. Carlo Acutis, Sr. Lucia appeared to him in a dream in 2006 and told him that practicing the devotion of the five First Saturdays of the month could change the destiny of the world.
Journey through Fatima one site at a time
The First Saturday virtual pilgrimage is laid out in a Passport that marks 12 key locations on a map of Portugal and Spain where Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, experienced the apparitions and other events that formed them in holiness and gave us the Fatima message. Each month on the first Saturday, pilgrims are asked to complete the requirements of the devotion and watch a 5-minute video reflection, filmed on location at the site on the map. Pilgrims will learn about what took place there, the impact it had on the Fatima seers, and gain insights into the spiritual pathway that Our Lady revealed. After completing the First Saturday, the pilgrim can place a stamp on the passport and move on to the next month’s stop on the map. By December of 2026, they will have completed their journey and offered a full year of First Saturdays in reparation to the Immaculate Heart.
Take up the Challenge. Receive a Great Promise
When five consecutive First Saturdays are completed, the pilgrim will receive Our Lady’s Great Promise that she will be with them in their final hour with all the graces necessary for their salvation. The World Apostolate of Fatima is challenging pilgrims to complete all 12 First Saturdays during the centennial year to honor Our Lady’s request and for peace in the world, increasingly threatened by war.
The First Saturday Pilgrimage can be completed by individuals, families, parishes and dioceses. The pilgrimage Passport is available for a nominal price of $3 at ShopFatima.com (bulk orders of 100 or more are discounted 10%, call our gift shop for more information), or by calling the Blue Army Shrine gift shop at 908-689-1700, Ext. 218.
Access to the free videos is available on the passport. Participants can also sign up to receive a monthly email reminder and link to the video at www.bluearmy.com/first-saturday-pilgrimage.
To learn more about implementing the program in your parish or diocese, contact Barb Ernster, [email protected] or 612-419-7677.
Barb Ernster is the National Coordinator/Communications Manager/Editor for the World Apostolate of Fatima USA.
