Our Pilgrimage Journey Continues: Mary’s Great Promise is Not Yet Over
Last December for the centennial anniversary of Our Lady’s request for the First Saturday devotion in reparation to her Immaculate Heart, we launched an extremely successful First Saturday Pilgrimage Program. Filmed on-location in Fatima, throughout Portugal, and Spain, with stunning cinematography and gentle voice-over meditations from our chaplain Fr. Luke Mary Fletcher CFR, this unique virtual experience has brought Fatima to the homes of thousands across our country and globally. And while the first five Saturdays of this 12-month pilgrimage have already passed, we are not stopping there. This devotion is so important that we encourage you to keep going and finish the year with us.
Young Hearts: The holy death of Jacinta and the 1918 Flu
St. Jacinta Marto endured a prolonged and painful illness that led to her death on the night of Feb. 20, 1920, in the Estefania Hospital in Lisbon. Only a night nurse, Aurora Gomes, was present in the ward that evening, but when questioned, she could not recall any details of the young seer’s death, nor anything about the child herself. As Our Lady foretold, Jacinta died alone, far from her relatives and friends, due to complications arising from the Spanish Flu pandemic, which swept around the world between Jan. 1918 and Dec. 1920.
Lucia Gives Us a Pathway for Lent
Lent is a time for us to reflect on our relationship with God, repair those things that keep us from Him and turn back to Him if we have been away. Faith is the gift that allows us to trust in God and to follow His commandments as a sign of our love for Him. In her book, “Calls” from the Message of Fatima, which has been described as a “catechism of Fatima,” Sister Lucia gives us a pathway to meet God every day, but especially during penitential seasons.
The Promise of Devotions: Not Just Checking a Box
There are many devotions that have promises connected with them. One popular example is the recitation of the prayer of St. Gertrude for the deceased, especially during the month of November. It is said that 1,000 souls are released from purgatory each time it is prayed. Likewise, whenever we pass a cemetery, we offer this prayer for the holy souls: “Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son Jesus in union with all the Masses said throughout the world today for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church for those in my home and within my family, Amen”. While we cannot guarantee the release of these suffering souls or the conversion of sinners, we nevertheless continue to pray and to hope.
Announcing Our Unique Virtual Pilgrimage for the First Saturday Centennial Year!
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 First Saturdays of Reparation are Necessary for the Era of Peace
Sister Lucia will go down in history as one of the most persevering in fulfilling her mission to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When it comes to the First Saturday Communions of Reparation, she never wavered in her efforts to spread the devotion especially as the signs of war approached. As the 100th anniversary of the request for the First Saturdays approaches on Dec. 10, 2025, signs of a possible world war are looming from multiple areas. Sister Lucia said in 1993 that this devotion is still very necessary to combat atheism and to help maintain peace and avoid another destructive world war as we await the full unveiling of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.
Mary’s Promises are Great Reasons to do Family First Saturdays
The great call of Our Lady of Fatima is devotion to her Immaculate Heart. She promised at Fatima that her Heart would be a refuge and the way that would lead us to God. Like ships tossed about in a mighty storm, she offers to guide and protect us through the storms of life until […]
Young Saints of the Holy Eucharist
As the anniversary of the death of St. Francisco Marto on April 4 approaches, one cannot help but recall his great love for Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and his desire to receive Holy Communion. Having lived just ten years, he only received Holy Communion twice – the first from the Angel of Peace in 1916; the second from the local priest who brought him viaticum at his deathbed.
The Holy Year Has Arrived! The Jubilee of Hope and the Centennial of the First Saturday Devotion
We welcome 2025 in a special way. The Holy Father has declared a Holy Jubilee Year dedicated to the virtue and message of hope. At the same time, we also commemorate the 100th anniversary of the apparitions in Pontevedra, Spain where Our Lady gave us the First Saturdays devotion. It is no coincidence that the Holy Year and this great anniversary come together in this special year. The message of Fatima was first presented to us by an angel who laid the foundation of this spirituality by calling for pardon through the adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Eight years later, the last surviving seer, Sr. Lucia, was given the formula for obtaining mercy and hastening the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart promised at Fatima. Eucharistic devotion is at the forefront of this devotion. How appropriate that this unique convergence comes only one year after the great year of the Eucharistic Revival.
A Sign from Our Lady? News from the Pilgrim Virgin Tours
There have been a number of reports of supernatural manifestations stemming from the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, during her visitations to parishes, particularly in the dioceses of Youngstown, OH this past week, and Rockville Center, NY in May.
