On July 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared to the children of Fatima and said that God wanted to establish a worldwide devotion to her Immaculate Heart in order to save souls and to bring peace to the world. We can be a part of that movement by honoring the Lord's request through Mary!



The First Saturday Devotion meets the Catholic tradition to venerate the Virgin Mary particularly on Saturdays. This originated in the Scriptural account that, as the Mother of Christ, her heart was to be pierced with several swords of sorrow which is akin to the sorrow she must have endured on Holy Saturday after Jesus was placed in the tomb before his Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The First Saturday Devotion serves to help console the sorrows of God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary for the sins committed against her Immaculate Heart.

The Devotion consists of meeting the following requirements on the first Saturday of the month for 5 months in a row:

- Go to Confession
- Receive Holy Communion
- Pray 5 decades of the Rosary
- Reflect for 15 minutes on the story of Jesus's life through the mysteries of the Rosary

The Athens Catholic Community will begin this devotion on Saturday, October 4. In addition to offering time for the above requirements to be met, there will be a family-friendly art class with John and Blaine Halley. The schedule of events for the First Saturday Devotion will be: