This Thursday, Dec. 10, marks the 95th anniversary of the Blessed Mother appearing with the Child Jesus to Sister Lúcia in her convent and giving her major directions meant for all of us.

But in the last 95 years, how many have listened?

Keep in mind that Dec. 10, 1925, happened to be a Thursday. It was also a feast day of Our Blessed Mother — Our Lady of Loreto. Remember, this feast celebrates the translation of the Holy House of Nazareth where the Annunciation and Incarnation took place, and where Jesus grew up with Mary and Joseph. It was the home of the Holy Family.

Eight years and five months earlier Our Blessed Mother told Lúcia during an apparition at Fatima that she would return in the future with some specific directions: I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.

As promised, she did return on Dec. 10, 1925. She and the Child Jesus appeared together to Sister Lúcia in her convent in Pontevedra, Spain.

Lúcia would describe their appearance, writing that our Blessed Mother “was holding her Immaculate Heart in her hand, and by her side stood the Child Jesus on a luminous cloud. Jesus said: Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.”

Next, Lúcia wrote that Our Lady rested her hand upon her shoulder, telling Lúcia: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

Eight years earlier, on Thursday, July 13, 1917, at Fatima our Blessed Mother told Lúcia and her cousins, very specifically: I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.

What was going to happen if people did not heed our Blessed Mother’s request, her direction, on Dec. 10, 1925?

She had already described during that 1917 revelation what the world would suffer: If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; certain nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and the world will enjoy a period of peace...

So let’s take stock on this 95th anniversary. It should take us only a matter of seconds to see what a mess the world is in. There is our answer to whether enough people have listened to her request or not.

What an early Christmas gift we can give Our Lady if we determine to finally follow her directive, more urgent than ever, and begin the Five First Saturdays on the First Saturday of January, which is Jan. 2.

Start the Three Pillars

But right away we can get going and start something indivisibly connected to it: the Rosary, Reparation, and Receiving the Eucharist.

See how all three foundation pillars are part of the First Saturday devotion? How about starting them right away to lead up to the First Saturday devotions beginning Jan. 2?

Rosary. In that First Saturday “preview” apparition at Fatima on July 13, 1917, our Blessed Mother began by saying: Continue to say the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to obtain the peace of the world and the end of the war, because only she can obtain it.

Reparation. This is another major part of message that Our Lady gave earlier at Fatima when she told the children: People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for he is already too much offended!

“Ask pardon” means going to Confession. Again, Confession is part of the Dec. 10 directions for the First Saturdays.

And look again at what the Child Jesus said on Dec. 10: Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them?

Our Lady’s Dec. 10 request also specifically mentions reparation because of all the blasphemies and ingratitude with which people were treating her. As mentioned before, she said: I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.

Reception of Holy Communion. This reception should be done with the intention as just mentioned. During July 1917 she also told the children for this First Saturday devotion: I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.

The connection with the Holy Eucharist is unmistakable in many ways. Take just one. This Dec. 10 apparition took place on a Thursday. Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, and that took place on a Thursday. A Eucharistic connection.

This 95th anniversary brings together for us the request of our Blessed Mother, the Fatima message, the need for us to really accept and follow it for our own good and the good of the world.

Look at the First Saturday request and the promises attached to it, and consider giving our Blessed Mother a double gift: an early Christmas present to do the Five First Saturdays, beginning early with the Rosary, Repentance and Reception of Holy Communion. And the second gift by giving the same to her as a present today, on the 95th anniversary of her request.