What is an Indulltem:e1 Listen to the words of the priest, and especially note the penance he gives you. Make sure you do the penance after the confession. When invited, express "My daughter, look at my Heart surrounded with the thorns which me Indulgences are an expression of the Father's love and forgiveness which as a your own prayer of sorrow or Act of Contrition such as below: ungrateful men pierce constantly through and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and tell men that 1promise loving mother, the Church longs to pour out from her store of grace and prayers An Act of Contrition to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for for her children as they work through the consequences of their sin. They can be all those who, on thefirst Saturday offive consecutive months, go to applied either to oneself or to the of the deceased, but cannot be applied Oh my , I am sorry for all my sins because You are so good, and with confession, receive Holy Communion, pray the , and keep me to other persons living on earth. Your help, I will not sin again. Amen. company for a quarter of an hour meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of offering me reparation." Indulgences are two kinds: partial and plenary. The Plenary Indulgence removes At the end of Confession listen to the words of absolution, the sacramental all temporal punishment due for sin. Forgiveness of a sin through sacramental forgiveness of the Church through the ordained priest. As you listen to the Once some initial difficulties were resolved, Church authorities gave it their confession is separate from punishment for the sin. This punishment may words of forgiveness you may make the sign of the cross with the priest. approval. Gradually the devotion spread throughout the universal Church and has since become known as the . come either in this life, in the form of various sufferings, or in the next life, in If the priest closes by saying, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good" answer, purgatory. "For His mercy endures forever." If you are not already practicing this devotion, you are invited to do so. You will not only have Our Lady's great promise of all the graces necessary for AFTER CONFESSION/ RECONCIUATION A Guide For (onfession / Retontilialion salvation at the hour of your death, but you will also receive many other graces If you are not sure how to go to confession, ask the priest to guide you. Do Give thanks to God for forgiving you again. throughout your life by carrying out this devotion. Eternal Father! I thank You for Your goodness and mercy. You have had not be afraid to tell the priest if you are not sure about something. Just be WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? honest, keep it simple and ask for advice. compassion on me, although in my folly I had wandered far away from You and offended You most grievously. With fatherly love, You have received me anew To make our reparation truly pleasing to the , and to BEFORECONFESSION/ RECONCILIATION after so many relapses into sin and forgiven me my offenses through the Holy benefit from the great promise attached to the First Saturdays Devotion, it is Ask the Holy Spirit to help discover your sins and to help you make a good Sacrament of Reconciliation. Blessed be Your Infinite Mercy! Never again will important to carefully carry out all of the following requirements that Our Lady confession. Be truly sorry for your sins. The essential act of Penance, on the part I offended You.All that I am, and all that I have, shall be consecrated to Your asked for: of the penitent, is contrition, a clear and decisive rejection of the sin committed. service and Your glory. Amen. 1. Go to the Sacrament of Confession (Reconciliation); • 2. Receive Holy Communion (in the state of grace); It is a sorrow for your sins and a firm resolution to avoid the near occasions Do your assigned Penance. of sins and amend your life in the future, out of the love one has for God and 3. Recite five decades of the Rosary; which is reborn with repentance. If you recall some serious sin you forgot to tell, rest assured that it has been 4. Keep Our Lady company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the forgiven with the others, but be sure to confess it in your next Confession. mysteries of the Rosary; Come,O Holy Spirit, enlighten my mind and soften my heart, so that I can know Resolve to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation often. The Sacrament is a 5. Do all of these with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate my sins and be truly sorry for them, to confess them sincerely and to amend my great blessing and as the ordinary way for us to have our sins forgiven it gives Heart of Mary; life. 0 Blessed Virgin, Mother of my Redeemer, mirror of innocence and sanctity, us the grace to rid ourselves of our weaknesses, grow in holiness, and lead a 6. Do all of the above every first Saturday for five consecutive months. and refuge of penitent sinners, intercede for me through the Passion of Your balanced and virtuous life. Son, that I may obtain the grace to make a good confession. • If you cannot go to Confession on the first Saturday itself, you may go anytime up to eight days before or after the first Saturday. Sister Lucia obtained this Examine of Conscience: Make a review of your life since your last sacramental ~ concession from Our Lord on the 15 February 1926 after presenting the confession. Think of the areas in your life where you have not been loving in problems that this requirement posed for some people. the way you know you should be, towards God or people in your life, or how you Five First saturdays Devotion treat yourself. A helpful pattern for examination of conscience is to review the To console the Immaculate Heart of Mary WHY FIVE SATURDAYS? Commandments of God and the Precepts of the Church. Two great devotional practices are associated with the apparitions of Our Our Lord answered this question when He appeared to Sister Lucia in May 1930. He explained that there are five principle offenses committed against the DURING CONFESSION/ RECONCILIATION Lady of Fatima. One is the Holy Rosary. The second is what has come to be Immaculate Heart of Mary which require reparation. These are: known as the Five First Saturdays Devotion. After examining your conscience, go into the confessional. You may kneel at the 1. Blasphemies against her ; screen or sit to talk face-to-face with the priest. The Rosary is an ancient tradition that Our Lady repeatedly asked to be prayed 2. Blasphemies against her Perpetual Virginity; in all of the six apparitions at Fatima. But the Five First Saturdays is only 3. Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity; Begin your confession with the sign of the cross, mentioned by Our Lady during the July apparition as a new practice she would 4. Blasphemies by those who openly encourage indifference or even In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. My last later "come to ask for." The request was finally made to Lucia, the oldest of the contempt in the hearts of children towards His Immaculate Mother, and confession was .....weeks (months, years) ago. I want to tell God that I am sorry three Fatima children, eight years after the famous apparitions. At the time 5. The dishonoring of her Sacred Images. for the things that I have done and ask God to forgive me. My sins are ..... she was living in a convent in Spain where she hoped to be received soon as a Saythe sins that you remember. Start with the one(s) that is most difficult to nun. "Have pity on the Heart of your Blessed Mother, which is pierced and say. (In order to make a good confession the faithful must confess all serious It was 10 December 1925 when the Child and the Virgin Mary appeared covered with thorns by ungrateful men at every moment." sins, according to kind and number.) After confessing all the sins you remember to her in her convent cell. Enraptured by this extraordinary , Lucia was (The Child Jesus to Sr. Lucy, December 1925) since your last good confession, you may conclude by saying, For these and all shown the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady surrounded by thorns. Our Lady then the sins that I have committed during my life, I am deeply sorry. said to her: TODraw [loSe To Mary Is To Draw [lose To Jesus Fatima Prayers The prayers taught to the children at Fatima are simple in structure and As the earliest Christian witnesses often taught, Mary was open to receiving profound in depth. To a world poor and needy in faith and charity, these prayers· Jesus in her mind and in her heart before she gave birth to him-in her flesh. For stress ancient truths of our Holy ...especially concerning the this reason, she is the first of all the disciples of the Lord as she is the most Holy and Mary, the Immaculate Mother of God. faithful of all the Lord's followers. On the cross, Jesus gave her to the disciple as our mother. In her maternal love of us she continues to assist us in our Pardon Prayer ce&;~£ following of Him; a consecration to her Immaculate Heart gives expression to My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love You! I beg pardon for those who do this in a simple way_ not believe, do not adore, do not trust, and do not love You. 100dAIVUi,"'!J'/ Immaculate Virgin Mary, my Mother, I consecrate myself to you this day, and The Angel's Prayer forever, so that you may dispose of me as you wish for the salvation of souls. With the Blessed Sacrament suspended in the air, the angel at Fatima prostrated I ask you only my Queen and , that I may co-operate himself, and recited the prayer: Our lady 01 FaUma faithfully with your mission in the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. o most Holy Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-I adore You profoundly. I offer I offer to you, Immaculate Heart of Mary, all my prayers, works, joys, and You the most Precious Body, Blood, , and Divinity of Jesus Christ-present in Apparitions sufferings of this day. all the tabernacles of the world-in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the "Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this (First Saturdays) devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially Eucharistic Prayer because this'is alsOthe will of our dear Mother in Heaven." This prayer stresses that most beautiful truth-that the atl-powerfut, all-loving For the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in (Sr. Lucy, March 19,1939) God is upon the altar at every Catholic Mass. ( Portugal, Francis has decided to grant a plenary indulgence opportunity Most Holy Trinity, I adore You! My God, my God,llove You in the Most Blessed , which began on Nov. 27, 2016, and will end Nov. 26, 2017. LITANY TO OUR LADY OF FATIMA Sacrament. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for our dear country. \ To obtain the plenary indulgence, the faithful must also fulfill the ordinary Our Lady of Fatima, sanctify our clergy. Sacrifice Prayer Iconditions: Our Lady of Fatima, make our Catholics more fervent. Our Lady taught the children a prayer to be said when they would have I 1. Going to Confession and Communion, Our Lady of Fatima, guide and inspire those who govern us. something to offer up to God, such as some suffering, or an act contrary to what I 2. Be interiorly detached from sin, Our Lady of Fatima, cure the sick who confide in you. they wanted to do but which 3. Praying for the Holy Father and his intentions for the Church and the world Our Lady of Fatima, console the sorrowful who trust in you. was necessary in order to (by saying Our Father, and Glory be to the Father), Our Lady of Fatima, help those who invoke your aid. please God. as well as doi ng ONE of the following: Our Lady of Fatima, deliver us from all dangers. o my Jesus, it is for love of • Make a pilgrimage to the Fatima in Portugal and while there Our Lady of Fatima, help us to resist temptation. You, in reparation for the participate in a celebration or prayer dedicated to the Virgin, as well as Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us all that we lovingly ask of you. offenses committed against praying the Our Father, reciting the Creed, and invoking the Mother of Our Lady of Fatima, help those who are dear to us. the Immaculate Heart of God. Our Lady of Fatima, bring back to the right road our erring brothers. Mary, and for the conversion • Visit with devotion a statue of Our Lady of Fatima solemnly exposed Our Lady of Fatima, give us back our ancient fervour. How to Pray Rosary Diagram : of poor sinners. for public veneration in any proper place - anywhere in the world - on Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us pardon of our manifold sins and offenses. Decade Prayer the 13th of each month from May to October (2017), and while there Our Lady of Fatima, bring all men to the feet of thy Divine Child. Glory Be devoutly participate in some celebration or prayer in honor of the Virgin .••. Fatima Prayer Glol)' Be Our Lady asked that the Our Lady of Fatima, obtain peace for the world. Fatima Prayer ,.. Mary, as well as praying the Our Father, reciting the Creed and invoking ~~~F~W:~;ry Second Mystery following prayer be inserted o Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Our Father after each decade of the Our Lady of Fatima. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Rosary: • The people who, because of age, illness or other serious cause, are Let Us Pray: 0 God of infinite goodness and mercy, fill our hearts with a great unable to get around can pray in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, confidence in Thy dear Mother, whom we invoke under the title of Our Lady of o my Jesus,forgive us our sins; save us from the fires spiritually unite themselves to the Jubilee Celebrations on the days of the the Rosary and our Lady of Fatima, and grant us by her powerful intercession of hell; lead all souls into apparitions, the 13th of each month between May and October 2017, all the graces, spiritual and temporal, which we need. Through Christ our Lord. while also offering to God with confidence through Mary, their prayers and Amen. Heaven, especially those ----x~ who are in most need ofThy sufferings or the sacrifices they make in their own lives. Joyful Mystery (Mon & Sat) Luminous Mystery (Thurs) Sorrowful Mystery (Tue & Fri) Glorious Mystery (Wed & Sun) mercy. I The indulgence can be acquired only once a day. A single sacramental confession • The • Baptism of Jesus • The Agony in the Garden • The Resurrection suffices for gaining several plenary indulgences, however Communion must be • The Visitation • Wedding at Cana • The Scourging at the Pillar • The Ascension received and prayers for the Supreme Pontiff's intentions and one of the acts • The Birth of Jesus • Proclaiming the Kingdom • Crowning with Thorns • Descent of the Holy Spirit ..., Sign of the Cross from point 3 above is done for the gaining of each plenary indulgence . • The Presentation • Transfiguration • Carrying of the Cross • The Assumption ~ Apostles' Creed • The Finding the Child • institution of the • The Crucifixion • The Coronation Jesus in the Temple Eucharist