The World Apostolate of Fatima Manchester Diocesan Division, Inc. P. O. Box 6432, Manchester, NH. 03108 President's E-mail: [email protected] President's Phone: 603-772-0906 Division Web Site: Bluearmy.com/Manchester *Spreading the Message of Our Lady of Fatima ~ Promoting Devotion to Her Immaculate Heart* Summer Newsletter 2019 President's Message The World Apostolate of Fatima Manchester Diocesan Division, Inc. members have been busy throughout this Easter season. Many churches pray the Rosary before each morning Mass, and pray the First Saturday Devotional Rosary on the first Saturday of each month. The Pilgrim Virgin Statue Kits, for each of the nine Deaneries, are moving each week to homes in their parishes, thanks to the kit custodians and the donations from these kits help keep each kit supplied. May 4, 2019 was our WAF, NH Annual Diocesan Council Meeting, where we voted in three WAF members to serve on the Board of Trustees, who’s term is for 3 years, from May, 2019 to May, 2022. Carolyn Scanlon, Suzanne Aponovich and Robin Scott were voted in. The WAF, NH Officers are President, Carolyn Scanlon, Vice President, Linda Worden, Treasurer, Lily MacKenzie and Secretary, Cindy Lambert to serve from 2019 to 2020. Linda Worden was elected to go to the September WAF, USA National Council Meeting in Washington, New Jersey as the voting Delegate for our NH Division. Attending this 4 day meeting will be, Delegates, Linda Worden and Carolyn Scanlon and guests Darleen Capalbo, and Doreen Currier. The next WAF, NH Annual Diocesan Council Meeting was voted to be on the first Saturday, May 2, 2020 at St Michael Parish, 9 Lincoln Street, Exeter, NH. in Drouin Hall, 10:00 am. to 2:00 pm. The 2019-2020 Calendar of Events is finalized where St. Michael Parish in Exeter and St. Mary Church in Newmarket meeting rooms, church and hall are reserved for our events throughout the year. The next WAF, NH BOT meeting is September 14, 2019 in Room #1, 10:00am to 1:00pm; The Children's Eucharistic Holy Hour will be held on October 4, 2019, the first Friday of the month, at St. Mary Church, 182 Main St. Newmarket, NH starting at 6:30pm along with a couple other churches in the Diocese; more information to follow. The United Nations Pilgrim Virgin statue will be visiting St. Michael Parish in Exeter, NH on October 12, 2019 for our Annual Celebration of the Apparitions at Fatima, Miracle of the Sun, starting at 10:00am to 2:00pm with the Exposition & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Talk on the Message of Fatima, Blessing & Enrollment in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, WAF Members receive Membership Pins and Meditative Rosary followed by a Social in the Parish Hall with Refreshments & Information Tables of various Marian Groups. To close out the year we will have our WAF, NH BOT meeting/Christmas Social on November 9, 2019 in Room #1, 10:00am to 1:00pm. For more information on our activities and to get other Division Newsletters, to see our Photo Album from events, please visit the Division Web Site: Bluearmy.com/Manchester Respectfully submitted: Carolyn Scanlon, President WAF Manchester Diocesan Division, Inc. *** *** To Jesus through Mary *** *** Why the First Saturdays Are Necessary All Included in the Pledge This is what we are asked at Fatima. And the World There is an essential connection between daily response to the Apostolate of Fatima/Blue Army Pledge accomplishes this message of Fatima and the First Saturdays. through the following three elements: The first question put to the children by Our Lady (also a 1. The Scapular expresses that love. It cries out at every primary condition for the triumph of her Heart) was, are you moment (even when I sleep): “Jesus and Mary, I belong willing to accept whatever God will send you and offer it up as to you! I want to be with you forever. I believe, I trust, I an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended? love you!” She taught them: “When you make a sacrifice, say ‘O my 2. The Rosary, prayed for fifteen or so minutes, is a deeper, Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and in more intense profession of the same faith, trust and love. reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate We fuse our hearts into the Hearts of Jesus and Mary Heart of Mary.'” through the most profound mysteries of their lives on A Renewal earth and in heaven. The First Saturdays are a profound renewal of these 3. It is all summed up in the Morning Offering in which we intentions which Our Lady asked of us many times daily – give (in advance) every act of the day through the whenever we make a sacrifice. Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, The First Saturday devotion is so important that we might well and in union with His sacrifice from every altar around wonder if fulfillment of the basic conditions of Fatima for the world that same day for His best interests. world peace (sanctification of daily duty) might be impossible So why do we need the devotion of the First Saturdays? The without practice of the First Saturday devotion. answer is obvious from the requests made by Our Lady to fulfill the First Saturday devotion: The First Saturday devotion is a great act of love not accomplished easily. “The time we dedicate to Mary on the The Conditions First Saturdays is a ‘strong’ time, difficult to accomplish We must confess our sins in a spirit of reparation – even if we perfectly, just on the spur of the moment … The devotion of have not fallen into mortal sin during the previous month. This the First Saturdays cannot be authentic if it is not the fruit of a is the supreme renewal of the same offering we make every constant attitude of the soul pervading all the days of our life,” morning. says French author Pere` Coveliers. We are to receive the Eucharist as a supreme act of love, offered on this special day in reparation for five major A wave of evil is sweeping over the world; to prevent it we offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which so need reparation. deeply wound Jesus – so ready to forgive offenses against His To put it another way: Sin can weigh down the scales of own Sacred Heart, but today demands reparation also for justice so that God would have to punish the world as He did offenses, symptomatic of today’s wave of evil, against His centuries ago with the deluge. But we can tip the other side of own Mother’s Heart. the scale with reparation. We must spend fifteen minutes in the company of Our Obviously a Morning Offering, wearing the Scapular, praying Lady meditating upon the mysteries of the Rosary … fifteen the Rosary and even making the First Saturdays are not minutes in which we do not pray for something or about sufficient counterweight to today’s avalanche of evil. something, but spent “heart to heart.” Our Lady said, “Keep me company for fifteen minutes…” minutes of intimacy, of So how can Our Lady promise the triumph of her Heart for love, of understanding and reparation. these few acts? We are to pray the Rosary. Even though we pray the Rosary Attitude of Love each day, this First Saturday Rosary has a special meaning and The intention makes the difference. purpose. It is an act of compassion, of reparation. The first element of reparation is compassion. We feel sorry These are the simple, but effective, conditions for the First for the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, so full of love for every soul Saturdays. There are four specific acts, all with the fifth and yet today so rejected that “many souls are lost.” condition of reparation. The second element of reparation is unselfish love. We desire to console, to compensate in some way for the outrages, to Personal Test counteract the neglect and hatred with our devotion. Therefore, how can the five First Saturdays be separated from Behind the warnings of Fatima (emphasized even more in the daily WAF/Blue Army Pledge? How could anyone make 1973 by the drastic warnings of Our Lady of Akita in Japan) is the First Saturday devotion perfectly without having lived the Divine Justice. pledge daily? We might also ask: How can anyone perfectly fulfill the daily requests of Our Lady of Fatima without the But Jesus and Mary call not for justice, but for love – from our First Saturdays? hearts to theirs! They call for reparation – a love essentially pure, unselfish – through putting our hearts in the place of Our purpose each day, therefore, is reparation. theirs afflicted by the sins of the world, the defection of souls This article first appeared in Soul magazine, by drugs, pornography, abandonment to sin, by the Jan/Feb 1987 issue. By John Haffert overwhelming wave of evil engulfing our youth. *THE PILGRIM VIRGIN HOME VISITATION PROGRAM* We are looking for Families to pray the Most Holy Rosary in their Homes. The Pilgrim Virgin Home Visitation Program offers families a wonderful opportunity to approach Home Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus God through Our Lady and thereby transform their lives. with Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Families who participate in the program are privileged to bring a blessed statue of Our Lady of Fatima into their homes for one or two weeks.