Ashes, in the Bible, symbolise three realities: purification, repentance and the emptiness of material things.
We use them on Ash Wednesday as a mark of breaking with the past and embracing new beginnings.
They remind us that we come from dust and return to dust; but that a destiny awaits us, beyond what is earthly, to which God our Creator calls us - communion with Him forever.
For this reason, the prophets of the Old Testament described as "eating ashes" any attempt to replace God with the emptiness of material things and false gods (Isaiah 44:20 and Hosea 12).
The ashes we receive on our foreheads, on Ash Wednesday, are the outward sign of an interior yearning of the heart to receive anew, the Eternal Blessings freely bestowed and ever-available, through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We use them on Ash Wednesday as a mark of breaking with the past and embracing new beginnings.
They remind us that we come from dust and return to dust; but that a destiny awaits us, beyond what is earthly, to which God our Creator calls us - communion with Him forever.
For this reason, the prophets of the Old Testament described as "eating ashes" any attempt to replace God with the emptiness of material things and false gods (Isaiah 44:20 and Hosea 12).
The ashes we receive on our foreheads, on Ash Wednesday, are the outward sign of an interior yearning of the heart to receive anew, the Eternal Blessings freely bestowed and ever-available, through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Forwarded from ♰ Sancta Missa ♰
*Today 05th Mar'22 is the First Saturday*.
*EXPLANATION OF FIRST 5 SATURDAY'S*
[Pls Share]
Our Lady of Fatima Promises all the Graces Necessary for Heaven if a Catholic Finishes the Five First Saturdays Devotion. _"Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven." -Sr. Lucy (March 19, 1939)_
_*During her July apparition at Fatima, Our Lady said to Lucia, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.”*_ On December 10, 1925, our Blessed Mother again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain. _Appearing with the Queen of Heaven, was the Infant Jesus, Who said to Lucia: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”_
_*Our Lady then spoke: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”*_
An explanation of the 4 conditions contained in Our Lady’s request is as follows:
1. *Confess:* This confession can be made before the First Saturday or afterward, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. On February 15, 1926, Christ in a vision explained to Lucia that this confession could be made a week before or even more, and that it should be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
2. *Receive Holy Communion:* Before receiving Holy Communion, this also should be offered in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.
3. *Recite the Holy Rosary:* The Rosary is a vocal prayer said while meditating upon the mysteries of Our Lord’s life and Passion and Our Lady’s life. To comply with the request of our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating on the mysteries according to one's capacity.
4. *"Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary."* Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; it may include all, taken together or separately. This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said “...those who keep me company....”
_To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, She has promised to assist at them at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation. This means that our Blessed Mother will be present at the hour of death with the actual grace of final perseverance._
*EXPLANATION OF FIRST 5 SATURDAY'S*
[Pls Share]
Our Lady of Fatima Promises all the Graces Necessary for Heaven if a Catholic Finishes the Five First Saturdays Devotion. _"Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven." -Sr. Lucy (March 19, 1939)_
_*During her July apparition at Fatima, Our Lady said to Lucia, “I shall come to ask... that on the First Saturday of every month, Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world.”*_ On December 10, 1925, our Blessed Mother again appeared to Lucia at Pentevedra, Spain. _Appearing with the Queen of Heaven, was the Infant Jesus, Who said to Lucia: “Have pity on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”_
_*Our Lady then spoke: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.”*_
An explanation of the 4 conditions contained in Our Lady’s request is as follows:
1. *Confess:* This confession can be made before the First Saturday or afterward, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. On February 15, 1926, Christ in a vision explained to Lucia that this confession could be made a week before or even more, and that it should be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
2. *Receive Holy Communion:* Before receiving Holy Communion, this also should be offered in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires.
3. *Recite the Holy Rosary:* The Rosary is a vocal prayer said while meditating upon the mysteries of Our Lord’s life and Passion and Our Lady’s life. To comply with the request of our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating on the mysteries according to one's capacity.
4. *"Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary."* Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; it may include all, taken together or separately. This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said “...those who keep me company....”
_To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, She has promised to assist at them at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation. This means that our Blessed Mother will be present at the hour of death with the actual grace of final perseverance._