Did you know there are people around the world who have joined an "army" that is committed to the triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart? And that this "army" has been active for 80 years?
In 2024, Aleteia featured the “Blue Army,” the commonly used name — and website address — for the official group, the World Apostolate of Fatima. Launched in 1946 following World War II, the founder, New Jersey priest Fr. Harold Colgan, described the group as “the Blue Army of Mary and Christ, against the Red of the world and of Satan,” with a specific mission to pray for the end of communism.
According to the organization’s current website, the “World Apostolate of Fatima” is made up of individual members around the world who strive to practice the spiritual requests of Our Lady of Fatima in reparation for sins, for the conversion of sinners, for the salvation of souls, and to obtain the triumph of her Immaculate Heart and peace in the world.
Sounds like an army most of us might feel eager to join …
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the First Saturdays devotion, as revealed to Fatima visionary Sr. Lucia on December 10, 1925, the Catholic Church has granted an Extraordinary Marian Jubilee Year for this Public Association of the Faithful.
Tour Fatima -- passport included!
The apostolate is offering an attractive and accessible way to go deeper in the devotion through a 12-Month Virtual Journey Through Fatima.
A beautiful hard copy passport is available with stickers to track your progress. It’s family-friendly as the tour is made up of short and engaging videos, taking viewers on a chronological trek through the sites and significant moments connected to Our Lady of Fatima’s apparitions and messages.
There is also the opportunity for the Blue Army to assist parishes and Catholic communities to engage with the devotion as a group.
1st Saturday of each month
The devotion linked to the first Saturday of each month was a direct request from the Blessed Mother to the children visionaries at Fatima on July 13, 1917, and repeated expressly to Sister Lucia (during her preparations for religious life) in Pontevedra, Spain, on December 10, 1925.
For those who are unfamiliar with the First Saturday devotion, Barb Ernster, national coordinator for the apostolate, shared with Aleteia that this devotion can be started at any time of the year, as can the virtual pilgrimage.
What do you do on a First Saturday?
Go to confession
Recite five decades of the rosary
Meditate on the mysteries (one or all) of the rosary for 15 minutes.
“We do ask that they do not stop after five consecutive First Saturdays, but keep going as a sign of your love and honor of the Blessed Mother,” Ernster said. She added that the practice is a good reminder to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
As the five First Saturdays devotion is closely associated with the nine First Fridays devotion to the Sacred Heart, Ernster noted “the two devotions side by side are powerful in the graces and mercy obtained for yourself and the world.”
“When one consecrates themselves to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart, and strives to live it by growing in holiness, your heart expands toward love of neighbor, to the strangers in your community and beyond to the world.” Ernster then quoted Mary’s apparition at Fatima of August 19.
“Pray, pray and make sacrifices, especially for those who have no one to pray for them."
Ernster continued, “Mary’s heart is pierced with sadness for sin,” so making reparation for one’s own sins and for those of the lukewarm and non-believers is “an act of mercy to obtain grace for others to convert.”
First Saturdays are an easy way to start, and “we have no idea where that grace might fall, and who will be the one to benefit from it."
5 Saturdays
It was revealed by Jesus that five consecutive Saturdays were reparation for the “Five Blasphemies against his Mother’s Immaculate Heart:
1. Against her Immaculate Conception;
2. Against her Perpetual Virginity;
3. Against her Divine Maternity, refusing to accept her as Mother of God, Mother of Mankind;
4. for those who keep children away from her and even teach them to hate her; and
5. for those who blaspheme against her sacred images.
This devotion makes reparation for sins "that offend the work of the Holy Trinity in the person of Mary and her participation in His plan for salvation,” Ernster said. It also seeks Christian unity and prayer for “godless people who hate Mary … and are in danger of losing their souls.”
Fatima calls us to participate in the work of salvation for souls, as does the Gospel. Ernster reiterated this call is our Blessed Mother’s role in the Church and her life’s purpose. “Her work on earth from Heaven is as our greatest intercessor. Our devotion calls us to imitate her and follow her lead.”
Mary’s promise to those who complete five First Saturdays consecutively is “that she will be with you at the time of your death with all the graces necessary for your salvation. She also promised that those who embrace this devotion to her Immaculate Heart will be loved by God, like flowers placed by her at His throne.”
The grace of a plenary indulgence has been officially granted for persons who can visit (along with the standard requirements) in person the National Blue Army Shrine in Asbury, New Jersey, as well as the small Fatima chapel run by the Ukrainian Blue Army, or the chapel at the convent in Pontevedra, Spain, where on December 10, 1925, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Sr. Lucia and gave her the devotion. (Pictures above are of that chapel).
Once the Extraordinary Jubilee Year has ended, the 12 videos will remain permanently on the webpage and YouTube. Ernster explained the program was arranged “to be timeless … and the passport as a ‘fun’ way to journey through your First Saturdays.”
Ernster's experience has been that “Mary’s role in our times is powerful and needed.” She said the mission of Sr. Lucia (who is in the process of beatification) in spreading this devotion was predicted by fellow visionary St. Jacinta.
The young Jacinta told her older cousin, you “will remain on earth to spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart. When you are to do this, do not run and hide, but tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that they should ask her for them, and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be honored along with Him. Tell them also that they should ask the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace because God has entrusted it to her.”
Living a consecration
When asked further about her own Marian consecration and devotion, Ernster shared that once she started taking the commitment seriously, “the Fatima message helped me understand what it really means to be consecrated and how to live it."
“It is not a one-and-done Catholic thing to check off your list, but a lifetime of striving to grow in holiness and serve our heavenly Queen on earth in all that we do. I have grown to love the First Saturday devotion because it has helped me grow in a personal relationship with Mary and seek her guidance and refuge in all that happens in my life and especially my family.
“She has taught me to turn to Jesus with trust, surrendering everything to Him. Meditating on the rosary has led me to deeper contemplation, especially before the Eucharist. I have gained greater insights into Scripture and the lives of the Holy Family because of the 15-minute meditation that you do after you complete the Rosary on First Saturdays.
“I ask Mary to sit next to me and guide my meditation and help me learn from her Heart. I never come away without some greater understanding of something, greater trust in God’s love and mercy, and greater surrender. This is also the time I ask her for special favors. She really does want a personal Mother-child relationship with us and she does not disappoint. She is working very hard for our world and for our families.
“The First Saturday also is my reminder to get to confession. If we do not regularly clean ourselves out, we are weighed down by sin and become apathetic and useless in being fruitful in God’s work. He cannot use us if we are weighed down by the darkness of our sin. We cannot see clearly unless the light can shine in our souls ... Regular confession helps us get a lot of the work of purification in our souls done while on earth.”
