Many faithful Catholics do not realize that in addition to praying the Rosary on First Saturday, Our Lady also asked us to meditate for at least fifteen minutes on the Mysteries of the Rosary. This meditation is an indispensible element in fulfilling the First Saturday Devotion. Our Lady requested both the spreading of this devotion and the proper Consecration of Russia – so that we may be given the grace of world peace and the Triumphant Reign of Her Immaculate Heart. Thus, the First Saturday devotion is a necessary element for fulfilling Our Lady’s request at Fatima.
Devotees of the First Saturday Devotion are inclined to ask, ‘How many Mysteries of the Rosary do I need to meditate on to properly complete the devotion?’ In short, the number of Mysteries is left to free choice. Our Lady of Fatima clearly did not specify otherwise.
On December 10, 1925, Our Lady appeared to 18-year-old Lucia, a postulant at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Spain. There Our Lady revealed the devotion of the Five First Saturdays.
“I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess,[1] receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to Me.”
This was the only apparition in which Our Lady of Fatima mentioned the conditions for making this devotion. Thus, the only words She spoke in reference to the 15-minute meditations were:
“keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary”
The full story of this apparition is provided on p. 4 of Issue #49 of The Fatima Crusader – The Magnificent Promise for the Five First Saturdays. It was taken from The Whole Truth About Fatima [WTAF],[2] by Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité.[3]
This 15-word phrase is similarly worded in Sister Lucia’s memoirs.[4] In addition, the published memoirs are presented in such a way that their correctness can be verified. The left-hand pages provide a full-page image of her document or letter in her own handwriting. Then, the right-hand pages provide the Portuguese transcript alongside the French and English translations.
In this way, we are able to compare (and verify) the typed Portuguese texts with her handwritten texts. Anyone who is familiar with Portuguese can then verify the accuracy of the translation. In the case of the 15-word phrase mentioned above, we have the following:
English (memoirs): “keep Me company for 15 minutes meditating on its mysteries”
English (WTAF): “keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary”
Portuguese (transcribed): “Me fizerem quinze mínutos de companhia, medítando nos quinze mistérios do Rosário”
Sr. Lucia’s handwritten text:
Here it can be seen that Frère Michel’s translation is very accurate to the Portuguese.
Regarding the number of Mysteries of the Rosary to meditate on each First Saturday, Frère Michel then quotes Sister Lucia:
“… it is a question only ‘of keeping Our Lady company for fifteen minutes’; and it is not at all necessary to meditate on all fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, but one or two can be chosen.”[5]
As evidence, he then presents a letter by Sister Lucia, in which she described her method of meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary. After explaining how she meditates on the first Joyful Mystery for the first month, she states the following:
“On the second month, I make the meditation on the second joyful mystery. The third month, I make it on the third joyful mystery and so on … When I have finished the Five First Saturdays, I begin five others and meditate on the sorrowful mysteries, then the glorious ones, and when I have finished them I start over again with the joyful ones.” (WTAF, Vol. II, p. 820; Crusader #49, pp. 27-28.)
Thus, Sister Lucia chose to meditate on only one Mystery each month. As a result, she completed only one set of Mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious) each time she made the Five First Saturdays. She certainly would not have done it this way if that was not allowed by Our Lady.
Of course, as stated above, Sister Lucia did not settle for doing the Five First Saturdays only once or twice. She repeated this devotion continuously – undoubtedly for the rest of her life.
[1] That is, receive the sacrament of Confession.
[2] See Vol. II: The Secret and the Church (Buffalo, Immaculate Heart Publications, 1989), p. 247. WTAF consists of three volumes, containing collectively more than 2200 pages. It was translated into English from the original French-language edition.
[3] In English, Brother Michael of the Holy Trinity.
[4] Memorias e Cartas da Irma Lucia (Porto, Portugal, 1973, edited by Father Antonio Maria Martins), p. 401.
[5] See WTAF, Vol. II, p. 820 (cf., Crusader #49, p. 27, right column, top).