OUR LADY OF FATIMA  CATHOLIC CHURCH

Part One The Words of the Angel of Peace The Angel of Peace's first visit - Spring 1916 "Do not be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me." He knelt, bending his forehead to the ground. With a supernatural impulse we did the same, repeating the words we heard him say: "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask forgiveness for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love You." After repeating this prayer three times the angel rose and said to us: "Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are ready to listen to you." And he disappeared. He left us in an atmosphere of the supernatural that was so intense we were for a long time unaware of our own existence. The presence of God was so powerful and

intimate that even among ourselves we could not speak. On the next day, too, this same atmosphere held us bound, and it lessened and disappeared only gradually. None of us thought of talking about this apparition or any pledge of secrecy. We were locked in silence without having willed it. This silence was long maintained.

Commentary: We begin this series of sermons to respond to two questions: what has the message of Fatima got to do with the crisis in the Catholic Church ? Secondly, what has it got to do with the way we ought to live as faithful Catholics ? Historical Background

To situate Fatima in its historical context we need to be aware of two spheres of activity: first the Church and second, Marian apparitions.

The Church: Already in the mid-nineteenth century, Gregory XVI, Pius IX and Leo XIII issued a series of encyclicals combating the errors of the modern age, errors directly in contradiction to Catholic teaching in various areas: social justice, liberty, marriage and the structure of society.

Marian Apparitions: In tandem with the battle for minds being waged by the Church on one part, and her enemies on the other, Heaven, as usual does not abandon the Church. Almost as soon as we see the beginnings of the break-up of Catholic Society in Europe, Our Lady comes as Heaven's messenger, preparing the way for the greatest revelations combating what could threaten to be the extinction of the Church, did she not hasten to our rescue.

At Rue du Bac, Paris 1830, the series begins ushering in the Reign of Mary Immaculate. At Lourdes in 1858 - the antidote for heresy is announced: penance and the recitation of her Rosary. At La Salette, a terrifying prophecy of the corruption of the Church. What shall be the final remedy that Heaven gives shortly before this calamity befalls us ? The Summary of the Gospel Message - Fatima - will be our way out of this mess. Thus, if Fatima had any value then, then it is good now - it is good for this parish, for we bear her name Our Lady of Fatima. The apparition itself

The cycle begins in 1916. The first world war was at its height, but far from the war-torn battlefields of northern France, three infant shepherds peacefully while away the sunny days, oblivious to sterner realities, content to play their innocent games. The players: Francisco Marto (+ 1919), Jacinta (his sister - +1920) and Lucia Dos Santos (who is still living).

The rural setting for the apparitions is much commented upon by the authors as is their youth, and we are reminded of Our Lord's injunction: "nisi efficiamini sicut parvuli - unless you become like little children..." This consideration is most refreshing, for in an age where there is great emphasis on "maturity" and "adult spirituality" Our Lord Himself (and as the author of the spiritual life surely He knows best) endorses a different perspective - child-like simplicity. Indeed in the choice of these children, we must see a confirmation and re-affirmation of this principle on Heaven's part.

The squalid simplicity of Fatima, is in a sense still visible today, and it is these surroundings that best prepared our seers for the revelations they would receive. Have we not heard that poverty prepares a heart for Divine intimacy, not the trappings of ladies' salons, and that God makes His entrance into a stable - the home for animals ? Into a world such as this a luminous man makes his appearance. 

"Do not be afraid" - his opening words are reminiscent of many angelophanies in scripture, most striking of which is the apparition of St Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation, and the Angels of Christ's birth to the Shepherds.

Always, when God has important messages concerning mankind's destiny, He sends an angel. This use of "Gospel language" is also an important proof of the authenticity of the Fatima cycle of apparitions. Fatima has many enemies, and this too is another proof of its authenticity for, like the prophecy by the aged Simeon, it is a sign of contradiction. "I am the angel of peace"

His words contrast sharply with the ravaged Europe of 1916. In many senses "peace" is a much sort-after commodity amongst men. Even in our own times we recall the attempts by men to stop the nuclear arms race with the SALT talks. Fatima will propose that true peace is found in raising the world to the level of God's Divine Plan for it. "Pray with me"

Already the first main theme of Fatima is announced: PRAYER. If the Angel of Peace is to bring peace it will only be through prayer. All of us, us then, experience through these words a call or invitation to that means by which we enter intro an intimate union with God.

The first remedy proposed to modernism is a regular life of prayer. If we are in touch with the spiritual realities which Christ taught - we will never be deceived by the world and its false maxims.

• "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask forgiveness for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love You."

Saying these words, the angel prostrated himself on the ground. His posture shows the profound reverence he had for Almighty God. His posture teaches us the value we ought to have for a) God Himself and b) the things of God. This recalls the words of God Himself to Moses requiring Him to remove his shoes out of respect for the very ground on which he stood.

The angel's prayer is composed of 2 parts, the first concerns our relationship through prayer with God, the second our relationship with our neighbor. In each part there are 4 elements. Concerning our relationship with God these elements are as follows:

1) Belief (expressing the virtue of Faith). Now the angel has no need for belief, for God, the object of faith is already seen by him, hence he is instructing the children in the school of prayer - teaching them to believe what they cannot see - raising them to a Divine frame of mind - from this world and from the habit of conforming to this world's standards.

2) Adoration (worship). All prayer is essentially an act of worship of God by contemplating His Majesty, His perfections, His attributes, His goodness, His love, His mercy, His justice - it raises our mind to God.

3) Hope (Confidence). The contemplation of God's goodness gives us a motive of hope i.e. reasons to trust. Mary is "Our Hope" (from the prayer "Hail Holy Queen") the angel is preparing the children for the coming of their "hope" - Our Lady.

Prayer is essentially a union of our soul with God. If we are to have a reason to hope in God, it can only come from ourselves and our degree of sharing in His Divine Life. Put simply: why do I hope in you My God ? Why do I trust in You ? I do so because I know you love me. I have experienced your love. "He who is forgiven much loves much".

4) Love (Charity). This springs naturally from this Divine conversation or dialogue of love with the object of our love - God Himself. The knowledge that He loves us causes us to love Him in return.

Concerning our neighbor's relationship with God as it touches upon us. Once we begin our prayer we recognize that we don not stand before God alone. The whole of humanity stands before God. They do not pay attention or are unaware of this oftentimes, but we are not.

"I ask pardon" - shocking and humbly words. They shock us because we who ask pardon are also in need of pardon. But one of the core themes of the Fatima message is that of reparation. We become an intercessor and mediator for another and ask pardon. We begin to unite ourselves with the mediation and sacrifices of Christ - pleading His merits, His Atonement for sin with the Father.

This prayer humbles us. It teaches us that we must not become like pharisees: "I thank Thee that I am not like other men..." This prayer is also self-accusatory - we recognize the many times we have failed to believe / adore / hope and love Him. It is a challenge to us. We have failed God, and by asking pardon for others, we resolve to avoid similar faults ourselves. It is truly humbling to ask for another's pardon, when we ourselves have sinned. We are reminded not to consider ourselves as better than another: "All have sinned and come short of the Glory of God" (Romans 3:23). All need to be forgiven, to do penance and to repair the damage. Laxism - the peril of the modern age combated

How are we to grow ? Not by being lax. First by fidelity to what we have received. Fatima is not a call to Nations first, but one to lax Catholics to be more fervent in their faith, more devout in their prayers. Secondly, it is a call to an increase in sanctity. It reminds us of the simple reality expressed by the Catechism question: Why did God make you ? Heaven is our focus, it is our goal, our last end. God will only reward us to the degree that we have been faithful to Him in this life.

"Pray thus." This command is frequently repeated by the angel. Indeed this is the definite plan of Heaven. The children are being prepared for the reception of a singular Divine communication concerning sublime mysteries which affect the entire world.

If this message is to convince us, we must be sure of its truth. Does it produce a change in the life of the one who receives and reveals it ? Authentic encounters with the Divine always produce a radical conversion in the moral character of the recipient (although this does not preclude the possibility of a relapse). A call to mankind must necessarily produce a change in the one relaying the message. Thus, if the Fatima message speaks about the necessity of prayer, the seers must pray.

Sr Lucy has written that the three of them continued repeating the same prayer over and over again. A few days later, however, the children returned to their old games. The moral of the story goes to show that it takes time to acquire good habits - it takes repeated acts. Breaking bad habits requires much time and effort but we must not give up. Authenticity of this apparition

The internal evidence of this apparition proves its Divine origin.
1) A supernatural atmosphere enveloped them - a deep sense of the presence of God.
2) They were scarcely aware of their own existence.
3) There was a silence which imposed secrecy, a secrecy too intimate for words.
4) They were completely immersed in a spiritual atmosphere. - All of these given to us upon the testimony of Sr Lucy and they adequately refute the erudite objections made against Fatima by some experts.

"The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications" Right throughout the Fatima cycle of messages, we see a coherence in the message themes. Now another common them is announced: the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Indeed, Our Lord would reveal to Sr Lucy that it was this theme that was of particular concern to Him. Sr Lucy relates the details of a later apparition of Our Lord to her in which He had this to say:

• I want my whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later on and put the devotion to the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to my Sacred Heart." (Quoted by Sr Lucy in a letter dated May 18, 1936).

1675: Paray-le-Monial (Protestantism & Jansenism in France) Revelation of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary as a remedy for these spiritual ills afflicting France.
1688: June 17, the Sacred Heart asked Louis XIV (through the same Saint) to consecrate his kingdom to the Sacred Heart otherwise a severe calamity would befall the French crown (Louis XIV - did not respond).
1788: June 17, Louis XVI lost his throne 100 years to the day since the Sacred Heart made His request. 19th Century - Age of Mary Immaculate

1830 "O Mary conceived without sin...." The Miraculous Medal is revealed to St Catherine Laboure.
1858 "I am the Immaculate Conception" Words of Our Lady to St Bernadette.
1899: Under the onslaught of Modernism - Pope Leo XIII formally consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart.
1917: Out-break of Communism and Heaven comes to request the devotion and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Notice, though how these two devotions overlap and inter-twine. It is not Heaven's will that there be some competition between these devotions but that they harmonize in their common thirst for souls !

The Angel of Peace's second visit

The children liked to sit and play on the great rock covering the well, shaded by the laden limbs of fig, almond and olive trees. One day, in the time of siesta, the angel came to them again, and this is Lucia's account: Suddenly we saw the same angel near us. "What are you doing?" he said. "You must pray! Pray! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. You must offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High." "But how are we to sacrifice?" I asked. "In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners. In this way you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you."

Commentary: It is now the height of summer. The children have returned to their games. The Divine seems to have had little impact on them. Sometimes it is that way with us. We have a close shave with illness, we become pious and remorseful, but soon we scurry away to our old habits when the period of pain has passed. The children are playing at a well - another scriptural setting. It was at a well that Our Lord spoke to the Samaritan Woman and revealed the mystery of salvation to the Gentiles, for she was not a full Jew, but a figure of scorn and derision. The Vocation to Perfection

Perfection is the object of all of us, and most especially that of a religious, for that is the definition of the goal of the religious state. This is the goal of lesser mortals, also, though, for did not Our Lord recall the words of the Father: "Be ye perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect" ?

At the well of Jacob, Our Lord said to the Samaritan Woman: "If though didst know the gift of God and who is he that saith to thee give me to drink: though wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." Sometimes we are like these children, oblivious to things above, to the true realities which the eye does not see. If we would only understand, if we would only experience HIM, seek the things above we would rise above our own spiritual lethargy and penetrate the veil which separates our hearts from LOVE. Into a world of forgetfulness, the angel breaks once more "What are you doing" - a call to spiritual awareness !

How shall they become perfect ? Teresa of Avila asks the same question: "Why do we not achieve perfection so quickly ? Because we are so miserly and so slow in giving ourselves to God." (Chapter 11 - Book of Life). She gives the remedy to our dilemma, the same remedy the angel gives the children - prayer.

In her classic four ways of watering the garden of the soul she demonstrates the great energy we must expend if we desire to attain our object - God. The children are beginners in prayer. They know that it is hard, for they already gave up on it, and but a few days after the angel's last visit. "You must pray !" he reminds them. Drawing the water from the well takes effort, but the water of prayer brings its rewards. Our Lord to the Samaritan woman: "He that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever: But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting." The flowering of the garden of the soul requires much watering with prayer as the angel of the well reminds them: "Pray, pray very much !" Mercy

"The most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy upon you" Once again there is an insistence upon the united mission of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Their mission, is a mission of mercy. In a later vision of hell, which the children received, we are given understand that its occupants entered solely because they freely chose not to cooperate with God's mercy. The choice is up to us. Indeed St Teresa speaks of this subject of God's mercy in two very eloquent passages:

• "They who really love You, My Good, walk safely on a broad and royal road. (...) One fall is not sufficient for a person to be lost, nor are many if they love You and not the things of the world (...) I cannot understand what it is that makes people afraid of setting out on the road of perfection." (Chapter 35 Life)

• "A much greater love for and confidence in this Lord began to develop in me when I saw Him as one with whom I could converse so continually. I saw that He was a man, even though he was God; that he wasn't surprised by human weaknesses; that he understands our miserable make-up, subject to many falls on account of the first sin He came to repair." (Chapter 37 Life)

His mercy, however, is conditional on our willingness to change our lives and make reparation. Though his mercy is there for everyone, we ought not to presume upon it ! Sacrifice

"You must offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High." It costs to be Catholic - it costs everything. Indeed, is not this constant sacrifice of Catholic Living a recurrent theme in the Epistles of the New Testament which we hear each week at Mass ? "I beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called" (Ephesians 4:1). "Run the race..." (1 Corinthians 9:24-26) "Fight the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12).

Everything must become a sacrifice. It is to be a sacrifice of reparation for sin. We are to repair the infinite offense done to God's majesty by even one sin. We must not forget the social influence of sin, for the sin of one member within the Mystical Body affects all the members. This teaching also expresses the reverse. The good works of one, the sacrifices of one, affect the whole. We can redress the influence of sin, we can make a difference however insignificant we may feel it is. We must bear with submission all the sufferings we undergo - for the greater good that will accrue, not just to ourselves alone but to all men everywhere. God uses the effects of our good works as He pleases and without our knowledge.

To he who overcomes will be given a crown of glory. Heaven is won at a great price, dear friends, the price of our own immolation !

The Angel of Peace's third visit

While we were there (Lucia has testified), the angel appeared to us for the third time, holding in his hand a chalice, and above the chalice, a Host, from which a few drops of blood were falling. Leaving the chalice and Host suspended in air, he prostrated himself on the ground and repeated three times this prayer: "Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners." Afterwards, he rose and took again the chalice and the Host and gave the Host to me and the contents of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco, saying to them: "Take and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God." Once more he prostrated himself and repeated with us three times the prayer, "Most Holy Trinity... etc." He then disappeared.

Commentary: Situating this apparition in its context, it would seem that we are now in late summer, or early fall in 1916. Once more we are back at the site of the angel's first apparition. Following lunch, the children begin to pray the prayer which the angel had taught them in his first visit. We see already, that the children have begun to put into practice the counsel about prayer. They have heeded the warning of the angel in the last apparition, they heard his stern: "What are you doing ?"

Once more we see an insistence on reverence: the angel prostrates himself in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which he is holding. The triple repetition of adoration re-inforces the idea of the Trinity. We cannot but be impressed by the profound reverence we are enjoined by this tableau to have towards the Divine Prisoner in the Tabernacle.

In a sense, it was Jacinta who was most struck by these words, for she at least was most vociferous in defending the rights of the Blessed Sacrament. In 1920, whilst she was hospitalized during her final days, she was carried into the hospital chapel to make a visit to her Divine Lord. What was her dismay to witness the talking and other forms of irreverence before His Majesty - the cool indifference with which He was treated. To the nun who took care of her, Mother Godhino, she insisted that silence be kept, that genuflections be made, that people should comport themselves with due decorum because of the one resident upon the altar.

We cannot forget either, the shocking crimes of irreverent and sacrilegious Communions made by those in mortal sin, the words of St Paul resounding in our ears at Corpus Christi: "reus erit Corporis" that those who shall eat and drink unworthily, will be held to account.

"Take and drink the body and blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God."

Here we see a confirmation of the decree of St Pius X Quam Singulari Christus August 8, 1910, in which the Sovereign Pontiff urged a wider reception of the Holy Eucharist, particularly children. Jacinta and Francisco had not yet made their First Holy Communion.

The children had been prepared for this singular event ever since Spring. They had been encouraged to make sacrifices and to begin praying. In this we see that a worthy reception of Holy Communion requires adequate preparation and thanksgiving. Communion of Reparation

Now, we notice something new is added to the picture. The angel, in administering, the sacrament to the children, asks for reparation for the sins of others, and a work of consoling Almighty God. Jacinta, remains ever the little "power-house", the one who constantly demands our compliance with this message. Once again she said to Mother Godhino in hospital:

"The sins of the world are too great. If only people knew what eternity is they would do everything to change their lives. People lose their souls because they do not think about the death of Our Lord and do not do penance."

Over and over again, the little seer insists: "If they only knew what eternity is..." and "The sins of the world are too great". In an age where we are not supposed to be "negative" but always have a positive psychological approach to everything - praise rather than condemn - we see that true charity consists in revealing to another their faults so that they can amend their lives. To leave a person in error is to do them a disservice.

She reminds us of the real existence of sin and of the punishment awaiting sin. Indeed the focus of her concern, the concern of Our Lady, are the three besetting problems of the modern age: dress - immodest fashions which ill-conceal the body; impurity - a logical consequence of the previous problem, and irreverence resulting in a loss of the sense of the sacred. Hence a knowledge of these problems ought to motivate us to avoid their occasions hence avoiding the punishment they incur, as Jacinta puts it: "They would do everything to change their lives" - a Gospel principle of seeking first the Kingdom of God, and of rooting out vice. Everything is at stake here - the soul once lost, all is lost and for all eternity.

The angel's insistence upon offering consolation to God, raises the issue of the dignity of our Christian vocation, We are being called to co-offer Christ's sacrifice to Almighty God on behalf of others as well ourselves. Where shall we find the co-workers of Christ in our own times, since His own have abandoned Him ? Where shall we find those who will assuage the wounds of Christ ? Here, my friends, among ourselves. We must become a people committed to Christ's cause, making reparation for sin. But God does not choose the strong, he chooses the weak, he calls them to this great work.

All this demands fidelity from us, a great purity of intention as of morals, we must observe the principle of modesty, make reparation for its flagrant violation in so many quarters and do we at least keep alive the Catholic principle of reverence for the Sacred things of God. Though we be few, may we at least be found to heed the call of the angel of Portugal as he prepares us for the words of Our Lady, to which we shall turn next. back to contents

Part Two - The Words of Our Lady of Fatima May 13, 1917 "Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm." "I am from heaven."   "I have come to ask you to come here for six months in succession, on the 13th day, at this same hour. Later on, I will tell you who I am and what I want. Afterwards, I will return here yet a seventh time."   "Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners? . . . Then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort." "Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of war."

Commentary: We move now to the apparitions of Our Lady. Winter passed. Lucy turned 10, Francisco 9 and Jacinta 7. Coincidentally, Sunday May 13 was the feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (a feast originated by St Pius X). After Mass, the children took their sheep out to graze. It began to grow dark as though a thunderstorm was approaching. Suddenly Our Lady appeared.

"Do not be afraid" Note the obvious use of Gospel language so reminiscent of the shepherds the night of Christ's birth, indeed the words of the angel to Mary Herself at the Annunciation. Now she uses the same words as she begins to address the children, once again testifying to the authenticity of the apparitions.

"I will do you no harm." How cannot we be moved by these words of the Authoress of our salvation. Indeed this is She whose coming bodes nothing but good for mankind.

"I am from heaven." We seem to hear the words She uttered to St Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception". Although She does not yet reveal her identity, we can rightly judge that this Lady from Heaven is our own Mother whose words are set to console and rebuke her wayward children. Vocation of suffering. The primary emphasis of Christian Living, is a focus on suffering and its role in salvation. This fact is immediately  brought forth:

"Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills to send you...?"  but this suffering has a two-fold object: the reparation of sins, and the conversion of sinners. The affirmative response of the children receives a further statement from Our Lady which treats of the intensity of those sufferings:

"Then you are going to have much to suffer..."  Once more these words remind of St Bernadette: "I do not promise you to make you happy in this world but in the other". In fact this prediction of Our Lady was soon realized: Lucy suffered a great deal at home from the incredulity of her family, particularly her mother who frequently hit her in an effort to force her daughter to admit she was lying. Jacinta and Francisco succumbed to the influenza epidemic that ravaged the world following the end of the First World War.

We can be certain of this fact, from this apparition on, all three children became exemplary in the manner in which they lived their Catholic lives. Francisco stayed apart quite often, praying the frequent Rosaries Our Lady had counseled him if he wished to attain heaven. Always introspective by nature, now he seemed to find solace in the purely spiritual, the ordinariness of life seemed to interest him but little.

"but the grace of God will be your comfort." At this point, the Blessed Virgin stood with he arms outstretched, as in the pose of Our Lady of Grace, or the Virgin of the Miraculous Medal. Of course, this pose she adopted suggests her function of Mediatrix of All Graces, for although it is God's Grace that shall comfort them, she will be the channel through which it passes.
"Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of war." On May 5, 1917, Pope Benedict XV in a letter to Cardinal Gaspari declared the addition of the invocation "Queen of peace, pray for us" be added to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the end of the war. Eight days later, pleased with this new title, Our Lady picks up the theme of praying for peace to obtain an end to the war by telling the children to pray the Rosary for this intention.

Following the apparition, the children were left in a state of rapture, of intense joy and peace. Already their vocation would begin to make itself felt in their lives as the shadow of the Cross fell across their lives as they returned home with the "good news" and were met with amazement and disbelief.
 

 Commentary: It is quite clear from the cycle of the Fatima messages, that heaven is calling for an increase of devotion towards Mary. "Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart." Indeed, the great Marian Apostle, St Louis Marie de Montfort puts it this way in his Treatise on True Devotion to Mary:

"In a word, God wishes that His holy Mother should be at present more known, more loved, more honored than  she ever has been" (paragraph 55)

and Fr Fredrick Faber, in his introduction to the same work makes a similar contention:

"Yet, if we are to believe the revelations of the saints, God is pressing for a greater, a wider, a stronger, quite another devotion to His Blessed Mother."

Why call for an increase in devotion to Mary ? The answer to the question is found in examining what an absence of devotion to Mary produces. Fr Faber writing about a Protestant England which although it had once been called "Mary's Dowry" had long since turned its back on Her had these words on the subject:

"Here in England, Mary is not half enough preached. Devotion to her is low and thin and poor. It is frightened out of its wits by the sneers of heresy. It is always invoking human respect and carnal prudence, wishing to make Mary so little of a Mary that Protestants may feel at ease about her. (...) Hence it is that Jesus is not loved, that heretics are not converted, that the Church is not exalted; that souls which might be saints wither and dwindle; that the Sacraments are not rightly frequented, or souls enthusiastically evangelized. Jesus is obscured because Mary is kept in the background."

St Aelred of Rievaulx, a great Cistercian Abbot from Mediaeval England wrote this in his twentieth epistle: "He who will not honor the Mother, will without doubt dishonor the Son".

Quite obviously, heaven is well aware of what the future holds. In 1917, the Mother of God would have known that in our own century, countless thousands would turn their backs on God and renounce the Catholic Faith. To counter all this, the plan is simple, make use of the devotion that is to become our refuge - Mary's Immaculate Heart. Her Heart will be our refuge ! She clearly tells us this. As St Louis Marie de Montfort says:

"Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might and in grace, in these latter times: in mercy, to bring back and lovingly receive the poor strayed sinners who shall be converted and shall return to the Catholic Church; in might, against the enemies of God, idolaters, schismatics (...) and souls hardened in impiety, who shall rise in terrible revolt against God to seduce all those who shall oppose them and to make them fall by promises and threats; and finally , she must shine forth in grace, in order to animate and sustain the valiant soldiers and faithful servants of Jesus christ, who shall battle for His interests." (para 55)

Devotion to her sets us in a different camp. We incur the devil's special hatred as St Louis continues:

Mary must be terrible to the devil and his crew, as an army ranged in battle, principally in these latter time, because the devil, knowing that he has but little time, and now less than ever, to destroy souls, will every day redouble his efforts and his combats. He will presently raise up cruel persecutions and will put terrible snares before the faithful servants and true children of Mary, whom it gives him more trouble to conquer than it does to conquer others." (para 55 cont.)

What fruit does this devotion produce in our souls ? Mary herself, has told us. In a part of this message which remained hidden at Our Lady's request, there is a special blessing appended to this devotion to her Immaculate Heart if we would but embrace it: "To whoever embraces this devotion I promise salvation; these souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne."

Her Immaculate Heart is the reality of this century. It is our refuge, it is the ark of our salvation. What should we do in the face of this crisis of faith within our Church ? Let us go to Mary, and more specifically, to her Immaculate Heart. For as Father Faber writes about devotion to Mary:

"Oh, if Mary were but known, there would be no coldness to Jesus then ! Oh, if Mary were but known, how much more wonderful would be our faith, and how different would our Communions be! Oh, if Mary were but known, how much happier, how much holier, how much less worldly should we be, and how much more should we be living images of our sole Lord and Savior, her dearest and most blessed Son !"

Fatima is a call to true renewal. It is a call to increase our personal fervor and sanctity, to practice our faith in an ever more dynamic way. To the degree that we draw close to Mary, to that degree shall we draw close to her Son. Let us be clear that to seek another way is doomed to failure for the Saints have taught us this truth: To Jesus through Mary. Our Lord Himself confirmed this to Sr Lucy in 1936, and here she insists that her Son wishes this devotion to her Heart be a means of salvation for this age. Finally we can do no better that to adopt these words of St Bernard for our own personal "renewal":
 

If the winds of temptation arise, if you are being driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star, call upon Mary. If you are tossed upon the waves of pride, of ambition, of envy, of rivalry, look to the star, call upon Mary. If anger, avarice, temptations of the flesh assail the frail skiff of your soul, look to Mary. If troubled by the greatness of your sins, confounded and filled with shame at the foulness of your conscience, terror-stricken at the thought of judgment, if you feel you are being dragged into the very depths of sorrow and of despair, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Following her you will not go astray.... you will not take the wrong path; with her help you will not fail; beneath her guidance you will safely reach you journey's end."

The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

"To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated . . . [At this point, our Lady revealed what has become known as the third part of the Fatima secret.] THE SUPPOSED TEXT OF THE THIRD SECRET OF FATIMA printed in a German newspaper in the 1980s without official sanction  

"Do not be troubled, dear child. I am the Mother of God speaking to you and begging you to proclaim in My name the following message to the entire world. "

"In doing so, you will meet with strong opposition. But be strong in faith and you will triumph over all opposition. Listen carefully and remember what I tell you: the good people must become better. They must implore God to forgive the sins they have committed and will in the future commit. You ask me for a sign so all may comprehend the words which I am addressing to mankind through you. You have just beheld that miracle of the sun. Everybody saw it -- believers and unbelievers. And now announce in My name."

" A great chastisement will come over all mankind; not today or tomorrow, but in the second half of the twentieth century. What I had already announced at through the children Melanie and Maximin, I repeat to you now. Humanity has not developed as God desired. Mankind has been sacrilegious and has trampled underfoot the gifts of God."

" No longer does order reign anywhere. Even in the highest places Satan reigns and directs the course of events. Satan will succeed in infiltrating into the highest positions in the Church. Satan will succeed in sowing confusion in the minds of scientists who will design weapons that can destroy great portions of mankind in a few minutes. Satan will gain hold of heads of nations and will cause these destructive weapons to be mass-produced."

"If mankind will not oppose these evils, I will be obliged to let fall My Son's arm. If the chief rulers of the world and of the Church will not actively oppose these evils, I will ask God My Father to visit His Justice upon mankind. Then God will  punish mankind even more severely and harshly than He did at the time of the great Deluge. The great and powerful will perish along with the lowly and weak."

"A time of very severe trial is also coming for the Church. Cardinals will oppose Cardinals and Bishops will oppose Bishops. Satan will enter into their very midst. In Rome also, there will occur great changes. What is rotten will fall, and what falls must not be retained. The Church will be obscured, and all the world will be thrown into great confusion."

" The great, great war will come in the second half of the twentieth century. Fire and smoke will fall from heaven, and the waters of the ocean will turn to steam, throwing their foam to the very sky. Whatever is standing will be overturned. Millions of people will die. Those surviving will envy the dead. Distress, misery and desolation will be found the world over."

"The time is drawing near, and the abyss is ever deepening. There will be no escape: the good will die with the wicked, the great with the lowly, the princes of the Church with the faithful, the rulers of the nations with their people. Death will reign everywhere, raised to triumph by erring men, the helpers of Satan who will be the masters of the earth. These evils will come at a time when no one expects it: nevertheless it must come as punishment and revenge in accordance with God's plan."

"The age of ages is coming, the end of all ends if mankind will not repent and be converted, and if this conversion does not come from rulers of the world and of the Church. Woe and greater woe to mankind if conversion does not occur."

"Later, however, those who survive those trials, if they will repent and will call upon God in submission to His Will and become true followers of Jesus Christ, My Son, I will gather them and become their intercessor. But woe and  more woe if that conversion does not occur. Go, My child, and announce it; I will assist you."

[Here the authentic message resumes....] In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved. Do not tell this to anybody. Francisco, yes, you may tell him."

"When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need."

Commentary: Without a doubt this is the greatest text of the Fatima cycle (textually it is the longest). The whole of the series of the angel apparitions and those of Our Lady have prepared the children for this apparition. The succeeding visits of Mary only re-enforce the message they received this day.

Some of the favorite themes of Fatima are repeated: an accent on the Rosary, the miracle of the sun is foretold, and the value of making sacrifices for the conversion of sinners.

Facility or easy-living is the number one enemy of the spiritual life. It is the greatest spiritual danger. It causes us to think we are secure, to lower our guard, to be unprepared for a sudden spiritual assault by satan. He produces in us a sense of well-being, we begin to take risks and slacken the spiritual pace. The Vision of Hell Suddenly the children were presented with a chilling picture of hell, which although it only lasted a moment, totally terrified them as was testified to by a number of the bystanders who saw the total horror on the children's faces.

Two things struck the children about this vision: first of all the reality of hell's existence, and secondly, the reality of the punishment that the damned souls experienced there. In an age, where there is much general agnosticism or atheism, this brief vision is a poignant reminder of an eternal punishment awaiting all those who freely choose to transgress God's Eternal Law.

There is a remedy, though. We are not abandoned by Our Mother: "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace." Her own Maternal Heart is the way that will lead us to happiness and stay our feet from wandering into regions far more perilous. The Three "Secrets" of Fatima This vision was originally much shorter as far as a text of the revelation Our Lady had made to the children. She herself had told them when they might reveal select portions of it. Hence those portions of the message which were not immediately made available were called "secrets" and although the secret is one entire message, there is still a portion that has not yet been made available to us and  this is known as the "Third Secret".

The first secret concerned the vision of hell. The second, the prophecy about the second world war. The third, it is supposed, concerns some future world calamity, or some spiritual crisis within the Catholic Church. The text we have given above is a spurious copy of the "third secret" as it appeared in a sensational and lurid German tabloid in the 1980s. We give it out of general interest, and it may be that the text is not too far from the original written in Sr Lucy's own hand. However, without any official text we are left to our own devices as far as the authenticity of the text above is concerned. [NB/ The official text is now available here]

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph." This is the greatest message of Fatima, for it brings us a note of confidence. Although there will be much for us to suffer personally and collectively as a Church before the Age of Mary is complete, still the victory will be Hers - she has foretold it. We might put it this way, for in reality this is what Fatima expresses: When the chips are down and the moment of decision comes, which side will we be on ? This life decides all !
 
 

August 19, 1917 "I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, and to continue praying the Rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe."  Lucia asked what to do with the money that people were leaving.  "Have two litters made. One is to be carried by you and Jacinta and two other girls dressed in white: the other one is to be carried by Francisco and three other boys. The money from the litters is for the "festa" of Our Lady of the Rosary, and what is left over will help towards the construction of a chapel that is to be built here." Lucia asked for Our Lady to cure some people."  "Yes, I will cure some of them during the year."  "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners: for many souls go to hell because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them."

Commentary: The August apparition, is in a sense, one out of time. The children had been prepared to make their usual rendezvous with Our Lady on the 13th but the provincial administrator, a fierce opponent of the Church, showed up ostensibly to bring the children to the Cova safely because of the large crowds along the way. In reality, he had come to kidnap the children, hoping to persuade the multitudes that the vision was purely illusory. Although the crowds were denied the children’s presence, many saw a white cloud descend at the appointed hour and rest upon the holm oak above which Our lady usually appeared before it departed heavenwards, in the direction from which it had come.

Safely restored to their family once more, Our Lady paid an impromptu visit to the children some six days later when the children least expected it.

We see in this unforeseen event the triumph of God’s Providence. So often in this world, it appears to us that the forces of evil are continually triumphing over the forces of good. It seems that the devil is always having the last word. For the children the promise of the six visits seemed to have been broken, but their confidence was undiminished, and deservedly rewarded by this unexpected meeting – God overcomes His enemies. Those who likewise trust in Mary’s intercession will likewise be amply rewarded.

In this private apparition, one at which there were no other witnesses besides John Marto, the younger brother of Jacinta and Francisco, we find the first reference to the building of a chapel at Fatima. Shrines and chapels at the sites of apparitions quite naturally spring up as they provide a dual purpose: they provide a physical, concrete location at which the external outpourings of thanksgiving on the part of the faithful may be demonstrated, and secondly, they provide a visible reminder of a teaching, a revelation, a message which in most cases is not just for the visionaries alone.

Fatima, is unlike Lourdes, in the respect that Lourdes is chiefly known for the physical cures which have taken place there as a result of the miraculous spring, in a sense this spring and its physical healings, foreshadows the spiritual spring of Fatima which is its message of healing that comes to those souls which embrace her Immaculate Heart as their last refuge.

"I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes." Lucia asked for the cure and conversions of some people." Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins." 
"Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended." [After this statement, the Miracle of the Sun occurred.]

Commentary: It is October, and for Catholics, it is the month of the Rosary. What better way of introducing herself then but in the memorable words: “I am the Lady of the Rosary” ? By these words, Our Lady identifies who she is in a definitive fashion and she also re-emphasizes her mission of encouraging prayer in general and the meditation of the Rosary in particular.

The choice of words “I am the Lady of the Rosary” reminds us in a striking way of the manner in which Our Lady identified herself to St Bernadette at Lourdes in the sixteenth apparition in 1858: “I am the Immaculate Conception”. She is also the Mediatrix of all Graces – the channel by which all of God’s graces pass into the world, but they are only obtained by prayer and once again our focus is back on the Rosary as her chief weapon in her universal call to holiness.

At Lourdes, Mary would recite the rosary with St Bernadette, that is she would say the Our Father and Glory be and merely finger the beads for the Hail Mary. She did as any mother would do – she showed by practical demonstration the importance of the Rosary. To the question “Will Fransciso go to Heaven ?” back in May she had replied that this was conditional upon his reciting many rosaries first. In July the Son of Maria Carrreira – the first “Fatima believer” had been promised a healing in a year upon the same condition. Perhaps we might say that our own spiritual healing – the reparation for all our own sins will be found in this same practice.

Indeed the Rosary and penance for sin was on the minds of the children for upon the conclusion of this last vision, Lucia called out: “Do penance ! Do penance !” evidently much moved by the last words of Our Lady "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended." At Lourdes, the parallel is again quite obvious for at the conclusion of one of her visions, Bernadette had called for the same thing with the cry “Penitence ! Penitence !”

Indeed this message is one that is rooted in the Scriptures themselves: St John the Baptist gives this dire warning to those of us who would shirk our Christian responsibilities – sentiments which Our Lord Himself later echoes: “If you do not do penance you shall likewise perish”. Our Lady then comes in this last vision to complain of the lukewarmness of Catholics and the spiritual degradation then existing (what about now, one might wonder). What is being emphasized is not merely the performance of works of mortification for their own sake, but a radical conversion, that is at the roots of their very being, something which we have insisted upon in these sermons.

Now we return to the series of visions which happened in quick succession, which in turn re-emphasize the importance of the recitation of the Rosary.

First St Joseph holding the Christ child presented themselves to the children together with Our Lady – the focus on the Holy Family to be sure – and this mystery, is contemplated during the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, particularly the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, the Finding in the Temple – all events in which all three persons figure quite prominently.

Next, and Lucia is specific on this point: the light changed – almost like a theatrical production, we might imagine, with Almighty God as the unseen lighting director – what the children then saw was Our Lady of Sorrows and not dressed in the light blue we sometimes see her painted in in this country, but in the European fashion: in deep black – the color of mourning and of penance, and then they saw Our Lord, this time as a man, dressed in red, the color representative of the Passion. This tableau recalled the sufferings of Our Lord and His Mother, the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary.

Finally, Our Lady came back clothed as Our Lady of Mount Carmel: and, as the picture depicts – she was crowned as Queen of heaven and earth – the focus is now on the glorious mysteries of the Rosary. Another important point that this vision brings out, is the inseparability between the Rosary and the Mount Carmel Scapular devotions both are a feature of the Fatima message.

The last thing we must mention about this apparition, is of course the famous miracle of the sun. Quite obviously the occurrence was a confirmation of the reality of the Fatima message – those who saw it – several thousand – had to believe the other words which the three children were told to convey. Secondly, the “near escape” aspect shows us the full extent of the punishment due for sin – if lives are not changed, serious trouble lies ahead. Thirdly, the power of Mary’s intercessory role is manifested – it is at her intervention that the sun recedes and returns to its normal position. As it was for the children, so shall it ever be for us if we come to her in simple trust as did the three shepherds of Fatima.

There are also several other visions that fall outside the six Fatima visions that the children received. We know that both Jacinta and Francisco were favored with other heavenly visits before their deaths in 1919 and 1920 in the influenza epidemic that followed World War I.

Lucy, also received other visits of our Lord and our Lady that directly relate to the universal nature of the Fatima message and they concern the practice of the five First Saturdays. Broadly-speaking they fall into two visions: those at Pontevedra in 1925-6 and those of Tuy in 1930. The following are the texts of those interviews written by the seer herself offered without comment for they are self-explanatory.

2/ December 10, 1925:

The Infant Jesus:

"Have compassion on the Heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them."

Our Lady:

"Look my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude.  You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, 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."

3/ February 15, 1926:

"So on February 15, coming back as usual (to empty a garbage can outside the garden), I found a child there who seemed to be the same one as before, and I asked him: "Did you ask our Heavenly Mother for the Child Jesus?" The child Turned to me and said: "And you, have you revealed to the world what the Heavenly Mother Asked you?" And, having said that, he turned into a resplendent child.

"Then recognizing that it was Jesus, I said to Him:

-"My Jesus!  You know what my confessor said to me in the letter I read You.  He said that this vision had to be repeated, there had to be facts permitting us to believe it, and that the Mother Superior alone could not spread this devotion."

(Our Lord) "It is true that the Mother Superior alone can do nothing, but with My grace, she can do anything.  It is enough that your confessor gives you permission, and that your superior announce this for it to be believed by the people, even if they do not know who it was revealed to."

-"But my confessor said in his letter that this devotion already exists in the world, because many souls receive You every first Saturday of the month, in honor of Our Lady and the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary."

(Our Lord) -"It is true, My daughter, that many souls begin, but few persevere to the very end, and those who persevere do it to receive the graces promised.  The souls who make the five First Saturdays with fervor and to make reparation to the Heart of your Heavenly Mother, please Me more than those who make fifteen, but are lukewarm and indifferent."

-"My Jesus!  Many souls find it difficult to confess on Saturday.  Will You allow a confession within eight days to be valid?"

(Our Lord) -"Yes. It can even be made later on, provided that the souls are in the state of grace when they receive Me on the first Saturday, and that they had the intention of making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Mary."

-"My Jesus!  And those who forget to form this intention?"

(Our Lord) -"They can form it at the next confession- taking advantage of their first
opportunity to go to confession."

 in the air, on to which drops of blood were falling from the face of Jesus Crucified and from the wound in His side.  These drops ran down on to the host and fell into the challice.  Beneath the right arm of the cross was Our Lady and in her hand was her Immaculate Heart. (it was Our Lady of Fatima, with her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, without sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames).  Under the left arm of the cross, large letters, -as if of crystal clear water which ran down upon the altar, formed these words: "Grace and Mercy".
 
I understood that it was the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity which was shown to me, and I received lights about this mystery which I am not permitted to reveal. Our Lady then said to me: "The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.  There are so many souls whom the justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray."
 
2/ May 29, 1930:

When I was in the chapel with Our Lord part of the night of May 29-30, 1930 I suddenly felt myself more intimately possessed by the Divine Presence and, if I am not mistaken, this is what was revealed to me:

(Our Lord) "My daughter, the reason is simple. There are five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.
2. Blasphemies against Her Virginity.
3. Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize Her as the Mother of men.
4. The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred   of this Immaculate Mother.
5. The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her holy images.

"Here, My daughter, is the reason why the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspired Me to ask
for this little act of reparation."

3/ August 1931 (at Rianjo):

(Our Lord) "They did not wish to heed my request.  Like the King of France, they will repent and do it, but it will be late. Russia will have already spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars, and persecutions of the Church; the Holy Father will have much to suffer."

"Intimately I have spoken to Our Lord about the subject, and not too long ago I asked Him why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making that consecration?

(Our Lord) "Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that Consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that it may extend its cult later on, and put the devotion to This Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart."

"Nevertheless the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia. It has been entrusted to Her."
   back to contents 

"Tell them Father, that many times, the Most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth.  She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation ... "

"Sister Lucy also told me: Father, the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Blessed Virgin.  And the devil knows what it is that most offends God and which in a short space of time will gain for him the greatest number of souls.  Thus the devil does everything to overcome souls consecrated to God because in this way, the devil will succeed in leaving the souls of the faithful abandoned by their leaders, thereby the more easily will he seize them."

"That which afflicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus is the fall of religious and priestly souls.  The devil knows that religious and priests who fall away from their beautiful vocation drag numerous souls to hell ... The devil wishes to take possession of consecrated souls.  He tries to corrupt them in order to lull to sleep the souls of laypeople and thereby lead them to final impenitence.  He employs all tricks, even going so far as to suggest the delay of entrance into religious life.  Resulting from this is the sterility of the interior life, and among the laypeople, coldness (lack of enthusiasm) regarding the subject of renouncing pleasures and the total dedication of themselves to God."

"Tell them also Father, that my cousins Francisco and Jacinta sacrificed themselves because in all the apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin, they always saw Her very sad.  She never smiled at us.  This sadness, this anguish which we noted in Her penetrated our souls.  This sadness is caused by the offenses against God and the punishments which menace sinners.  And so, we children did not know what to think except to invent various means of praying and making sacrifices. (... )

"The other thing which sanctified these children was to see the vision of hell."
THE MISSION OF SISTER LUCY

"Father, that is why my mission is not to indicate to the world the material punishments which are certain to come if the world does not pray and do penance beforehand.  No!  My mission is to indicate to everyone the imminent danger we are in of losing our souls for all eternity if we remain obstinate in sin."
THE URGENCY OF CONVERSION

"Sister Lucy also said to me: Father, we should not wait for an appeal to the world to come from Rome on the part of the Holy Father, to do penance.  Nor should we wait for the call to penance to come from our bishops in our diocese, nor from the religious congregations.  No!  Our Lord has already very often used these means and the world has not paid attention.  That is why now, it is necessary for each one of us to begin to reform himself spiritually.  Each person must not only save his own soul but also all the souls that God has placed on our path ..."

"The devil does all in his power to distract us and to take away from us the love for prayer; we shall be saved together or we shall be damned together."

"Father, the Most Holy Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world but She made me understand this for three reasons." THE FINAL BATTLE

"The first reason is because She told me that the devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin.  And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat.  Hence from now on we must choose sides.  Either we are for God or we are for the devil.  There is no other possibility." THE LAST REMEDIES

"The second reason is because She said to my cousins as well as to myself that God is giving two last remedies to the world.  These are the Holy Rosary and Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  These are the last two remedies which signify that there will be no others."
THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT

"The third reason is because in the plans of Divine Providence, God always before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies.  Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever then, as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with a certain trepidation the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother.  It is with a certain trepidation because if you despise and repulse this ultimate means we will not have any more forgiveness from Heaven because we will have committed a sin which the Gospel calls the sin against the Holy Spirit.  This sin consists of openly rejecting with full knowledge and consent, the salvation which lie offers.  Let us remember that Jesus Christ is a very good Son and that He does not permit that we offend and despise His Most Holy Mother.  We have recorded through many centuries of Church history the obvious testimony which demonstrates, by the terrible chastisements which have befallen those who have attacked the honor of His Most Holy Mother, how Our Lord Jesus Christ has always defended the honor of His Mother."
PRAYER AND SACRIFICE, AND THE HOLY ROSARY

Sister Lucy told me: "The two means to save the world are prayer and sacrifice."

"Regarding the Holy Rosary, Sister Lucy said: Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary.  There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.  With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves.  We will sanctify ourselves.  We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls."
DEVOTION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

"Finally, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Most Holy Mother, consists in considering Her as the seat of mercy, of goodness and of pardon and as the certain door by which we are to enter Heaven." back to contents
 
 

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