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Life and Spirituality of the Shepherds

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The Story of Fatima begins to unfold with the first apparition of the Angel of Peace in the Spring or 1916 and concludes with the last vision granted to Sister Lucia on June 13,1929.

The following account is based on the booklet, “Lucia Speaks – The Message of Fatima,” – a condensed version of Sister Lucia’s Memoirs – published by The World Apostolate of Fatima-USA.

During World War I Pope Benedict XV made repeated but forlorn pleas for peace, and finally in May 1917, made a direct appeal to Mary to intercede for peace in the world. The response was Mary’s first appearance at Fatima just over a week later. At this time Fatima was just a small village about seventy miles north of Lisbon. The three children to whom she appeared were Lucia dos Santos, age 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, brother and sister, ages eight and seven respectively.

The Angel of Portugal

However, it was in the spring of the previous year, 1916, that the children had their first joint supernatural encounter as a means of preparing them for their meetings with Mary. As they were looking after the sheep one day they saw a dazzlingly beautiful young man, seemingly made of light, who told them he was the Angel of Peace. He invited them to pray with him.

Later on in the summer, the Angel again appeared to the children and encouraged them to pray and make sacrifices as a way of drawing down peace on their country.

In the autumn the children again saw the Angel as they were out looking after the sheep. He appeared before them holding a chalice in his hands above which was suspended a host from which drops of blood were falling into the chalice. The Angel left the chalice suspended in the air and prostrated himself before it in prayer.

He then gave the host to Lucia to eat, and let Francisco and Jacinta drink from the chalice while saying: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God.” Then he prostrated himself again in prayer before disappearing. The children did not tell anyone about these visits of the Angel, feeling an interior necessity to keep quiet about these events.

May 13, 1917

On May 13, 1917 the three children took their flocks out to pasture in the small area known as the Cova da Iria. After lunch and the rosary they suddenly saw a bright flash of something like lightning, followed quickly by another flash in the clear blue sky.

They looked up to see, in Lucia’s words, “a lady, clothed in white, brighter than the sun, radiating a light more clear and intense than a crystal cup filled with sparkling water lit by burning sunlight.” The children stood there amazed, bathed in the light that surrounded the apparition as the Lady smiled and said: “Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.” Lucia, as the oldest, asked her where she came from.

The Lady pointed to the sky and said: “I come from heaven.” Lucia then asked her what she wanted. “I have come to ask you to come here for six months on the 13th day of the month at this same hour. Later I shall say who I am and what I desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time.”

Lucia then asked if they would go to heaven and  was told yes, she and Jacinta would go to heaven, but Francisco would need to say many rosaries first. The Lady then said: “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 conversion of sinners?” Lucia, as spokesman for all three, readily agreed. “Then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort.”

Lucia recounted that at the same moment as she said these words the Lady opened her hands and streamed a “light” on the children which allowed them to see themselves in God. The Lady finished with a request: “Say the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and the end of the war.” With that she began to rise into the air, moving towards the east until she disappeared.

The children got together and tried to think of ways they could make sacrifices as the Lady had asked, resolving to go without lunch and to pray the full rosary. Francisco and Jacinta received more support from their parents than Lucia, but the attitudes of the local inhabitants ranged from skepticism to utter contempt, and the children thereby suffered many insults. They would have much to suffer, just as the Lady had told them.

June 13, 1917

About fifty people turned up at the Cova da Iria on June 13 as the three children assembled near the Holm oak tree where the Lady had appeared. The children then saw a flash of light followed immediately by the apparition of Mary as she spoke to Lucia: “I want you to come on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later, I will tell you what I want.”

Lucia asked Mary to take them to heaven and was reassured in this way: “I will take Jacinta and Francisco shortly, but you will stay here for some time to come. Jesus wants to use you to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it. These souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by me to adorn his throne.” This last sentence is found in a letter written in 1927 by Sr. Lucia to her confessor.

Lucia was sad at the first part of this reply and asked: “Am I to stay here alone?” Mary replied: “No, my daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don’t lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”

One of the witnesses to this apparition, Maria Carreira, described how Lucia then cried out and pointed as Mary departed. She herself heard a noise like “a rocket a long way off,” and looked to see a small cloud a few inches over the tree rise and move slowly towards the east until it disappeared. The crowd of pilgrims then returned to Fatima where they reported the amazing things they had seen, thus ensuring that there were between two and three thousand people present for the July apparition.

July 13, 1917

On July 13 the three children assembled at the Cova and again saw the indescribably beautiful Lady over the Holm oak tree. Lucia asked what she wanted, and Mary replied: “I want you to come here on the 13th of next month and to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you.”

Lucia then asked her who she was and for a miracle so everyone would believe: “Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe.”

Lucia made some requests for sick people, to which Mary replied that she would cure some but not others, and that all must say the rosary to obtain such graces. And she continued: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The vision of hell

As she spoke these words, Mary opened her hands and rays of light from them seemed to penetrate the earth revealing to the children a terrifying vision of hell full of demons and lost souls amid indescribable horrors. This vision of hell was the first part of the 3-part secret of Fatima which was unknown until the writing of Sister Lucia’s Third Memoir dated August 31, 1941.

The children looked up to the sad face of the Blessed Virgin, who spoke to them kindly:

“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. 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. 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.”

This concludes the second part of the secret.  The third part was not made public until the year 2000 at the beatification ceremonies of Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

Mary specifically told Lucia not to tell anyone about the secret at this stage, apart from Francisco, before continuing: “When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus! Forgive us, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need.” After assuring Lucia that there was nothing more, Mary disappeared off into the distance.

August 1917

As August 13th approached, the story of the apparitions had reached the anti-religious secular press, and while this ensured that the whole country knew about Fatima, it also meant that many biased and negative reports were circulating. The children were kidnapped on the morning of the 13th by the Mayor of Vila Nova de Ourem, Arturo Santos. They were interrogated about the secret; but despite his threats and promises of money, they refused to divulge it. In the afternoon they were moved to the local prison and threatened with death but determined that they would die rather than reveal the secret.

On August 19, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were together at a place called Valinhos, near Fatima, late in the afternoon, when they again saw Mary, who spoke to Lucia: “Go again to the Cova da Iria on the 13th and continue to say the Rosary every day.” Mary also said she would perform a miracle, so all would believe, and that if they had not been kidnapped it would have been even greater.

Looking very sad, Mary then said: “Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.” With that she rose into the air and moved towards the east before disappearing.

By now the children had thoroughly absorbed Mary’s plea for prayer and penance, and did everything they could to answer it. They prayed for hours while lying prostrate on the ground and went as long as they could without drinking in the burning heat of the Portuguese summer. They also went without food as a sacrifice for sinners to save them from hell, the vision of which had so profoundly effected them. They even knotted some pieces of old rope around their waists as a form of mortification, not removing them day or night.

September 13, 1917

On September 13 very large crowds began to converge on Fatima from all directions. Around noon the children arrived. After the customary flash of light they saw Mary on the Holm oak tree. She spoke to Lucia: “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war. In October Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Dolours and Our Lady of Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices. He does not want you to sleep with the rope on, but only to wear it during the daytime.”

Lucia then began to put forward the petitions for cures, to be told: “Yes, I will cure some, but not others. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.” Then Our Lady began to rise as usual, and disappeared.

October 13, 1917

The prediction of a public miracle caused intense speculation throughout Portugal, and the journalist, Avelino de Almeida, published a satirical article on the whole business in the anti-religious newspaper O Seculo. People from other parts of the country descended by the tens of thousands on the cova despite the terrible storm that lashed the mountain country around Fatima on the eve of the 13th. Many pilgrims walked barefooted, reciting the rosary as they went, all crowding into the area around the cova. By mid-morning the weather again turned bad and heavy rain began to fall.

The children reached the Holm oak  around noon and then saw the flash of light as Mary appeared before them. For the last time, Lucia asked what she wanted: “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.”

Again Lucia made requests for cures, conversions and other things. Our Lady’s response was: “Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.”

Sister Lucia tells us that at this point Mary grew very sad and said: “Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended.” Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect on the sun and, as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself. After she disappeared, as the people witnessed the great miracle which had been predicted, the children saw the visions foretold during the September apparition.

The Great Miracle Our Lady Had Predicted

The greatest miracle to occur since the Resurrection is also the only miracle ever precisely predicted as to date, time of day and location. Although it is popularly known as “The Miracle of the Sun” and October 13, 1917 has come to be known as “The Day the Sun Danced,” a great deal more took place. The solar phenomena included the dancing of the sun, its fluctuations in color, its swirling and its descending toward the earth. There were also the stillness in the leaves of the trees in spite of howling winds, the complete drying of the rain soaked ground, and the restoration of clothes all wet and covered with mud so that, as eye-witness Dominic Reis put it, “they looked as tho they had just come back from the cleaners.” Physical cures of the blind and the lame were reported. The countless unreserved public confessions of sin and commitments to conversion of life attest to the authenticity of what they saw.

The miracle is reported to have been seen from as far as 15-25 miles away, thus ruling out the possibility of any type of collective hallucination or mass hypnotism. Doubters and skeptics had become believers. Even O Seculo’s chief editor, Avelino de Almeida, who had written satirically before, now reported affirmatively, and stood by his story later on in spite of harsh criticism.

The deaths of Francisco and Jacinta

An influenza epidemic swept Europe in autumn of 1918 just as the war was finishing, and both Jacinta and Francisco fell ill. Francisco recovered somewhat and there were hopes that he might become well, but he realized that he was destined to die young as Our Lady had foretold, and his condition worsened again. He offered up all his sufferings as a way of consoling God for the sinfulness and ingratitude of mankind and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. He became so weak that eventually he could not even pray. He received his first Holy Communion and on the next day, April 4, 1919, he died.

Jacinta too was confined to her bed during the long winter months, and although she recovered was struck down with bronchial pneumonia, while also developing a painful abscess in her chest. She was moved to the hospital in Ourem in July 1919 where she underwent the painful treatment prescribed for her but without much effect. She returned home in August with an open wound in her side. It was decided that another attempt should be made to treat her, and so in January 1920 she was taken to Lisbon, where she was diagnosed as having purulent pleurisy and diseased ribs.

Eventually in February she was admitted into the hospital, where she underwent another painful operation to remove two ribs. This left her with a large wound in her side that had to dressed daily causing her great agony. On the evening of February 20, 1920 the local priest was called and heard her Confession, but he insisted on waiting till the next day to bring her Holy Communion despite her protests that she felt worse. As Mary had foretold she died that night alone and far from her family. Her body was returned to Fatima and buried with that of Francisco until both were later moved to the Basilica built at the Cova da Iria.

Later apparitions to Sr. Lucia

The new bishop of the restored diocese of Leiria decided that it was best if Lucia was removed from Fatima, both to spare her from the continual questionings she had to endure, and to see what effect her absence would have on the numbers coming as pilgrims. Her mother agreed to her being sent away to school, and she left in May 1921 in great secrecy for Porto, where a school run by the sisters of St. Dorothy was situated. Later she became a sister in this congregation before joining the Carmelites.

On December 10, 1925, while at the Dorothean Convent in Pontevedra, Spain, Lucia had another apparition of the Blessed Mother, this time with the Child Jesus. She had returned to ask for the Communions of Reparation we now call 1st Saturday Devotion, as she said she would during her July 13 apparition at Fatima. Mary told Lucia to announce that she promised to provide, at the hour of death, the graces necessary for salvation to those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, confessed, received Holy Communion, recited five decades of the rosary, and kept her company while meditating on the mysteries of the rosary for fifteen minutes, all with the intention of making reparation to her.

On  June 13, 1929, Our Lady returned again as Sr. Lucia was at prayer in the convent chapel at Tuy, Spain. This time she appeared alongside a representation of the Holy Trinity. Mary spoke to her saying: “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, promising to save it by this means…”

On January 25, 1938, a strange light filled the skies of northern Europe. It was described as a particularly brilliant display of the Aurora Borealis, but Sr. Lucia realized it was the “unknown light,” spoken of by Mary during the July 13, 1917 apparition. It meant punishment for the world was close, principally through the Second World War, because it had not turned back to God.

Pope John Paul II kneels in prayer at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal May 13, 1982, a year to the day after an assailant shot and seriously wounded him. The pope consecrated the world to Mary at the Fatima shrine in 1982. (CNS file photo) (Aug. 29, 2003)

Pope Pius XII consecrated the whole world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart in 1942 and carried out a similar consecration of Russia in 1952, but neither of these fulfilled Mary’s request at Fatima. This collegial consecration, in union with a “moral totality” of the world’s bishops, was finally carried out by Saint Pope John Paul II in 1984. Fatima received further Papal support when on May 13, 1979, the Pope declared Jacinta and Francisco “venerable,” the first stage in the process of their possible canonization.

Saint Pope John Paul II further emphasized the importance of Fatima by beatifying Jacinta and Francisco on May 13,2000 during the Jubilee Year. It was during these beatification ceremonies that all the details of the third part of the Fatima secret were revealed, the third millennium was entrusted to Our Lady of Fatima.

The Bishop approves of Fatima

The Church, meanwhile, had maintained silence about the apparitions during the years from 1917. It wasn’t until May 1922 that Bishop Correia issued a pastoral letter on the subject indicating that he would set up a commission of inquiry. In 1930 he issued another pastoral letter on the apparitions, which after recounting the events at Fatima, contained the following brief but important statement:

“In virtue of considerations made known, and others which for reasons of brevity we omit; humbly invoking the Divine Spirit and placing ourselves under the protection of the most Holy Virgin, and after hearing the opinions of our Rev. Advisers in this diocese, we hereby: 1. Declare worthy of belief, the visions of the shepherd children in the Cova da Iria, parish of Fatima, in this diocese, from the 13th May to 13th October, 1917. 2. Permit officially the cult of Our Lady of Fatima.”

Our Lady came to Fatima to save the souls of her children from hell in the eternal order, and to bring peace to their world in the temporal.

The core of her message can be expressed in three simple sentences:
1. Addressing the eternal order, she told us that hell exists and that souls are being lost to it because there is no one to make reparation for their sins.
2. Speaking of the temporal, she said that war is a consequence of sin.
3. The salvation of souls and the attainment of world peace require the conversion of sinners. “People must stop offending God because He is already so much offended.” [10-13-1917]

Almost everything else she said, the things she asked us to do, and her prophecies predicated on the nature of our response relate, either directly or indirectly, to these three fundamental elements.

A few examples:

• She asks for the daily offering of prayer, penance and sacrifice in reparation for sin and for the conversion of sinners.
• Her request that we pray the rosary every day is aimed at both reparation for sin and world peace.
• Wearing the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and living the consecration it signifies effectively disposes us toward the honoring of her requests.
• Practicing the 1st Saturday Communions of Reparation devotion makes available the graces necessary for the salvation souls at the moment of their death.
• The conversion of Russia will lead to the salvation of many souls and make an enormous contribution toward the attainment of world peace.

Our Lady’s Fatima Requests

1.  Daily offer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the sacrifices demanded by the  duties required of your state in life, as well as whatever hardships and difficulties God permits to touch your life, in reparation for your own sins, for the sins of others, and for the conversion of all sinners. In other words, “offer it up.” This expression which so many of us were taught by our parents isn’t heard much these days. Sister Lucia considered the living out of this disposition the most fundamental and important practical, everyday response to Fatima.

2.  Pray part of the Rosary daily while meditating on the Mysteries in reparation for sin, for the conversion of sinners, and for world peace.

3.  Wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as both a sign and a reminder of your consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and as a protection against the snares of Satan.

4. Practice the devotion of the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturday of each month which has come to be popularly known as the 1st Saturday Devotion .

5. Contribute to the establishment of devotion to The Immaculate Heart of Mary in the world by spreading the Message of Fatima to others.

The honoring of all of these requests taken collectively and derivatives thereof  constitutes the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which Our Lady told Lucia God desired.

An Important Observation
While Our Lady’s call for the conversion of sinners is directed toward all of her children, her devotional requests are uniquely and specifically directed at the Catholics of the world. This is so because it is Catholics whose Church teaching supports the belief that we can merit grace for ourselves and for others, who wear scapulars and consecrate their lives to Mary, who pray the rosary, and who have at their disposal the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. This means that primary responsibility for the fulfillment of heaven’s desire where Fatima Devotions are concerned rests upon the shoulders of the Catholics of the world. This is a burden not to be taken lightly.

The devotional requests of Our Lady of Fatima provide the precise weapons of spiritual warfare so desperately needed today.  Unless the Catholics of the world take them up and use them often and well, the world will continue to lose battle after battle and the consequences for themselves, their children and their children’s children for generations to come will be grave.

Learn the Message of Fatima. Live the Message of Fatima. Spread the Message of Fatima to others.

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MORNING OFFERING
O my God, in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary (here kiss your Brown scapular as a sign of your consecration – this carries a partial indulgence). I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the altars throughout the world, joining with it the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day.

O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every indulgence and merit I can, and I offer them together with myself, to Mary Immaculate, that She may best apply them to the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!
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FATIMA PRAYERS

PARDON PRAYER
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.

ANGEL’S PRAYER
O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee 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. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament!

SACRIFICE PRAYER
O  Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

DECADE PRAYER
O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

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Our Lady expressed the need for reparation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, “which is already much offended,” and of her Immaculate Heart. In the apparition of July 13, 1917, Our Lady said, “I shall come to ask for…the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturdays.”  She came expressly to request this devotion when she appeared to Sister Lucia on December 10, 1925, in Pontevedra, Spain, where she was preparing to start her religious life.

The Motives for the Devotion
While Sister Lucia was in the chapel with Our Lord during part of the night of May 29-30, 1930, He explained the motivation for the devotion. This explanation answered the question posed by her confessor about why the number should be 5 Saturdays and not 9 to correspond to the 9 First Fridays, or 7 to correspond with Our Lady’s 7 sorrows.
There are 5 ways in which people offend and blaspheme against The Immaculate Heart of Mary:
1.  Offences or blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception – its denial and/or ridicule.
2. Against Her perpetual virginity – that She had relations with Joseph and had other children.
3. Against Her Divine Maternity, refusing at the same time to accept Her as Mother of all Mankind – denying that She is the Mother of God and our Mother.
4. The implantation into children’s hearts of indifference, contempt and even hate against our Immaculate Mother.
5. Insults directed against Her sacred images –displays of indifference or ridicule, and the infliction of damage to them.

The essential elements of the practice of the devotion of the 1st Saturday Communions of Reparation
With the intention of making reparation for offenses committed against The Immaculate Heart of Mary:
Go to Confession.
Receive Holy Communion worthily.
Pray five decades of the Rosary.
Keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.

The Great Promise

Our Lady promised to assist all those who would practice the devotion on the first Saturday of five consecutive months with the graces necessary for salvation at the hour of their death.

Promise not a guarantee of heavenIt would be a serious mistake to think that those who practice the devotion on five consecutive First Saturdays are guaranteed passage through the pearly gates when the moment of their death arrives.  Our cooperation with grace is always required.

A Life-Long Devotion, not merely five First Saturdays – a requirement of Christian CharityThe promise associated with the practice of the devotion on five consecutive First Saturdays has been mistakenly construed by many to mean that, once one has completed a series of five in succession, they have accomplished the practice of the devotion – that they are finished.  This was not Our Lady’s intention in making the promise, and has resulted in a far fewer people practicing the devotion’s than are necessary to fulfill her request.  This is one reason why wars, famines and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father have increased rather than abated.

The essence of genuine Christian Charity Genuine Christian Charity involves placing the good of others before ourselves.  If we practice the devotion only to the extent necessary to merit the promise for ourselves, our Christian Charity is seriously lacking.

We ought to look at it this way:  For how many others can I merit the promise during the remainder of my life? Each time we complete a series of five successive First Saturdays we can ask Our Lady to apply the promise merited to a soul in need.  Just think of how many souls would become beneficiaries of our life-long practice.  This is Christian Charity in action.  And as for ourselves, can there be any doubt that, if we gift our merited promises to so many others, Our Lady will provide one for us?

THE “FORGOTTEN” PART OF THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA

There are 5 things Our Lady asked of each of us during her apparitions at Fatima. They are:
1. Daily Reparation; 2. Daily Rosary; 3. Brown Scapular; and 4. 1st Saturday Communions of Reparation and 5. Spread the Message of Fatima to others.

Daily Reparation is related to the July 13 apparition during which Our Lady requested it in saying: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
You may recognize “O Jesus,…” as the words of The Sacrifice Prayer.

The shepherd children, and all of us by extension, were taught how to honor this request of Our Lady during the 2nd apparition of the Angel in 1916 when he said: “Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. … Above all, accept and bear with submission, the suffering which the Lord will send you.”

So, as we pray our Morning Offering at the beginning of each day, we include an expression a disposition of mind and heart which offers up all of the aches and pains, trials and tribulations and sufferings of any kind which God permits to touch our lives in reparation for sin and for the conversion of sinners.

Daily praying of the Rosary was asked for during each of Our Lady’s six apparitions in 1917.

The wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as one of Our Lady’s Fatima requests is based upon her last  appearance on October 13, 1917. During what has come to be known as The Miracle of the Sun, while the crowd was witnessing the solar phenomena, there were three apparitions only the children saw. During the 3rd Our Lady appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  The Brown Scapular is, in fact, a miniature version of the Carmelite habit.

We are not. however, simply asked to wear the scapular. We are called to embrace and live the consecration to Our Lady it signifies. We wear the scapular 1st as a sign of our consecration; 2nd as a reminder of that consecration; and finally as a protection against the snares of the Devil.

The 1st Saturday Communions of Reparation were not actually requested until December 10, 1925, when Our Lady appeared with the Child Jesus to Sister Lucia  at the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Spain.  Its connection with Fatima as one of Our Lady’s requests is based upon the fact that during the July 13, 1917 apparition Our Lady told the children she would come back to ask for it. “To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communions of Reparation on the First Saturdays.” While Our Lady used the words “Communions of Reparation,” because she specified that it was to be done on the first Saturday of each month, it has come to be known as The 1st Saturday Devotion.

It is critically important  that we not overlook the close connection between the consecration of Russia which was asked of the Pope and Bishops throughout the world, and the practice of the 1st Saturday Devotion which is asked of everyone.  The conversion of Russia and world peace are conditioned on the honoring of both of these requests. While the consecration of Russia Our Lady asked for was finally accomplished on March 25, 1984, there are not yet sufficient numbers of people faithfully practicing the 1st Saturday Devotion. Until there are sufficient numbers, the pace of the conversion of Russia underway will continue to be slow and world peace will remain an elusive dream.

COURTESY: http://wafusa.org/

THE “FORGOTTEN” PART OF THE MESSAGE OF FATIMA

COURTESY: WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA OF THE PHILIPPINES

FATIMA ORIENTATION

I.              The PRELIMINARY TALK:

*           Purpose : To open up the minds and hearts of the listeners

            In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus visited a home where two women lived (of course, their brother of Lazarus also lived there but he was not around at that moment.

Martha was the one who welcomed the Lord, but she immediately proceeded to the kitchen preparing food and other “details of hospitality” for the visitor.

Mary, on the other hand, “sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak” (Luke 10:39).  Perhaps, she was not able to prepare herself to meet the Lord, or she was not even around to welcome him during the arrival.  And yet she immediately went to Jesus to ask the Lord the purpose of his visit in their place.  Mary focused on “listening to him speak” (Luke 10:39).

Perhaps, some of us were privileged to welcome Jesus through and with his Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her Pilgrim Virgin Statue, but we immediately prepared or continued to prepare the things which we thought were more important in such a way that some of us are physically or mentally absent  in this Orientation Talk.

But Jesus clearly tells us: “There is need of only one thing.  Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42)

Only one thing is required when a visitor comes, namely: to ask him the purpose of his visit and to satisfy that need.  So. One thing only is required in Our Lady’s visit : to listen  to the Word of God and to ask Our Lady for the graces to do God’s Will.  In other words, PRAY!

II.            THE ORIENTATION PROPER:

Mary, Our Blessed Mother, is here, because she has a very important purpose in visiting us:

1. The Fatima Pilgrim Virgin

Why is it that, of all the titles of Our Lady, it is Our Lady of Fatima that is commonly used in her visits?  Why the image of Our Lady of Fatima and not Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, our Mother of Perpetual Help, or one of her many other titles?  It is because of the message—a most urgent and important message—

She has something to tell us, and our response to her visit should be one of delight like that of St. Elizabeth who exclaimed in the second Joyful Rosary Mystery, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me” (Luke 1:43).

Let us ask Mama Mary the purpose of her visit with the same words Lucia used during the first apparition at Fatima on May 13, 1971: “What do you want of me?”

Let us start our Fatima Orientation.  First of all, we would like to inform you all that this is only a 30-60 minute orientation to the three-whole day World Apostolate of Fatima Seminar.  We hope that you would attend the seminar to fully understand Our Lady’s Message, thus proving that you are truly her beloved children and servants.

             (Note:  if there is a scheduled WAF Seminar, show them a WAF Seminar

                        Announcement Poster for everyone to see and be reminded of)

2. The Message of Fatima

Just what is the Message of Fatima?.      Actually the message of Fatima has one central theme, but it can be adequately accomplished by fulfilling four main requests, which we should bear in mind so as to fully understand God’s will concerning Fatima.  Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, once said: “What is exactly the message of Fatima?  I believed it can be summed up in these words:  It is the manifestation of  the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the world of today in order to save it.” The Message of Fatima is simply that Mary has come to the world to Fatima in order to save it by means of her Immaculate Heart, or as Our Lady of Fatima says it: “Jesus wants to make use of you to make me known and loved.   He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart” (June 13, 1917)

It is God’s will therefore that we must know and love Mary.  And we can do this by having true devotion to her Immaculate Heart.  If we do this, we will be saved.  Our Lady said on July 13, 1917, “To save souls from hell, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.”

3. The Four Requests of Our Lady

In order for Our Blessed Mother Mary to save the world, she needs our cooperation.  She needs our help. She does not want to help us, or she cannot help us, without our consent.  For we have our individual free will to exercise.

To show our consent… to prove that we want her to help us, we must have devotion to her Immaculate Heart. To do this, we must obey her four main requests at Fatima.

Every Wednesday, countless people fill our churches in order to request Our Mother of Perpetual Help for their needs.  We make novena to “Inahan sa Kanunayng Panabang” (Our Mother of Perpetual Help), because we are “Mga Anak sa Kanunayng Pangayo” (Children of Perpetual Asking).  Now, it is our Mama Mary who is the one asking for help---which is actually still for our own sake.  She is now the one requesting.  Shall we refuse Mama Mary, who has always answered our prayer requests promptly and favorably?  I believe that not one of you will ever refuse any of her requests. For years, you have been blessed by her most powerful intercession.

The First Request :            DAILY ROSARY

At  Cova da Iria, Our Lady, in each of her six apparitions, made known her perennial request, that is, the praying of the Rosary every day.  On July 13, 1917, she especially requested us to do so in this manner :”Continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you.” Even now, we are to continue to pray the Rosary every day.  Our Blessed Mother did not say that we were to pray the Rosary every May, or every October, or in case of emergency: when we have no money for food, for tuition fees, or when somebody we love has deserted us, or when people blame us for something we have not done, and so on.  We are all to pray the Rosary every day! Yes, daily! 

And take note that we are to pray for peace, and to ask it through Our Lady of the Rosary, because God wills to grant us peace through her intercession.

            Why of all prayers does Our Lady choose the Daily Rosary?  What is the Rosary? How should we pray the Rosary?  All these questions can be fully answered during the WAF Seminar.    But for now it is imperative that we know the answer to the following questions:  Is the Rosary the most important request at Fatima?  Just why are we to pray it every day?  Sister Lucia was left by Our Lady to stay in this world for some time in order to explain Fatima, to be Our Lady’s spokesperson.  Our Lady said to Lucia, “But you are to stay here on earth sometime longer (she died at the age of 97-born on March 22, 1907 and died February 13, 2005).  Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved.            He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Hearrt” (June 13, 1917).  When someone assumed that the Rosary was of greater importance than the other requests of Our Lady, Sister Lucia responded : “But the Rosary is not the most important request.”  What then is the Rosary for? What, therefore, is the most important request? Sister Lucia clarified, “The Rosary is important , because we have to pray it to fulfill our Daily Duty.”            Although not the most important request at Fatima, the Rosary is still important.  We cannot do away with it.  We must pray it, and we must pray it daily. In praying it daily, one thing we must make sure of,   that it must bear fruit. The fruit of Our Daily Rosary  must be the fulfillment of Our Daily Duty in a holy manner.         The Sanctification of Our Daily Duty is therefore the most important request of Our Lady of Fatima.  It is sad to note that so many pray the Rosary but still engage themselves in backbiting, in evil talk, in bad company, dangerous leisure and occupation.  They don’t understand why Our Lady wants the Rosary to be prayed!  Moreover, because of the bad lives we lead, even by those who pray the Rosary daily, so many mock the Rosary.  So many do not believe  in its beauty and power.  Hence, this is the challenge:  Let us pray the Rosary daily in such a way that our lives will become a living Rosary.

The Second Request : DAILY DUTY

            To make our lives a living Rosary, we must meditate on the mysteries.  We must consider how the Holy Family fulfilled their daily duty, and at the same time ask them for the graces to fulfill our daily duty imitating their virtues.

 First of all,  let us be reminded that each one of us has the duty to love God and our neighbor (Mark 12:30-31).  We should pray the Rosary daily, because it is difficult for us, who are weakened and wounded by sin, to love God and our neighbor by our own power.  In John 15:5, Our Lord says: “Without me, you can do nothing.”  Without the grace of God, which we usually obtain through prayer, we cannot achieve anything.  We cannot be aware of our sins, and thus we cannot be saved.  That’s why St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori says : “He who prays will be saved.  He who does not pray will be damned.”

Second, we must acknowledge that we have specific duties which may differ from one another according to our state in life, namely: priesthood, religious, married or single life.

Duties of a Husband

A husband must have only one wife, be united with her in the Sacrament of Matrimony and live together as married couples until death of one partner, otherwise, God is not pleased.

      * Matthew 19:6--

                  “So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”

The special duty of a husband is to exercise his God-given authority toward his wife with love, kindness and respect (St. Paul Family Catechism No. 476)

a)    Leadership:

*Ephesians 5:23

“For  the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is the head of the Church, he himself the savior of the body.”

           

b)    With Love :

·         Ephesians 5:28

“So (also) husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself.”

c)    With Kindness :

·         Colossians 3:19

“Husbands, love your wives and avoid any bitterness toward them.”

d)   With Respect :

·         1 Peter 3:7

“Likewise, you husbands should live with your wives in understanding, showing honor to the weaker female sex, since we are joint heirs of the gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

e)    With fidelity:

Since “in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent”, (both husband and wife) give themselves definitely and totally to one another” (CCC 2364), a husband must  always be faithful to his wife ( and vice versa).  He must have only one wife, not 2,3,4, or more: not “evry  port, report” to some other lover.

            Our Lady of Fatima revealed the following to the little Jacinta before her death in 1920 : “ The sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh.”

            What are the sins of the flesh?

1.            Fornication (for the unmarried)

·         1 Corinthians 6:9-10

“Do not deceived, neither fornicator…will inherit the Kingdom of God.”

2.            Adultery (for the married, even if only one partner is married)

·         1 Corinthians 6:9-10

“ Do not be deceived,neither…adulterers… will inherit the kingdom of God.”

3.            Lesbians (for women) and homosexuals (for men)

·         1 Corinthians 6:9 -10

“ Do not  be deceived, neither practicing homosexuals…will inherit the kingdom of God.”

4.            Abortion, Artificial Birth Control(ABC), Rape…

-          are the other sins which often accompany the sins of the flesh.

All those who still commit the sins of the flesh are candidates for hell.  They will surely go to hell if they fail to repent and perform their lives.  Consequently, they will die as enemies of God forever.  Therefore, husbands, bear in mind to always exercise your God-given leadership with love, kindness, respect and fidelity.

Duties of a Father.

The union of spouses achieves the twofold end of marriage, namely : faithfulness (fidelity) and transmission of life (fecundity).

• CCC2363

“The spouses union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life…. The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity”

“Love for his wife as mother of their children and love for the children themselves are for the man the natural way of understanding and fulfilling his own fatherhood” ( Familiaris Consortio, 25)

As Father, one must love his children.  He, too, must take care of them and not just leave them to the mother alone.  The task of bringing up and educating children is the joint primary concern of the Father and the Mother. (CCC 2221-2229)

We can see this truth in the 5^th Joyful Rosary Mystery, the Finding of Our Lord in the Temple.  When Jesus was lost, St. Joseph did not reprimand Mama Mary.  Instead, quietly, immediately and anxiously, both of them, father and mother, searched for their lost Son, the young Jesus, until they found him.  Our Blessed Mother then said, “Son, why have you done this to us?  Your Father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety” (Luke 2:48)

In a national survey concerning the Youth and Drug Addiction, one important realization is that the number one reason why there are many drug addicts (250,000 in 1985) in the Philippines is that  parents no longer show their love towards their children.

It is true that parents give money and other material things, but they usually fail to give what is the most necessary, the gift of their loving presence.  They are simply too busy with their business, socials and even with Church affairs, in such a way that the youth have to find a substitute for love of parents in the wrong persons, things and places.  They end up finding it in a small stick of cigarette, marijuana or shabu.

Fathers must therefore take time to be with their children to love them, respect them and teach them the ways of the Lord.

*CCC 2222

      “Parents must regard their children as  children of God and respect them as human persons.      Showing themselves obedient to the will of the Father in heaven, they educate their children to fulfill God’s law.”

The right and duty of educating children belongs primarily to parents (CCC 2229) rather than to the Government.  Schools are intended only to assists parents, not to supplant them in the duty of educating their children.

• Ephesians 6:4

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up to the training and instruction of the Lord.”.  The first step in fulfilling the parent’s duty of educating children is that of giving them good example in the ways of Christian life, such as the practice of prayer, the frequent reception of the Sacraments, works of mercy towards the needy, respects for the laws, use of money, and so on.

Duties of Wife

Bear in mind that a wife is God’s gift to the husband.

• Proverbs 18:22

“He who finds a wife finds happiness : it is a favor he receives from the Lord.”

• Sirach 36:24

“ A wife is her husband’s richest treasure, a helpmate, a steadying column.”

The special duty of the wife are to agree with her husband in everything that is not sinful and then to be loving, devoted and generously dedicated to her children and to take care of her home (St. Paul Family Catechism or SPFC.477)

Although perfectly equal with the husband as regards to human dignity (SPFC 484, CCC 195 & CCC 2335), she is wife first before Mother, for “husband is head of his wife” (Ephesians 5:23).  As wife, she must love her husband by being submissive to him in everything that is not displeasing to God.

• Colossians 3:18

“Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.”

• Ephesians 5:24

“As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.”

Duties of a Mother

            Nowhere in the Scriptures can you read a passage commanding mothers to love their children. ( There is only the exhortation for older women to behave well ‘so that they may train younger women to love their husbands and children.”Titus 2:4).  This is because it is natural for every mother to truly love their children.  That is why Our Lord asked the question, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? ( Isaiah 49:15)

A wife’s special duties include not only to agree with her husband in everything that is not sinful but also to be loving, devoted and generously dedicated to her children and to the care of her home.

In “Familiaris Consortio” (FC 23), his Apostolic Exhortation for the Christian Family, the Great Pope John Paul II states: “The true advancement of women requires that clear recognition be given to the value of their maternal and family role, by comparison with all other public roles and all other professions…

“Therefore the Church can and should help modern society by tirelessly insisting that the work of women in the home be recognized and respected by all in its irreplaceable value……

“ While it must be recognized that women have the same right as men to perform various public functions, society must be structured in such a way that wives and mothers are not in practice compelled to work outside the home, and that their families can live and prosper in a dignified way even when they themselves devote their full time to their own family.

Mothers, as a true disciple of Christ (Matthew 10:37 & Luke 14:26), remember that your priority is first a wife and then a mother.  Everything else takes subordinate place!

Duties of Children

With regards to children, they must be obedient to their parents in everything (cf CCC 2217). God’s Word is clear.

• Ephesians 6: 1

“Children,obey your parents (in the Lord), for this is pleasing to the Lord.”

• Colossians 3:20

“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.”

Duties of Workers

The following are the duties of workers:

1. To report and to go home on time ( to personally punch in and out his card in the Bandy Clock);
2. To say “No” to “Palusot” or “Under-the-table” (Give some testimonies) or other forms of graft and corruption;
3. to do one’s work diligently as for the Lord

• Colossians 3:23

“Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others.”

                       

                                   

                                    STOP SINNING!

In the fulfillment of our daily duty, we must see to it that we resolve and are able to stop committing sin.

Our Lady explicitly said that this was her main reason in appearing at Fatima: that we should no longer commit any sin.

• July 13, 1917

  “ In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want.”

• October 13, 1917

“ I am the Lady of the Rosary…People must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.  Do not offend the Lord our God anymore, because he is already so much offended.”

These are Our Blessed Mother’s last words at Fatima.  It is like a Last Will and Testament.  It is as if Mama Mary said, “I know that you love me. But if you love me, do not offend my Son anymore.  I could not have been lovable if it were not for my Son.  I could not loved you if not for him.  Please don’t offend him anymore.  I am what I am because of him. If you love me, stop offending my Son.” These are the words of a loving Mother, telling us to please stop committing sin.

The Third Request : BROWN SCAPULAR

Our Lady was not contended with giving us her Rosary so that we could fulfill our daily duty.  At Fatima, she also gave us her Brown Scapular.  During the last apparition, on October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared for the last time as Our Lady of Mount Carmel without saying a word.  When Sister Lucia was asked why Our Blessed Mother appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, she replied:

“Our Lady meant that  everyone should wear the Scapular as part of the Fatima Message.  One could not follow this Message unless he or she wore the Brown Scapular.”

When asked further why Our Lady wanted everyone to wear the Brown Scapular, Sister Lucia said: “The reason for this is that the Scapular is our sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

It means that by wearing the Brown Scapular, we have already given ourselves to Mary as her exclusive possession, and for her to receive us, we must be worthy of her purity.  In other words, what we give to Mary must not be stained with sin.  We must give ourselves to Mary with the firm resolution not to sin anymore (cf 1John 3:6).  To be devoted to her Immaculate Heart, we must be as pure as possible (cf 1 Jn. 3:3)

And if we live our consecration to Mary, she rewards us with the fulfillment of the two promises she has attached to the Brown Scapular, namely:

1^st Scapular Promise:

                              The Great Promise of  SALVATION

On July 16, 1251, Our Lady of Mount Carmel told St. Simon Stock :

“ Take this Scapular, It is a sign of salvation, a protection in danger and a pledge of peace.  Whoever dies clothed in this (Scapular) shall never suffer eternal fire.”

The Scapular is powerful because of the prayers of Mary, the Mother of God.  Her prayer power can be seen in the Wedding at Cana ( expounded if you have time).

                              What is eternal fire?  It is none other than Hell.

At Fatima, Our Lady showed the three children a vision of Hell.  Although the vision lasted for a moment, Lucia declared that it was thanks to Our Lady, who had previously promised to take them to heaven, that they did not faint.  Otherwise, they would have died of fright.  Remember, it takes only one unrepented mortal sin to make us go to hell forever. And we know how easily we can commit sin—one thing which we must greatly fear.

But if we wear the Brown Scapular and die in it, Mama Mary has promised that we will not go to hell.  This she can do, because at the moment of our death, Mama Mary will tell Jesus in heaven, “Don’t allow that child to die in mortal sin, because he is mine.  He is wearing my Scapular.”  And we know that Jesus can never refuse the prayer of his most beloved Mother.  Thus, at the hour of our death Our Lady will help us persevere in the state of grace and/or die with perfect sorrow for our sins, and then we go to heaven.  But we must first be properly enrolled in the Scapular.  We must follow the Official Regulations of the Scapular Enrollment , which we can summarize as follows:

1^st :  You and your first Brown Scapular must be blessed by a Priest.

2^nd :  The Priest must be the one who will invest (dress) you with the blessed Brown

        Scapular, not you or anyone else.

3^rd :  Your own Brown Scapular must have a brown color cloth in each of the two plastic coverings, and these pieces of cloth must be connected by two strings and worn with one cloth in front of you and the other at your back.  Worn in another way, it is no longer a Scapular.

2^nd Scapular Promise :

THE SABBATINE PRIVILEGE

  If we die wearing the Brown Scapular, we will surely not to go to hell.  But we are not yet certain that we will go to heaven immediately.  We might have to pass through Purgatory.

      And what is Purgatory?  St. Thomas Aquinas said that the fires of hell and Purgatory are the same.  There is only one main difference.  Purgatory has an end. Furthermore, St. Cyril of Jerusalem said that all the pains on earth combined from Adam to the last person in the world could not compare to the least pain in Purgatory.

That’s why Mama Mary does not want us to go to Purgatory.  After death she wants us to go immediately to her sweet embrace in heaven.  She doesn’t want us to suffer in such a terrible state in Purgatory, because she loves us so much.  Hence, the Sabbatine  Privilege, which is as follows:

     “On the Saturday after their death, the Mother of Graces will descend in Purgatory and as many as there I find wearing the Scapular I will free.” ( Our Lady to Pope John XXII in the year 1322).

At Fatima, Mama Mary emphasized the reality of Purgatory when she said to Lucia in the first apparition: “Amelia will be in Purgatory until the end of the world.” Lucia cried when she learned that Amelia was still in Purgatory, and that she would remain there until the end of the world.  She knew Amelia as a friend.  She thought that she could not be that bad.  After the apparition, Jacinta informed the family of Amelia  about Amelia’s sad state in Purgatory and the need for prayers and sacrifices for her deliverance.  Oh, the state of abandoned and forgotten souls in Purgatory!  Remember, it takes only one venial sin, unrepented or unrepaired, in order to go to Purgatory.

To acquire the Sabbatine Privilege, we need only three requirements : Brown Scapular, Daily Rosary and Life of Chastity.  This is fully explained in the WAF Seminar.  Make sure to attend this seminar, so that you will fully understand the Sabbatine Privilege and benefit much front it.

The fourth Request :

THE FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION

  As we have learned, the genuine Message of Fatima is none other than Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  But true devotion is not complete if there is no reparation.  That is why the Sacrifice Prayer—the prayer that Our Lady taught at Fatima which we should pray many times especially whenever we make some sacrifices—includes reparation to her Immaculate Heart.

  Our Lady is so much offended not only for the many sins which we cause her Son Our Lord Jesus to suffer but also for the sins we inflict on her own person.

On December 10, 1925 ,Our Lady together with the Child Jesus appeared to Sister Lucia in Pontevedra, Spain.  The most holy Virgin rested her hand on Lucia’s shoulder and showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which she was holding in her other hand.  At the same time, the Child Jesus said, “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.” Then the most holy Virgin Mary said,

(The General Motive):

      “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

(The Promise) :

 I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation,

(The Requirements) :

“ 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.

(The Intention):

   with the Intention of making reparation to me.”

   There is an urgent need for all of us not only to ask forgiveness from God for the many sins which we offend his Blessed Mother but also to repair the damage we or others have caused her Immaculate Heart.

( The 5 Specific Motives) :

Just what are the sins with which ungrateful men pierce the Heart of Mary at every moment?  When asked what these blasphemies and ingratitude were, Our Lord said: “My daughter, the motive is simple:  There are five kinds of offenses and blasphemies uttered against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: blasphemies against her Immaculate conception, her Perpetual Virginity, her Divine Maternity (and at the same time a refusal to recognize her as Mother of Men), blasphemies of those who openly seek to foster in the hearts of men indifference or contempt, and the offenses of those who directly outrage her in her Holy Images” (May 29-30,1930).  The First Saturday Devotion is an essential part of the Message of Fatima which we must comply with faithfully.   It was first mentioned as the “Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays”. Our Lady of Fatima said on July 13, 1917:

“To prevent this (worse war), I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.”

Fulfilling the First Saturday Devotion can prevent a worse war to erupt.  It will give us the peace that we desire, which God alone can give through Our Lady who can “obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you” (July 13, 1917).

Our Lord Jesus himself is asking for the First Saturday Devotion.  It was he who first asked for it appearing as a little child on December 10, 1925.  More than two months later, on February 15, 1926, the infant Jesus appeared to Lucia again, saying with urgency:

  “ And have you spread through the world what Our Heavenly Mother requested of you?

Summary :

Summarizing, these are the basic requests of Our Lady of Fatima : Daily Rosary, Daily Duty, Brown Scapular and First Saturday Devotion.  All we have to do  is to show our true love and sincere appreciation to Mama Mary is that we sign the WAF Pledge now, pray the Morning Offering daily, and carry out our pledge and offering each day.

                                                                                                                  /nmr

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