| “Do not be afraid.” |
With the first encounter of God’s Presence, we may find He is powerful and overwhelming to our nature. We are small, helpless, and unworthy. But God doesn’t back His call. |
| “I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” |
What the Angel is about to teach is the means which will bring about peace. He prepares them with prayer. |
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[Kneeling, head bowed to the ground, the children imitate him.]
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| “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I This prayer is primary to our Faith: the Theological virtues- Acts of Faith, Hope, love Thee! I beg pardon of Thee for those and Love. As though in a nutshell, here is the practice of the Two Great who do not believe, do not adore, do not Commandments: Love of God, as witnessed in the act of adoration found in hope and do not love Thee!”[3x] |
This prayer is primary to our Faith: the Theological virtues- Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love. As though in a nutshell, here is the practice of the Two Great Commandments: Love of God, as witnessed in the act of adoration found inthought, heard in word, and seen in action by their humility in bowing to the ground (here we also see a unity in east and west in this form of prayer); and Love of neighbor, as expressed in reparation for those who do not acknowledge God, contained within the same act of thought, word and deed. It is repeated in the Trinitarian number. |
| “Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.” |
The Angel teaches us how to adore God. God is attentive to our prayers. He manifests His "listening Heart"[1] in the Persons of Jesus and Mary "The Word made Flesh" and "The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are One ". |
Reflection & RESOLUTION: This first vision of the angel to the children is a prayer in action to move their hearts to the awareness of God's Presence and to unite their hearts to His. We must also be aware of God's Presence and allow the Holy Spirit to move our hearts by taking steps to place ourselves in His Presence. By taking these first steps, God is given greater access to our hearts so as to do great things in us and around us in His Plan to bring peace to the world. Practice the "Presence of God" by saying this thrice repeated Angel prayer each day, even several times, with intended concentration on the words until you, too, can lose yourself in God once it becomes a habit.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Say the Angel prayers everyday attentively and devoutly.
Act of Consecration
| “What are you doing?” |
Are we making good use of our time? or wasting it? |
| “Pray! Pray very much!” |
Form a habit of prayer. Practice (be aware of) the presence of God. |
| “The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you.” |
Jesus and Mary have a plan of mercy for EACH of us. Prayer is necessary to prepare and dispose us to receive the inspirations they wish to give us. |
| “Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.” |
Prayer opens the heart to God; sacrifices (acts of self-denial) dispose us to say “yes” to God, lest we be selfish. Do these constantly so that we will be ready to be used by God. |
| Lucia asks, “How are we to make sacrifices?” |
This is a good question. Are we expected to inflict punishment on ourselves or offer difficult fasts? Are we expected to spend hours in prayer? Jesus told Sr. Lucia, “The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require.”[1] |
| “Make of everything you can a sacrifice...” |
There is, or can be, a sacrifice in everything we do: persevering and perfecting our daily work despite its drudgery, putting another’s preferences before our own, forgiving or over-looking something done to us that was unkind, striving against our anger to obtain peace, etc. |
| “...and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended...” |
Our sacrifices are to be united with Christ’s daily life, Who spent His every moment living this First Great Commandment. God loves, but is so little loved in return. |
| “...and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.” |
In offering a sacrifice, it obtains mercy from God’s consoled Heart for those who willfully not to give, not to love; who stubbornly choose to be selfish. In this way, Christ lived the Second Great Commandment. |
| “You will thus draw down peace upon your country." |
ALL have something to give. ALL are able to sacrifice. But it begins with the willingness of a few: the rich have money to help meet the needs of the poor, the poor have talents to enrich others from the blessings God has given them, the sick can offer their sufferings as a share in Christ’s redemptive Passion to save souls, the healthy can make good use of their time in the service of others. Sacrifices, seen or unseen, whether they show mercy to body or soul, will draw down peace on those around us. The mountains made low, the valleys filled in: Peace will come when we remove the extremes of selfishness. |
| “I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal.” |
From this it can be reasoned that every city, country, parish, and family has its own Guardian Angel. Keeping this in mind, we can pray with them. They intercede for and with us for peace. Their prayers are powerful. |
| “Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you.” |
MOST IMPORTANT SACRIFICES. Recognize them as from God. We don’t choose these. For example: sudden sickness or death of a loved one, disappointments or misfortune, things we didn’t expect or plan for, or that which we cannot change. These are tailor made by God for the good of souls: ours and others. God knows what is best for our growth in holiness if we trust Him and if we accept these as coming from His love for us. His desire is to be loved by the sacrifice of our offering. This mutual love obtains the conversion of sinners. |
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: Sacrifice- self denial- is indeed the most difficult, the most ignored or refused part of the Message of Fatima because of the natural repugnance we have for them. Even if we choose to give up something, there are other things that we refuse to sacrifice. Complete conversion to Christ requires a total gift of self in imitation of Christ Who gives Himself completely to us. We can’t do it by ourselves. We need His help; we even need help to have the DESIRE to do it!
Let us slow down our thoughts and bring to our awareness that we live in His Presence. Let us reflect before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and ask His help. At each moment we have a choice: either to please God by offering the sacrifice of the present moment, or to please ourselves by avoiding what is difficult or inconvenient. It is at that moment, our feelings can get in the way and make our choice difficult. We want to please God, but we recoil from the sacrifice it entails. What can we do to overcome our natural aversion to suffering when we find our will power to love God is not strong enough? Only practical experience will convince you of this truth: Turn to Mary and give Her your feelings! Ask Her help! Her Immaculate Heart will take your heart and remove the feelings that cause the difficulty. With your feelings of repulsion removed, you will then be freed to make your choice.
It will work the same for you whether it is a physical, mental, or emotional suffering. Simply surrender your thoughts and/or your feelings of complaint, anger, stress, hurt, or anxiety, and place them in Our Lady’s Heart (“it is Yours now, Mary, not mine”). Take a deep breath and relax your whole being; turn your thoughts to a similar situation in the life of Christ or His Mother and unite yourself to Their sentiments. In that surrender, make a gift of yourself to God through Her. You will find that you can be as a tree that stands tall, even holding its branches high as the cold wind passes through it.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Consciously surrender personal difficulties to Our Lady by renouncing your will in surrender and prayer, making everything you can a sacrifice.
Act of Consecration
“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.”
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By entering deep into the spirit of this prayer in our thoughts and intentions, prostrate to help us in engaging the movement of our heart, we offer to God the highest worship that can be given. In a nutshell, this is the prayer and intent of every Holy Mass. We offer Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, to the Most Holy Trinity in adoration and in reparation for the conversion of sinners. The sins that particularly pierce the Hearts of Jesus and Mary are those against His very Person, found in the Eucharist, where He pours out the fullness of His love into us:
outrages - desecrations committed directly against the Eucharist,
sacrileges - offenses committed inside and outside of Mass surrounding worship of this Great Sacrament,
indifference – careless, unprepared, or improperly disposed Communions, in which Our Lord is received, but He is ignored, or walked out on without a word of love or thanksgiving for His generous gifts.
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“Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God.”
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We may not be guilty of the first two sins, but they are in need of being repaired by those of us who wish to love and console Jesus for these horrible crimes; even if we, too, sometimes find ourselves numbered among the indifferent. In this way we can make atonement for ourselves and for others. How can we condemn others when we also have had a share in the offenses given? Let us begin by personal change and by making amends. |
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: It is said, “Whatever you do to others, you do to Me (Jesus)”. It can also be said, “Whatever you do to Jesus, you do to others.” Let us reflect on how Jesus is treated in the Blessed Sacrament. What are our priorities? Do we speak so as to believe He is listening? Do we listen so as to hear Him speak? Do we really believe that HE IS THERE FOR US? ARE WE THERE FOR HIM? Do we have this kind of relationship with others but not with Jesus? Do we have this kind of relationship with Jesus but not with others? Let us BE the presence of Mary in receiving Jesus – (one with Her) holding Him close, loving Him truly, personally, as our very own. Then we can look into each other’s eyes and see beyond the appearance. We can see and believe there is goodness there. We can see and believe Jesus is present in them, even if only in part. We can look beyond the Bread we eat to see Our Savior and Our Lord, just as Mary saw and believed ‘this is God’[3] as She looked in the eyes of Her Son.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Say the reparation prayer after every Holy Communion and consider your relationship with Jesus and those in your life. BE the consoling presence of Mary for Jesus and others.
Act of Consecration
“What do you want of me?”
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See Lucia’s disposition of heart -ready to do God’s Will, ready to serve. Here we can examine our own motive for doing things.
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| “And Jacinta? ...And Francisco?”
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She doesn’t think only of herself, nor of her salvation alone. |
| [Our Lady]: “He will go there too, but he must say many Rosaries.”
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Why did Our Lady add that Francisco must say many Rosaries? Is it perhaps that boys find themselves up against many more temptations than girls? Is this not what gives them more opportunities to climb to greater heights? More temptations give more occasions to practice virtue. |
“Is Maria das Neves in heaven?”
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She doesn’t forget to ask about her friends recently departed. See her concern for the salvation of souls, esp. those she was associated with. |
| [Our Lady]: “She will be in purgatory until the end of the world (...she was between 18 and 20 years of age). |
The age of this girl and the severity of the punishment gives us grave matter to consider. If she was this young and seems to have only barely escaped hell, this should give us cause to ponder our own life and what we have accumulated throughout the years. This is another reminder of the need to pray and sacrifice for the souls in purgatory, as well as gaining indulgences to avoid hell and purgatory ourselves. |
| “Then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort.” |
“ALL will travel the road of suffering, but not all will accept it. Temporary pleasures and avoid ance of crosses will only bring greater sufferings in this life and in the next. We are invited to accept them in the present moment and rise above the temporary discomfort or hardship with the comfort of knowing that God’s Will is being done. We are not facing it alone.
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| [Children]: “O most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament!” |
With the words “the grace of God will be your comfort,” Our Lady permeated the children with that very light that came from Her, which made them feel the comfort of His grace. It came from Mary because She lived this life totally. She communicates it to us and permits us to par ticipate in it when we are obedient. It is the self-giving love of the Holy Trinity. This is the Source of Eternal Life. It is revealed, yet hidden, in the Blessed Sacrament.
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| “Pray the Rosary everyday, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.” |
“By praying the Rosary daily, coupled with sacrifice, this hidden mystery of Eternal Life will peace begin to unfold and be revealed. It is the secret in obtaining peace for the world. |
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: Our Lady unites in Herself God to man, heaven to earth, soul to body, the First to the Second Great Commandment. The two become one. There is no division in Her. She loves God in Himself and God in souls. God is glorified in Her and She is glorified in God. By continuing to pray the Angel prayers and the daily Rosary, in union with Mary, let us extend our thoughts toward every person. Let every moment become a personal encounter with God. In this way, we can make the most of our everyday opportunities, and not lose anything that is given us.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Continue to pray the Angel prayers and the Rosary daily. Offer yourself, united to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, adoring God in prayer and sacrifice, saving souls, living in union with Mary.
Act of Consecration
“What do you want of me?”
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Do you also desire to know what Our Lady wants of you?
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“I wish you to come here 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.”
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In opening our heart to Our Lady, Her inspirations help us to make simple short term commitments, daily faithful practices, and a specific task to accomplish. If we are faithful to these temporal preparations which are permeated with spiritual value, She will later reveal what She wants of us.
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Lucia asked for the cure of a sick person.]
“If he is converted, he will be cured during the year.” |
In this impatient and self-absorbed society, people seek instant gratification. Yet within the context of a promise, and in order to give encouragement, this good, wise, and prudent Mother has Her children work for what they want, by putting their priorities first. We should consider this example in our dealings with suffering.
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| [Lucia]: “I would like to ask you to take us to heaven.”[Our Lady]: “Yes, I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer...” |
Once Lucia has her selfless concerns addressed, she makes known to Mary her own personal request. But God has different plans.
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| [Our Lady]: “She will be in purgatory until the end of the world (...she was between 18 and 20 years of age). |
The age of this girl and the severity of the punishment gives us grave matter to consider. If she was this young and seems to have only barely escaped hell, this should give us cause to ponder our own life and what we have accumulated throughout the years. This is another reminder of the need to pray and sacrifice for the souls in purgatory, as well as gaining indulgences to avoid hell and purgatory ourselves. |
| “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.” |
Here Our Lady reveals the first reason for Her visits. Placing Jesus’ wishes before Her own, She reveals what it is that Jesus wants of us right now. Let these words penetrate into your heart. [Re-read these words of Our Lady again... slowly] How do Her words affect you? Do you feel pierced in some way? Listen to Her promise:
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| “I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and those souls will be loved by God like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.” |
Do you not wish to console your outraged God, deeply hurt by the numerous, grievous sins of humanity, by making Mary known and loved? God wishes your salvation, and Mary promises Her intercession on your behalf. Your little acts of love will be like those of St. Therese, the Little Flower. |
| Lucia]: “Am I to stay here alone?” |
Lucia is pierced in two ways: She does not receive her request to go to heaven soon and she is informed she will lose the companionship of her very dear cousins. |
| 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.” |
Again, Our Lady balances the pain of the cross with Her comfort--both in words and in commitment... an example for us in the way to extend mercy to the sorrowing. Mary does not hide from Lucia the painful truth, nor deny her sorrowful realization, but promises Lucia Her presence and Her help. Our compassion, too, must be balanced with truth and sacrificial commitment. |
[The light of God coming from Mary, again, permeates the children as they find themselves immersed in God. It is the communication of Her own participation of His Presence, which they share in. She reveals, and lets them experience, the glory of that joy which accompanies the acceptance of the Will of God in their life. We see the participation of their partnership together, acting both in heaven and on earth by the light, and how it was directed in their regard. This is the communion of saints. Lucia receives strength from this communication and her great suffering becomes bearable. In seeing Our Lady’s own Heart, pierced by thorns, they recognize and understand that She too, participates in a suffering that is made manifest to them on a human level. It is this participation of love and suffering which makes them understand they are ALL really in it together...yet, for Our Lady, a chasm of omission - thorns of ingratitude and blasphemies leveled against Her - are yet to be repaired, as God now reveals.]
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: God’s call and plan is made known to you. Let the truth of this reality sink deep within you. Go before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, or to a quiet place, and become aware of how these words affect you. The deeper you participate in its realization, the more Our Lady will be able to use you. Consider: Isn’t it so often true that we see things from our own perspective, and even perhaps other’s perspectives, but fail to see things from God’s point of view? So many set Mary aside thinking devotion to Her takes away from the attention we owe to Christ. Jesus is compared to Mary, and then Our Lady is rated accordingly. But Jesus wants us to look at Mary from His relationship perspective. In doing so, we might begin to understand the kind of relationship He wishes us to have with Him.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Ponder deeply on the relationship between Jesus and Mary, especially when you pray the Rosary. Consider how much Mary means to Jesus. How will you help to make Mary known and loved in order to please Him?
Act of Consecration
| “WHAT DO YOU WANT OF ME?”
“I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, 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.” |
Ready your heart. Open it in humble surrender. God’s Will for you is about to be revealed. Our Lady asks you for perseverance in your daily duty, whatever it is that is expected of you,
and for perseverance in praying the daily Rosary out of love for Her. Look beyond your per-
sonal reasons to pray it. Make the Rosary a priority and pray it for the spiritual good of all-- for
peace both interior and exterior, and for an end to evil in the world. None of these things can
be obtained without Our Lady’s help. Our personal efforts alone are not enough.
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| “I would like to ask you to tell us who you are,
and to work a miracle so that everybody will believe that you are appearing to us.” |
When we try to discern God’s Will for us, we should be aware that the devil can appear as an angel of light. Devils cannot do true miracles. A miracle would also confirm to Lucia the truth of what is spoken from the Source. One is not rash in asking for a sign IF the manner in which
something is communicated or what is being asked, is extraordinary. Otherwise, seeking
miraculous signs does not please God. |
| “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.”
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In order to receive this miracle, perseverance is necessary. Trust, too, must be exercised. Truth is revealed, not so much by words (which can easily be doubted, or false) but by the unfolding of events. We too must have faith that God keeps His promises to us, as
we go forward, for the most part, blindly.
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| “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many
times, especially whenever 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.”
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God alone knows who sinners are, i.e. those who love sin. All we can do is judge actions and appearances, but we are commanded not to judge persons. God alone knows the intentions of the heart. Yet even these souls we can reach by works of self-denial. God takes our intention,
offered for love of Jesus and Mary, and directed towards these souls. He applies the act
of love as a healing balm to warm cold hearts. See how Our Lady’s part in the plan of salvation
is linked right there with Jesus and ours?
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| “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go.” |
Those who love sin, run away from God and their inner struggle. They are in denial. At the moment of death, this condition is locked in place permanently as their choice, unless they make a last minute conversion obtained through a special grace. |
| “To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” |
Mary is the link between our spiritual and temporal condition. She unites God and man. God wishes to make this known to save these souls. |
| “If what I say to you is done, many souls will
be saved and there will be peace.”
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Through obedience to Her wishes, peace will come to body and soul--in this life and in the next.
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| “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.”
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Our Lady promises the end of the war as a down payment of the children’s sacrifices, united as they are, to the sufferings of Jesus and Mary. But She warns of a greater suffering if more people don’t respond.
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| “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.”
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A sign will be given that the world is still in the darkness of sin when a mysterious light appears. God always warns before He punishes. In the night of sin, a soul can still recognize the sign sent by God to warn it of impending punishments; but if the soul is not disposed to receive
the warning from God’s goodness, the sign will be denied, rejected, or ignored. This can
happen on an individual, national, or worldwide scale. Yet souls can still be saved in the final hour.
Ether we choose the cross or the cross chooses us.
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| “To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart,…
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Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, but Our Lady comes with an answer that is global in its outreach. She sees the WHOLE picture. She sees the strengths and weaknesses of EVERY person, of EVERY nation, of EVERY religion. Though pained, She looks past the sins of Her children. She sees everything that is Christ. Russia’s principal religious expression is Greek Orthodox. Their love for, and understanding of, the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary is profound, and begs the invitation of their spiritual insights. With the Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, Mary’s role can soon be clearly and publicly acknowledged and explained. She is the Destroyer of heresies and the One who will put a FINAL end to the widespread life-style of atheism, through the joining of the spirituality of east and west. All truth found outside the Church belongs to the Church - for the Church belongs to Christ; the Church IS Christ. |
| “...and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.”
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This requirement and request for personal reparation is necessary to prevent the annihilation of nations and to usher in the era of peace. By doing the necessary reparation to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, this will not only appease God’s justice for the sins of the world, but this particular devotion, properly fulfilled, will actually PREVENT further calamities. It brings with it an awareness of our responsibilities to God and man. A lifestyle of atheism is not exclusive to communism. Atheism can be practiced even by Catholics—any so-called Christian—who professes a belief in God,
even amidst religious practices, but whose heart and will are far removed from wanting to do
what God wants of them. This devotion obtains the special grace of the light of understanding for
these souls. Jesus told Sr. Lucia that He wants this devotion placed alongside devotion to His Divine
Heart.[1]
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| If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; |
Is this not the path Pope JohnPaul II had directed us to follow? Look at the strengths of those around you. Unite in partnership for the common good. The unity of Christians eventually will come as differences are discussed and complete understanding is finally achieved in those who have faith and who live by prayer and sacrifice. Communions of reparation on First Saturdays will obtain the necessary grace to bring this about.
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| ...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, ...
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The war of atheism is essentially a war against God, therefore it is directed primarily against the Church, as well as people in general. |
| ...various nations will be annihilated. |
This is the only DIRE prediction which has not yet been fulfilled. This last one serves as a warning to everybody - NOW! |
| In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.
The The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.
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Good will always win in the end, but at what cost if we are slow or deficient in response? promise of true peace WILL take place...but we choose whether it will be with or without the final threat of a calamity of world-wide proportion. |
| In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved;
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Sr. Lucia later revealed that Portugal was preserved from war and being over-run by communism because the Bishops of that country consecrated it to the Immaculate Heart of Mary... to be a sign for the rest of the world. |
| When you pray the Rosary, say after each
mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need ofThy mercy.
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With the Rosary prayed together with Mary, She instructs us to ask Jesus to apply these graces of salvation to ourselves and to everyone, especially sinners.
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REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: Awesome message! This third apparition takes in the whole picture, doesn’t it? What responsibility is squarely laid on the shoulders of each of us! What responsibility is squarely laid on the shoulders of us as a Church! How important it is that we each do our part, even if we were the only one in the world to obey! How important it is that we do all we can to join with as many as who will, to act as a whole? Truly we have set before us life or death, blessing or curse. We can go forward in faith, full of joy, knowing the victory is already ours as promised, heedless of the sufferings that come with picking up our cross - for we have nothing to fear of death or punishment if we choose to obey. There are many signs of hope. If we look, we can see Christ all around us. We do not deny there is evil, but we push forward to what is good, for even amongst evil there is good to be found. Steal truth and goodness away from the devil that he mixes with lies, and join all that is good together in Christ!
Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: In complete trust and surrender to the power of God working through Our Lady in the world, continue to make every effort to do all you can to ponder, study, and fulfill Our Lady’s requests as revealed in this apparition.
Act of Consecration
| “WHAT DO YOU WANT OF ME?”
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Let us again open our heart and listen to what Our Lady asks of us. |
| 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. |
Our Lady reminds us to persevere in our duty and to pray the Rosary daily. She reminds Lucia of the promise She made to her as a sign of Her own commitment. |
| [Lucia]: “What do you want done with the money that people leave in the Cova da Iria?” [Our Lady]: “Have two litters made. One is to be carried by you and Jacinta and two other girls dressed in white; the other is to be carried by Francisco and three other boys. The money from the litters is for the “festa” [feast] 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.” |
People are already contributing to the work that is going to be done in the building of a chapel, yet Our Lady has not even made Her request for it yet. When God prepares us for a work, if we are obedient in the preparation of our souls, God is already bringing together events to make this work possible, which He will involve us in, at a later time. |
| [Lucia]: “I would like to ask you to cure some sick persons.” [Our Lady]: “Yes, I will cure some of them during the year.” |
Lucia again asks mercy for some sick persons and Our Lady gives limited consent… |
| [Looking very sad, Our Lady says]: “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.” |
What Our Lady really wants is to extend mercy that goes beyond the corporal works of mercy. She pleads for the means to be extended to people that will bring them eternal mercies. So many people are preoccupied with temporal good works that give life to the body, but few want to apply themselves to good works which truly give lasting benefit and eternal life to souls. This requires the true virtue of divine love of self-denial and self-giving, rather than only human love which is mingled with self-love.
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REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: Let us examine our motives for the things we do. We need only occupy ourselves with those things that have to do with our state in life. It is possible to be too busy with “extras” (be it parish work, visitations, apostolic endeavors, etc. as well as wasted time taken up with unnecessary activities), that we crowd out or make seemingly “good” excuses for avoiding those things at home which we really need to do to bring life to bodies and souls. By prioritizing, we can live a balanced, peaceful lifestyle. As we master our vocational call and put our own household in order, we will be able to see our way clear to do whatever else God may call us to. Unless He does the calling, we must ask ourselves, ‘Who’s will am I doing?’
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Examine your motives and lifestyle. Prioritize and live your vocation by putting your household in order. Prayer and sacrifice must be our priority in living a balanced, peaceful lifestyle to fulfill God’s Will in our lives.
Act of Consecration
[As Lucia had digressed, something can be said on the matter of the digression itself: People are so taken up with appearances that they lock themselves in a kind of a mental prison. If Jesus, but for one brief second, showed Himself in the Great Sacrament of the altar, which He has entrusted to us, all these people, and certainly ourselves, would flock to Him with all those things that crowd our heart and thoughts. But our good Jesus knows our weakness, and so He allows little specks of His light to enter us, through the means that we choose to reach Him in others, when our desire is there to reach out and touch Him. But what great wonders untold does He pour out in great measure to those who come to Him at the Source. If we but have the dispositions of Our Lady in our attitude in approaching Him, heaven and earth would be ours!]
| “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.” |
ALL things can be obtained from the power of Our Lady’s intercession through the Rosary. What is it that calls you to prayer? What is most important to you? What drives you forward to hope? If nothing, what would? What is your deepest longing? If you could do anything, be anything, or obtain anything in the whole world, what would be your desire? Our Lady tells you to continue to pray the Rosary. |
| “In October Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Dolors and Our Lady of Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world.” |
Our Lady has plans for the October event and reveals to Lucia that the request she had asked for would include more than what Our Lady had promised her. Our good Mother uses our requests to commit Herself to a promise that She will answer in a greater way than we could ever imagine, if we are faithful to our part of the commitment. |
| “God is pleased with your sacrifices.” |
The children set themselves each day to strive hard to please God. How consoling these words must have been to them. Our Lady, this time, did not increase on them a greater urgency of giving themselves more, as She did in the third apparition. They had truly turned their lives over to making this their primary work and were now heartened to hear they were succeeding in their objective. This becomes an examination of conscience for ourselves-- how hard are we striving to please God? Are we sincerely sacrificing ourselves to obtain a worthy purpose from our prayers? |
| “He does not want you to sleep with the rope on, but only wear it during the daytime.” |
Our good and Holy Father in Heaven is very reasonable. He desires that we daily work and train ourselves to give ourselves completely without reserve to a righteous cause until, like Christ, we hold nothing back. However, He knows our humanness (that we are but dust), and He understands our weakness. So in His most wonderful plan He has set within the natural order, times to rest-- for the day, the week, the year, and additionally in the Church, Holydays and Jubilee Years. Even in the Old Testament, one was considered unclean only until evening, and one day is given within seven to rest. All of us take some time during the year to go on vacation. God blesses rest and makes it holy. In fact, He has made it His day, claiming it for Himself and showing Himself to be the Giver of rest. These times are to refresh us, so that we might have the strength to begin again. |
| [Lucia]: “I was told to ask you many things, the cure of some sick people, of a deaf-mute...” [Our Lady]: “Yes, I will cure some, but not others.” |
Why does Our Lady cure some but not others? We know the greater good of the person is at stake here. Will the cure bring about a good for the individual? Or will it free them from an impediment which keeps them from a life of sin? Suffering is not an end in itself. There is a definite purpose for it. Once it has achieved its purpose, the suffering is removed. If the removal of the suffering would cause greater harm, Our Lady will protect us from ourselves and leave us to carry that cross. How good She is! Our Divine Parents know us, and what is good for us, better than we know ourselves.
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| “In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe". |
Lucia has kept her commitments. Our Lady again promises She will keep Hers |
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION:Go back again and read the questions addressed in the first paragraph of the commentary of this instruction. Formulate the desire you wish to entrust to Our Lady. Give it to Her and let Her bring it about for you. She says in another place: “Believe in me, I will believe in you;[1] ” and, “Take care of my interests and I will take care of yours.” We continue to fulfill our duties, but we don’t make plans to bring about that which we will entrust to Her. She will arrange the events to bring it about Herself. Persevere in the promises you make for living out Our Lady’s wishes. If you do, She will make known to you a promise... a gift from Her Immaculate Heart-- a personal gift to you. In the measure which you give, it will be given back to you. If you persevere to the end, you will receive your request. Too many give up right at the edge of receiving all, because they lose it all by giving up. We must die in order to rise. We must persevere when everything is lost and things seem hopeless. It is then that we have reached the point which precedes the resurrection of the promise to be fulfilled...right when it is the most impossible. How strong is your faith? If we break with faith, the promise will still be fulfilled, but it will be late and at what cost?
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: What is the deepest longing and desire of your heart, that you would be willing to pray and sacrifice for, in order to obtain or achieve it? Entrust it to Our Lady. Fulfill Her requests daily. Persevere; and let Our Lady prove Her commitment to you.
Act of Consecration
| [Lucia begins her account to describe the scene leading up to the final apparition. She says, “Once there, moved by an interior impulse, I asked the people to shut their umbrellas and say the Rosary”...]
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What is Our Lady teaching here through Lucia? Go against your natural inclinations. Renounce yourselves whenever you see the occasion. Do the opposite your feelings desire until your feelings no longer dictate to you what you should or shouldn’t do. |
| “What do you want of me?” |
Now Lucia is ready; stripped of her feelings, supple and ready to be used in the hands of God, herself once more at the service of Our Lady ready to carry out the task which Our Lady has been preparing her for.
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| “I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor.” |
Our Lady makes Her simple request— a chapel in Her honor— not the great Basilica seen today in the heart of Fatima built by the generosity of the people, but a chapel. Capelinha means “little chapel”. It is here, in this little place where our humble Mother appeared. She Herself is little ‘chapel’ of God. |
| “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” |
What is the Rosary but a depiction of the intertwined lives of Jesus and Mary? Is this not why She insists we pray it, so by way of comparison, we can see our own lives intertwined therein in the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries? She has set the pattern of our own lives before our very eyes! Through this prayer and by living lives of self-denial, we can begin to see it take shape! With the eyes of faith, we will be able to look beyond the present circumstances and see the resurrection beyond the suffering of carrying the cross of our daily duties, beyond the crucifixion when all seems lost. We will be able to hold on. We are in the Heart of Our Lady of the Rosary!
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| “The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.” |
It is finished. Lucia has reached the resurrection of a promise about to be fulfilled. The quota of Rosaries and sacrifices were met to obtain the end of the war, combined with Our Lady’s treasury of merits as Co-Redemptrix in union with Christ. |
| [Lucia]: “I have many things to ask you: the cure of some sick persons, the conversion of sinners, and other things...” [Our Lady]: “Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.”
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Everyone is on this spiritual pilgrimage. Notice the conversion of sinners has now been added -- the people are learning. Here Our Lady specifically reveals the reason why She says ‘no’ to some. |
| “Do not offend the Lord our God any more because He is already so much offended.” |
Here is the heartfelt cry of Our Lady, pleading as She is from Her Immaculate Heart, and wounded deeply by the sins of humanity against God, Whom She loves more than Herself. |
[With that, She opens Her hands so that the light from them reflect on the sun- a symbol and figure of the Son of God- revealing a mystery. As Christ reflects and projects His eternal light in the life of Our Lady, so also Our Lady, as She ascends, reflects and projects this very light on His symbol found in nature, displaying the various manifestations of its beauty and power to change the course of history, as Christ can and does in our life to the degree in which we cooperate. [Lucia, moved by an interior impulse for the second time, directs the people to look at the sun, though she is unaware of their presence. See how Our Lady makes us docile instruments of the Holy Spirit once we are dead to our feelings and to the awareness of things and people around us.In the new life, everything and everyone is only seen and addressed in a new way. Life is not ended but changed. [The children see the Holy Family which can be said to illustrate the joyful mysteries of life and the need for the sanctification of the family.The Holy Family is a model of the life of the Blessed Trinity and a pattern of living set before us. In the blessing of St. Joseph, and the Child Jesus on the world, we see in that act God’s blessing upon our humanity which we must work to divinize through a life of prayer, self-denial, and self-giving by service to God and each other amidst our daily family duties.[The second vision of Our Lord and Our Lady of Dolors seems to illustrate the sorrowful mysteries of life; not so much the sorrowful mysteries of Christ, but rather the sorrows of Our Lady. It is usually the women of the world who carry the suffering of the sorrowful mysteries in their heart due to the sins and injustice in the world. Jesus blesses the world again, as though through these prayers and sufferings they bear. How many women today, however, have been the causes of these very sufferings because they have refused to bear the cross and be Jesus to the world?! [The last apparition of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel can be said to illustrate the glorious mysteries of our lives. The Brown Scapular, which She silently holds out for us to wear, is a devotion of the heart: a devotion of a higher love. It is a silent hidden devotion of “presence”— living presence. It is the living presence of the love of Jesus and Mary for us. By our wearing it, it becomes a sign of our living presence to Them. We live in the company of each other. In the new life, you are constantly aware of Their presence, even if you are not thinking of Them, just as you are aware of someone being in the same room with you.. On the way to this new life, you may not be aware of Their presence, but you still stand before Them. This is your sign to them that you wish to get to heaven, or at very least to avoid hellfire. The good news is, we can begin to live this new life, Our Lord’s resurrected and glorious life, dead to the world and alive for God, even before we come to the end of our mortal life, simply through perseverance by living the way of life described in these lessons.]
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION:When you pray the Rosary, you may notice how your mind wanders through events that have happened throughout the day. When you find this happening to you, gently draw its connection to the Mysteries you are meditating on. Reflect on the pattern of living that Jesus and Mary show you in Their lives. Your distractions then become a means to your desired end. We are enlightened in the Divine Mysteries, however, not by intellectual efforts alone. It is only through the help of the Holy Spirit. Without sacrifice, you may find this to be a laborious task. For others, the Rosary may cause your mind to go blank. In this case, speak mentally to Jesus and Mary during your prayer or just rest in Their presence, until you find your mind has taken you somewhere else. Through practice and experimenting with different ways of praying, the Rosary will be a means of working out your salvation through amendment of life, asking forgiveness for sins, and avoiding evil.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Pray and live the Rosary by using it as a means to amend your life, ask forgiveness for your sins, and avoid offending God.
Act of Consecration
| [ON DECEMBER 10, 1925, THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN appeared to her, and by her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was a Child. The Most Holy Virgin rested Her hand on her shoulder, and as She did so, She showed her a Heart encircled by thorns, which She was holding in Her other hand. |
See how very close and personal Our Lady is in resting her hand on Lucia’s shoulder. Jesus and Mary aren’t distanced and detached from us as we so often imagine. As Our Lady is close
to our sorrows and as She makes it Her mission to console and relieve us in the difficult call-
ing of carrying our cross, so here She draws close to us, as a friend would, and shows Her
own Heart encircled with the thorns of pain that are directly aimed at Her as a person. |
| [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.”
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In the preceding messages, we see that the Heart of our holy Mother is preoccupied with, and pained deeply by, the sins of humanity against Her Beloved Son. It is in these visions Our Lord, with the pleading of a Child, calls us to consider that which preoccupies Him and wounds Him deeply.
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| [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.”
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Ingratitude? In what way are we ungrateful? Pierced at every moment? How? By blasphemies too? What can this mean? Let us look at any human mother and we can begin to make some
sense of the ingratitude Our Lady speaks of. One of the most, if not the most, thankless jobs
there is, is to be a mother. Begin to consider this; then consider the sacrifices that Our Lady makes
and suffers for us, Her children, in doing all She does, at every moment, to get us to heaven.
Remember, the Holy Spirit works through Her in granting and working the graces we receive in
our souls. Think of how She is often forgotten or ignored-- no credit is given where credit is due.
No thought, nor thanks. There is nothing so painful as to untiringly and selflessly give ourselves
in the service of another and have them totally ignore you or never offer a word of thanks—worse
yet, to be treated badly, to be taken for granted, used, or even spoken ill of. Blasphemies are offenses against God Himself. How is it that they can be referenced in any way to Mary? Our Lady’s privileges are the work of God Himself, His personal acts, which He wrought in Mary alone, in a miraculous way. Because of Mary’s intimate relationship with God, these five attacks against Our Lady have been referred by Our Lord to Sr. Lucia as:
1. Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Conception.
2. Blasphemies against Her Perpetual Virginity.
3. Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity and as the Mother of mankind.
4. Efforts made to implant in children indifference, contempt, & even hatred toward Our Lady.
5. Direct insults hurled at Her sacred images.
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| “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.” |
She asks for consolation from you who DO love Her. She makes a great promise to those who practice this devotion. They will receive help from Her at the most critical moment of their entire life: At the brink of entering into eternity. She is very specific in what She asks for as a remedy:
1.Confession (may be done 8 days before or after)
2. Holy Communion
3. Recitation of the Holy Rosary
4. Additional 15 minute meditation on one or more of the Mysteries...all with the intention of making reparation to Her Immaculate Heart. This form of reparation involves you by participation in Mary’s partnership with Christ in the plan of salvation. Think of Her part in each of those areas.
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| [On February 15, 1926, the Infant Jesus appeared to her again. He asked her if she had already spread the devotion to His Most Holy Mother. She told Him of the confessor’s
difficulties, and said that Mother Superior was prepared to propagate it, but that the confessor had said that she, alone, could do nothing.] |
February 15, 1926 The Child Jesus is persistent, as we should be, in carrying out a mission to its completion. Though, as God, He already knows the answer which He asks of Lucia, Jesus speaks to her (as He does with us) on a human level of partnership in communication and to move her not to give up. |
| [Jesus]: “It is true that your Superior alone can do nothing, but with my grace, she can do all.” |
Though we deal with Our Lord in prayer on a human level, our action and persistence must move us forward in faith, remembering that His partnership with us is on a divine level. There are NO obstacles except the ones we accept in our mind. We must remember these obstacles are only mirages. Practice prayer and perseverance.
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[Sr. Lucia placed before Jesus the difficulty that some people had about confessing on Saturday, and asked that it might be valid to go to Confession within eight days.]
[Jesus]: Yes, and it could be longer still, provided that, when they receive Me, they are in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
[Lucia]: My Jesus, what about those who forget to make his intention?
[Jesus]: They can do so at their next Confession, taking advantage of the first opportunity to go to
Confession.
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Jesus removes all obstacles. He makes it so easy; there is no reason why we cannot console His good Mother and ours. The intention is primary to Him, along with the necessity of being in the state of grace. |
NOTE: Though they are not recorded in Lucia Speaks, there were other important messages revealed in reference to the First Saturdays. They are given below without comment for your own reflection. One can see just how seriously important these devotions are to Our Lord (emphasis added):
Sr. Lucia wrote: “God promises to put an end to the persecution in Russia, if Your Holiness is pleased to make, and instructs all the Bishops of the Catholic world to also make a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and approves and recommends the devotion of reparation.” [1] [NOTE: This Consecration was done March 25, 1984] Sr. Lucia asked Our Lord why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making the Consecration. “Because (Our Lord said) I want My entire Church to recognize this consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that this devotion will then be extended and to place the devotion to this Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Divine Heart.” [2] [May 18, 1936]
To Sr. Lucia, in March of 1939, Jesus said: “Ask, ask again insistently for the promulgation of the Communion of Reparation in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the First Saturdays. The time is coming when the rigor of My Justice will punish the crimes of diverse nations. Some of them will be annihilated. At last the severity of My Justice will fall severely on those who want to destroy My Reign in souls.”(Documentos, pg. 465) [3] Sr. Lucia: “Our Lady promised to put off the scourge of war if this devotion was propagated and practiced. We see that She will obtain REMISSION of this chastisement to the extent that efforts are made to propagate this devotion...” [June 20, 1939]
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: By the practice of the First Saturdays, we learn not to take anyone for granted, least of all Our Lady. We learn to appreciate and acknowledge the gifts everyone gives to us: God, Our Lady, parents...everyone around us. As you fulfill the First Saturday requests, see this as an opportunity to renew your commitment to begin again to follow after the way the Blessed Mother has taught us at Fatima. See in it an occasion to go to everyone you can, those whom you may have forgotten during your life, or those whom you have not shown gratitude to. Return and give thanks. Be generous; not only to them, but also to those whom you feel have done you harm. Forgive them as an act of reparation. Give a gift of kindness to them too, remembering what Jesus and Mary have done for you.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Fulfill the request of Jesus and Mary for First Saturdays in reparation for the sins which wound Their Hearts. Extend a spirit of gratitude to Them and others.
Act of Consecration
[Lucia speaks of the events that precede the vision. Then she relates what she saw]:
| Suddenly the whole chapel was illumined by a supernatural Light, and above the altar appeared a Cross of Light, reaching to the ceiling. In a brighter light on the upper part of the Cross, could be seen the Face of a Man and His Body as far as the waist; upon His Breast was a Dove of Light; nailed to the Cross was the Body of another Man.
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“As forward we travel from light into Light.” In the light of faith, i.e. the sight of understanding, we can see the image of God in the Man, Jesus Christ. By pondering and understanding the great depth of God’s love for us, as revealed in Jesus (and entering into it as a partner with Him), He shows us the way to travel forward from the light of an internal hidden love for God expressed in a silent outward deed of sacrificial love for God and humanity, into the divine and brighter Light of heaven, where the Father dwells. The Holy Spirit is the Light of Love from the Father’s Heart. This is the Two in One Love of the Father and the Son. It is the Holy Spirit that binds Them as One.
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| A little below the waist, I could see a Chalice and a large Host suspended 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 Chalice.
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The Host and Chalice, with His drops of Blood, reveal the same Mystery: Jesus Christ’s Humanity and Divinity reveals the sacrificial love of the Father in human terms we can understand. Here, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacramental species of bread and wine are changed into Christ’s living Body and Blood, in which He gives Himself up for us under a new form, as He did on the Cross. Think of what humility and obedience He practices (despite offenses received) in cooperating with the order of things He has set up, and binds Himself under, in order to communicate His love to us on an individual personal level.
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| 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.)
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God reveals the same mystery again in the person of His Mother. Just as bread puts up no resistance to God’s possessing it, changing it entirely into Himself, without the bread losing its appearance or characteristics of that which makes it bread, so Our Lady, of Her own free will, puts up no resistance to God’s possessing Her and changing Her entirely into Himself, without Her ceasing to be the individual that She is. As St. Paul says, “It is now no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” How much more can this be said of Mary, who never knew sin! When we see Mary, we see God’s love expressed in a female form. She is below the right arm of the cross (where His sheep are gathered--Matt. 25:32-33) because She is the example of what we must do and become in order to participate in the self- same transformation.
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| 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.”
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Under the left arm (where the goats are gathered), we see that grace and mercy are available to sinners, as well as to us when we sin; to obtain remission and pardon, and to assist them to conversion.
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| [Our Lady]: “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...”
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The time has arrived in salvation history in which God wishes to reveal these Mysteries. The spirituality in Russia, with its eastern mysticism, enfolds, embodies, and deeply expounds these Mysteries, as only mystic sight can do. Once Russia is ‘converted’ and turns back to its Faith, the contribution it will bring to the Church will be so profound and rich, it will unite east
and west. It will bring about the unity of Christians and set precedence for the proclamation of the final Marian dogma. This will usher in the Triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart and the promised era of peace.
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REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: Ponder each of these mysteries in silent prayer and reflection. See how very personal God’s love is for you. See His pattern that He has set before you, for you to follow. There is no reason any longer to hold back in fear. You need only to surrender yourself like Mary and say, “Yes” to God’s Will for you. He is with you every step of the way. Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart is your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Do everything with Her, in Her, and for Her. You need only practice self-denial through humility and obedience. Everything else you will learn on the way.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Ponder the Mysteries in silent reflection and prayer. Be not afraid to surrender yourself completely in humility and obedience to God’s Will for you, in the safe refuge of Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
Act of Consecration
NOTE: In offering this personal interpretation of the Third Secret, we do not wish to go before the Church in presuming this as an exact explanation. It is but a humble submission of a possible interpretation offered in the light of the Fatima message, which has gone before it with the same symbolic
meditations found in the preceding lessons.] Read the Third Secret in its entirety first (found on the bottom of this page) and then return to accompanying commentary.
“After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above...” - Our left is usually seen as the side ‘against us’, even as the right is ‘for us’. The Angel is at Our Lady’s left because She doesn’t wish us to suffer the chastisement, but is a little above because God’s justice demands it. “we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand;” - This Angel, a minister of God’s justice, symbolically stands before the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24), a mystical garden, which encloses the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge could be said to house WHAT God is (i.e. His attributes of knowledge of good and evil), while the Tree of Life houses WHO God is (i.e. the Holy Eucharist).
Let us look at each ‘tree’ in the light of today’s events:
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes knowledge that is not only known to us, but also knowledge that is forbidden to us—knowledge of future events (good or evil), or of peering into areas that are dealing with the world of spirits. This information is often sought after through vain curiosity, such as “apparition hopping” or through forbidden means, such as disobedience to the voice of the local Church. We fall away from our daily duty when we have “itching ears” to seek after another gospel. This Tree also houses what God is NOT, such as self- seeking and sin of all kinds.
The Tree of Life symbolizes Mary[1], who brings forth the Fruit that gives everlasting Life. It can also be said to be the Cross. This tree bears within it the mystery of Christ’s love. Through self-denial, Jesus gives the self-sacrificial gift of Himself: His Body and His Blood. Jesus shows us the body is for crucifixion, i.e. penance, self-denial; and the blood (our life) is to be poured out in acts of self-giving mercy in the service of others. From this we see that the Tree of Life is Christ and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is anti-Christ.[2]
“flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire;” - This mystical garden has been crossed, or rather the Tree of Life has been violated, not so much by the world (for it will always partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), but by the members of the Church that partake of the Tree of Knowledge AND the Tree of Life. It is the Church that has the mission to save the world by partaking of the Tree of Life and of living Christ’s life — a life of penance and of self-giving through service to God and our fellow men. How is the world to be saved when its ‘savior’ has become anti-Christ; slayers of Christ and of society??
“but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand:” - Our Lady has obtained mercy for us (this, of course, was obtained together with the merits of Christ, with all those who have been obedient to Her message, and those who have suffered patiently)...but it is only a Temporary Grace. We have reached the “fullness of times”; in other words, the cup has been filled by the sufferings and obedience of those who have said, “Yes”. The world has been temporarily saved by Our Lady through the merits of Jesus Christ, together with the few. Those who have partaken of the Tree of Knowledge have been deceived; they have chosen an apparent good. Our Lady manifests the prayer of Christ, “Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do.” Now there comes the second stage:
“pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’ - Now is the time for all of us to respond, and it is URGENT! All need to receive the Message and all of us have need to respond because the time of grace and mercy is temporary ! [3]
“And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ ” - [This calls to mind when the three shepherd children saw themselves in this light and exclaimed, “O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament!] This can be said to be the soul’s revelation or unveiling and its likeness to God. Just as He is veiled under the appearance of bread, so He is veiled by our appearance in human form.
“a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father’. - They see the hidden Christ on earth crucified in the Pope, and how his life compares with Our Lord’s. “Other Bishops, Priests, men and women religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark;” - This symbolizes the mystical climb of their spiritual life. The rough-hewn trunks of a cork tree call to mind the basic raw, some-times harsh, difficulty of the performance of one’s daily duty. This is the call of the Gospel expressed at Fatima where cork trees are common. Our Lord told Sr. Lucia, “The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require.”
“before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins...” - This is the Church. The First Greatest Commandment has fallen into ruins, while the Second Greatest Commandment stands as though for its own sake.
“and half trembling with halting step,...” - The Holy Father seems to stop, as though to look again at the situation in the Church and the world. He cannot reach to everyone: respect for the common dignity of every human person. In this way the whole person can be addressed, and an attitude of understanding must be formed to know the reasons why people think as they do. Through listening and dialogue, and by focusing on that which we have in common as a brotherhood in Christ, we are called to make our pilgrimage as Catholics who know our Faith and then share it in true concern for our fellowman instead of focusing on our differences and accusing one another. We must forgive and be forgiven. We must go forward in faith.
“afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way;” - The Holy Father prays for those dead through mortal sin. He wants to reach them too.
“having reached the top of the mountain,...” - spiritual maturity; the fullness of Christ in suffering...“on his knees at the foot of the big Cross...” - Here he makes the offering of his life...
“he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him...,” - It is finished. He can give no more. Spending himself completely for the life of the Church, his enemies had totally succeeded in crushing his life to the ground. He died a mystical death...a complete death to self. His enemies had desired to kill any knowledge or remembrance of Christ from the face of the earth by directing it at his person. Bullets are the intent to kill the life of Christ and arrows are words of hatred and criticism. The physical attempt on the Pope’s life was merely the open manifestation of what lay hidden.
“and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.”-These too suffer mystical death (white martyrdom). These deaths and the death of the Pope (i.e. death to self), all together fill up the measure which the splendor of Our Lady’s right hand used to cause the fire to die out, which was to strike the world principally due to the fault of sins and disobedience within the Church.
“Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.” - The two arms of the Cross can be said to be love of God and neighbor. The blood of those who have physically died as Martyrs is mystically sprinkled on those who made this mystic journey and were responding to the call of prayer and penance. Red and white martyrdom call to mind the Blood and Water gushing from the side of Christ Who offers us His Mercy.
REFLECTION AND RESPONSE: It can be seen in this, the Third Secret of Fatima, the action of the Holy Spirit in the Mystical Body of Christ in redeeming souls and the role of the Blessed Mother in gathering us all in Her, so as to obtain mercy and forgiveness for all humanity from Christ, Who set the pattern in His suffering and death to save us all. This work is not yet done. We are still in danger unless enough people today respond to the message of Fatima. Otherwise we shall bring upon ourselves our own destruction. The Gospel is the timeless message of prayer and penance. The message of Fatima is tailor made for us to see its practical application in our lives and for the times in which we live. Its urgency and importance bids us no longer be distracted, or preoccupied, with the joys of this world, but to be generous in our response for the sake of saving both body and soul of ourselves and of others. If you have not yet done so, please make the commitment to do what Our Lady asks of each of us: for love of God, for your own good, and for the good of others. Pray the Rosary; meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary- our Pattern of living. Wear the Brown Scapular; consecrate your life to Their Two Hearts live in Their Presence and under Their protection. Do your daily duty, accept and live your responsibilities to God and to others- your part of the cross. Make the First Saturdays; repair for those who are bringing the world to its destruction by their crimes so that they too may receive forgiveness and healing- this is the hope of the world. Say “Yes”. Sign the black Army Pledge- the outward sign of your commitment to be a part of the Church militant in bringing God’s Kingdom to this world so there will be peace.
“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph and there will be peace.”
Will you join Her ranks?
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Sign the black Army Pledge…and live it. If you have already done so, renew your commitment and get others to join.
Act of Consecration
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Given below is the complete translation of the original Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria-Fatima on July 13, 1917, and committed to paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. "After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
[1] True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by St. Louis de Montfort #44 - 45. It must be understood that #45 makes reference to both trees only in a positive, or sinless, sense; i.e. for those who live a life fully redeemed. The symbolism spoken of in this interpretation refers to those redeemed who go beyond what is permissible, and leave the kind of life they are called to live.
[2] Pope John Paul II: speaking in September 1976, then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, said: "We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think the wide circles of the American society, or wide circles of the Christian community, realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel, between Christ and anti-Christ. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church must take up.”
[3] Sr. Lucia: writing to the Holy Father on May 12, 1982, referring to the prophecy “various nations will be annihilated”, added: “If we have not yet seen the complete fulfillment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides.” Deadline - The Third Secret of Fatima by John Haffert, pg. 4 - 5
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