Remembering Fatima 13 July
This month we recall some very important lessons, firstly the existence of hell and the fact that many go there, but more importantly, Our Lady gives us a solution to help save people from the fires of hell.
The Third apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.
Mr. Marto, father of Jacinta and Francisco, noticed that when the third apparition began, a small grayish cloud hovered over the holm oak, the sunlight diminished, and a cool breeze blew over the mountain range, despite it being the height of summer. He also heard something like flies inside an empty jug. The seers saw the customary glare, and then Our Lady over the holm oak.
Lucia: What does Your Grace wish of me? Our Lady: I want you to come here on the 13th of next month and to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for she alone can be of any avail.
Lucia: I would like to ask you to tell us who you are and to perform a miracle so everyone will believe that Your Grace appears to us.
Our Lady: Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I wish, and I will perform a miracle that everyone shall see so as to believe.
Lucia then made a number of requests for conversions, cures, and other graces. Our Lady recommended the constant recitation of the rosary; thus they would obtain those graces during the year.
Then Our Lady went on: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make a sacrifice, ‘O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.‘”
‘The Secret’
It is in July 1917, during the third apparition of Our Lady, that the Blessed Virgin Mary reveals ‘the secret’ of Fatima to the children – in three parts.
Part 1 – Vision of Hell
When Our Lady talked about hell to the children, she opened her hands as she had during the two previous apparitions. Lucia described what happened. “The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire.”
“Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.”
The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.”
In the book The True Story of Fatima, author Father John de Marchi recounts how Jacinta’s father Ti Marto witnessed the children’s actions in the Cova da Iria that day. He remembered “that Lucia gasped in sudden horror, that her face was white as death, and that all who were there heard her cry in terror to the Virgin Mother, whom she called by name,” writes Father de Marchi. “The children were looking at their Lady in terror, speechless, and unable to plead for relief from the scene they had witnessed.” (…from NCR)
Part 2 – Warning of the chastisement (World War) – and how to avoid it
The children then looked up at Our Lady, who said to them so kindly and so sadly:
“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 [World War I] is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI [World War II]. 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. [EWTN note: a strange light occurred on 28 January, 1938]
“To prevent this [World War II], 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 [Communism], 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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the faith will always be preserved.” Then, Our Lady again spoke:
“Do not tell this to anyone. But you may tell Francisco about it.”
“When you say the Rosary, after each mystery, pray: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy.’ “An instant of silence followed, and I asked, “Is there nothing else you wish of me?”
“No. Today I want nothing else of you.” And, as usual, she began to rise toward the east until she disappeared in the vast distance of the firmament.
Part 3 – The Angel with the Flaming Sword
Sister Lucia revealed both parts 1 and 2 to the public in 1941. But this third part, commonly called the ‘Third secret’, which Our Lady gave to the children for the Pope, was omitted in her Memoirs.
She wrote this third part in January 1944, at the request of the Bishop of Leiria, Dom José Alves Correia da Silva. On 26 June 2000, in accordance with specific instructions from His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released the text of the Third Secret. This is the Vatican’s official English translation of the text of the Third Secret as published on the Vatican website: J.M.J
The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fátima, on 13 July 1917.
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 splendour 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.
The effects of the message and seeing Mary’s sad face on the seers
In the July apparition, the Blessed Virgin had told the children, “the Holy Father will have much to suffer.” Jacinta developed a special love for the Pope and always included him in her prayers and sacrifices. When she was in the prison cell of Ourem with the other two seers, surrounded by hardened criminals and threatened with torture and death by Masonic state officials who opposed the explosion of devotion provoked by the apparitions, she prayed: “O my Jesus, this is for love of you, for the conversion of sinners, for the Holy Father and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Jacinta grew to love the Holy Father and to sense his spiritual identification with Christ in his headship over the Church. She intuited that the Pope shares uniquely in Jesus’ agony over sin and, through that knowledge, gave herself to heroic acts of penance to save sinners from hell and thereby console both Jesus and the Holy Father. Love, loyalty , and dedication to the Pope are essential components of the Fatima message from the beginning. On 26 June 2000, when the Vatican released the Third Secret of Fatima, which deals with an attack on the life of the Holy Father, the relationship of Fatima and the Papacy became all the more apparent. (We instantly recall the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Square on 13 May 1981.)
Francisco, like Jacinta, attained heroic charity by following the call of the Blessed Virgin. Contemplating the sorrow on the face of Mary during the July apparition, he came to understand that even the loss of one person in the fires of hell causes untold agony in the heart of Christ. This knowledge propelled him to console Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.
Lucia wrote: “Francisco was a boy of few words. Whenever we prayed or offered sacrifices, he preferred to go apart and hide, even from Jacinta and me.
“If I asked him: ‘Francisco, which do you like better – to console Our Lord or to convert sinners – so that no more souls will go to hell?’
“‘I would rather console Our Lord,’ he said. ‘Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month when she said that people must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already much offended? I would like to console Our Lord and after that, to convert sinners.’”
What we can do: Offerings and Sacrifice
Along with praying a daily Rosary one way for peace and to keep on the path to heaven is sacrifice.
In ‘A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary’, we learn Sr Lucia wrote to the Bishop of Leiria what the Lord told her. “This is now the penance that our good Lord asks: The sacrifice that all people have to impose on themselves is to lead a life of righteousness in the observance of His Law, and to do this to make clear the way for souls, because many judge the meaning of the word p enance in great austerity; they do not feel the strength and p leasure to do it and get discouraged in a life of weakness and sin.”
The Lord told her: “The sacrifice of each one required is the fulfillment of their own duty and observance of My Law; it is Penance that is now demanded and asked.”
Sr Lucy reminded us of the Sacrifice Prayer taught by Our Lady at Fatima.
PRAYER:
O My Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
And we can also add the Morning Offering prayer to offer up all we do and go through for the day.
PRAYER:
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Doctor of the Church St Thérèse of Lisieux shows that little sacrifices have a great impact — little sacrifices in our daily duties, as the World Apostolate of Fatima also notes. These simple acts, like being charitable to a rude person, or taking care of a sick child, can resonate with graces for others and ourselves.
CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY’S IMMACULATE HEART
In July 1917, Our Lady told the children that World War I would end. But there would be another war (a chastisement) if her warning was not heeded. And indeed World War II was initiated near the end of Pius XI’s reign in 1939.
However, there was a preventative: The Rosary. It obviously was not taken to heart by enough people. But it still remains the answer to peace today.
Our Lady gave another preventative at that time too. Consecration.
Russia to be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart:
“To prevent this, I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins of the world. If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, bringing new wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; certain nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and the world will enjoy a period of peace…”
The Consecration (from National Catholic Register)
Though the answer was given and verified, there remains controversy about this in some places. Now is not the place to go into the details except for these: The first consecration was made by Venerable Pius XII on May 13, 1942, the silver anniversary of Fatima’s first apparition, but was invalid because it wasn’t done in union with the bishops of the world. Eventually, the consecration was made at St. Peter’s by St. John Paul II on 25 March, 1984. Sister Lucia wrote very clearly this consecration was accepted by heaven.
Indispensable Consecration to Mary and the Linking of the Two Hearts: The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In fulfillment of her promise at Fatima on 13 July 1917, Our Lady appeared to Sr Lucia in Tuy, Spain on 13 June 1929. The Holy Trinity was visibly present. She told Lucia:
“The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.”
In A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, it is revealed that in 1936 Sr Lucia wrote to her confessor, “Intimately I have spoken to Our Lord about the subject, and not too long ago I asked Him why He did not just convert Russia without the Holy Father making the consecration.
Our Lord replied:
‘Because I want my whole Church to acknowledge this consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate heart of Mary, in order to later extend its cult, and to place this devotion to the Immaculate Heart alongside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.’
Sr Lucia added, “Pray much for the Holy Father. He will do it, but it will be too late. Nevertheless, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia. It has been entrusted to her.”
Addressing Pope John Paul II in a letter dated 12 May 1982, Sr Lucia wrote, “The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.
“Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And 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. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.”
“And,” Sr Lucia continued, “let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary, it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness, God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence, people are responsible.”
What is our responsibility?
The 13 July 1917 message of Our Lady tells us:
- Pray the Rosary daily
- Make Sacrifices and pray for sinners
- Make the Five First Saturday devotions (“communions of reparation”)
- Consecrate (ourselves, our families, our nations) to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Our Lady of All Nations prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Father, send now Your Spirit over the earth. Let the Holy Spirit live in the hearts of all nations that they may be preserved from degeneration, disaster and war. May The Lady of All Nations, who once was Mary, be our advocate. Amen.
Credits:
https://americaneedsfatima.org; https://www.ncregister.com/blog/on-july-13- 1917-our-lady-of-fatima-showed-a-vision-of-hell-and-taught-us-how-to-avoid-it? amp; https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/third-apparition-of-our-lady- 23365; https://www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/cis/cis341.pdf
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