THE LIGHT IN THE NIGHT

“Calls from the Message of Fatima”

LUCY SPEAKS TO OBTAIN PEACE

To anyone who knows how to read, it is clear that « The Call for Apostolate » is in fact an invitation to pray for the conversion of Russia, « The Call to perseverance in virtue » is, short from stating it explicitly, an insistent request for devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who alone can deliver us from Hell by securing for us the grace of final perseverance that leads to Heaven:

« The fourteenth Call of the Message: “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.” (Our Lady, 13 September 1917)

« The Message asks us to continue to pray the Rosary, which is the form of prayer most accessible to everyone, great and small, rich and poor, wise and ignorant. Everyone of good will can say the Rosary every day.

« But why does the Message ask us to continue to say the Rosary every day? Because prayer is the basis of the spiritual life. If we give up praying, we deprive ourselves of that supernatural life which comes to us from the meeting of our soul with God, a meeting which comes about in prayer. Look at what Jesus says to us: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt 7.7-8). Prayer is to seek and meet with God. We need to seek God in order to meet Him, and we have His promise: “Whoever seeks finds.” It is not that God is far from us; we are the ones who distance ourselves from God and lose the sense of His presence. It is for this reason that the Message urges us to persevere in prayer, or, in the words of the Message, to continue to pray to obtain the end of the war.

« Clearly, at the time, the Message was referring to the World War then afflicting so many people. But the word war also stands for many other wars going on all round us and which we must help bring to an end with our prayers and sacrifices. I am referring to the wars waged against us by the enemies of our eternal salvation: the Devil, the world and our own carnal nature. »

Thus, we must have perseverance in doing good till the end, up to death, to obtain eternal salvation. This “final perseverance” is the utmost of graces, which an entire life laden with merits is not enough to guarantee. That is why it is necessary to ask for it ceaselessly, at least fifty times a day, by reciting the Rosary: « Pray for us, poor sinners, now and at the hour of our death ».

Ever since the Middle Ages, ever since the promise made by the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Simon Stock, obtaining this grace is tied to wearing the Scapular as a mark of consecration to Mary.

On 13 June 1917, Our Lady renewed this promise: « To those who embrace this devotion I promise salvation; these souls will be favoured by God, like flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne. » And on 13 October, when she appeared in the sky in the guise of Our Lady of Mount Carmel with the Scapular in her hand, she was preparing the revelation of Pontevedra: « I promise to assist them at the hour of their death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls. » (10 December, 1925)

Because of censorship, not even the slightest allusion to these promises can be found in Sister Lucy’s book. But for all that, she does not give up; and she wages her war against the Devil, against the world and against the flesh:

« There are many people, nowadays, who dare deny that devils exist; however, they most certainly do. Devils are angels who were created by God to serve and praise Him.

« The most pre-eminent of these Angels, known as “Lucifer” got puffed up with pride, and wanted to be equal to God. He dragged down with him a multitude of other angels who followed his example. St John tells us in the Book of the Apocalypse: “Now war arose in Heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Ap 12.7-9)

« Later in the same book we read: “I saw another angel coming down from Heaven, having great authority; and the earth was made bright with his splendour. And he called out in a mighty voice: Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! It has become a dwelling place of demons, a stronghold of every unclean spirit, a haunt of every foul and hateful bird; for all nations have drunk the wine of her impure passion, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich with the wealth of her wantonness.” (Ap 18.1-3)

« And later, he writes: “Then I saw an angel coming down from Heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient Serpent – who is the Devil and Satan – and bound him for a thousand years (...) and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more.” (Ap 20.1-3) »

These passages are not chosen at random. Sister Lucy speaks from experience and gives a testimony that raises her to the rank of St. John, the author of the Apocalypse. She too saw the Angel of God, in 1915 and in 1916, as she relates at the beginning of her book. And once again on 13 July 1917:

« At the left of Our Lady and a little higher up we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; it flashed and gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they were extinguished on contact with the brilliant light that Our Lady radiated against them with Her right hand; pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice:

“Penance, Penance, Penance!”

The ultimate vision of the third Secret shows the salvation of the souls that were making their way to God, sprinkled with the blood of the martyrs by the Angels. But Sister Lucy is not allowed to speak about it, nor about the final victory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That is why she quotes Holy Scripture which announces Satan’s final fall:

« The prophet Isaiah composed a satire against the king of Babylon in terms that recall the fall of the angels: “How are you fallen from Heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn? How are you cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low? You said in your heart: I will ascend to Heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High. But you were brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit!” (Is 14.12-15). »

« And in one of the visions in his book, the prophet Zechariah describes the Devil as the accuser before God of the High Priest: “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the angel of Yahweh said to Satan: Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh rebukes you, He who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” (Zc 3.1-2) »

Being unable to take her thought off of Our Lady of Fatima’s Secret, Sister Lucy goes back to St. John:

« The Book of the Apocalypse, too, after describing the defeat of Satan and his expulsion from Heaven, goes on: “And I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bear witness, because even in the face of death they did not cling to life.’” (Ap 12.10-11) » She could have written: « until they died one after another »…

As she informed Father Fuentes in 1957, she is aware that « the Devil is currently engaged in a decisive battle against the Virgin »; Sister Lucy continues to provide numerous “scriptural” proofs of his presence in this world where he has been at work ever since the beginning:

« In the course of His public life, Jesus drove out many demons. One day, in reply to the Pharisees, who were saying maliciously that He was driving out demons by the power of Beelzebub, Jesus said: “And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?... For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? (...) But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Lk 11.18-20)

« Later, when He was both warning and arming St Peter in advance against the assaults and temptations of the Devil, the Lord said to him: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and once you have recovered, you must in turn, strengthen your brethren.” (Lk 22.31-32)

« In one of his letters, St Peter himself writes: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. To Him be the dominion for ever and ever! Amen! ” (1 Pt 5.8-11)

« All these passages of Sacred Scripture, and many others that would be too long to quote here, prove to us that devils exist. We cannot doubt this truth revealed by God. The Message came to remind us of this truth and to restate it for us so that we would not let ourselves be deceived or taken in by false assertions. It asks us to continue to pray, and to be on our guard against being taken in by the suggestions of this enemy who, by every means in his power, endeavours to secure our eternal damnation. Jesus Christ said: “Everyone who commits sin is slave to sin.” (Jn 8.34) The Devil tries to drag us off into the path of sin, in order to make slaves of us, in time and in eternity.

« But why did the Devil turn into such a great enemy of both God and human beings? He became an enemy of God because he had been defeated by Him – this was a humiliation which his pride could not accept – so, in his fury, he tries to avenge himself in every possible way.

« Driven by this pride, when he saw that God had created human beings with a nature inferior to his, but destined one day to go to Heaven and enjoy the happiness that he himself had lost, the Devil was filled with envy and decided to do everything in his power to cause human beings to be lost by inducing them to disobey God, disregard His orders and cease to believe in His word. That was how he deceived the first human beings.

« Assuming the form of a serpent, he went to meet Eve, the first woman God had created, who was walking in the Garden of Eden, and asked her:

« So God said: “You shall not eat of any tree of the garden”?

« And the woman said to the serpent:

« –  We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said: “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”

« But the serpent said to the woman:

« “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

« So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

« And they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. But Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him:

« “Where are you?”

« “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Gn 3.1-10) »

« In the sacred text, we see that the Devil deceived the first two human beings. He told them that if they ate that fruit, they would become like God: You will be like God! The truth is that not only did they not become like God but they became much less than they had been before and, having become afraid of God: “I was afraid because I was naked and I hid”, they wished to hide from His presence.

« Why are they naked? Because, through their disobedience to God, they had lost the garment of grace: they saw themselves with no clothes on, stripped of the garment of grace that had covered them. This is what they achieved by allowing themselves to be seduced and tricked by the Devil! This is how he works! It is for this reason that Jesus Christ warns us against him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and was never grounded in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he speaks lies, he is speaking true to his nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8.44)

« But I believe that the Devil’s envy must have become even greater when he saw God promising a Redeemer to the human beings that he had seduced, whereas there was no redemption for him. And why would God have been so merciful to human beings? I am not absolutely sure, but I think the reason was that they fell through having been seduced and deceived by another, whereas the Devil sinned out of his own malice. God must have seen in human beings the possibility that they would repent and humbly ask pardon, but the Devil’s pride is so great that it admits of no repentance nor of the humility that might lead him to ask for forgiveness. Thus he saw himself defeated and condemned for ever, when God said to him: “I will put enmity between you and the Woman, and between your seed and Her seed; She shall bruise your head, and you shall lie in wait for Her heel.” (Gn 3.15) »

Sister Lucy saw and heard this “Woman”, come down from Heaven in the flesh to speak to her, and to warn her of Satan’s fury unbridled for « engaging in a final battle where one will know on which side lies victory and on which side defeat », because « we are in the last times of the world ». She said this to Father Fuentes once, and not a second time... Father Fuentes was sanctioned for having wanted to be her spokesman, so as to warn « the world » while there was still time. But it was just prior to the Council that was to « open the Church to the world » and reject the « prophets of woe ». Nevertheless, it cannot be said that Heaven’s messenger did not carry our her duties. She continues:

« In addition to the temptations of the Devil, we also have the temptations of the world which surrounds us, enticing and deceiving us. Many times we are both deluded and deceived by the voices of the world.

« The world speaks to us of vanity, wealth, honours, fashions, etc. Susceptible to these voices, we want to raise ourselves up, to give a good impression, to draw attention, to be showered with honours, to possess wealth, to be regarded as scholars, to have the first places, even at the expense of justice and charity.

« These are the temptations of the world which blind and darken the understanding. Hence when Jesus Christ prayed to His Father, He had in mind those who, with hearts faithful to His word and grace, struggle to overcome these temptations: “It is for them that I pray. I am not praying for the world but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You; (...) I passed Your word on to them, and the world hated them, because they belong to the world no more than I belong to the world. I am not asking You to remove them from the world, but to protect them from the Evil One.” (Jn 17.9.14-15)

« They are not of the world because they follow the Word of God who is the truth, not allowing themselves to be deceived by the lying and deceitful maxims of the world. »

That is why, by opening to the world, the Council was itself nothing but « deceit and lies », at least, towards Fatima, right from the opening speech of Pope John XXIII condemning the « prophets of woe ».

Sister Lucy is certainly referring to them when she continues:

« They belong to God, since the Father has entrusted them to Jesus Christ who, in turn, entrusts Himself to His Father for them, to consecrate them in the truth: “They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth, Your word is truth. (...) and for their sake I consecrate Myself so that they too may be consecrated in the truth.” (Jn 17.16-19)

« To be consecrated in the truth is to dedicate oneself entirely to God, and to souls for the love of God; it is to persevere in the service and in the love of God and of one’s neighbour; it is to keep going in the way mapped out for us by God – in truth – because the maxims of the world are lies and illusion. And that is why the world hates us, persecutes us and speaks calumny about us.

« Like the Devil, and instigated by the devils, the world surrounds us with envy, jealousy and hatred: “If the world hates you, you must know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because My choice of you has drawn you out of the world, that is why the world hates you.” (Jn 15.18-19)

« Let me repeat for you, in my own words, what the Message says: “Continue to pray, in order to achieve peace, to gain victory over temptations and persecutions.” »

Sister Lucy comes to the third obstacle that stands in the way of our perseverance in good, after the Devil and the world:

« Within ourselves, too, there is another source of temptations; in order to overcome them we must continue to pray, and to struggle, because only thus shall we be able to persevere in the good path. Listen to what Jesus Christ says to us: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7.13-16) »

The false prophets, here, are those who flatter us in the name of the our human dignity as free and autonomous persons, and nurturing our pride:

« The Lord says that there are many who follow the wide road that leads to perdition; and that only a few find the narrow road that leads to life. So let us be doubly watchful over our own tendencies towards an exaggerated freedom that sets aside the authority of those who represent God for us, thus setting us unwittingly, and foolishly, on the slippery downward path.

« We want to be free, but we do not know how to use our freedom well. Hence, God has placed over us those who can point out to us the right path that we may, and must, freely follow. But our pride deceives us and does not allow us to see the good which we despise, nor the evil that we are doing. In such circumstances, the temptation is within ourselves, setting a trap for us without our realising it. It is what we call the concupiscence of the heart and of the feelings, which causes us to long for things that are not good for us. In order to recognise and overcome these temptations, we must do what the Message tells us: continue to pray, so that God will give us light, strength and grace.

« Jesus also said: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves”. (Mt 7.15). These false prophets are all those people surrounding us, trying to induce us to follow the wide road, to give free rein to our evil tendencies, caprices, vices and disordered passions, all of which are contrary to God’s Law. They are the bad company that turns us aside from the right path of truth, justice and charity. They are all those false prophets who deny the truths revealed by God, endeavouring to introduce new and erroneous doctrines in support of the disordered lives that they themselves wish to lead. The Lord gives us a rule by which to identify such people: “You will know them by their fruits. (...) Every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. (...) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7.16-20)

« These warnings must put us on our guard against ourselves and the maxims of the world around us. How many times does one hear people say: “I do such and such because everybody does it”; “I dress like this because it is the fashion and everyone is dressed like this”; “I live like this, because that’s how people live nowadays”; etc. Are we to allow ourselves to be condemned just because other people live like that? – “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.” – God tells us that He does not wish the death of the sinner but rather that he be converted and live (Ezk 18.23). However, we should note the condition: that he be converted!

« “Continue to pray, in order to achieve peace”, which is the fruit of the victory achieved over all the temptations which drag us towards the paths opposed to the Law of God. Jesus Christ says quite clearly: “Not everyone who says to me: ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” (Mt 7.21)

« Thus it is that the Message tells us: Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.”

« Ave Maria! »

Taken from  He is Risen n^o 14, October 2003, p. 9-12