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THE LIGHT IN THE NIGHT “Calls from the Message of Fatima” OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY… EXCLUDED! On 13 July 1917, as if to ask pardon after having doubted her, Lucy humbly asked: « What does Your Grace want of me? » the first words of Our Lady were: « I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue reciting 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 only She can help you. » Our Lady, therefore, called Herself « Our Lady of the Rosary », but in the third person, as though She was actually naming a third party. So, the young Lucy, at the thought of her mother who refused to believe, of the people who mocked her, of the Parish Priest who claimed that this Apparition « could be something bad », replied: « I should like to ask You to tell us who You are, and to work a miracle so that everyone will believe that Your Grace is appearing to us.» – Continue to come here every month, replied the vision. In October, I will say who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle so that all might see in order to believe. » On 13 October 1917, the Apparition kept Her word. « What does Your Grace want of me? » asked Lucy. – I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in My honour. I am Our Lady of the Rosary. Do not offend the Lord Our God any more for He is already too greatly offended! » In chapter seventeen of her book, Sister Lucy arrives at this apparition of 13 October. But she mentions neither the request for a chapel nor the revelation of the Name of Our Lady of the Rosary, and entitles the entreaty not to offend the Lord Our God any more, the “Fifteenth call of the Message”. Being obedient to the will of higher Authority, she has to content herself with reducing the request of Our Lady to that of Moses in the Old Testament: « The Call that the Message is making to us here reminds us once again of the need to observe the first of all the commandments of God’s Law, in other words, the love of God. The precept to love God is the first of the commandments, not only on account of the unique greatness of the Object it contemplates, but also because it is this love which will lead us to fulfil faithfully all the other commandments. « Speaking to His people through Moses, God said: “Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God is one Lord, and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart! And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Dt 6.4-9) » Sister Lucy stresses that this Jewish Law is still in force: « God’s insistence that we should engrave the law of His Love in our hearts, that we should use it as a symbol on our arm and a frontlet before our eyes, that we should have it written on the doors and doorposts of our houses, is in order to ensure that it should always be present to us, that we should meditate on it night and day, and that we should teach it to our children, to our brothers and to all those around us. This love is to be a guide for our footsteps, a light for our aspirations and the object of our desire. It is to be the guide of our footsteps, that is, we must walk in the path of love. Sister Lucy is well acquainted with this « path of love » ever since she heard Our Lady tell her, on 13 June 1917: « My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. » And yet, Sister Lucy does not make the slightest allusion to “that path” since it is not mentioned in Deuteronomy. She continues: « One day, the Pharisees came to Jesus and one of them, who was a doctor of the Law, asked Him: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” “And he said to him: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 22.34-40). « This second commandment to which Jesus refers had been given to His people in these words: “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am Yahweh. You shall keep My statutes.” (Lv 19.18-19) « The essence of the Message: “Do not offend the Lord Our God any more!” is contained in the observance of these two commandments. We all know that it is by sin that we offend God, when we fail to observe this commandment of love which we owe to Him, to our neighbour and to ourselves; yes, to ourselves, because we do serious harm to ourselves also, at times without thinking or feeling that we do. » What harm? Sister Lucy will try very hard to make us « feel it » by arousing in our hearts a twofold fear, filial first of all, then servile, but specifically Catholic: « We offend God because we transgress His precepts, all of which are a manifestation of His love for us. » Obviously, she who heard the Blessed Virgin say: « God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart, in order to prevent the souls of poor sinners from falling into Hell », does not think solely of the Ten Commandments. We will see this clearly further on in this chapter: « As in the case of the love of a father, who takes his son by the hand and points out to him the path he is to follow in order to attain happiness and inherit his father’s property, if the son becomes unruly and rebellious, if he despises the things his father has taught him, obviously he hurts and offends his father in the most sensitive part of his heart, his love. » From this consideration is born filial fear: « Do not offend the Lord Our God any more! » Sister Lucy is prevented from adding: for fear of bringing sadness to His gentle Mother who begs this of us. But for she who saw the face of Our Lady marked with an infinite sadness when She pronounced these words, the fear of displeasing this cherished Mother becomes henceforth one and the same with the fear of God. This is what constitutes devotion to Immaculate Heart of Mary. « In the same way, when we despise or violate the commandments of God. » Or the requests of His Mother! « We cause hurt and offence to that which is most magnificent in God: His fatherly love And His filial love! « Now, with this love He created us, enfolded us with loving care in all that surrounds us for our good and which He created for our good, the love with which He redeemed us from sin and opened to us the gates of Heaven, with which He will grant to us our inheritance in His Kingdom. Hence, every sin is an offence against God our Father and a rejection of His love, since we are preferring our sin to the love we owe to God and to possession of His Kingdom, knowing that by our sin we lose the right to it. » Here Sister Lucy calls upon the “servile” fear which was current in the Old Testament, and which is no longer mentioned since the Council. And yet we are not worth more than the Jews, since Our Lady must come down from the Heaven to offer us the last two remedies that God gives us: the holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. But Sister Lucy is forbidden to appealing to this great stimulus for conversion. Then she quotes St. Paul: In this connection, read the stern words of the Apostle St. Paul: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the Law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, sensuality, worship of false gods, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Ga 5.13-25) » To assert that the conciliar Reform is not from the Holy Spirit, one only has to observe that, since 1965, two religions have been fighting it out in the very heart of the Church: that of Man who makes himself god against that of God who became man. « You will know them by their fruits. » Those of this insane worship offered to every man, ever since the Pope Paul VI proclaimed in Saint Peter’s, on 7 December 1965: « we also, we more than anyone else, have the cult of man » ! are the thought and the teaching of John Paul II, the fervent disciple and true heir of Pope Paul VI. His example and his intense and constant encouragement « to love man as one loves oneself, and to have a faith in him that is no more than presumptuousness and self-satisfaction – these act like so many acids insidiously corroding and eating away all order, both human and divine, dissolving the whole “theandric” mystery of a world transformed by grace. In a general and indefinite way, everything is coming undone and is falling to pieces. If things continue thus – and even now we are in a state of material, moral and spiritual ruin – it will be the end of religion, the end of the Church, and the end of Christian civilisation. » (Georges de Nantes, Book of Accusation no 2, 1983, p. 88) Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta had the prophetic vision of these ruins on 13 July 1917. « These words that the Apostle has just addressed to us tell us what we must do in order to respond to the Call of the Message urging us: “Do not offend God any more!” Let us not offend against the love of God any more! And this love that we owe to Him must lead us to love others. No one can say that they love someone if they despise and maltreat his or her children, because parents naturally take as done to themselves what is done to their children. We can say the same of God’s reaction to the love which we bestow on, or deny to, those around us: they are His children. « In the case of God and His children, there is another reason that obliges us to love them: they are our brothers! But, “brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers! To have lawsuits at all with one another is defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that even your own brethren! » “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Co 6.6-10) » Now, “the worship of man” leads to honouring such irreligious people, without distinguishing them from good Christians. The commentary of Sister Lucy warns us, insofar as she is allowed, against this treason: « We must avoid sin in order not to offend God or lose the right to eternal life. Sin severs our relationship with God and poisons the place in our heart which we owe to others; it makes us unworthy of God’s friendship and of sharing in His glory. For want of being able to “appeal” to the modern and decisive argument of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which alone is able to win over the fervent adhesion of many, Sister Lucy continues to quote the Epistle to the Galatians: « “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal 6.4-10). Here we have clearly marked out for us the way we are to follow in order to live in accordance with the commandment of the love of God, and of our neighbour for the love of God. It is the way outlined, taught and lived by Jesus Christ. » But this is not the one indicated, in infernal contradiction with the revelation of Our Lady of Fatima, by John Paul II who unceasingly repeats, from the beginning of his pontificate: « The Way of the Church is the way of Man » This is why Sister Lucy has to content herself with adding: « As St. Paul says, let us not pay attention to any other teachers! » The call of Sister Lucy quoting the Epistle of the Colossians takes on a pathetic accent: « “As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in Him, who is the Head of all rule and authority.” (Col 2.6-10). « This whole teaching of the Apostle is wonderful, casting beams of light ahead of us to guide our footsteps, strengthen our weakness and enlighten our faith and our understanding. » AND THE HONOURABLE REPARATION REQUESTED AT PONTEVEDRA? The continuation is the pure and simple expression of devotion to Sacred Heat of Jesus, such that it was revealed at Paray-le-Monial to St. Margaret Mary: « But we must not think that, in order to respond fully to the implications of the Message and of the precept of love, it is sufficient to avoid sin, in order not to offend God. This is undoubtedly the first step, but it is not enough. If we were to be cold, indifferent or neglectful in our attitude to our father, our mother or anyone to whom we are beholden in some way, it goes without saying that we are being unjust and ungrateful to this person, and so offending him. The same is true of God, Who is more than a Father to us: we offend Him by our coldness, our forgetfulness, our indifference and our carelessness; we are behaving in an ungrateful way towards Him, like someone who does not recognise his or her principal Benefactor, the One to Whom we owe most. Such is the lesson of the life and message of Sister Mary Lucy of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, as was formerly that of the life and message of St. Margaret Mary. This is why the first fruit of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is one and the same as that to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a pious horror of sin. Not the natural horror that we feel towards a disorder, a shameful act that must be shunned, out of a feeling of duty, of the honesty of a “well behaved” child or of “human dignity”. No, but a supernatural horror of sin because it displeases God. Since these “private” revelations of Paray-le-Monial and Fatima are merely the unveiling of a “secret” already perceived by Saint John lying close to the Heart of Jesus at the Last Supper, Sister Lucy had no difficulty finding in the Gospel a confirmation of what Our Lady had taught to her. She adds: « Let us look at Jesus Christ in the Gospel! The one great concern of His Heart was to reveal to human beings the love of the Father, to love Him and to make Him loved, observing His precepts and His word. For this, He offers Himself to us as a model: “As I have loved you, so the Father has loved Me. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My own joy may be in you and your joy be complete (...). I have made known to you everything I have learnt from My Father (...). My command to you is to love one another.” (Jn 15.9-17) « Jesus Christ’s joy consists in the fact of having the Father’s love within Him and of responding to it, and it is this joy that He wishes to share with us, allowing knowledge of the Father to overflow from His Heart: “I shall tell you about the Father in plain words (...) because the Father loves you for loving Me and believing that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world and am now leaving the world to go to the Father.” (Jn 16.25-28) « In His priestly prayer to His Father, Jesus was able to say that He had fulfilled the mission entrusted to Him: “I have glorified You on earth by finishing the work that You gave Me to do (…). I have revealed Your Name to those whom You took from the world to give Me. They were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now at last they have recognised that all You have given Me comes from You. For I have given them the teaching You gave to Me, and they have indeed accepted it and know for certain that I came from You, and they have believed that You have sent Me. It is for them that I pray (…), they belong to You; all that I have is Yours, and all that You have is Mine (…). Holy Father, keep those You have given Me true to Your Name, so that they may be one, as We are. » (Jn 17.4-11). « Love is the bond which must bind us close to God and to our neighbour, identifying us with the Heart of Christ, plunging us into the Heart of God, so that our will be His, and our one yearning be the full possession of His love. » « Ave Maria! » Thus ends this chapter totally devoted to the words of Our Lady that made such an impression on the little seers: « Do not offend the Lord Our God any more for He is already too greatly offended! » But we see that what is essential has been amputated, as if Bernadette, in a book about the Message of Lourdes, were to have omitted the revelation of 25 March 1958: « I am the Immaculate Conception ». Here, what is missing is the means by which we are able to « identify ourselves with the Heart of Christ », to « plunge ourselves into the Heart of God », namely the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that Lucy has been charged with spreading throughout the world. This is the purpose of the « chapel » requested as well on 13 October: to bring an end to the offences made against the Lord our God through the graces that Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was to dispense there. This is the essence of the Message of Fatima! Father Alonso cast a clear light on this contrary to the negations of Father Dhanis: « At Fatima, it is not simply a question of a general invitation to prayer, but in concrete terms a prayer of intercession that necessarily passes through the Heart of Mary. Neither is it a question of reparation in general, but in concrete terms, it is always a special reparation that was requested for the offences committed against the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, that is to say against Her love as Mother and Co-redemptrix. » (JPI, p. 260) This is the revelation of Pontevedra. But since Cardinal Ratzinger does not understand this devotion of reparation, he does not recognise the apparition on which it is based either, despite the irrefutable conclusions of Father Alonso who continues: « Pontevedra and Fatima form an indissoluble unity. Firstly, according to the facts : the Virgin who appears at Pontevedra does not claim to be known or invoked by any name other than that of Fatima. She appears with the same intentions and assumes the same symbolic characteristics as at Fatima. This is why it is most correct to say: “the apparition of the Virgin of Fatima at Pontevedra.” Secondly, the message announced at Fatima in 1917 is fulfilled a few years later at Pontevedra. The unity of Pontevedra and Fatima is perfect. » (ibid.) But once again it is the Abbé de Nantes who allows us to understand this mystery in his retreat on “The Secret of Paray-le-Monial”. We, in turn, may say that the unity of Paray-le-Monial, Pontevedra and Fatima is perfect. Even more: the unity of the Gospel with these modern revelations is perfect, unveiling God’s design, which is to reconcile sinful mankind by making « honourable reparation », a work of repentant love, from St. Mary Magdalene to St. Marguerite-Mary to Sister Lucy of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart. The devotion of reparation of the “five First Saturdays” is in fact, like that of the “nine First Fridays”, a liturgical devotion expressed by gestures, deeds and words manifesting compassionate sorrow and contrition to see the Hearts of Jesus and Mary offended by our own negligence and indifference, and by so many blasphemes and outrages throughout the world. The prime aim of this devotion is not to go to Heaven, but to console Jesus and Mary through the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Certainly, from a dogmatical point of view, there is nothing « new », other than an unveiling of the hidden riches of the Gospel and of the entire New Testament, up to the Apocalypse, with the proclamation that we are entering into the last times, since God gave « the two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this implies that there will not be any others » Sister Lucy said to Father Fuentes in 1957. This is why to enter fervently into “the Secret of Paray-le-Monial” and into that of Fatima is a sign of belonging to the Holy Spirit. Whereas, to reject them… is an appalling sign of reprobation. For « there is no middle way » Sister Lucy also said to Father Fuentes. « Either we are for God or we are for the Devil » in this « decisive battle » that « the Devil is currently engaged in against the Virgin. A decisive battle is a final battle where one will know on which side lies victory and on which side defeat. » This is why God « offers us, with a certain fear, the final means of salvation, His most Holy Mother. » In fact, on 13 October 1917, Our Lady did reveal Her name, as She had promised, and this name is a war cry. For the Name of « Our Lady of the Rosary » recalls the victorious intervention of the Virgin, responding to the prayer of St. Pius V, during the Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571, wrought miraculously once again under the walls of Vienna, on 12 September 1683. And it announces the three visions that Sister Lucy is going to recall in the subsequent chapters, evoking the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries of the Rosary, the instrument of this victory.
Taken from He is Risen no 15, November 2003, p. 9-14 |
