He will return with his immense heart, with his heart of fire, his poor man's soul
and his smile. He will return! And the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph!

FR. JONGEN,
APOSTLE OF THE REIGN OF MARY

« Pray to Our Lady of Fatima for me; I will be grateful to you », Fr. Hubert Jongen, a Dutch Montfort father, said to our Flemish CRC friends who had come to visit him in Valkenburg on 4 January 1996. Visibly exhausted by his long life of apostolic labours in Belgium, Austria and Brazil, he was waiting for Our Lady to come to fetch him. It was last 26 August, at a hundred years of age, that his soul flew off towards his Queen.

Our friends had questioned him on the combat he waged in the 1940s in favour of Fatima, with remarkable competence, by refuting the theories of Fr. Édouard Dhanis. His critique was conclusive: it casts full light on the error of those who persist in considering the Belgian Jesuit as an « eminent specialist » on Fatima, like Cardinal Ratzinger in his Theological Commentary on the Secret

AT THE SERVICE OF THE QUEEN

A great admirer of Fr. Poppe, Fr. Jongen was very active in the Marian Works in Louvain in the 1930s: preacher, pilgrimage director, he was also the mainspring of the new periodical Mediatrix and Queen, and the secretary of the editorial staff of the Standaard van Maria: The Standard of Mary.

There was already devotion to Our Lady of Fatima in Belgium at that time because it was through recourse to Her intercession that Canon Dessain obtained in 1930 the conversion of Queen Astrid, her abjuration of the Lutheran heresy, and her profession of the Catholic Faith.

During the war, despite the shortage of paper, Fr. Jongen succeeded in maintaining the publication of his two periodicals; then he multiplied initiatives for developing their distribution, which reached two hundred and fifty thousand copies in 1946.

As Pope Pius XII had proclaimed the sovereignty of the Virgin Mary over the world in 1942, by consecrating it to Her Immaculate Heart, Fr. Jongen preached the « reign of Mary » as « a concrete ideal, the realisation of which is imminent ».

Nevertheless, he observed the extent to which our democratic and secular societies are in the grip of the Prince of this world: « How many souls are lost eternally because of the baneful politics of statesmen! How many souls fall into Hell because, in the schools, they have been brought up to hate religion! » (Console Your Mother! 1994, p. 77)

His brochure In the Service of the Queen (1946, 48 pages) was his manifesto: « Some want to build on the United Nations Organisation, others on Socialiam, Communism or anarchy. All that, however, turns out to be fragile. The building collapses even before the foundations have been completed. »

He then stated: « The hour of the final choice has come: Christ or Satan, virtue or sin? God has set a condition for the reign of Christ. Montfort indicates it in the first sentence of the first page of his magnificent True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin: “It is through the most Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through Her that He must reign in the world.” »

« Propagandist, do you understand what this means? You must be driven by the profound conviction that the realisation of the reign of Mary is absolutely willed by God. »

Fr. Jongen preached the « perfect consecration » to the Blessed Virgin: « I consecrated myself to Mary. Thus I became Her property, Her servant. Now the service of Mary is a military service, because She was charged by God with crushing the head of the Serpent. She discharges this duty through the intermediary of Her “progeny”, that is to say through Her faithful children and servants. They are the heel of the Women, the instrument of Her triumph over the enemy. »

It is by the means of the press that he wanted to conquer minds and hearts: « Our enemies give us lessons in this regard. In the eighteenth century, the freethinkers wanted to unleash the Revolution in France. What did they do? They used the press. If in 1779, there only existed forty-one newspapers, from 1789 to 1793, fourteen hundred were published! The French Revolution exceeded their expectations.

« “There is not a more powerful lever than the press for rousing the masses, and for bringing its interests and passions into play”, Mgr Freppel used to say

« If our movement has so considerably expanded in a few years, it is because our propagandists have widely distributed our Marian publications. Belgium has a Marian climate that is perhaps unique in the world.

« Propagandist, know how to appreciate the magazine! Read your magazine! Keep your magazine! Above all: distribute the magazine! »

Then he concluded: « In this way, our phalange of propagandists will have provided a new and magnificent contribution to the fulfilling of the promise of Our Lady of Fatima: “My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” »

FATIMA, MISSIONARY OF GOD!

It was from 1942 on, in the anguish and misfortunes of the war, that the worldwide scope of the message of Fatima began to be better known. The second part of the Secret, however, revealed by Sister Lucy in her Memoirs, and announcing that « Russia will spread her errors throughout the world », had been twisted in Rome out of a readiness to oblige the liberal democracies who were collaborating with the Soviets. Don Luigi Moresco, with the approval of Pius XII, had substituted for the words of the Virgin vague and ambiguous formulas, intended to be directed as much at Nazi Germany as Bolshevik Russia.

When everyone was completely confused, Fr. Jongen shed light on the question by publishing the two versions of the Secret: the version « authorised (sic) by Rome » and the « original text ». He published them in his book Our Lady of Fatima, Missionary of God, which, moreover, contains a remarkable psychological analysis of the souls of the seers: « They were of the school of the Blessed Virgin! Her Immaculate Heart was the way that led them to God, surely and rapidly. The life of the little seers is a new confirmation of the words of St. Pius X: “There is no surer and no shorter path to lead everyone to union with Christ than the path of Mary.” (Ad Diem Illum) »

His book in Dutch, like those of Canon Barthas in French, had a wide distribution: more than a hundred thousand copies in the two years from 1944 to 1946.

Jongen, however, did better than Barthas: from that time on, he spread the reparatory devotion of the first Saturdays of the month, in particular by his book Console your Mother (1944, 175 pages), which was the first book, at least in French, on this devotion requested by Our Lady.

PERFIDIOUS OBJECTIONS

In 1944, Fr. Jongen put his personal library on Fatima at the disposition of Fr. Edouard Dhanis, a Belgian Jesuit and theology professor at Louvain. Several months later, however, to the astonishment of the Montfort father, Dhanis published two long articles in which he insinuated that in her Memoirs, Sister Lucy had distorted the apparitions of 1917 because she had a propensity for unconscious fantasising.

Fr. Dhanis even let it be understood that the seer had plagiarised accounts of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart.

It is certainly under the influence of Dhanis that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in his book on Sister Lucy, censored the revelation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary surrounded with thorns on 13 June 1917, 10 December 1925 and 13 June 1929.

As regards the vision of Hell and its description, considered excessively medieval, the Belgian Jesuit wrote: « The seers received a very keen knowledge of the horror of sins and damnation, and this knowledge evoked, little by little, a vision in their imaginations. » (Streven, 1944, p. 197)

As for the “political” prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima, it seemed unacceptable and erroneous to him. In fact, had not the Russia of Stalin been the spearhead of the “Crusade of the Democracies” against the one and only danger, that of Nazi Germany and of fascism? Thus, the Blessed Virgin could not have spoken about the “errors of Russia”. The expression would only have come from the pen of Lucy following an emotional shock suffered in 1936 during the Bolshevik Revolution in Spain.

SCATHING RETORT

Fr. Jongen strongly denounced the perfidy of Dhanis and the invalidity of his historical criticism in three articles, published in Dutch in The Standard of Mary.

« One may wonder if it is justified to write a critique of the commonly accepted version of the events of Fatima solely from already published sources.

« There are, in fact, so many unpublished sources that are nevertheless of the greatest interest. We are thinking, for example, of the canonical process of the apparitions, of the reports of the hearings of the Episcopal Commission, of Lucy, of the family of the seers, and of the numerous other witnesses, of the Memoirs that the seer wrote in 1936, 1937 and 1941, of her correspondence with the Bishop of Leiria concerning the events of Fatima.

« Fr. Dhanis disregards all these important elements, because he is not equal to the task. »

Let us point out immediately that the Jesuit, invited by the Bishop of Leiria to come to Portugal in order to study the “unpublished sources”, always refused to go there.

Fr. Jongen continued:

« We are in the presence of a set of commonly accepted facts. Their credibility is directly or indirectly guaranteed by persons of great moral authority. These persons have all the data necessary for forming a judgement on the facts in question. This judgement is positive, that is to say, it is not uncertain but it concludes to the full truth of Fatima, such as it is now expounded. No one takes an opposing view. No one, except Fr. Dhanis. He consults books even when he recognises that from the viewpoint of historical criticism, they are of little value. Nevertheless, they inspire him with confidence. He, in turn, is going to examine the facts of Fatima. The pieces of information on which he bases himself cannot in the least be compared with those that guarantee the credibility of Fatima. It is on this insufficient information that Fr. Dhanis is going to base his research. Is this really a proof of a healthy critical mind?

« The critical mind demands, in our opinion, that if one casts doubt on the commonly accepted version, he must rise to the same level as those who spread it throughout the world. As long as he is situated at an inferior level, he has a perfect right, in his private capacity, to have reservations, but in public he must remain silent.

« In a certain sense, incertitude and doubt do greater harm to a cause than declared opposition. When someone manifests his opposition, we can examine his arguments and we know where we stand. When someone voices a doubt, however, and when he does so from incomplete information, we no longer know what we must believe.

« A study such as that of Fr. Dhanis says either too much or too little: too much to continue to believe in Fatima, and too little to condemn these prodigious facts as a whole. After such reading, we feel uneasy. For the piety of the ordinary reader, Fatima has lost all meaning » (The Standard of Mary, 1946, p. 181-186)

INVESTIGATION IN PORTUGAL

After the war, Fr. Jongen went to Spain and Portugal to question the witnesses and examine the documents concerning all the points that Fr. Dhanis contested.

On 1 January 1946, after a three-day and three-night train trip, he was received in Leiria by Mgr da Silva, « with a cordiality that is equalled only by his simplicity. He immediately authorised us to consult the manuscripts of Lucy. During more than a month we were his guest.

« In the meantime, we submitted our difficulties to persons particularly informed on the events of Fatima: Doctor Formigao who on the orders of the Patriachate of Lisbon was the eye witness of certain apparitions and who questioned the seers on several occasions; Doctor Galamba, who ordered Lucy to write her Memoirs, and Doctor Carlos de Azevedo, who had known and observed her from her childhood. » (The Standard of Mary, 1946, p. 190)

The zealous Montfort father would also question the parents of Francisco and Jacinta, the eldest sister of Lucy, Doctor Preto who treated Jacinta in the hospital of Ourem, Mother Godinho, as well as the witnesses of the miracle of the sun.

FOUR CONVERSATIONS WITH SISTER LUCY.

Furthermore, Mgr da Silva gave him permission to meet the messenger from Heaven, Sister Maria Lucia of the Sorrows, in her convent of the Dorthean Sisters in Tuy on 3 and 4 February 1946.

« When we arrived, Fr. Jongen related, Lucy was away. She was giving a catechism lesson, for she speaks Spanish as fluently as she does Portuguese. Lucy does much good to the children and to all those who approach her.

« I question the superior of the convent at length. It is the first time that Lucy has a Portuguese as superior » It was Mother Cunha Mattos. « She had been advised not to speak about the apparitions to the seer. The latter, however, having noticed the devotion of her superior for Our Lady of Fatima, broached the subject herself. She gave her her Journal, that obedience had obliged her to write. Lucy did not want to have secrets, not even intimate secrets, from her whom Providence had given her for Mother and guide. »

Sister Mary-Lucy wrote on 2 October 1945 to Mother Cunha, who was afflicted by illness: « Have a good rest and make the most of it in order to come with strength to the converting of Russia. » She thus wanted to associate her to her mission of obtaining from the Holy Father « the world day of prayers and reparation for Russia, according to the demand of Our Lady ».

« What distinguishes the seer, Fr. Jongen continued, is a passionate dedication to the truth. Her truthfulness goes hand in hand with a profound disdain for human respect. Here is a typical little example. She had been advised that the Belgian Father who had been expected was now waiting for her in the parlour. It was suggested she make her way there when the other sisters could not see her. »

“Why is that? she asked. His Grace has given his authorisation, the good Mother also. So why these detours?”

« We thought at first that we read an expression of timidity on the seer’s very pale face. When she sat down, we were especially struck by her extraordinary simplicity.

« We offer our apologies for having to ask her so many questions, informing her that a Belgian Jesuit had just published articles casting doubt on certain of her affirmations. She immediately replies: “So what?”

« This disinterested and serene attitude towards those who criticise her writings would make an impression on all impartial, unprejudiced men. » (Mediatrix and queen, 1946, pp. 9-10)

REPARTEES WORTHY OF JOAN OF ARC

« I take out a pencil to take notes. Lucy sees that it is blunt. She grabs it from me in order to sharpen it. We ask the sister:

« Are you certain, absolutely certain, that the Angel appeared to you?

– « I saw him.

« She pronounces this word “saw” with the calmness, tranquillity, and assurance of someone saying that he had seen the sun rise or set.

– Did the Angel really say: “I offer Thee… the Divinity of Jesus Christ?”

– Yes.

– Some people say that this is an innovation in the manner in which the Church speaks. In their opinion, you must be mistaken on this point.

– Perhaps the Angel was mistaken! says the sister with a smile.

– Is it not possible that you are mistaken? Could you not have forgotten the exact words of the Angel?

– We began immediately after the apparition of the Angel to recite the prayers that he taught us

– I think that I read that Our Lady held Her hands together during the apparitions, but that She opened them each time She spoke.

– That is not true. It is only in the first, second, third and sixth apparitions that she opened Her hands, towards the end.

« The seer repeats the gesture of Our Lady in the third apparition. She tries to show clearly how the rays that issued from the hands of the Virgin tore open the earth: “The earth opened itself and we found ourselves, as it were, above Hell, as someone on the coast finds himself above the sea.”

« Involuntarily her face takes on an expression of terror when she recalls this vision.

– You write in a letter to your spiritual director in 1928 that Our Lady told you during the second apparition: “God wants to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To those who embrace this devotion I promise salvation. These souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne.” In subsequent accounts, you do not speak of this promise. How should we explain this?

– When I wrote these subsequent accounts I did not think of it.

– Did Our Lady really say during the second and the third apparitions: My Immaculate Heart?

– Yes.

– You already knew then that this Lady was the Blessed Virgin?

– Although She only told us explicitly at the last apparition, we were convinced from the first one that She was Our Lady.

– Did the Blessed Virgin tell you at the first apparition that the soul of this young girl would remain in Purgatory until the end of the world?

« The answer is immediate: Yes.

– Why do many authors omit this detail?

– We were told that it was painful to the family of the young girl.

– Are you certain that all that you wrote about Jacinta is true?

« The answer is categorical: Yes.

– Yet the father of Francisco and Jacinta told me that he had not noticed any difference between his children and the others.

– What difference? What do you mean? We continued to play as before. Certain sanctimonious persons used to say to us: “You have seen the Blessed Virgin. You should no longer play.” What could we do other than to play? Should we have remained immobile like the statue of the foundress of the Dorothean Sisters on her altar? We did not like to remain at home because inquisitive visitors continually came to bother us. This is why we preferred to go to the Cabeço to pray and play there. Thus our parents could not notice a change in our behaviour, or a difference from other children.

– When did you receive “permission from Heaven”, as you say in your Memoirs, to reveal the Secret?

– In 1927, here in Tuy, in the chapel. This permission did not extend to the third part of the Secret.

– Did you speak about it to your confessor?

– Yes, immediately afterwards.

« We point out:

– It is unfortunate that the Secret was not published before the war. Thus the prediction would have had more value. Why did you not make it better known?

– Because no one asked me to.

« Suddenly, Lucy has an idea: “This Jesuit father could write to my confessors to ask them what I told them around 1927. They are Fr. José da Silva Aparicio and José Bernardo Gonçalves.

– To whom else did you reveal the Secret before the war?

– To the Provincial Superior, to the Bishop of Leiria and to Doctor Galamba.

– When you revealed the Secret, did you confine yourself to giving the general meaning of what the Blessed Virgin told you, or did you quote Her words literally?

– When I speak of the Apparitions, I confine myself to the general sense of the words. When I write, however, I try to quote them literally. I therefore wished to write down the Secret word for word.

– Are you certain that you have remembered everything?

– I think so.

– Have the words of the Secret been revealed in the order in which they were communicated to you?

– Yes.

– Did the Blessed Virgin really utter the name of Pius XI?

– Yes. We did not know if it was a Pope or a king but the Blessed Virgin spoke of Pius XI.

– But the war did not begin under Pius XI!

– The annexation of Austria was the occasion for it. When the Munich accord was signed, the sisters were jubilant, because the peace seemed to be saved. I knew better.

– Yet this Jesuit Father remarks that the occasion for a war is not the same thing as its beginning.”

« This observation makes no impression on the sister.

– According to the text of the Secret, the Blessed Virgin said. “I will come to ask”… Did She actually come and ask?

– Yes, on 10 December 1925 Our Lady appeared to me with the Child Jesus in my room. She said to me, “Behold, My daughter, My Heart surrounded by the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me by the practice of the First Saturdays of the Month.”

– It has been remarked that Our Lord asked Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in almost exactly the same terms. One might think this was a recollection of Paray-le-Monial.”

« The sister laughs, and her laugh expresses the innocence and candour of a child: “Is it for me to tell the Blessed Virgin how She should express Herself?”

– Did the Blessed Virgin ask you to propagate the devotion of the First Saturdays?

– No, but to reveal it.

– Did you insist later on to the Bishop of Leiria that he fulfil the desire of the Blessed Virgin concerning the First Saturdays?

– Yes.

– Why? Did the Blessed Virgin appear to you once again?

– No. I was grieved that the request of Mary was not granted. »

The seer referred to the theophany of Tuy: « The Blessed Virgin demanded the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, by the Pope, in union with the bishops of the world.

– Did She not speak about the consecration of the world?

– No.

« I describe to her, Fr. Jongen relates, the Marian movement that is so flourishing in our country. The name of blessed de Montfort is not unfamiliar to her. We draw the attention of the seer to the three theses of Montfort: the reign of Christ will come, by means of the reign of Mary, after the diffusion of the true devotion throughout the world. She reacts immediately:

– And after the conversion of Russia. »

THE PURE AND SIMPLE TRUTH

As soon as he returned to Louvain, Fr. Jongen published the accounts of his conversations.

« We have no doubt, he affirmed, that all that Lucy wrote in her Memoirs is the pure and simple truth. » (Mediatrix and queen, 1946, p. 112)

Furthermore, he continued the writing of a series of articles entitled “Darkness over Fatima”, replying systematically to the objections of Dhanis.

However, even though the forth article and the subsequent ones had been announced, they were not published in 1947. Moreover, the following year, Fr. Jongen had to abandon all his apostolic works in Louvain: he was sent to Salzburg in Austria. On the other hand, in 1949 Fr. Dhanis was promoted professor at the Gregorian University in Rome. Thus was confirmed what Lucy would write to a sorely afflicted friend on 20 September 1950:

« As for the persecutions and the vexations about which you spoke to me and that arise around this work and around yourself, do not be overwhelmed by them. It is the most obvious sign that the work comes from God and that it renders glory to Him.

« If this were not so, the Demon would not combat it so much. Instead of discouraging us, this must on the contrary give us strength and courage to fight until victory. »

Brother Francis of Mary of the Angels.