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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)
Sister Lucy does not quote anything randomly. To
the oracle « I am Yahweh », corresponds the revelation that she and
her two cousins heard: « I am
Our Lady of the Rosary ». But precisely, by passing over
the latter in silence leads one to think that Jesus Himself, in the
Gospel, taught nothing more than what Moses did, that everything is
already found in the Torah. This is a regrettable consequence which
could give the impression that the message of Fatima is in harmony,
for example, with what Pope John Paul II said last 22 May to a
delegation of the World Jewish Congress that he received in audience:
« God’s Word is a lamp and a light to our path; it keeps us alive
and gives us new life (cf. Ps 119: 105, 107). This Word [upper
case W] is given to our Jewish brothers and sisters especially in
the Torah. To Christians this word
[lower case W] finds its fulfilment
in Jesus Christ.
« Although
we hold and interpret this heritage differently,
the Pope continues, we both
feel bound to bear common witness to God’s fatherhood and His love for
His creatures. »
But fortunately, once again,
the rest of what Sister Lucy says contradicts the pontifical
discourse, without her seeming to realise it, by pointing out the need
for us not to offend God on pain of a terrible punishment:
« 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). [We are poles
apart from Mother Teresa] 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! »
Such as Mother Teresa who held Gandhi to be « a true prophet, a
visionary. » And who acknowledged: « I always sought to inspire myself
from his life as a non-violent “satiagraha”, in order to collaborate
in the establishment of a more just and fraternal society. »
So Sister Lucy’s warning is
highly topical! Under the title: “Tibetan Buddhism attracts the French
People”, La Croix of 1 October devotes a large page to the
visit of the Dalai Lama, or the « ocean of wisdom », to Paris, from
October 11th to the 17th. This « great spiritual
Master » had a full house at Bercy Palace, in spite of the admission
price (set price for the week – 225 euros!) « This paradoxical craze
can be seen in statistics: the first lamas arrived to France in 1959
(invasion of Tibet). Today, there are a hundred and thirty Tibetan
centres and temples. »
However, Tibetan Buddhism is
but a minority among the planet’s various Buddhist persuasions which
seem to have chosen France as a place of rendezvous! According to a
CSA – Le Monde – La Vie survey carried out in 2003, « one-fifth of
Frenchmen (21 %) find “a spiritual interest” in Buddhism »! To such an
extent that « Buddhism has become France’s fourth religion in the
space of a few decades. » Quite exactly: starting in the 1960’s, the
years of the Council! Ever since « The
Way of the Church has become the way of Man »!
In this context, 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:
“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. »
(quoted by Brother Francis, John Paul I, the Pope of the Secret, 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.
Certrainly, 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.
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THE APPARITIONS OF PONTEVEDRA
THE
COMMUNION OF REPARATION OF THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS
In the evening of Thursday,
10 December 1925, while in her cell after supper, Lucy received
a visit from the Virgin Mary, and the Child Jesus. Here is her
testimony, written at the end of 1927, at the request of her
confessor, Father Aparicio, S.J. « Through humility, he
explains, Sister Lucy showed her repugnance to write in the
first person, to which I replied that she write in the third
person, which is what she did. »
« On 10
December 1925, the Most Blessed Virgin appeared to her and,
beside Her, borne by a luminous cloud, the Child Jesus. The Most
Blessed Virgin placed 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. « At the same time, the Child Jesus
said to her:
“Have compassion on the
Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which
ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, without anyone making
an act of reparation to remove them.”
« Then the Most Blessed Virgin
said to her:
“Behold, My daughter,
My Heart surrounded by thorns with which ungrateful men
pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and their
ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and say that all
those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to
confession, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the
Rosary and keep Me company for fifteen minutes whilst meditating
on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, in a spirit of
reparation, I promise to assist at the hour of their death with
all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.” »
Charged with this new mission,
the young postulant – Lucy was then eighteen years old – did
everything possible to make known the requests of Our Lady. She
opened at once her heart about it to her superior, Mother
Magalhaes, who had been won over to the cause of Fatima, and was
ready, as far as she was concerned, to conform to the desires of
Heaven. Lucy also informed the confessor of the house, Father
Lino Garcia, about it.
« He,
she relates,
ordered me to
write down everything which concerned
[that revelation]
and to keep these
writings which might be required. »
But then he held back. Lucy then wrote the account of the event
to her confessor of the Asilo de Vilar, Mgr Pereira Lopes, who
expressed some reserve and advised waiting. A few days after
15 February, Lucy answered him while revealing to him in detail
the sequence of events. Fortunately, this letter has been
preserved for us. Here are some abundant extracts from it.
« My
most Reverend Father, I come most respectfully to thank you for
your gracious letter which you kindly wrote to me. When I
received it and saw that I was still unable to reply to the
wishes of the Blessed Virgin, I felt a little sad. But I
realised at once that the Most Blessed Virgin’s desires were for
me to obey you. I became calm and the next day, when I received
Jesus in Communion, I read Him your letter and said to Him:
“O my Jesus! With Your grace,
through prayer, mortification and confidence, I will do
everything obedience permits me, and whatever you inspire to me;
the rest is up to you”… »
« On
the 15, I was very busy with my chores and I scarcely thought of
it [the
apparition of the preceding 10 December].
I was emptying the dustbins by the garden gate:
« At
the same place, a few months earlier, I had met a child and I
had asked him whether he knew the Ave Maria. He answered yes,
and I asked him to say it to me, so I could hear it. But as he
seemed determined not to say it alone, I recited it three times
with him. At the end of three Ave Maria’s, I asked him to say it
on his own. As he remained silent and appeared unable to say it
alone, I asked him if he knew the Church of Saint Mary. He
answered yes. Then I told him to go there every day and say this
prayer:
“O my
Heavenly Mother, give me Thy Child Jesus!”
« After
I had taught him this prayer, I left him. Then, on 15 February,
coming back as usual [to empty the dustbins outside the garden],
I found a child there who seemed to be the same one I had met
before, so I asked him:
– Did
you ask our Heavenly Mother for the Child Jesus?
« The
Child turned to me and said:
– And
you, have you revealed to the world what the Heavenly Mother
asked you?
« And
when He had said that,
He turned into a resplendent
Child. Then
recognising that it was Jesus, I said to Him:
– My
Jesus! You know what my confessor said to me in the letter I
read to You. He said that this vision had to be repeated, that
there had to be facts permitting one to believe in it, and that
the Mother Superior could not spread this devotion on her own.
– It
is true that the Mother Superior can do nothing on her own, but
with My grace, she can do all. It is sufficient for your
confessor to give you permission and for your superior to talk
about it for it to be believed by the people, even if they know
not to whom it was revealed.
– But
my confessor said in his letter that this devotion already
exists in the world, because there are already many souls who
receive You every first Saturday in honour of Our Lady and the
fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
– It
is true, My daughter, that many souls begin, but few persevere
to the very end, and those who persevere do it to receive the
graces promised. The souls who perform the Five First Saturdays
with fervour and with the aim of making reparation to the Heart
of your Heavenly Mother please Me more than those who do it
fifteen times and yet are lukewarm and indifferent.
– My
Jesus! Many souls find it difficult to confess on Saturday. Will
You allow a confession within eight days to count?
– Yes.
It can even be made later on, provided that souls are in a state
of grace when they receive Me on the first Saturday, and that
they have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
– My
Jesus! And what of those who forget to formulate this intention?
–
They can formulate it at their next confession, taking advantage
of their first opportunity to go to confession. »
« Immediately
afterwards He disappeared, without me finding out anything more
about Heaven’s desires, up to the present. And as for me, I
desire that a flame of divine love ignites in souls so that,
sustained in that love, they truly console the Sacred Heart of
Mary. I at least have the desire to console my dear Heavenly
Mother a great deal, while suffering much for Her love. »
(Brother Francis,
Fatima, Intimate Joy, Book 2, pp. 79-82) |
THE HOLY ROSARY, THE WORLD’S SALVATION
If Sister Lucy
was unable to speak of the revelation of the Name of Our Lady on 13
October, it is therefore not surprising either that she had to pass
over in silence Her great cosmic miracle, a resounding sign of Her
victory, which appeared in the sky of the Cova da Iria, on the same
13 October 1917 in full view of seventy thousand witnesses. Under the
title:
The Call to the
sanctification of the family,
Sister Lucy writes in the 18th
chapter of her book:
« God
chose to conclude the Message in Fatima, in October 1917, with three
further apparitions which I regard as three more calls placed before
us for our consideration, so that we may keep them in mind during our
earthly pilgrimage. While the people were gazing in astonishment at
the sun which had gone pale in the light of the presence of God, the
three children saw, beside the sun, three distinct and, to us,
significant apparitions. »
When Our Lady rose into the
sky after having concluded her conversation with Lucy, the latter
cried out: « Look at the sun! » « Then we were able to look
at the sun perfectly without the least inconvenience, observed
Ti Marto, the father of Jacinta and Francisco. We would have said
that it extinguished itself and lighted up again, now in one way, now
in another way. It threw off beams of light on one side and on the
other and painted everything in different colours: trees, people, the
ground, the air. But the real proof [of the miracle] is that
the sun did not hurt the eyes. »
As for the miracle itself that followed, it is
censored in Sister Lucy’s book: « Everyone was motionless, Ti
Marto went on. Everyone was silent. Everyone was looking at the
sky. At a certain moment the sun stopped, and then began again to
dance, to spin; it stopped once more, and began again to dance, until
the moment, finally, when it appeared to detach itself from the sky
and move forward upon us. It was a terrible moment! »
Maria Carreira described the effect produced in the
souls of the spectators by this fall of the sun :
« It produced
different colours: yellow, blue, white; and it shook, shook in such a
way! It seemed a wheel of fire which was going to fall on the crowd.
They shouted: “Oh Jesus! We are all going to die!” “Oh Jesus! We are
all dying!” Others shouted: “Our Lady, help us!” And they recited the
act of contrition. There was even a lady who made her general
confession, and said in a loud voice: I have done this, I have done
that… and that still!
« Finally the sun
stopped, and all heaved a sigh of relief. We were alive, and the
miracle which the children had announced had taken place. »
This alone was a sufficiently eloquent « call » to « reflect
on eternal life » and to « stop offending God »!
But the innocent children who had seen Hell open
before their eyes on 13 July, had no need of this Apocalyptic vision
to believe! Since they knew that they were destined to go to Heaven
they had no reason to fear death, nor to make their general
confession! They only had to make known the ultimate means of
salvation given by God to the sinners who saw the sun fall on their
head, namely the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries of the Holy
Rosary, because as Sister Lucy was to
explain to Father Fuentes forty years later, « when God is about to
chastise the world, He always exhausts all other remedies first »:
« Look, Father,
she said to him, the Most Holy Virgin, in
these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the
recitation of the Holy Rosary. And this in such a manner that there is
no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above
all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us or of our
families, whether these be families in the world or religious
communities, or indeed in the lives of peoples and nations… there is
no problem, I say, howsoever difficult, that we cannot solve through
the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will be saved,
we will be sanctified, we will console Our Lord and obtain the
salvation of many souls. »
This is indeed the succession of the Joyful, the
Sorrowful and the Glorious Mysteries that are recalled in the three
successive visions of the Holy Family, of Our Lady of Sorrows and of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
1. JOYFUL MYSTERIES
THE CALL TO THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE FAMILY
« I
do not know whether or not the Church’s theologians and thinkers have
attached any special significance or interpretation to these
apparitions. They would certainly be able to do so in more precise
language based on sacred doctrine. »
Alas! Theologians and thinkers of the Church
attached no importance to these apparitions. This is why we must
listen attentively to Sister Lucy, Our
Lady’s catechist. She has exclusivity!
« I am only speaking
about them here in order to do what I have been asked to do, and
within the limits imposed by my humble ignorance and poverty. Thus I
propose to say quite simply what I think God wished to say to us with
these three apparitions. »
A marvellous “marriage preparation” follows that we
transcribe integrally, without interruption. Everyone will easily
recognise the solution to the problems, no matter how difficult
they are, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal
life of each one of us or of our families, whether these be families
in the world or religious communities, since
Sister Lucy, like
the Abbé de Nantes, regards religious communities
as families. However their specific case will be dealt with respect to
the third vision.
« The
first was the apparition of the
Holy Family: Our Lady and the Child Jesus in the arms of St
Joseph, blessing the people.
« In
times such as the present, when the family often seems misunderstood
in the form in which it was established by God, and is assailed by
doctrines that are erroneous and contrary to the purposes for which
the divine Creator instituted it, surely God wished to address to us a
reminder of the purpose for which He established the family in the
world ?
« God
entrusted to the family the sacred mission of co-operating with Him in
the work of creation. This decision to associate His poor creatures
with His creative work is a great demonstration of the fatherly
goodness of God. It is as if He were making them sharers in His
creative power; making use of His children in order to bring forth new
lives, which will flower on earth but be destined for Heaven.
« Thus
the divine Creator wished to entrust to the family a sacred mission,
that makes two beings become one in a union so close that it does not
admit of separation. It is from this union that God wishes to produce
other beings, as He generates flowers and fruit from plants.
« God
established Matrimony as an indissoluble union. Once a couple have
received the Sacrament of Matrimony, the union between the two is
definitive and cannot be broken; it is indissoluble as long as the
couple remain alive. It was thus that God ordained it to be.
« We
read in the Book of Genesis: “So God created man in His own image, in
the image of God He created him; male and female He created them”
(Gn 1.27); two, yes, but these two are one: “Therefore a man leaves
his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one
flesh.” (Gn 2.24). This is a law of God, which Jesus Christ confirmed
and endorsed, in the face of human efforts, at that time, to pull in
the opposite direction: “Have you not read that He who made them from
the beginning made them male and female, and said: For this reason a
man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and
the two shall become one. So they are no longer two but one. What
therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
(Mt 19.4-6)
« This
is the law of Matrimony: from the time that they have been joined
together by the blessing of God, the two become one, and this union
does not allow of separation: What God has joined together, let no one
put asunder. They become one by the bond of love that led them to
commit themselves to each other in the one ideal of co-operation with
God in the work of creation, and this involves the sacrifice and
immolation that the giving of oneself always implies; it involves,
too, mutual understanding, forgiveness and pardon. It is thus that a
home is built up, made holy and gives glory to God.
« A
home must be like a garden, where fresh rosebuds are opening, bringing
to the world the freshness of innocence, a pure and trusting outlook
on life, and the smile of innocent happy children. Only thus does God
take pleasure in His creative work, blessing it and turning His
fatherly gaze upon it. Any other way of behaving is to divert the work
of God from its end, to alter the plans of God, failing to fulfil and
carry out the mission that God has entrusted to the married couple.
« Hence,
in the Message of Fatima, God calls on us to turn our eyes to the Holy
Family of Nazareth, into which He chose to be born, and to grow in
grace and stature, in order to present to us a model to imitate, as
our footsteps tread the path of our pilgrimage to Heaven.
« The
Evangelist St. Luke, after describing for us how Jesus Christ, as a
young boy, went up to the temple in Jerusalem where He got separated
from His parents and where they found Him three days later, adds: “And
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them;
and His Mother kept all these things in Her Heart. And Jesus increased
in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man.”
(Lk 2.51-52)
« Parents
who do not instil a knowledge of God and of His commandments into
their children from an early age, teaching them to keep them in mind
and to observe them, are failing to fulfil the mission entrusted to
them by God. It is a law that God prescribed for his people: “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.” (Dt 6.6-7). Parents who
disregard this law of God make themselves responsible for the
ignorance of their children and for any misdemeanours that may result
from it. And, very often, it is this ignorance that is responsible for
the disordered lives of the children who torment the declining years
of their parents, and are themselves lost.
« What
has been said applies even when the children are entrusted to the care
of competent teachers, because what remains most engraved in the
hearts of children is what they have received in their father’s arms
and on their mother’s lap. Nothing can dispense parents from this
sublime mission: God has entrusted it to them and they are answerable
to God for it.
« Parents
are the ones who must guide their children’s first steps to the altar
of God, teaching them to raise their innocent hands and to pray,
helping them to discover how to find God on their way and to follow
the echo of His voice. This is the most serious and important mission
that has been entrusted by God to parents; and they must fulfil it so
well that, throughout their lives, the memory of their parents will
always arouse in their children the memory of God and of His teaching.
« This
is how St. Paul encourages us to behave: “Children, obey your parents
in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your father and mother (this is
the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you
and that you may live long on the earth. Parents, do not provoke your
children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction
of the Lord.” (Ep 6.1-4). And in the second Letter of St. John, which
was undoubtedly addressed to an ecclesial community, but which he sees
personified in the person of a mother - the elect Lady and her
children - we find, from the pen of the Apostle, a eulogy that we wish
could be applied to all fathers and mothers: “I
rejoiced greatly to find some of your children following the truth,
just as we have been commanded by the Father. And now I beg you, Lady,
not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we
have had from the beginning, that we love one another.”
(2 Jn 4-5).
« In
families composed of parents and children, there are duties which the
parents have to fulfil in relation to their children, and,
vice versa, the children in
relation to their parents. The Book of Sirach, after listing the many
duties of children, concludes with this appeal to their submission and
gentleness: “My
son, perform your tasks in meekness; then you will be better loved
than a lavish giver. The greater you are, the more you must humble
yourself so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord. For great
is the might of the Lord; He is glorified by the humble.”
(Si 3.17-20). And the Apostle St. Peter presses home the same idea:
“Likewise you that are younger be subject to the elders. Clothe
yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God
opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt
you. Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you.
Be sober, be watchful.”
(1 Pt 5.5-8).
« These
words are addressed to us all, but especially to the young people who
have as yet no experience of life, which is why the Apostle urges them
to be submissive, sober and vigilant, in order not to be taken in by
the illusions of life, by the disordered appetites of nature, and the
diabolical seductions of the world. Because, St. Peter goes on, “Your
adversary the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone
to devour. Resist him, firm in your 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.” (1 Pt 5.8-10).
« Yes,
firm
in faith, in hope and
in charity, we must all struggle to achieve victory over evil, and
attain the peace, joy and blessedness of the house of our Father who
is God; and we, all together, form His family.
« The
children must never forget or set to one side the respect, gratitude
and help which they owe to their parents, who are for them the image
of God.
« In
fact, just as the parents sacrificed themselves in order to bring up,
educate and establish their children in life, so the children, in
their turn, have a duty to sacrifice themselves in order to give
pleasure, joy and serenity to their parents, aiding and assisting
them, if necessary, in such a way that everything is done out of true
love and with one’s eyes fixed on God: “Whatever your task, work
heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord
you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the
Lord Christ.» (Col 3.23). And we shall enjoy His friendship, as He has
told us: “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (Jn 15.14)
And what has He commanded us? “This is My commandment,
that you love one another as I
have loved you.” (Jn 15.12).
« This
is how a family sanctifies itself, grows and prospers in that unity,
fidelity, mutual understanding and forgiveness which generate peace,
joy, mutual trust and love.
« Ave Maria! »
(to be continued)
Brother
Bruno de Jesus
|
Next
month :
2. SORROWFUL
MYSTERIES:
THE UNIQUE
MODEL AND THE LADY OF SORROWS |
|
