The Cause of Our Lady's Sadness
In 1917, Our Lady showed the three children of Fatima a vision of Hell. She then said: “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”
This vision of Hell is known as the first part of the Secret of Fatima, which contained three parts in total. It is important to note that these three parts are all interconnected. So when she goes on to reveal an allusion to the coming New World Order (“Russia will spread her errors throughout the world”) and also the coming Great Apostasy, according to the testimony of many who have read the entirety of the third part of the Secret. The reason this is important is because the Antichrist will seek to utilize these two pillars to lead souls astray. The principle souls that will fall prey will be those of the lukewarm and unbelieving.
Notice that the first part of the Secret is a vision of Hell. She then builds on this by immediately saying that Hell is where the souls of poor sinners go, and to save them, God wishes to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
If we do as she says, then many souls will be saved and there will be peace. What do we learn from this first part of the Secret? Let us dissect it and find out.
First, we see that the most important thing to our Queen of Heaven is the loss of souls that are plunging into Hell. This is a crucial point that cannot be dismissed, overlooked, glossed over, or forgotten in any way. As the world continues to find more and more reasons to be divided, we must keep our eyes sharp and focused towards our purpose in these times. Our Queen desires that we assist her in bringing souls to Heaven. You could say, in a sense, that nothing else ultimately matters.
Second, Our Lady reveals to us what is God’s solution for saving these souls. It is devotion to her Immaculate Heart. So what does it mean to be devoted to her Immaculate Heart? Many theologians probably have their own answers to this, but I will encourage you to direct your attention to two Saints: St. Louis de Montfort and St. Maximilian Kolbe. Both of these Saints promoted a Consecration spirituality dedicated to Our Lady. For now, I want to focus on St. Montfort.
St. Louis de Montfort blessed the world with the Total Consecration to Jesus in Mary. I bring this up here because Mary specifically said that devotion to her Immaculate Heart would be the means of saving souls from Hell. And one could say that it was precisely this message which was the reason why Our Lady condescended to come to the children at Fatima with a secret and a miracle meant to reach the world. Even the great Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917 was itself a means to an end. Heaven allowed for this miracle so that people would know that Mary was truly appearing in Fatima.
But we must ask why she had to appear? It was to reveal this Secret, with its three separate parts. Each of the parts ties into each other. Mary wanted us to know that Hell is real, and that many souls are going there. Her mission is to ask us our help in saving these souls, and her primary weapon is devotion to her Immaculate Heart. This requested devotion is most perfectly seen through St. Montfort’s Total Consecration.
Total Consecration is a life changing spirituality, the devotion of all devotions. St. Louis de Montfort had prophesied that in the end times, the greatest saints known to history would arise. He said these would be those who had been totally consecrated to Jesus in Mary, and that they would wage war against the Antichrist.
In the Total Consecration, we entrust and consecrate our entire selves as slaves of love to Jesus formed within the womb of the Blessed Mother. She goes to work immediately in seeking to conform us to the image of her Son hidden within her womb, where Jesus is completely dependent on her. As well, we give her complete freedom to determine which crosses will come our way in order to purify us from our vices and swiftly aid us to grow in virtue.
Mary was the first person in history, since the Fall of Adam and Eve, to completely live within the Divine Will of God. Hence, when she is the Queen of the heart with total surrender, she can then mold us at her whim to be a soul predisposed to receiving this same gift of the Divine Will.
Remember, at Fatima, Mary said that God wishes to save souls from Hell through devotion to her Immaculate Heart. This devotion is most assuredly accomplished by means of the Total Consecration, which is also tied to the faithful wearing of the Brown Scapular and the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary. The reason why this is the necessary way to save souls from Hell is twofold.
First, it secures the salvation of our own soul (provided we remain in a state of grace). It does this because Mary is the Queen of our hearts, and thus we freely choose to respond faithfully to her requests, whether it be our actions pertaining to global events, or pertaining to our personal lives in regards to vice and virtue. Second, it puts the salvation of souls as our primary focus since we obey the orders of our Queen. Her wishes and commands take precedence against all other voices in the world, including our own.
At Akita, Japan in 1973, our Lady said to Sr. Agnes that the thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of her sadness. This ought to break the hearts of her consecrated subjects, because any honorable and noble subject in a Kingdom knows that our duty is to honor our Queen, defend her cause, and alleviate her sorrows. May we take all this to heart in our daily lives as we seek to grow in holiness and respond generously to the call of our Mother and Queen.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We love you. Save souls. Amen.
