The Forgotten Messages of Fatima
We often think of the Fatima message and we remember the controversial part of it: the Third Secret and the Consecration of Russia. Or we remember the Miracle of the Sun from October 13th, 1917. However, we often lose sight of the other pressing aspects about Heaven's purpose for Fatima: the salvation of souls and the vocation towards holiness.
Let us examine these so-called “forgotten” messages of Fatima as we go piece by piece through it.
Before Our Lady visited them, the children seers were visited by the Angel of Peace in the spring, summer, and fall of 1916.
We see that God reminds our modern world that Angels truly exist and are our protectors. We each uniquely have a Guardian Angel who prays unceasingly for us and wishes to guide us on the path that leads to Heaven.
Exodus 23:20-21 Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him.
Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
God created each of us to believe, adore, hope and love Him in this life so we could then spend eternity with Him in the next life.
"I believe" Faith is the basis of the whole spiritual life. By faith, we believe in the doctrines of Christ's Church. Faith guides our steps and leads us on the narrow path to Heaven. By faith, we serve Christ in others through works of mercy.
"I adore" God commands us to adore Him alone and to reject false gods and idols. In the desert, Our Lord said to Satan, "You shall worship and serve God alone" (Lk 4:8).
"I hope" We are called to place our confidence in Christ, uniting our daily crosses to His, with repentance for our sins, a resolution to sin no more. His promise to us: "All who believe in Him will have eternal life."
"I love" Jesus teaches us how to love God in His Sermon (Matt 5-7). Sin is an act of infidelity. Love of God compells us to keep His Commandments and persevere to the end. Jesus offered His life for love of us.
"I ask pardon" We seek forgiveness for those who do not honor God, who mock Him, and who place the world above Him. We also must forgive those who sin against us so we can obtain pardon as well. We must always forgive.
Jesus and Mary truly hear our prayers. Their Hearts are always "attentive" to us.
In the Angel's second visit, he encouraged prayer and sacrifice in reparation for sins which offend God and for the conversion of sinners. Also, trustful surrender and heroic endurance to any suffering the Lord is pleased to send us.
God has mapped out a clear path for humanity. Unfortunately, as a whole, most have disregarded the end for which they were created. They ignore God's existence, disregard His Rule, and mock His Name. They forget: "You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:19).
When we die, our souls return to God. If in a state of grace, to eternal happiness. If in mortal sin, to eternal punishment. Our earthly life is transitory and temporary; eternal life is unending.
We have a great need to draw close to God in prayer, to secure pardon for our sins, grace to resist temptation. "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (Matt 26:41).
Through prayer, we remain in intimate contact with God. In our everyday tasks, endeavor to be aware of God's presence. Sanctify the entire day and our activities. We are called to be holy and to not offend God through sin. Prayer is the life of the soul.
Offering a sacrifice is to deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow Jesus (Lk 9:23-25). Prefer to die than to commit one mortal sin. Renounce anything that might cause us to sin; this is the way to salvation. And avoid every opportunity to entice others to sin through scandal.
Our daily lives offer many opportunities to practice sacrifice and self denial. We can't just avoid sin; we must practice virtue.
Any suffering, any inconvenience, big or small, is a gift sent by God to assist us in our path to holiness. Accept it with peace, endure with patience. This type of prayer and sacrifice is very pleasing to God, helps repair the damage done by sins which offend Him, and is a powerful way to bring graces of conversion to sinners, all to His glory.
In the Angel's final message to the children from 1916, he emphasizes the need for reparation to the Most Holy Trinity, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
First, he says to receive Holy Communion as an act of reparation to God who is horribly outraged by the sins of ungrateful men. In doing this, we console and soothe God.
This reminds us to always receive the Eucharist in a state of grace. St. Paul warns anyone who consumes the Eucharist in mortal sin "eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Cor 11:29).
We must purify ourselves through having our mortal sins absolved in the Sacrament of Penance, with true repentance and a firm resolve to not sin again and to avoid the near occasions of sin. We then have our venial sins absolved throughout the Holy Mass.
Christ present on our altars is not only the food of life; He is also the propitiatory sacrifice, offering Himself to the Father for our sins. This is the primary purpose for the Mass, to honor the Father and appease His wrath against the offense of our sins. The Cross, and thus the Mass, is the greatest proof of Christ’s love for the Father and for us.
What are the sins which grieve Almighty God? They are the insults, sacrileges, indifference, ingratitude, coldness, apathy, and blasphemies towards His Sacred Heart and by receiving the Eucharist unworthily.
And how often we forget about Him in tabernacles across the world. We make no effort to visit with Him and to make reparation for those who still treat Him as Judas did. We ought to increase our reverence in His presence; to strive for humility, modesty, and charity out of love for Him; and to make reparation for all those who do not care about Him, who take pleasure in their sins, who never stop to think how sin wounds the Heart of God.
We are also reminded of the truth of the Triune God, Father and Son and Holy Ghost, coequal, coeternal, three Persons, one Divine Nature. This is the one true God, He who created us, redeemed us, sustains us.
We are called to be living temples of God. He calls us each by name. He wants an intimate connection to each of us.
May 13th, 1917 is the first apparition of Our Lady to the children seers. It will also be the first if many times that Mary will appear to Lucia throughout her life. In this first encounter, she asks if we are willing to endure trials and hardships as an act of reparation, and also directs us to pray the Rosary every day.
Sr. Lucia, in a 1946 interview with John Haffert, founder of the World Apostolate for Fatima and Our Lady's Blue Army, noted that this was the most essential message of the Fatima apparitions.
Some hardships have a major impact on our lives. The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or a house, loss of income, a car accident, a severe injury that affects our health, the pain of an argument that severs a relationship, etc.
Others are smaller but potentially more frequent, such as getting stuck in traffic, stubbing our toe, our food order not being correct, waiting in line at a store, talking with an irritating coworker or relative, a criticism or harsh word from someone, something not going our way, chores at our house, etc.
In all these things, do we carry our cross and accept the hardships of daily life that God is pleased to send us? Not only can these be acts of reparation, but also can assist us in avoiding Purgatory, help us attain virtue and overcome vice, alleviate the sufferings of a soul forgotten in Purgatory, provide a witness to non believers, send graces to sinners for repentance, conform us to Our Lord so we imitate Him better.
This is the substance of what transforms sinners into mighty saints of holiness, because sacrifice is always the key to the heart of God.
Our Lady asks that we pray the Rosary every day. This is the easiest prayer for the Christian who loves God, because it can be prayed anywhere and requires minimal time on our end. The blessings we receive from the recitation of prayer combined with the meditations far outweigh the task of setting time aside to pray.
We can not all go to Mass every day. But we can all pray the Rosary at least once a day. And we see that our Rosaries have the potential to even end global wars. Demons are afraid of the Rosary.
Jesus wishes to make use of our lives to make Mary more known and loved. The reason for this is because Mary is the quickest, easiest, surest, and shortest path to being conformed to Christ. Her soul magnifies the Lord.
This is why God wants to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Because He desires all of us to be saved, He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
The most perfect form of devotion to Our Lady is to be totally consecrated to her. This is when we give our entire selves to her, whether spiritual or material, including the value of all our prayers, works, and sufferings. We imitate her sentiments, actions, and virtues. She in turn magnifies Jesus within us.
Establishing devotion in the world to Our Lady's Heart means bringing people to a full consecration through conversion and self dedication.
Gen 3:15 "I will put enmity between you and the woman." To belong entirely to Mary is to be part of her cohort, which is always at odds with Satan and the spirit of the world.
Luke 1:38 "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to Your Word." We in turn unite our Fiat to hers when we are consecrated to her.
We must do all we can to spread devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
We all have an innate desire to preserve our temporal life, but what folly of man that we often think so little in concerning ourselves with eternal life.
Our participation in eternal life must be decided between two very different destinations: Heaven or Hell.
Children of God and of Our Lady ascend by the way of love to eternal happiness, whereas children of Satan are dragged down by the vileness of sin into the abyss of eternal torment.
Today, many choose to think that Hell does not exist. But they will believe it once they are there.
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart is pointed out as the way of salvation. Devotees listen to Mary's commandment: "Do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).
The world ardently longs for peace, from which it is far removed because it does not listen to the Word of God.
We also see that our sins are directly related to global chaos. Our Lady prophecied World War II if men did not stop offending God. Also noteworthy is she said it would come under a Pope named Pius XI, who was not even Pope yet at this time. Sure enough, Cardinal Ratti became Pope five years later and took the name Pius XI. And under his reign, the second World War occurred.
God punishes the world due to the sins of mankind. This is a frightening prospect for those who remain hardened and unrepentant in their sins.
Psalm 1:5-6 "The wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction." Woe to those who are called to their judgment while dying in mortal sin. But how blessed are the souls of the faithful who are called to the eternal banquet in Heaven!
Our Lady pleads with us to make sacrifices for sinners. She also wants them in Heaven and part of her cohort. The thought of the loss of so many souls causes her sadness. So many are going to Hell due to their mortal sins, for preferring lies to the truth, for calling evil good and good evil.
Our Lady told Jacinta, the youngest child, on her deathbed in 1919, "If men knew what eternity is, they would change their lives in a heartbeat."
Consider this the forgotten message of Fatima. This is where Our Lady called us to undertake an apostolate on behalf of sinners on their way to Hell. This is our Queen seeking the help of her loyal subjects.
The apostolate is a continuation of the mission of Christ on earth; we must be coworkers with Him in His work of redemption and the salvation of souls. We all signed up for this in our Sacrament of Confirmation.
The apostolate of prayer, self denial, and charity.
It is by our union with Christ in the Eucharist that our prayer is raised to God to obtain graces for unrepentant sinners.
Jn 15:4-5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. Apart from Me, you can do nothing." This is the only way our mission can bear any fruit. Without this life of prayer and sacramental union, every apostolate will be fruitless, because it is God who makes what we do and what we say effective.
We must resist the temptation to revenge, contempt, or indifference to our neighbor. We are called to forgive, pay back evil with good, and pray for those who persecute us. We have to imitate Jesus on the cross who said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do" (Lk 23:34).
God is very pleased with our offerings and sacrifices. He is not concerned with how great the act is, but rather with the charity we put into it.
Our Lady also calls us to a devotion to St. Joseph, whose intercession is very powerful in Heaven. As well as a tender love for the Christ Child. She also reminds us of the importance of the Rosary and of meditating on her sorrows, which yields many graces and blessings for our undertaking in this world.
Our Lady promises to come as Our Lady of Carmel, which brings us to the importance of the Brown Scapular, which is the sign of one's consecration to Our Lady. She does this to emphasize again the importance of devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Our Lady told St. Simon Stock, "Take this scapular, it shall be a sign of salvation, a protection in danger, and a pledge of peace. Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire."
St. Claude de la Colombiere said, "I venture to say that among all the pious devotions of the faithful to honor the Mother of God, there is no other so safe as devotion to her scapular, since no other has been confirmed by such wonderful and authentic miracles."
St. Alphonsus Ligouri taught, "The most holy Mary is pleased when her servants wear her scapular as a mark that they have dedicated themselves to her."
Mary told St. Dominic, "One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, I will save the world."
Notice here, too, the emphasis again on devotion to St. Joseph and the Christ Child.
And Our Lady promises that some people suffering physical ailments will be cured while others will not. Part of this has to do with sin, while another part has to do even more so with God's Will. He has a purpose in not curing some. We are reminded of the truth of redemptive suffering, and it's effect to unite one to the cross of Our Lord as well as bring graces to the hands of Our Lady for her to distribute.
The October 13th apparition was the greatest miracle of the 20th century and of modern times, predicted three months in advance. God performed this miracle so we would believe and obey the words of Our Lady.
We are called to stop offending God. The remedy for this is through observing the Commandments, which God says we must engrave on our hearts (Deut 6:4-9).
God is offended when we transgress His precepts. Every sin is an offence against God and a rejection of His love and a refusal to trust Him, 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.
We must avoid sin and strive for virtue 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 we owe to others. It makes us unworthy of God's friendship and of sharing in His glory.
Love is the bond which must bind us close to God and our neighbor, identifying us with the Heart of Christ.
The vision of the Holy Family reminds us of the need to sanctify our families, and that God's Will for us is to be holy (1 Thess 4:3).
Our Lady reminds us to pray the Rosary every day to aid us in this call to be holy and virtuous, and to persevere in spiritual combat.
Most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, turn thine eyes in pity upon us, miserable sinners; we are sore afflicted by the many evils that surround us in this life, but especially do we feel our hearts break within us upon hearing the dreadful insults and blasphemies uttered against thee, O Virgin Immaculate. O how these impious sayings offend the infinite Majesty of God and of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ!
How they provoke His indignation and give us cause to fear the terrible effects of His vengeance! Would that the sacrifice of our lives might avail to put an end to such outrages and blasphemies; were it so, how gladly we should make it, for we desire, O most holy Mother, to love thee and to honor thee with all our hearts, since this is the will of God. And just because we love thee, we will do all that is in our power to make thee honored and loved by all men.
In the meantime do thou, our merciful Mother, the supreme comforter of the afflicted, accept this our act of reparation which we offer thee for ourselves and for all our families, as well as for all who impiously blaspheme thee, not knowing what they say.
Do thou obtain for them from Almighty God the grace of conversion, and thus render more manifest and more glorious thy kindness, thy power and thy great mercy. May they join with us in proclaiming thee blessed among women, the Immaculate Virgin and most compassionate Mother of God. Amen
With the intention of making reparation for the offenses against the Immaculate Heart, we are asked to:
Go to Confession (may be 8 days before or after, if you are in a state of grace)
Receive Holy Communion
Pray five decades of the Rosary
Keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on one or more of the mysteries of the Rosary.
Our Lady promised to assist all those who will practice the devotion of the first Saturday on five consecutive months with the graces necessary for salvation at the hour of their death. This is not a guaranteed passage into heaven. Our cooperation with grace is always required.
"Here then, My Daughter, is the reason why the Immaculate Heart of Mary, My Mother, causes Me to ask for this little act of reparation and by means of it, moves My mercy to forgive those souls who had the misfortune of offending her. As for you, try without ceasing, with all your prayers and sacrifices, to move Me to mercy toward those poor souls."
Spoken by Our Savior in 1930 to Sister Lucia, these words and others given afterwards reveal to the world a most surprising truth, one replete with imperative significance for mankind. However, despite their importance, they have had little impact upon the faithful, remaining virtually unnoticed for over a half-century, a hidden gem in the vast spiritual treasure now known as Fatima.
Concerning these sins, we must do all we can to repair the danage they gave caused. These sins, more than all other causes, are threatening mankind with terrible punishments and are also delaying the fulfillment of God’s will as expressed at Fatima.
