OUR LADY OF FATIMA

Day 3: May 13

On this day the Church commemorates the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of Fatima. Fatima is a village in the center of Portugal about seventy miles north of Lisbon, consisting of several little hamlets hidden away in the elevation known as Serra de Aire. One such hamlet is called Aljustrel. It is here that the Marian apparitions occurred. Our Lady appeared six times to three shepherd children in 1917. The names of the children are: Lucia aged 9 and her cousins Francisco aged 8 and his sister Jacinta aged 6. The apparitions happened between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917.

The world was experiencing the ravages of World War I involving primarily the two major alliances of the Allies (including France, the UK, Russia and later the US) and the Central Powers (mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire). The World was in desperate need of peace. In 1916, a resplendent human-like figure appeared to the children, introducing himself as 'the Angel of Peace.' The same figure appeared to them two more times reassuring them that they need to accept sufferings as reparation for all the atrocities of humankind.

On May 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared to them. The children saw 'a woman all in white, more brilliant than the sun.' She said, 'Do not be afraid, I am not about to harm you.' The little Lucia asked her where she came from. She responded, 'I come from heaven.' The woman was wearing a white mantle edged with gold. She had a rosary in her hand. The lady asked them to pray and devote themselves to the Blessed Trinity and to pray the daily rosary for world peace and for an end to war. She also revealed to them that they would suffer a lot mainly due to the disbelief of their own kith and kin and that Francisco and Jacinta would soon be called for their eternal reward while Lucia would outlive so that she could spead her message and devotion to the Immaculate Heart. In the last apparition, in response to Lucia's question, the lady revealed herself: "I am the Lady of the Rosary."

Our Lady of Fatima revealed three prophetic “secrets,” the first two of which were revealed earlier and refer to the vision of hell and the souls languishing there, the request for an ardent devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the prediction of the Second World War, and finally the prediction of the immense damage that Russia would do to humanity by abandoning the Christian faith and embracing Communist totalitarianism.  The third “secret” was not revealed until the year 2000, and referred to the persecutions that humanity would undergo in the last century: “The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated'”.  The suffering of the popes of the 20th century has been interpreted to include the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, which took place on May 13, the 64th anniversary of the apparitions. The Holy Father attributed his escape from certain death to the intervention of Our Lady: “... it was a mother's hand that guided the bullet's path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death.”

What is the central meaning of the message of Fatima? Nothing different from what the Church has always taught: it is, as Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict the XVI,  has put it, “the exhortation to prayer as the path of “salvation for souls” and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.” The most well known utterance of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima was her confident declaration that  “My Immaculate Heart will triumph”. Cardinal Ratzinger has interpreted this utterance as follows: “The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.

On December 10, 1925, our Loving Mother Mary, appearing to Lucy, the only survivor of those who saw our Lady at Fatima, spoke these heart-rending words: “My child, behold My Heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me. Announce in My name that I promise to assist at the hour of death, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall:

* Go to confession and receive Holy Communion,

* Recite the Rosary,

* And keep Me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary,

* With the intention of making reparation to Me. I promise to assist them at the hour of their death with all the graces necessary to save their souls.”

N.B. The Confession may be made during the eight days before or after the Communion. The Rosary (five decades) may be recited at any convenient time of the day, and the 15-minute meditation may be made at any time of the day, either on all the mysteries as a whole or on one special mystery.

WHY FIVE?

When Sister Lucy, in prayer, asked our Lord why five Saturdays, He answered: “My daughter, the reason is simple. There are five types of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

* Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.

* Blasphemies against Her Virginity.

* Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity, in refusing at the same time to recognize Her as the Mother of men.

* The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to sow in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred of this Immaculate Mother.

* The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her Holy Images.

“Here, My daughter, is the reason why the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspired Me to ask for this little act of reparation …”

Are there not enough devotions? But, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is one about which it has been said in the apparitions at Fatima, that GOD wants this devotion to be established and should mean the beginning of a greater cult of the same Heart; and that this cult should mean placing the Mother’s Heart beside that of the Son.

It does not seem that such significant and meaningful words have been spoken about any devotion!

AN ACT OF CONSECRATION

Immaculate Heart of Mary, who together with the Heart of Jesus Thy Son suffered so greatly for the salvation of the world, Thou manifested Thy fervent desire that we should consecrate ourselves to Thy Heart and practice the special devotion of the Five First Saturdays, I hereby, wish to do as Thou desired: Obtain for me the grace to live so as to be truly consecrated. I wish to do this reparation for the sins wounding Thy Motherly Heart. Accept this dear Mother and

bless me.