First Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima: May 13th, 1917

[Hildegard of Bingen]

First Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima:  May 13th, 1917

Sister Lucia's Memoirs

(From the book "Fatima in Lucia's own words")

Lucia, in a letter to the Bishop:

Your Excellency,

In obedience to the order which Your Excellency gave me in your letter of July 26th, 1941, that I should think over and note down anything else I could remember about Jacinta, I have given thought to the matter and decided that, as God was speaking to me through you, the moment has arrived to reply to two questions which have often been sent to me, but which I have put off answering until now.

What is the Secret?

It seems to me that I can reveal it, since I already have permission from heaven to do so. God's representatives on earth have authorized me to do this several times and in various letters, one of which, I believe, is in your keeping. This advises me to write to the Holy Father, suggesting, among other things, that I should reveal the secret. . .

THE VISION OF HELL

Well, the secret is made up of three distinct parts, two of which I am now going to reveal.

The first part is the vision of Hell.

Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent.
This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.

We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly:

"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. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

"To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.

LASTING IMPRESSION OF JACINTA

Your Excellency, as I already told you in the notes I sent to you after reading the book about Jacinta, some of the things revealed in the secret made a very strong impression on her. This was indeed the case. The vision of hell filled her with horror to such a degree, that every penance and mortification was as nothing in her eyes, if it could only prevent souls from going there.

Well, I am now going to answer the second question, one which has come to me from various quarters.

How is it that Jacinta, small as she was, let herself be possessed by such a spirit of mortification and penance, and understood it so well?

I think the reason is this: firstly, God willed to bestow on her a special grace, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and secondly, it was because she had looked upon hell, and had seen the ruin of souls who fall therein.

Some people, even the most devout, refuse to speak to children about hell, in case it would frighten them. Yet God did not hesitate to show hell to three children, one of whom was only six years old, knowing well that they would be horrified to the point of, I would almost dare to say, withering away with fear.

Jacinta often sat thoughtfully on the ground or on a rock, and exclaimed:

"Oh, Hell! Hell! How sorry I am for the souls who go to hell! And the people down there, burning alive, like wood in the fire! Then, shuddering, she knelt down with her hands joined, and recited the prayer that Our Lady had taught us:

"O my Jesus! Forgive us, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need."

LUCIA LOOKS BACK

Now, Your Excellency, another thought comes to my mind. I have sometimes been asked if, in any of the Apparitions, Our Lady pointed out to us which kind of sins offend God most. They say that Jacinta, when in Lisbon, mentioned sins of the flesh. She had often questioned me on this matter, and I think now, that when in Lisbon, perhaps it occurred to her to put the question to Our Lady herself, and that this was the answer she received.

Well, Your Excellency, it seems to me that I have now made known the first part of the secret.

THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

The second part refers to the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

As I have already written in the second account, Our Lady told me on June 13th, 1917, that she would never forsake me, and that her Immaculate Heart would be my refuge and the way that would lead me to God. As she spoke these words, she opened her hands, and from them streamed a light that penetrated to our inmost hearts. I think that, on that day, the main purpose of this light was to infuse within us a special knowledge and love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as on the other two occasions it was intended to do, as it seems to me, with regard to God and the mystery of the most Holy Trinity.

From that day onwards, our hearts were filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From time to time, Jacinta said to me: "The Lady said that her Immaculate heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don't you love that? Her Heart is so good! How I love It!"

As I explained earlier, Our Lady told us, in the July secret, that God wished to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart; and that to prevent a future war, she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and for the Communion of Reparation of the First Saturdays. From then on, whenever we spoke of this among ourselves, Jacinta said: "I am so grieved to be unable to receive Communion in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!"

I have also mentioned already how Jacinta chose from the litany of ejaculations which Father Cruz suggested to us, this one: "Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation!" After saying it, she used to add sometimes, with the simplicity that was natural to her: "I so love the Immaculate Heart of Mary! It is the heart of our dear Mother in heaven!

Don't you love saying many times over: 'Sweet heart of Mary, Immaculate Heart of Mary'? I love it so much, so very much."

[Stone]

Our Lady of Fátima

Feast Day - May 13th

Taken from the Our Lady of Fatima Chapel newsletter

Today is the glorious feast day of our Chapel's Patroness, and the anniversary of her first appearance at Fatima, Portugal. Three young children: Lucia dos Santos with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, beheld the vision of a beautiful woman dressed in white and surrounded with brilliant light who claimed to be from heaven; she continued appearing to the same children for the following five months. Finally, in October, she revealed herself as The Lady of the Rosary and performed the largest spectacle ever witnessed in Church history, which became known as The Miracle of the Sun.

In all of her apparitions, Our Lady was very sad: "People must stop offending God, because He is already too much offended."  She conveyed a message with precise requests, warnings and promises concerning the Faith and the world; predicting that if her requests were not honored, many souls would be lost; and that mankind would suffer dire consequences. However, if her requests were fulfilled, there would be granted a great period of peace.

With each visit, Our Lady especially insisted that we pray the daily Rosary. During her June appearance, the young seers witnessed the greatest manifestation ever given by the Immaculate Heart of Mary; when the Blessed Virgin presented her Heart completely encircled by piercing thorns, while tenderly stating:

“Jesus wishes to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.”

Again, Our Lady affirmed the importance of this devotion in the following month, when after instructing the children to sacrifice themselves for sinners, so to save them from the fires of hell, she showed them a frightful vision of the damned, saying:

"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."

Sadly, most Catholics today doubt about the existence of hell; while most believe that the Blessed Virgin's message has been relegated to the past and that it no longer pertains to the modern world. But they are terribly mistaken. Hell exists, as Our Lady so vividly revealed; and her message is more relevant now than it ever was.

Such misguided perceptions are due, in great part, to the tragic effects of Modernism within the Church and the current state of apostasy and diabolic confusion which this heresy has fostered, all of which Our Lady gravely warned about at Fatima.

Our Lady included in her warnings: “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be annihilated.”

In 1947, the great American historian, Professor William Thomas Walsh, interviewed Sr. Lucia at her convent in Portugal. During that conversation, Professor Walsh specifically asked her about the consequences of not fulfilling Our Lady’s requests:

“In your opinion, will every country, without exception, be overcome by Communism?”  Sr. Lucia answered: “Yes.” Wanting to be positive about her answer, Professor Walsh emphatically repeated the question by adding: “And does that mean the United States of America too?” Sr. Lucia answered: “Yes.”

In light of the chaotic disruption of these past weeks, such grave warnings of a Divine chastisement have become more of a reality. But while this crisis should sound an alarm, it should not induce in souls the terror and fear advanced on so many worldly levels. For, as Father Hewko reminds us, "Children of God do not live by fear. We fear to offend God, but don't live by fear." Posted below is Father's sermon from last Sunday where he further explains some familiar traits with this state of emergency, and how it connects to the message of Fatima:

Some Facts About Communism

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The Fátima Message - God’s Chosen Remedy

Starting on May13th, 1917, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to three young shepherds for six consecutive months in the presence of a growing number of pilgrims and the inquisitive. The children alone saw Our Lady.

It is not sufficient to say that the message was a call for prayer and penance, as the Vatican claims. Such a lack of precision allows the particular demands given by Our Lady for our times to be placed under the bushel. We must therefore state the exact nature and the aim of the request.

Therefore, it is more correct to say that the instructions given by Our Lady between May and October could be summed up in these words: The daily Rosary; sacrifices for the conversion of sinners; reparation and abandonment from sin. That is the Fatima message in general. To this general message were later added two particular requests that were in keeping with the promise made in the July apparition:

• In 1925, the request was made for the Five First Saturdays devotion in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
  
• And in 1929, the request was made for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope in union with all the bishops in the world.
  

The Miracle of the Sun

Let us fast forward to the 13th day of October, 1917. In her July apparition, the Blessed Virgin announced that a huge miracle would take place in October, so that the entire world may believe in the reality of the apparitions and in the serious nature of Heaven’s warning.

The story is well known: A crowd of nearly 100,000 people gathered in the area; they were mostly Catholics, but also non-believers, militant atheists, and even free-masonic government officials. A torrential rain pouring from midnight on soaked everyone to the bones and rendered the Cova da Iria into a muddy field. In order to give blessings, God wills that we first do penance.

At midday, Lucia asked the people to fold their umbrellas. The entire crowd complied and magnificently displayed their faith and obedience. A few moments later, the sun broke through the clouds and Our Lady appeared above a small holm-oak. She asked for the conversion of sinners and, as in every apparition, she insisted on the daily recitation of the Rosary.

Then, suddenly, Lucia cried out: "Look at the sun!"  In front of the stupefied crowd of people, the sun gyrated in on itself as if it were a fire wheel, turning various colors of the rainbow. This lasted nearly eight minutes but seemed like hours. This cannot be attributed to a collective hallucination, because the phenomenon was seen within nearly a twenty-five mile radius by various individuals.

While the sun was spinning around, the three young shepherds alone saw a vision that symbolized the three sets of the mysteries of the Rosary:

• Representing the Joyful Mysteries: St. Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus and Our Lady. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus were blessing the world.
  
• Representing the Sorrowful Mysteries: Our Lord appeared with Our Lady of Sorrows.
  
• Representing the Glorious Mysteries: The Blessed Virgin in Heaven was seen holding the brown scapular of Mount Carmel.
  

The sun then turned blood red in color and seemed to fall from the sky and hurl itself towards the earth. Everyone believed that the end of the world had come. Then everything stopped – the sun returned to its normal place in the sky. The people got up and noted another phenomenon: their soaked clothes were completely dry. The non-believers had to acknowledge the reality of the facts. The following day, newspapers, including those most hostile towards the Church, all reported on the event.


Lessons From This Miracle

Firstly let us observe the spectacular nature of this miracle. We must turn to the Old Testament to find similar prodigies that were performed in front of an immense crowd of people: such as the manifestation of God to Moses and to the Hebrew people on Mount Sinai (Ex. 19); or when Joshua stopped the sun and the moon from advancing so that nightfall would not prevent the Jews from exterminating the enemies of Yahweh (Jos. 10). The miracle of October 13th is assuredly the largest miracle in the entire history of the Church. Let us ask why.

The history of the Church is the history of the struggle between two cities - the city of God and the city of Satan: “These two Cities are made by two loves: the heavenly City by love of God even to the contempt of self; the earthly City by love of oneself even to the contempt of God.” (The City of God; St. Augustine)

This magnificent synthesis of St. Augustine is nothing other than what is written in the Book of Genesis: I will put enmities between thee and the Woman, and between thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. (Gen 3, 15) We are now living in the times when, as Our Lady told Sr. Lucia: "the devil is fighting the decisive battle, meaning the final battle,"  This is the day when the general assault of all anti-Christian forces are launched against the Church.

“It is urgent that we realize the terrible reality that we are in. We do not wish to frighten people, but this is an urgent call to the reality of our situation...”  - Sr. Lucia, 1957.

And it is in order to draw our attention to this final phase of the history of the Church that Heaven produced the largest miracle witnessed of the past two thousand years. Paradoxically, the current modernist Church authorities are totally silent on this event. In the year 2000, when Cardinal Ratzinger released to the public a questionable version of the third secret of Fatima, he made no allusion whatsoever to this miracle. Why this silence?

The current Church authorities have not yet fulfilled the Virgin Mary’s request, and so it is understandable that they are embarrassed by this miracle, which clearly proves the heavenly origin of this request. At the same time – could it be their guilty conscience?  These authorities feel obliged to talk from time to time about Fatima and to perform the consecrations of the world or of mankind. Pope Francis even made one such consecration in 2013. However, by not consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as Our Lady requested, the popes are unable to provide the world with the promised remedy, and the situation continues to get worse.


The Fatima Apparitions are the Key

The Fatima apparitions are the key to understanding all the events of the 20th century and all that we are living through today, whether in the religious or political sphere. To be truly convinced of this, one only needs to read the authoritative work: The Whole Truth about Fatima, by Brother Michel of the Holy Trinity.

The troubles, the upheavals and the unprecedented decadence of our times are the direct consequences of the fact that churchmen have not yet wished to obey the request of Our Lady of Fatima:

“I will come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and for the Five First Saturdays in reparation for sins, said Our Lady on July 13, 1917. If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If my requests are not granted, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions against the Church.”

The October, 1917 Revolution that took place immediately after the request of Our Lady of Fatima was not a simple coup d’état bringing about a regime change. The aim of the Revolution was especially « to spread throughout the world the institutions and the mores of atheism » and the immorality that was to follow in its wake.

This Revolution occurred precisely during the huge conflagration of 1914 to 1918, which was the first Great War aiming to prepare for a one-world government. It is this that constitutes the errors of Russia: the creation of an atheistic society without Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the supreme assault against the Social Kingship of Our Lord. And we must admit that these errors have now spread throughout the entire world. No nation has been spared.

The only effective obstacle to this plan was the Church. In order to protect the Church and the world from this plot, the Virgin Mary requested Pope Pius XI in 1929, by the intermediary of Sr. Lucia, to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Tragically, the Pope did not believe the matter was worth pursuing; then, two years later, Our Lord, Himself, complained to Sr. Lucia:                                               

“Tell My ministers: because they are following the example of the King of France in delaying the fulfillment of My request, they will share in his tragedy.”

{Our Lord refers to His request of King Louis XIV for the Consecration of France to His Sacred Heart, which was also spurned. As a result, one hundred years later, the masonic French Revolution overthrew the King and ushered in The Reign of Terror. - Ed.}

It was during those years surrounding the 1929 request, that an organization was put in place by Moscow in order to infiltrate seminaries and novitiates with agents who had false vocations. These agents later reached influential positions and gradually worked to effect a new orientation in the Church. This has been proven by a good number of documents. With the Pope having ignored the protection that Heaven was offering, the Church became vulnerable to her enemies.

At the time of the Second Vatican Council, Moscow doubled the budget they allocated to the Pax organization, which was one of the principal agents of Communist infiltration into the Church.  Among other things, this group contributed to the attacks directed at the Curia during the Council. We should therefore not be surprised of the two major documents passed by the Council, and not without opposition:

• The document on Religious Liberty, which sanctions the secularization of States, that is to say their becoming atheistic States, preventing the Social Reign of Our Lord and forbidding the constitution of officially Catholic nations.
  

• And the document Nostra Aetate which, along with the decree on Ecumenism, leads to what we see today: churchmen who abandon missionary activities in order to work towards uniting all religions in the service of collectivism and the advancement of an atheistic, one world government.
  

In an interview with the chief editor of the newspaper Repubblica in Italy, an interview which made huge waves, Pope Francis declared: "Proselytism is a pompous absurdity." But this Ecumenism, which refuses the conversion of non-Catholics, leads to Religious Indifferentism, and Religious Indifferentism leads to Apostasy and to Atheism. This is exactly what we see in the entire world today. Yes, the errors of Russia have spread and they have especially penetrated inside the Church.


The Chosen Remedy

So, what must we do? And can we do anything, we who are so few? We need to understand that God alone can now redress the situation. There is no longer any solution on the purely human level. But that does not mean that there is nothing for us to do: God always wants the co-operation of His creatures, but the co-operation must be in accordance with His plan.


The Two Battles

Some years ago an eminent traditional Catholic thinker summed up the situation very well when he said that there are two battles that must be fought at the same time:

1. We must fight in order to preserve our last holdings. It is obvious that we must above all maintain our chapels, our monasteries, our schools, our publications, our associations, and, generally speaking, we must hold on to our hope of salvation and to the orthodoxy of our Doctrine. This is the lower battle. It is a defensive battle, a battle where we hold our own against the enemy.

2. But on a level higher than all of this, a battle of the greatest importance has begun and whose objective is the transfer of power. "I will reign in spite of My enemies," said the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret-Mary in 1689; a promise that was renewed in the 19th and 20th Centuries to a large number of mystics. We may rest assured that today Our Lord is working mysteriously, as He always does, towards the destruction of the Beast and towards the restoration of His own Reign. This mysterious battle which is led by Christ the King constitutes the higher battle and that is the principal objective.


The Lower Battle

Concerning the lower battle fought by men, Fr. Roger-Thomas Calmel, O.P. had these enlightening words to say:

“May each priest, each layman, each little group of priests and laymen, who have authority and influence over a small remnant of the Church and of Christendom go to the utmost of their possibilities and power. […] May the leaders of the small groups and their members know each other and communicate with each other. May each of these small groups thus protected, defended, led and guided in their prayer and chants by a true authority, become as much as possible a bastion of holiness: this is what will guarantee the continuity of the true Church and what will efficaciously prepare for a revival, when the day chosen by God comes.”

Let us note what Fr. Calmel says: our bastions must be bastions of holiness. What is worrisome at the moment is not so much the advancement of the forces of evil, but rather the softening of the good. Actually, there’s probably a link between the two tendencies. Those who knew the heroic beginnings of Tradition with Archbishop Lefebvre note that today the traditionalists have become quite lukewarm in comparison to those heroic days: the slovenly manner of dressing, sinful and imprudent use of the Internet, weakening of the convictions among the young, the faithful who no longer read in order to maintain their Faith and to oppose errors, fewer people going on spiritual retreats, a proportional decrease in vocations, etc.

If our principal focus in this lower battle is not on our sanctification, we will not preserve our bastions. We will be swept away in the general apostasy. Let us be watchful, let us wake up!


The Higher Battle

Above this battle of self-preservation lies the higher battle whose goal it is to completely defeat the forces of evil. This is where God’s battle lies. And where do we stand in this battle? There is but one simple action that each one must take. Again, Our Lady confided that action to Sr. Lucia of Fatima:

“Many times, while I was spending precious hours in her company, Our Lady insisted that we fulfill our daily duties according to our state in life and that we offer this effort for the reparation of our sins and for the conversion of sinners. This is the fundamental condition which will enable us to push back the forces of evil that threaten to submerge the world today and which will bring about the conversion of Russia and a period of peace to the world. But she also explained the importance of the Rosary because it is the one principal means given to us by Our Lady for the sanctification of our daily duties.”

This is how we can truly and efficaciously participate in the final battle which will definitively crush the enemies of the Church. This is within everyone’s reach and that is very encouraging!


Conclusion

Let us conclude with the words of Archbishop Lefebvre which he gave in a sermon in his last Pontifical Mass of November, 1990 on the occasion of the SSPX-20th anniversary. This is his testament:

“My dear Friends, you can easily see the importance of your role. […] You are a small remnant, but you carry the torch boldly. […] Ah! What a beautiful task, what a noble crusade lies ahead of you! The good God has placed you in a period of the history of mankind that is exciting for young people such as yourselves! It was just like this at the time of the Machabees when they left the corrupt Jewish society, and they too were very few. Judas Machabee with only eight hundred soldiers faced an army of twenty thousand – and he defeated them. And so, be confident, my dear Friends, God is with you. He will not abandon you, just as He has not abandoned us over the course of the last twenty years. Nor will He abandon you in the future because it is Himself that God wants. God does not want to disappear; He is God, He wants to remain God, not only in Heaven, but also here on earth. That is why He wants soldiers in His army.”

- Adapted from the Dominicans of Avrillé

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105th Anniversary of the First Apparition at Fatima today!

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On this Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, the date of Our Lady's first apparition in Fatima in 1917, let us take to heart Fr. Gruner's very serious presentation on Sr. Lucia's conversation with Fr. Fuentes about the message of Fatima - and let us refuse to allow the Vatican to bury or discount Fatima in any way! Ave Maria! "In the End, My Immaculate Heart will triumph!" Our Lady always keeps Her Promises!

Fr. Gruner Video

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Today is the 107th Anniversary of Our Lady's appearance to the Children of Fatima!

The following is gratefully taken from today's Bulletin from the Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary:

Our Lady of Fátima
Feast Day - Today, May 13th

Today is a special feast day of our Blessed Lady, and the anniversary of her first appearance at Fátima, Portugal. On Sunday, May 13th, 1917, the world changed, and no one noticed.

It was a bright, sun-filled midday at the Cova da Iria, and its rocky hillsides were sprinkled with wildflowers, when three young children: Lucia dos Santos, with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, beheld the vision of a beautiful woman dressed in white and surrounded with brilliant light who claimed to be from heaven. She continued appearing to the same children at the same location for the following five months. Finally, in October, she revealed herself as The Lady of the Rosary and performed the largest spectacle ever witnessed in Church history, which became known as The Miracle of the Sun.

After a long Church investigation, the apparitions and miracle were officially approved; deemed as authentic supernatural appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and worthy of belief.

In her interviews after the apparitions, Lucia described this vision of Our Lady as being "full of light" and that "the light that surrounded her was more beautiful than the light of the sun, and more brilliant” …also stating that, “As she pronounced the words: ‘the grace of God will be your comfort’, Our Lady opened her hands, communicating to us a light so intense that, as it streamed from her hands, its rays penetrated our hearts and the innermost depths of our souls, making us see ourselves in God, Who was that light, better than we see ourselves in the best of mirrors.”

In his account of the apparition in the book, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité expounds on this astonishing phenomenon in detail:

"Thus, we note that this first vision of Our Lady, 'All of Light' reveals a fundamental truth, essential to the understanding of the Fátima Message. It was her risen body in all the splendor of its glory in which she manifested herself. Once again, there is perfect agreement between the testimony of the three shepherds and that of Holy Scripture. The evangelist writes of the transfigured Jesus: 'His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light.' (Mt. 17: 2) In the great vision of the glorious Christ which opens the Apocalypse, Jesus appears to the Disciple as a Son of man, whose face was ‘like the sun shining at full strength”. (Apoc. 1: 16) When He throws Saul down to the ground on the road to Damascus, it is once again in the same light. 'At midday', the Apostle relates, 'I saw on my way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me.' (Acts 26: 13) The light was so bright that he lost his sight."

"The sun is only the image of the divine light with which the risen Bodies of Jesus and Mary shine. It was thus that the Virgin appeared at Fátima, like the Spouse in the Canticle of Canticles, 'fair as the moon, bright as the sun' (Cant. 6: 10), and also like the Woman of the Apocalypse, 'a woman clothed with the sun'. (Apoc. 12: 1) By her apparitions at the Cova, the Blessed Virgin confirms for us, that as Mother of the 'Sun of Justice', she has been clothed with the divine Light since her Assumption. While remaining a creature and fully human, she has penetrated, so to speak, into the sphere of the divinity."

“In this we can see a delicate sign of the care of the Mother of God, wishing to signify to her children that she is indeed the “Catholic” Virgin, of whom they sing with love when they offer praises in her honor: She is the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Spouse of the Word of God, the living Sanctuary of the Spirit of Love and of Light. She is the perfect figure and personification of the Church, the Virgin who has risen up to heaven in glory, in body and soul. She is the Queen of heaven and earth, who has already been introduced into the great Light of God. Here, it is the Immaculate One who flashes forth the light and power of God! The Blessed Virgin wishes to teach us of her role as Mediatrix of all graces”

In all of her apparitions, Our Lady was very sad: "People must stop offending God, because He is already too much offended." She conveyed a message with precise requests, warnings and promises concerning the Faith and the world; predicting that if her requests were not honored, many souls would be lost; and that mankind would suffer dire consequences. However, if her requests were fulfilled, the world would be granted a great period of peace.

With each visit, Our Lady especially insisted that we pray the daily Rosary. During her June appearance, the young seers witnessed the greatest manifestation ever given of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; when the Blessed Virgin presented her Heart completely encircled by piercing thorns, while she tenderly explained:

“Jesus wishes to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.”

Again, Our Lady affirmed the importance of this devotion during the following month, when after instructing the children to sacrifice themselves for sinners, so to save them from the fires of hell, she showed them a frightful vision of the damned, saying:

"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."

Sadly, most Catholics today doubt about the existence of hell; while most believe that the Blessed Virgin's message has been relegated to the past and that it no longer pertains to the modern world. But they are terribly mistaken. Hell exists, as Our Lady so vividly revealed; and her message is more relevant now than it ever was.

Such misguided perceptions are due, in great part, to the tragic effects of Modernism infested within the Church, and the current state of apostasy and diabolic confusion which this heresy has fostered, all of which Our Lady gravely spoke about at Fátima. She especially gave to the world a very stern warning:

“If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be annihilated.”

With tensions currently boiling over in Ukraine and Palestine, the drums of world war are beating louder each day, so we can readily see how the reality of this ominous message could suddenly explode upon us all.

In 1946, the great American historian, Professor William Thomas Walsh, interviewed Sr. Lucia at her convent in Portugal. During that conversation, Professor Walsh specifically asked her about the consequences of not fulfilling Our Lady’s requests:

“In your opinion, will every country, without exception, be overcome by Communism?” Sr. Lucia answered: “Yes.” Wanting to be positive about her answer, Professor Walsh emphatically repeated the question by adding: “And does that mean the United States of America too?” Sr. Lucia answered: “Yes.”

Truly, Our Lady's warning of a Divine chastisement certainly seems much more certain than ever. But, while chaos and global unrest should sound an alarm, it should not induce in souls the terror and fear advanced on so many worldly levels. Father Hewko reminds us how: "Children of God do not live by fear. We fear to offend God, but don't live by fear."

Let’s flashback now to Father's sermon of Our Lady’s first visit given on last year’s feast day; words which still ring true today. Whether souls realize it or not, the world around us connects directly to the message of Fatima: