The Great Promise of Our Lady of Fatima

    The Great Promise of Our Lady of Fatima

 

 

Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917  to three little children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, to warn the world, but also to bring a message of hope: “Finally my Immaculate Heart will triumph!”

Picture taken in Coimbra, Portugal, Sister Lucia’s Memorial Museum

In 1925  Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia, rested one hand on Lucia’s shoulder, while in the other hand she held a heart surrounded with thorns. Then Our Lady said to Lucia:

“Look, my daughter, at my Heart surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude… You, at least, try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the first Saturday for five consecutive months,

1. go to Confession,
2. receive the Holy Communion
3. recite five decades of the Rosary
4. keep me a company for 15 minutes while meditating of the mysteries of the Rosary, with intention of making reparation.”

This is how the Five First Saturday devotion came about. Our Heavenly Mother gave it to Sister Lucia, encouraging the faithful to pray the Rosary more and more, meditating on it and receiving the Sacraments of the Confession and the Eucharist.

Let’s not forget that Our Lady and Our Lord Jesus are hurt every single moment by countless sins. 

We encourage you to start this devotion, it is fine and purifying for our soul, and it helps to console Our Heavenly Mother. 

Remember this divine formula: 5 First Saturdays= Confession+ Mass & Eucharist +Rosary & 15.min Meditation+Intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

The ‘Urgency of the Hour’ during the Jubilee Year of Mercy

The ‘Urgency of the Hour’ during the Jubilee Year of Mercy

Last month’s article in the Catholic Voice sparked a chain of support from members of the Legion of Mary, Alliance of the Two Hearts and many others wanting to help to spread more intensely the Fatima message during 2016 / 2017. One lady from Northern Ireland sponsored our Five First Saturday ad in the Fermanagh Herald. Other newspapers contacted us seeking to put the Five First Saturday ad in seven leading local newspapers around the country. At times like this, we wish we knew somebody who won the lotto. On the 13^th February 2016, we received an email from Sr Lucia’s private doctor, Dr Branca Paul from Coimbra in Portugal and she says: “Please keep going with all your hearts doing your best, working in “GOD´S FARM”. We have to be patient and persevere in our lives”. With this encouragement, we wish to share some more insight into the writings left behind by Servant of God Sr Lucia.

13^th February 2005

On this date 11 years ago, Sr Lucia passed away to her eternal reward. Dr Branca Paul and the Carmel sisters in Coimbra Portugal asked us after her death to double the efforts to spread the Five First Saturday and daily Rosary devotions. Servant of God Sr Lucia stated, “Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven.”.

Six years ago, we both personally witnessed Pope Benedict XVI on the 13^th May 2010 in Fatima praying before the statue of Our Lady and making the following request “May the seven years which separate us from the Centenary of the Apparitions hasten the expected Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the Glory of the Most Holy Trinity”. Are we witnessing the fruits of the Holy Father’s prayer unfolding before us, when on the 12^th February 2016,  after 1000 years, Pope Francis and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church met for the first time in Cuba to open the way for unity and world peace?

No matter what happens in the future, Our Lady still requires our corporation and is ready to assist us in this great battle for souls. Our Lady is inviting each one of us to enter with joy and immense hope into the secure refuge of Her Immaculate Heart and promising us that in the end Her Immaculate Heart of Mary will Triumph. The Rosary and the Five First Saturday devotions are all interlinked to help expediate the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

Five First Saturday Devotion

Why did Our Lady ask for the Five First Saturday devotion? Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia. He explained that it was because of the five offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely:

(1) blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception,

(2) against her perpetual virginity,

(3) against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary,

(4) blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonouring of her images, and

(5) the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.

Our Lady of Fatima requested the daily Rosary and Five First Saturday devotion. “If what I ask is done, many souls will be saved.” Since Her request is largely ignored, we continue to witness many wars and persecutions of the Church, including the Holy Father. The good are being martyred and various nations are annihilated. (The daily Rosary and the Five First Saturday devotion bring graces for the individuals, families, Bishops and Priests, religious and for each nation).

The role of the Priest and the Laity 

The key elements of the Five First Saturday devotion are captured with the story of the child Jesus appearing to Sr Lucia only emphasises the urgency of the Five First Saturday devotion for our time. What makes this devotion so beautiful is that Our Lady invites her beloved priests to promote it in the parish. Without the priests, three components of this devotion cannot take place namely: Confession, Mass and Holy Communion. Our Lady wisely incorporated the priests in this grace filled devotion to protect Her flock, just like Our Lady did over 2000 years ago for the first apostles.

Five First Saturday Devotion role of the priest is to:    

1. Hear Confession: The confession can be made eight days before or after the First Saturday, provided that Holy Communion is received in the state of grace and that it should be offered in reparation.
2. Offer Mass and Holy Communion: Before receiving Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer the Mass in reparation to Our Lady.

Five First Saturday Devotion role of the laity is to:

1. Go to confession, attend Mass, receive Holy Communion and recite the Holy Rosary and to do 15-minute meditation:-To comply with the request of Our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating. Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; it may include all, taken together or separately. This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said “…those who keep me company….”.

To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise: “I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation.”.

After completing the Five First Saturdays, one may continue the devotion simply to console the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady. A tender love of Our Blessed Mother will lead one to do all he/she can to make reparation for the sins which pierce Her Immaculate Heart.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Daily Rosary  

For six months from May to October, on the 13^th day in 1917, the Virgin Mary invited us to recite the daily Rosary, in which the three children would be made humble witnesses to the heart of God in a long-suffering World War I at that time.

The life of Sr Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, the little shepherds of Fatima, is a love story of grace and mercy from Heaven to all of humanity. The heavenly peace plan for the world was given to three children to spread the power and beauty of the Most Holy Rosary.

The Carmel Nuns in Coimbra recently shared the following insight with us.“The spontaneous reply by Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco in 1917, which ‘the Lady welcomed as the first fruits of Her Message, that is confirmed by the Virgin with an immense light that penetrated the innermost parts of the three children, making them see themselves in this light that was God. This light, in which they receive in June 1917 will also prepared them to receive the secret that was revealed in July 1917: in a succession of images unveiled by the Lady, the children understood that God is not indifferent to our human history; that sin is indifferent to the heart of God; that God’s heart is still merciful and is always in search of humanity entangled in their terrible events.”

One hundred years later pilgrims come to Fatima in hope and turn their gaze to Our Lady of the Rosary. This is, and should be the refuge of millions of human suffering. Today the world continues to rage wars and there is the gigantic struggle of good against evil. This is how the 20^th century came to be known.

Those of us who are open to receive the light from the heart of God are invited by Our Lady to join in the daily Rosary, the Five First Saturday devotion and by offering their sacrifice in reparation of sin. What each nation needs in the 21^st century is God’s Grace and Mercy.

Pope Francis and the ‘Urgency of the Hour’  

We  recall in the Holy Scriptures how Jonah was sent to Nineveh to preach a warning and a message of repentance to the very sinful people of that city, boldly preaching “Forty days and the great city of Nineveh will be destroyed”. To their great credit, together the Ninevites fasted and repented of their sins and “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not carry it out”. [Jonah 3: 1-10]

For our time, Pope Francis has issued from (8^th December 2015 to 20^th November 2016) the Jubilee Year of Mercy for the whole world. This special occasion is normally celebrated every 25 years in order to allow each generation to experience at least one during their lifetime. This time the special year was called nine years earlier than required indicating ‘the urgency of the hour’ for the Mercy of God. After being elected Pope, Francis said “Mercy is the best thing we can feel; it changes the world.” In this regard, Pope Francis is following the path of Jonah, asking us all to repent, repair our lives and do penance. One of the central messages of Fatima according to Servant of God Sr Lucia is summarised in the last words of Our Lady in Fatima on 13^th October 1917, “Do not offend the Lord our God anymore, because He is already so much offended”.

Like the Ninevites, all nations need to contemplate the mystery of mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father’s action in our lives. Pope Francis suggests for the Jubilee Year to invocate Jesus with a short prayer “Merciful Jesus, I trust in You.” or “Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner”.

Pope Francis has also granted the Jubilee Indulgence for those who do corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisioned, bury the dead, and also those who do spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill and pray for the living and the dead.

St Faustina:

Taken from her diary, Saint Faustina reminds us what God wants for our time.  To Saint Faustina Kowalska Jesus told her: “In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My Mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish suffering mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy”. (#1588)…..“I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation” [Diary of St. Faustina, # 1160]

An open invitation

We encourage Irish Bishops, Priests and various religious groups like the Legion of Mary, Alliance of The Two Hearts, World Fatima Apostolate and Marian Movement of Priests to double their efforts to spread the Five First Saturdays and daily rosary devotions during the Jubilee Year of Mercy / 100^th anniversary of Fatima in 2016 / 2017. We invite the laity to promote and display the Five First Saturday devotion in their community, so that God’s graces and mercy is more widely known and loved.

In answer to the call by Pope Francis, The Call to Fatima team is available to give parish presentation on Fatima in 2016. Sr Lucia’s books / DVD’s are also available srluciacalltofatima@gmail.com or by phone + 353-87-2229135 Blog www.thecalltofatima.wordpress.com

 

Spiritual Exercises for lent: Day 35

Spiritual Exercises for lent: Day 35

Meditate on the Stations of the Cross during the Holy week. Imagine yourself to be in the place of Veronica, weeping women, Simon of Cyrene or disciples. 

Spiritual Exercises for Lent: Day 23

Spiritual Exercises for Lent: Day 23

Meditate on 7 sorrows of Our Lady:

1. The prophecy of Simeon. (St. Luke 2: 34, 35)
2. The flight into Egypt. (St. Matthew 2:13-14)
3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the temple. (St. Luke 3: 43-45)
4. The meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross.
5. The Crucifixion.
6. The taking down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross.
7. The burial of Jesus.

 

Spiritual Exercises for Lent: Day 16

Spiritual Exercises for Lent: Day 16

Spend this day in silence, find a silent corner and listen to God’s voice in silence. Stop at least for few minutes if you are very busy and find this precious time for even more precious reflection.

Five First Saturdays- Promise of Our Lady

Five First Saturdays devotion https://thecalltofatima.com

Our Lady promised “to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation” those who make the Five First Saturdays of Reparation to Her Immaculate Heart.

Sister Lucia tells us that Our Blessed Lord Himself said to her that He wanted devotion to the Immaculate Heart of His Mother to be “extended and placed beside devotion to My Divine Heart.”

Our Lady revealed to Sr.Lucia that there are 5 types of blasphemy against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1) Blasphemies against the Immaculate  Conception

2) Blasphemies against Mary’s Virginity

3) Blasphemies against her Divine Maternity

4) Blasphemies that seek to implant in the hearts of children indifference, contempt and even hatred for their Immaculate Mother

5) Blasphemies insulting Our Lady in her sacred images

Remember what Our Lady promised: “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God”.

 

The Power of Prayer by Sister Lucia

Prayer is necessary for all, and we must all pray, whether our prayer is vocal, mental or contemplative.
Vocal prayer– that is addressed to God in words.
Mental prayer– talk to God about the subject on which you are meditating, for example, an increase in faith, humility, charity or a spirit of sacrifice, in order to overcome our repugnances and difficulties, defects and temptations.
Contemplative prayer– even closer intimacy with God, in which those practising in it enter more deeply into presence of God within them, abandoning themselves more intimately to the work of the grace, light and love of God within them. Wrapped in a supernatural atmosphere, the soul allows itself to be imbued, raised up and transformed by the action of God within it, purifying and absorbing it.

There is another kind of prayer: it is the “Prayer of our work”, of the performance of all the duties in our state in life in a spirit of humble submission to God, because it was He who imposed on us the law of work.
There is nothing on earth which can be compared to the happiness experienced by a soul in intimate union with God!
“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to you (Mt7, 7-8)

Sister Lucia of Fatima speaks about the Rosary…

“Those who say the Rosary daily are like children who, every day, manage to find a few moments just to be with their father, to keep him company, to show him their gratitude, to do some service for him, to receive his advise and his blessing.  It is an exchange of love: the love of the father for the child and the child’s  for the father; it is a mutual giving. “

Sister Lucia of Fatima, book “Calls from the Message of Fatima”, page 271

To purchase the last book of Sr Lucia, please visit http://www.thecalltofatima.com/form.html or email a questions to Email: srluciacalltofatima@gmail.com

Sister Lucia quotes on the Rosary

“The Rosary is a form of vocal prayer which, in general, suits all of us, for which we should have the highest regard, and which we should make the greatest effort never to abandon.”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

“In the Rosary we find all the riches of God’s truths, or rather, the revelation of God to men.”

****************************************************************************************************************************************

“I assure you that the Rosary is a biblical prayer and that it is part of the sacred Liturgy.”

****************************************************************************************************************************************

“When lovers are together, they spend hours and hours repeating the same thing: I love you! What is missing in the people who think the Rosary monotonous, is Love.”

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

“Rosary is the prayer which sustains and increases our faith.”

The Angel’s Prayer in Fatima

In 1916 an Angel appeared to the three children as they were pasturing their sheep. The angel said, “Fear not, I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.”

The Angel knelt on the ground and recited this prayer three times as the children repeated it after him,

“O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee.

I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.”