It is important to understand that God is not sending us the chastisements foretold in the Message of Fatima capriciously or unreasonably: they are the chastisements we rightly deserve for our innumerable sins and offenses against Him. Yet at Fatima, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we were offered an opportunity, through our obedience, to avoid the punishments we deserve, and to gain peace throughout the world and the salvation of many souls.
During the apparition of July 13, after the children were shown hell, Our Lady 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. … 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….
The chastisements foretold by Our Lady of Fatima can be avoided it we follow Her requests. However, as She warned, there are definite punishments awaiting us if we refuse to heed them. On July 15, 1946, Sister Lucy told Professor William Thomas Walsh that the whole world, including the United States of America, would be enslaved by Communist Russia if the proper Consecration of Russia is not done in time.
We have been assured that “in the end” Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart will triumph, and that Russia will be consecrated and there will be peace in the world. However, in the meantime we are seeing the requests of Our Lady of Fatima being continually delayed and/or actively hindered by members of the Church hierarchy. Yet even more serious are the chastisements in store for those who delay and obstruct the execution of God’s requests. In 1931 Our Lord complained to Sister Lucy: “Make it known to My ministers that given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My request, that they will follow him into misfortune.”
Our Lord was referring to the June 17, 1689 request He had made – through Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque – of the King of France, asking the king to consecrate his country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. However, the king and his successors delayed, until finally, on June 17, 1789, 100 years later to the day, the Third Estate usurped the legislative powers of the king. He was later sent to the guillotine to be put to death like a criminal.
In Our Lord’s comparison between those who delay the execution of God’s requests given by Our Lady of Fatima and the death of the King of France, we have been given a clear indication of what is in store for those who do not heed the Message of Fatima, and, moreover, delay it through their indolence. And those who actively seek to obstruct the execution of the requests will suffer even greater punishment.