The Third Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima and the Crisis in the U.S.A.
“Continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war; for only She can help you.” (Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917)
As we saw in my earlier article, “The Third Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima,” the Great Secret given by Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children (on July 13, 1917) consists of three parts.[1] All Catholics must familiarize themselves with this Secret for we are now clearly living through its prophecies.
For decades we have disobeyed Our Lady; spiritual and moral evils have concurrently proliferated our society. Now these are being manifested in even more overt physical acts: fear of neighbor, suspension of civil rights, protestors occupying city blocks and disrupting commerce and travel, armed protests, riots, destruction of public and private property, and looting. There is seemingly no end in sight to this lack of law and order.
Persecution of the Catholic Church
Today, many Americans – including prominent politicians such as congressmen, state governors and city mayors – appear to believe and/or actively propagate (i.e., via protests and riots) that to claim all human lives matter – which is Catholic teaching – is a hate crime. This is persecution of the Church.
Unfortunately, there are those who think that to make such a claim is deserving of death[2], or that protecting a street mural is far more important than protecting lives – even to the point of having 24 police officers (in three teams of nine) stand guard over the street mural on a “round the clock” basis.[3]
In light of this, as can be seen from the circumstances of several incidences reported below, what we are seeing in the U.S. today is nothing less than a widespread and growing attack against Christian values, the Catholic Church, and even against God Himself. Read the examples below and judge for yourself.
Attacks on Catholic Churches, Saints, and God Himself
What started out as a controversy concerning historic statues, having the appearance of being a racial issue, has evolved into blatant persecution of the Catholic Church. Here is a timeline of some of the many reported incidents to date.
May 29 (Minneapolis): Rioters burned the interior of the Catholic Basilica of St. Mary, the nation’s first basilica. According to the Catholic News Agency report, the Basilica apparently suffered only minor damage. “Photos posted on social media purport to show several fire damaged pews inside the basilica. While the photos do seem to match the appearance of the church’s interior, a basilica spokeswoman told CNA she could not comment on the photos or verify their authenticity.”[4]
June 23: LifeSiteNews reports on a root cause of the persecution:
“As protests against alleged ‘systemic racism’ continue to spread across the United States and have expanded to toppling statues of American historical figures, left-wing activists are now turning their attention to the supposed racial implications of religious imagery, and are calling for the destruction of images and statues of a ‘white’ Jesus and Mary his mother.
“Shaun King, a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, … declared [on June 22] that statues, murals, and stained-glass windows depicting Jesus as white should be taken down for being ‘form[s] of white supremacy,’ meant to be ‘tools of oppression’ and ‘racist propaganda’.”[5]
July 11 (Chattanooga, Tennessee): An outdoor statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary at St. Stephen Catholic Church was beheaded.[6]
July 11-12: Over the weekend, the following acts of vandalism against Catholic churches and statues occurred.[7]
- Los Angeles, California area: San Gabriel Mission, founded by St. Junípero Serra, destroyed by fire.
- Ocala, Florida: Queen of Peace Catholic Church, damaged when a man crashed his van through the front doors of the church, poured two gallons of gasoline in the foyer, and set it on fire.
- Boston, Mass.: A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, damaged by fire by a solo attacker.
July 15 (Miami): A statue of Jesus Christ was beheaded and knocked off a pedestal at Good Shepherd Catholic Church.[8]
July 17: LifeSiteNews reports that, earlier in the week, in New York City, a sculpture of Jesus was beheaded, and two statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary were vandalized by mobs.[9]
As the author of this article explains: “If you want to know why the mainstream media isn’t covering these attacks – and many have wondered – it’s no secret. They don’t want to expose this movement for what it is – a sham of racial equality and a revolt against the rule of law rooted in the transcendent truth of God. Once that foundation for government is gone, and these zealots are coming for it, it’s only a matter of time before America is a hollowed shell ready for transformation.”
July 23: According to LifeSiteNews, “Under the cover of darkness, the city of Ventura, California removed the statue of St. Junipero Serra from in front of city hall and deposited it in a storage facility.”[10]
The Ventura City Council had voted unanimously on July 16 to remove two statues of St. Junípero Serra: one in front of City Hall, the other inside the building, “ceding to clamor that Father Serra was ‘Father genocide’ who was a racist, and hence has no place in today’s Ventura.” In prior weeks, protesters had pulled down and desecrated statues of the 18th-century Catholic missionary in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento. In a petition addressed to Ventura City Council, St. Serra was referred to as being “toxic”.[11]
A month before the removal of the statues, a group of courageous young Catholics physically defended the outside statue when a mob had sought to tear it down.[12] While the action of the Catholic youth is certainly laudable, the real solution to this attack against Catholic saints is the Consecration of Russia, in the manner requested by Our Lady of Fatima.
Why are these attacks against statues of St. Junípero actually attacks against the Catholic Faith? As LifeSiteNews explains: “Voices in favor of the destruction of Serra statues have accused the Spanish missionary of having committed numerous crimes, including genocide and the enslavement and torture of indigenous peoples.”[13] Whereas, in reality, St. Junípero – a canonized saint of the Catholic Church! – made heroic sacrifices to protect them from the Spanish soldiers. He also walked all the way to Mexico City and back (with an injured and very painful leg) to obtain from the King of Spain’s representative the authority to discipline the military who were abusing the native people.
For more information (including photos) of the above and other incidents, see the “interactive map of attacks on Catholic churches and statues,” which lists over 50 such incidents in the United States and Canada.[14] On this map, readers can click on the red circles (which contain a white cross) to find out more about each incident.
These attacks against the Catholic Faith go on, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
The Only Solution
Who cannot see that there is no peace in the world – especially in the U.S.A.? Who cannot see that many of our political leaders don’t seem to have the resolve to end the turmoil in their own cities and states? Who cannot see the numerous people who participate in or agree with the riots, destruction and looting in the more than 400 cities nationwide? Who cannot see the persecution of the Catholic Church in many of these cities as well?
Thus, it is now more important than ever for all of us to turn to God in more fervent and intense prayer and penance and to heed the Message of Fatima with greater fidelity and zeal – the only solution to the rioting, looting and persecution of the Church that we are witnessing today.
In the end, only Our Lady of Fatima can help us. We must obey of Lady’s Message delivered at Fatima in 1917! She told us that our world would suffer terrible chastisements, afflicting both the good and the evil, if we do not convert, repent and do penance. She asked all of us to pray the Rosary daily, practice the Five First Saturdays Devotion, wear the Brown Scapular, pray for the Pope, and make reparation for sin. We must implore God to grant the necessary graces for the Pope to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in union with all the Catholic bishops of the world, as Our Lady requested.
Until the Consecration of Russia is done in the proper manner, we must expect and prepare for ever worsening chastisements. They will only intensify in frequency, duration and destructiveness. Thus, we encourage everyone to make a 54-day Rosary Novena, begging God to grant the necessary graces for the Consecration of Russia to be finally done.[15]
I conclude with an often-repeated account given by Father Gruner:
“I remember explaining this [the need for the Consecration of Russia] to an atheist one time, in 1984. He didn’t believe in God, but he could understand nevertheless the prudence of carrying out this Act of Consecration. He said it was the first time he had seen any hope for the world. Even atheists understand it is most prudent to have the Consecration of Russia properly done just to take care of their lives, their persons, their homes that they paid 20 years’ mortgage on or to safeguard whatever it is that they hold dear; if nothing else just being alive, and enjoying their freedom. All these things are at risk without Our Lady of Fatima’s Message being heard and obeyed.
“And so, even from an atheist’s point of view it is perfectly prudent to put forward this act of consecration. If nothing else, what is going to be lost by doing it? Absolutely nothing. The worst that would take place, it would take half an hour of prayer of the Pope and bishops together to do the Act of Consecration. And with a bit more ceremony it might take an hour and a half. And that’s all. The actual prayer would take less than five minutes to pronounce. And so from a prudential point of view, there is everything to gain by doing it and everything to lose by not doing it.”[16] (emphasis mine)
How true Father Gruner’s words ring for us today!
“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.” (Our Lady of Fatima, July 13, 1917)
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
[1] The First Secret is a description of the vision of hell. The Second Secret is Our Lady’s initial request for the Consecration of Russia and the First Saturdays devotion (She re-appeared to Sr. Lucia in 1929 to formally request these). The Third Secret consists of two texts: the vision of the “Bishop dressed in White” being killed by “a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him,” published by the Vatican on June 26, 2000; and the explanation of that vision, the words spoken by Our Lady, yet to be published.
[2] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/24-year-old-mom-ambushed-and-killed-after-saying-all-lives-matter-family?utm_source=editor_picks&utm_campaign=standard
[3] https://www.rt.com/news/495020-blm-mural-blasio-cops-protection/. This, on top of the fact that the NYC police (and those in other major cities throughout the country) strongly believe – and are justified in doing so – that the local politicians are siding in favor of the violent protestors who are destroying public and private property, injuring innocent victims, and looting. This, in turn, is causing an overwhelming and continuous onslaught of NYC police officer retirements. Interestingly, in a related incident regarding this particular street mural, and in response to the mantra (which is espoused by all or most of the major media) written as part of this mural, a 29-year-old African American woman strode out onto the mural, spilled a tin of black paint over the letters, and shouted: “Jesus matters!”
[4] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/amid-riots-minneapolis-basilica-damaged-by-fire-88474
[5] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/black-lives-matters-war-on-statues-turns-to-jesus-as-liberals-demand-church-change
[6] https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/statue-of-virgin-mary-beheaded-at-tennessee-catholic-parish-74407
[7] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/churches-and-statues-vandalized-burnt-attacked-across-us-over-weekend
[8] https://www.foxnews.com/us/jesus-statue-florida-crime
[9] https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/wave-of-burning-defacing-churches-threatens-end-of-law-and-order-in-us
[10] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/california-city-removes-statue-of-saint-under-cover-of-darkness
[11] https://www.newsweek.com/california-council-votes-remove-statue-spanish-priest-canonized-pope-francis-1518357
[12] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-youths-heroically-stop-california-mob-from-tearing-down-saints-statue
[13] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/california-city-council-caves-to-mob-votes-to-remove-statue-of-catholic-saint (emphasis mine)
[14] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/interactive-map-shows-growing-number-of-catholic-churches-statues-being-attacked
[15] The Fatima Center led a 54-day novena (in May-June) for the intention of ending the coronavirus chastisement. We now encourage you to pray a new novena for the intention of ending the nationwide riots, looting, and destruction of property – especially Catholic churches and statues of saints. For more information, see “Let Us End This Chastisement by Offering a 54-day Rosary Novena”.