Editor’s Note: This is a lengthy article which has been published in six parts. Links to each part are located at the bottom of each article. Although it was made public in 2021, many questions have arisen in the past year regarding Russia’s proper consecration. It therefore seems appropriate to re-post this series.
A Book We Do Not Recommend
After years of being an advocate of the Fatima movement and expecting the Pope to properly consecrate Russia, thereby procuring its conversion and a period of peace for the world, Robert Sungenis has now become convinced that the Consecration has been done, Russia has been converted, and we have already had the period of peace. So nothing is left for Catholics but persecution and the upcoming reign of Antichrist, which will occur shortly before the return of Christ at the end of the world. As he says in his new book Fatima Fulfilled But Still Foreboding, “My sole purpose in writing this book is to spare everyone from having false hopes about the future based on wishful beliefs about Fatima.”
But wait, some may be thinking, the Pope together with all the bishops never consecrated Russia by name, that country is not Catholic, and we have only had continual wars since 1917. Even as late as May 13, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said: “He deceives himself who thinks the prophetic mission of Fatima is concluded.” Besides, many prophecies have not yet come to pass, such as the great Reforming Pope – “Peter the Roman” – appointed by Heaven and said to rule the world together with a French Monarch. Neither have the enemies of God been destroyed by Three Days of Darkness, nor has the whole world been converted to the Catholic Faith or enjoyed a period of peace like that suggested by certain prophecies. And what about the worldwide devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary foretold at Fatima and the triumphant reign of Mary. When exactly did that happen? Did I miss something?
Who Is In Error?
Robert Sungenis says: Yes, you did miss the consecration and conversion of Russia, and the period of peace. And those other things are just misinterpretations of Scripture or other events. So stop expecting any more consecrations or world peace, and just accept that Russia is more Orthodox than it was after the Communists took over. Never mind that Russia was more fully Orthodox in 1917 than it is now, and that the Tsar was also still alive in 1917, the year Our Lady appeared at Fatima. And the Three Days of Darkness will only happen at the end of the world.
Well, that is a bit of a letdown. Here we are, just waiting for God to raise up a couple of strong, Catholic leaders to convert the world and to annihilate His enemies, and there Robert is telling us it is not going to happen. We could just wait for events to play out, but is it really unreasonable to think that God will act in a spectacular way and grant the world a period of peace unknown since the Garden of Eden, just before the reign of Antichrist at the end of the world?
The Message of Fatima
To get started, we should review the message that Our Lady gave to the Fatima visionaries on July 13, 1917, after showing them a vision of hell. It became public in the 1940’s after the apparitions were approved:
“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 reign of Pius XI [name of the future pope]. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light [occurred January 25, 1938], know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its sins, by means of war [WWII], 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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved etc.”
The Third Secret of Fatima
As part of the Third Secret also given by Our Lady at the time, She showed the three children another vision. A description of this vision was published on June 26, 2000, by the Vatican:
“I [Lucia] write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.
“After the two parts which I have already explained [vision of hell and request to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart], at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’ And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a bishop dressed in white ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.’
“Other bishops, priests, men and women religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the cross there were two angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”
– Written at Tuy, Spain, January 3, 1944
Some people understand that the first part of the Fatima Message mostly concerned the world and that the second part mostly concerned the Catholic Church. The first part – not provided here – is a description of the vision of hell. The second part primarily concerns Heaven’s requests for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays and the consequences of failing to heed these requests.[1]
The Vatican would have us to believe that the third part of the Message is just a description of a vision. However, that – and the “etc.” at the end of the second part – leads many to believe that there is another text which is a verbal description of the second vision and is indicated by the “etc.” Comments by Popes and Cardinals who read the Third Secret tend to bear that out. Books by Christopher Ferrara and Antonio Socci[2] also shed light on the fact that there is undeniably more to the Third Secret than has officially been revealed.
CONTINUATION OF THE ARTICLE:
Read Part II addressing devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Read Part III addressing the spread of the Errors of Russia.
Read Part IV addressing the Message of Our Lady at La Salette.
Read Part V addressing the Three Days of Darkness.
Read Part VI addressing Catholic Prophecy that is linked to the Message of Fatima.
END NOTES
[1] An excellent introduction to the Message of Fatima is The True Story of Fatima by Fr. John de Marchi, I.M.C. He relates the Vision of Hell and Our Lady’s accompanying words to the three children during the Third Apparition (July 13, 1917) on page 30.
[2] See The Fourth Secret of Fatima by Antonio Socci (2006) and The Secret Still Hidden by Christopher Ferrara (2008). Both books are available at The Fatima Center’s online shop.