If True, the Consecration of Russia May at Last Be Drawing Near.
A Modern Mystic and Stigmatist
Some of The Fatima Center’s followers are undoubtedly familiar with the prediction made by the Roman mystic and stigmatist, Antonio Ruffini, about when the Consecration of Russia will at last take place.
By way of background, Antonio Ruffini was born in Rome on December 8, 1907, the eldest of three sons in a devout Catholic family known for its attentiveness to the poor. His mother died when he was very young. Having only a primary-school education, he learned from an early age to pray with his heart rather than from prayer books. By his report, Our Lord and Our Lady appeared to him for the first time when he was 17 years old. He received the stigmata (open puncture-wounds on his hands and feet) on August 12, 1951, after a vision which took place at a remote fountain along the Via Appia between Rome and Terracina. (Pope Pius XII later authorized the construction of a chapel on the site.)
From that time on, Ruffini gave himself entirely to the physical and spiritual assistance of mankind, especially the poor and sick. Having entered the Third Order of St. Francis, he lived a life of eminent sanctity under a vow of obedience, displaying perfect humility in spite of his manifest spiritual gifts (including not only the stigmata, but also bilocation). A further endorsement of the authenticity of Ruffini’s charisms exists in that the noted miracle-worker Father Giuseppe Tomaselli published a biography of him.
Antonio Ruffini died at age 92, on a date no less remarkable than that of his birth. Born on the Feast of Our Ladyʼs miraculous Conception, he died on that of Our Lordʼs – March 25, 1999.
A Little Known Prophecy
Now as to his prophecy about the Consecration of Russia, Ruffini was asked in the early 1990s if Pope John Paul II would ever relent from his refusals and heed Our Lady’s request for that act. He answered: “No, it will not be John Paul II. Neither will it be his immediate successor, but the one after that. He is the one who will consecrate Russia.”[1]
In recent years, the meaning of Ruffini’s statement has become more uncertain with the questions surrounding Benedict’s apparent abdication of the papacy and Francis’ claim to it. Nevertheless, either the second legitimate successor to John Paul II is on the papal throne or he will be in the near future.[2]
Meanwhile, however, in the absence of Heaven’s decisive intervention (which can only be had through the proper Consecration of Russia), the Mystery of Iniquity is making great strides toward the complete destruction of Christian society. We must maintain hope and continue to apply ourselves to the reparatory devotions which Our Lady of Fatima called for, but we must not entertain illusions about how dire our situation now is. Great suffering, including martyrdom, may well be in our near future.
St. Jacinta’s Vision
In her Third Memoir, Sister Lucia recorded a vision which Jacinta had witnessed, which Fatima scholars have long understood to be a glimpse of the end-scenario described by Our Lady, in a world and Church tragically devastated by war, hunger, and persecution. In the end, as Our Lady promised, this dark time will yield to Her glorious Triumph. A light will break forth in the long-desired fulfillment of Our Lady’s request for the Consecration of Russia:
“At another time, we went to the cave called Lapa do Cabeço. As soon as we got there, we prostrated on the ground, saying the prayers the Angel had taught us. After some time, Jacinta stood up and called to me: ‘Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?’ [Some days later, Jacinta asked Lucia:] ‘Can I say that I saw the Holy Father and all those people?’ ‘No. Don’t you see that that’s part of the Secret? If you do, they’ll find out right away!’”[3]
Given Lucia’s response to her cousin, this vision clearly pertains to the Great Secret of Fatima. It certainly seems reasonable to presume that the event depicted here – presided over by the Holy Father, in a church, before a statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with many people in attendance – is the long-awaited proper Consecration of Russia. If so, it is likewise reasonable to presume the Consecration will take place in the midst of great famine, a frequent consequence of revolution and war.[4]
Let us continue to pray and sacrifice ourselves for this intention, that the Consecration of Russia be accomplished in time to mitigate the full force of imminent wars, famines, mass devastation, and loss of souls.
ENDNOTES:
[1] This prophecy is pious and worthy of belief but not obligatory. It does not have formal approval from the Magisterium. See on The Fatima Center’s YouTube channel, from the Mystery of Iniquity Conference in Idaho, September 28-30, 2012, Q&A Session #1 (minute 42:32 to 49:20).
[2] Editor’s Note: We ask the reader to keep in mind that prior to its fulfillment prophecy is difficult to interpret, even if it appears self-evident. On the natural order, issues of language and translation can make them more abstruse. We have Ruffini’s prophecy in English, but that was not his mother tongue.
[3] Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité, The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol. II: The Secret and the Church (Buffalo, Immaculate Heart Publications, 1989), p. 117.
[4] Fr. Gruner was told by a source close to Sister Lucia that Our Lady assured her the Third Secret would one day be revealed during the course of a major war. To read more about this, please see the article “Why the Third Secret of Fatima Must Be Released Before Russia Can Be Consecrated” in The Fatima Crusader, Issue 130 (Spring 2023).
