J.M.J.
August 2019
Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Dear Friend of Our Lady,
The desire of God to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the central focus of the Fatima Message.
Our Lady’s words of June 13, 1917, were again repeated to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta on July 13 after the children had been shown the vision of hell. Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart is the refuge of sinners as She Herself tells us:
“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.”
It is after these words that Our Lady speaks of two options for mankind to choose from and foretells the outcome of each.
The first option – the one pleasing to God – is to heed His requests, which will result in the salvation of many souls, the conversion of Russia, and peace in the world.
The second option – the one displeasing to God – is to ignore His requests given to mankind through His Mother, which will be punished by Russia spreading her errors throughout the world resulting in frightening and unthinkable events in the Church and the world, and ultimately the eternal damnation of many souls.
Our Lady then introduced what is referred to as the Fatima Decade Prayer – a new prayer to be said after each mystery or decade of the Rosary: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need.”
Sister Lucia explains that Our Lady was referring to “the souls who found themselves in greatest danger of damnation.”
In the book Mary’s Immaculate Heart and Your Salvation (book two of the series Fatima: Intimate Joy, World Event by Frère François) the Abbé de Nantes is quoted in a spiritual commentary:
“In these ‘very evil times’ (as Sister Lucia calls them), we can understand perfectly the significance of that vivid supplication for souls. This prayer implores the Divine Mercy, not primarily for the souls of the greatest sinners, but for those … frightfully abandoned in a terrible dereliction.
“For example, those unfortunate pagans which the Church, since the Second Vatican Council, does not seek at all to convert. Also the poor baptized ones, who are no longer taught the truths of the Faith and the precepts of Catholic morality, so that the proper reception of the Sacraments is delayed and neglected, and prayer seems as no more than a manifestation of the cult of man. Thus today it becomes very difficult for the faithful to obtain their eternal salvation [italicization added].
“Never does God reveal to us the danger of our eternal damnation without immediately opening up to us the arms of His Mercy and without indicating to us a way of salvation which is both accessible and very appealing!
“The vision of hell, writes Father Alonso, has as a goal to inspire the little seers with recourse to the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Her powerful intercession for the salvation of sinners.
“Facing the absolute Evil which threatens us, God proposes the only remedy which can preserve us: The Immaculate Heart of His Mother, Refuge of Sinners. Sister Lucia explained to Father Fuentes, that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary … is the sure gate for entering Heaven.”
Frère François elaborated that “In this we are in the purest Catholic tradition which, from time immemorial, venerates the Blessed Virgin Mary as the ‘Mother of mercy and pardon’, ‘the Patroness of the most desperate cases’, the ultimate recourse after the greatest sins.”
Enclosed with this letter is a prayer card containing Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s Act of Consecration to Mary Immaculate. Reaching out to others with the Fatima Message means promoting devotion to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. As you have likely encountered in spreading the Fatima Message, many are more likely to take a prayer card than to take other pieces of literature.
And while this prayer card does not contain information specifically on the apparitions and Message of Fatima, it does help promote the central focus of that message which is devotion to Our Lady and Her Immaculate Heart. Our job is to try and find a way to open the door – Our Lady does the rest.
For copies of the enclosed prayer card, call 1-800-263-8160 or send request to info@fatima.org – attention volunteer department.
Living in an Age of Apostasy
The most recent Issue of The Fatima Crusader, Issue 124 titled Living in an Age of Apostasy, was mailed this past June. It is filled with information on the Catholic Faith and information regarding the current crises in the Church.
Apostasy – rejecting the Catholic Faith after it had previously been accepted, sometimes described as the great falling away from the Faith – has been spoken of by Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI), Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi (personal theologian to five successive popes including John Paul II) and others who have read the Third Secret of Fatima, as part of the content – the part that has yet to be revealed to the world. In his letter, Ecclesia in Europa (2003), John Paul II even spake of formerly Christian Europe having fallen into a “silent apostasy.”
This magazine is filled with “must read” information. If you haven’t had time to read it yet, I urge you to please do so, even if it means reading only one page a day.
If you haven’t received a copy of Issue 124 (Spring 2019) of The Fatima Crusader and would like a copy, or for more copies of the magazine to give to others, call us at 1-800-263-8160 or send request to info@fatima.org – attention volunteer department.
Our Volunteers at Work
This past March we published and mailed a new leaflet, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is Christ’s Passion and Death on Calvary.
The response was terrific. A number of volunteers approached their parish priests who subsequently asked for more copies of the leaflet. Here is some of the feedback received from different volunteers:
Mike, from the state of Michigan, gave a copy to his parish priest who stated: “This is just fantastic!” and asked for more copies to give to parishioners and also for CCD classes. Mike also gave a copy to a seminarian who asked, “Could I get some copies for my family?”
Joe from Iowa asked for 200 copies because of the positive response from those he showed the leaflet to. One person said to him, “No one has ever seen anything like this,” and requested copies to use as a teaching tool for his children.
As a result of the work of one of our volunteers, Linda became a new supporter of Our Lady’s apostolate and asked for more information on Fatima. She subsequently gave a copy of the leaflet, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is Christ’s Passion and Death on Calvary to her parish priest, who in turn asked for copies to give to parishioners.
Other volunteers from Canada and the U.S. have requested hundreds of copies each of the leaflet after obtaining a positive response from their pastors and permission to distribute to parishioners.
We will never know the impact of our efforts in spreading the Message of Fatima and promoting devotion to Our Lady, but every once in a while we are given a glimpse. One of our volunteers recently relayed the following experience:
She was in a hospital waiting room when a nurse employed at the hospital approached and said: “I know you, you gave me something years ago” and went on to describe the Brown Scapular and literature that the volunteer gave her.
“That was at (she named another hospital) where I worked in the intensive care unit and you were visiting a patient. That was about 6 years ago.”
Because the patient was wearing a Brown Scapular, the nurse asked the visitor (volunteer) about the scapular. The next time the volunteer visited, she brought literature and a Brown Scapular for the nurse.
Our volunteer was amazed that after 6 years, the nurse still recognized and remembered the brief encounter.
Often we don’t get that kind of feedback unless Heaven decides to give it to us. For the most part we will have to wait to see the results of our efforts at the General Judgment.
Keep up the good work! Our Lady will not forget your efforts. As She told Lucia, To whoever embraces this devotion, I promise salvation.
In the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts,
Joanna Swords