Fatima's Relevance Today
The Fatima message for today and tomorrow:
Our Lady’s appeals from Fatima are still relevant today. World events have borne out her prophetic words: Pope John Paul II’s miraculous survival of the attempt on his life on May 13, 1981, the fulfillment of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984, the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union without bloodshed, the return of freedom to many countries, including an end to religious persecution and the ongoing restoration of the Catholic Church in countries where it had been banished. But we are still far from enjoying universal peace and, in many countries God’s law is being increasingly squeezed out of public life. The consecration of specific countries to Mary is of little avail if is unaccompanied by a corresponding conversion within the heart of every single human being.
What specifically, then, does Our Lady of Fatima expect of us one-hundred years after her apparitions?
Our Lady’s appeals from Fatima are still relevant today. World events have borne out her prophetic words: Pope John Paul II’s miraculous survival of the attempt on his life on May 13, 1981, the fulfillment of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984, the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union without bloodshed, the return of freedom to many countries, including an end to religious persecution and the ongoing restoration of the Catholic Church in countries where it had been banished. But we are still far from enjoying universal peace and, in many countries God’s law is being increasingly squeezed out of public life. The consecration of specific countries to Mary is of little avail if is unaccompanied by a corresponding conversion within the heart of every single human being.
What specifically, then, does Our Lady of Fatima expect of us one-hundred years after her apparitions?
- That we spread and deepen our devotion to Our Blessed Mother and her Immaculate Heart so intimately bound to the Heart of Jesus: “Jesus wishes that I be better known and loved.”
- That we pray the rosary as often as possible, preferably every day and with the family. Mary expressed this wish almost every time she spoke with the visionaries. “I am Our Lady of the Rosary.” She also urges us to avail ourselves frequently of the Sacrament of Penance and so remain in a state of sanctifying grace, to receive the Holy Eucharist as often as possible, and to read and meditate on Holy Scripture.
- That we pray, offer sacrifices, and do penance for the conversion of sinners. The world is ignoring God, trampling His laws, and sinking into the darkness of evil. Both God and Our Blessed Mother require our repentance and acts of reparation. “Offer yourselves up for sinners and repeat many times over, especially when you are making a sacrifice: ‘O Jesus, I do this out of love for you, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart’” (July 13, 1917).
- That we offer up the first Saturdays of the month to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. All those who for five successive first Saturdays of the month make their confession, receive Holy Communion, say a decade of the rosary, and meditate for fifteen minutes on the mysteries of the rosary in reparation for the sins against the Immaculate Heart, have the following assurance: “these souls shall receive special graces, and I shall set them down them like flowers before the throne of God”; “To those who accept this devotion, I promise salvation”; “and at the hour of their death I shall come bearing help, along with all the graces necessary for their eternal happiness”(December 10 1925).
- That we consecrate ourselves personally to Our Blessed Mother. Her Immaculate Heart wishes to be a refuge for all, especially repentant souls. “If people do not repent, God will send a punishment such as the world has not yet seen’;” but, “in the end, my Immaculate Heart shall triumph.” Both Our Lady’s message at Fatima and Our Lord’s as conveyed to Saint Faustina assure us that the Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary will overcome evil, but our cooperation with them is indispensable. Our fate and the fate of the whole world lies in the Two Hearts, but it also lies in our own hands.