In 2000, the Vatican advised Catholics that Fatima’s message was relegated to the past. However, at Fatima on May 13, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that, “we would be mistaken to think that the prophetic mission of Fatima is complete“. And yet, the misinformation campaign from the Vatican continues to bear fruit in the widespread apathy to the true penitential message of Fatima. Any faithful Catholic who has been paying attention to the unfolding crisis of the faith under Pope Francis, can clearly see that the current papacy is not in any way obedient to the message of the Mother of God at Fatima and the Church does not seem to be able to pull out of this self-destructive mode without Divine assistance. Perhaps it is wise to revisit the message of the Angel of Fatima
At Fatima, in 1917, Our Savior Jesus Christ sent us His own Holy Mother as His emissary to urge us to turn from sin, repent and renew our spiritual battle in prayer and reparation. But did you know that the year before, in Summer of 1916, St. Michael the Archangel, God’s own great warrior, who vanquished Satan and his minions into the eternal fires of hell, appeared to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta? Fatima scholars believe that St. Michael was preparing the little shepherds to receive Our Lady’s revelations.
What did the Angel say? After identifying himself as the Angel of Peace, he taught the children to pray. Now, you may well ask, if the Angel was the great warrior Angel of God, St. Michael the Archangel, why did he identify himself as the Angel of Peace? Because as St. Michael knows, peace will only result when Satan is vanquished. In this, our final battle, our greatest spiritual armaments are prayer and sacrifice. In fact, the very essence of the Catholic Faith, the epitome of Catholicity is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which unites the most perfect and acceptable prayer with the most perfect and unblemished sacrifice.
After assuring the children at that first visit that “The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications”, the Angel left them, only to return in a few months. At the time, the children were relaxing in the shade of a fig tree beside a well. The Angel reappeared chiding them, “What are you doing? Pray, pray a great deal! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy for you! Offer unceasingly to the Most High prayers and sacrifices!”
Lucia then asked the Angel how they were to sacrifice themselves. “Offer up everything within your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended; and of supplication for the conversion of sinners….Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings that the Lord may send you.”
Reminiscing later, Sister Lucia remarked that the words of the Angel enlightened them to Who God is, how God wants us to love Him and how much He values our sacrifices and rewards them with conversion of sinners. From that time on, the children occupied themselves increasingly in praying to God as the Angel had taught them and making use of the opportunities for sacrifice that presented themselves, moment by moment in their daily lives.
That Autumn, the Angel appeared in the most remarkable of his apparitions thus far. He held a chalice in his hand, over which was suspended a Host, from which drops of Precious Blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the Sacred Host and Chalice suspended in the air, the Angel then prostrated himself on the ground before it, repeating the following prayer:
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. Through the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”
The Angel arose after reciting the prayer three times. He then administered Holy Communion to the children, giving the Sacred Host to Lucia and the Precious Blood to Jacinta and Francisco, as he said, “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console Our Lord.”
Understanding the meaning of these apparitions of St. Michael is essential to understanding the full message of Fatima. Further, understanding Fatima is essential for us to respond to the spiritual demands of this time in history. At the time of the Angel’s message, there was no Novus Ordo Mass, no Extraordinary Ministers handling the Sacred Host carelessly with unconsecrated hands, no communion in the hand, dispensed like trick or treat candy. The Blessed Sacrament was universally treated with reverence. Contrast that with the latest Papal Mass in the Philippines where the Sacred Species was handed around and trampled under foot in the mud. Pope Francis has been photographed kneeling to receive a “blessing” from heretics, but by all accounts, he is unable or unwilling to kneel even briefly at the Consecration at his own Masses. Cardinal Wuerl, who is perhaps the one American prelate closest to Pope Francis, is well known for his insistence on allowing pro-abortion politicians to receive Our Lord in Holy Communion.
St. Paul says, “Therefore, whosoever shall eat this Bread or drink the Chalice of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty for the Body and Blood of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 11, 27). Yet, Pope Francis and his allies are working to assure that the Church will disregard 2,000 years of teaching and welcome unrepentant sinners to Holy Communion. This is a direct attack on the Body and Blood of Christ, carried out by Pope Francis and the leaders of the Church.
Each of us exists here and now right where God has allowed us to be so that we may serve Him in this huge spiritual combat on which our salvation and the salvation of all our loved ones depend.
It has been 99 years! Although prior generations failed, we must grasp the significance of God’s message calling us to prayer and sacrifice. When we look at the history of the Church and the world since the events of 1916-17, we cannot help but note the rapid decline. How did we get from St. Pius X and St. Pio to Pope Francis and his disgusting Synod and midterm Relatio? Fatima explains it. Return to Fatima and you return to the truth we have lost. As the Angel urged us, “Fear not,…Pray! Pray a great deal! Offer unceasingly…prayer and sacrifice…Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.”
To help us grow in the the spiritual strength for this task, we might begin by simply repeating as often as possible that long-forgotten prayer, so ignored by our Church,
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”
It is up to each of us now, to wage the life or death struggle with the powers of evil which have overcome our country, our very world and even many areas of our Church. Remember that the Warrior Angel is the Angel of Peace. Peace can only be obtained by prayer and sacrifice. Some are called to more heroic sacrifices, but most of us are the foot soldiers, and we must pray unceasingly, offering our rosaries and our Masses with our constant sacrifices of each moment, whatever His sacred will demands of us.
At Fatima, our Lady identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary urging us to pray the rosary daily. She also requested the Five First Saturdays of Reparation and in her final visit, on October 13, 1917, she appeared in the Carmelite habit, which is an invitation to all who would follow her, to take up her brown scapular and all that it entails. I will post more on these devotions soon. In the meantime, please consider making the Angel’s Prayer at Fatima a part of your daily spiritual practice. You can add it to your rosary, right after each Pater Noster. And, you can pray it after the Consecration, before receiving Communion and as a part of your thanksgiving afterwards.
Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.
Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)
✝︎ Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.