Due to the controversy which took too much of my time, I decided to take a day or two to think things over. The following is my carefully and prayerfully reconsidered position. I will state the basics and follow with a brief discussion.
July 13, 1917, Our Lady of Fatima after showing the children a terrifying view of hell, warned that if mankind did not heed her warnings much suffering would ensue:
“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, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against 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 will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world..”
Again, on June 13, 1929, Our Lady said,
“The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the Bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it [Russia] by this means.”
And yet again, in a May, 1952 appearance to Sister Lucia, Our Lady said,
“Make it known to the Holy Father that I am always awaiting the consecration of Russia to my immaculate Heart. Without the consecration, Russia will not be able to convert, nor will the world have peace.”
In 1946, Sister Lucia confirmed yet again, this time to Father Jongen, “The exact petition of Our Lady was for the Holy to make the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.”
And again, In the famous 1957 interview with Father Fuentes, Sister Lucia said,
“Father, many times the Blessed Virgin told me and my cousins Jacinta and and Francisco that Russia is the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation [Russia].“
I have at least five other similar citations, all of them restating the obvious, that Our Lady asked for Russia to be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart and also, warned that unless this was done, Russia would spread her errors to such an extent that no nation at all would be spared. In his book on Fatima, William Thomas Walsh confirmed, that in his 1956 interview with her, Sister Lucia stated most emphatically,
“What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the Bishops in the world shall consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart on one special day. If this is done, she will convert Russia and there will be peace. If it is not done, the errors of Russia will spread through every country in the world.”
Walsh then asked, “Does this mean that every country, without exception, will be overcome by communism?”
“Yes”, was Sister Lucia’s precise answer.
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
A widely respected voice of Catholic tradition (The Remnant) has already defined the opposition as “(un)willing to think outside the box, set aside outdated Cold War polemics and look at what’s happening in the here and now.” He scolds people like me, “This is not 1980, the U.S. is not the ‘shining city on the hill,’ and when considering the breakup of the U.S.S.R.—especially when compared to other ruthlessly Christophobic regimes operating around the world right now—it doesn’t seem quite right to single out Russia as the “evil empire” anymore.”
How’s that for a classic “straw man”!
Just to be clear, it is not for me to “to single out Russia”, that is precisely what the Blessed Virgin did.
The “errors of Russia” were considered to be atheistic materialism, and marxism/communism, the wellspring of anti-Catholic, and morally corrupt practices such as abortion, birth control, divorce, sexual license, and the rest. All these are spread throughout the world and especially in the United States. Today, it appears to most people that America is the most corrupt country in the world. My position is that it really does not matter which circle of hell we are in. It is faulty reasoning to conclude that Putin and his toady Kirill exemplify Christian leadership simply because Obama/Hillary are so dismally evil. The same as it does not follow that since Pope Francis is not a good pope that perhaps Franklin Graham, who certainly seems more “Christian” than the pope should replace him.
I am actually, for those who asked, aware, even in my dotage, that we are no longer in the cold war. I was born in 1943 and the adults of the 1940s and 50’s had come through the depression, the World Wars and had a general consensus on morality, a code of behavior and strength of character that has long since vanished from this world. It slipped away silently as that older generation I had so respected committed adultery, divorced, even suicided, and the young couples our age limited their families to one or two children, and swapped partners because, after all, they were “living in the here and now”, and keeping up with these modern times.
They had welcomed into their homes television stars who entertained them, sophisticated, humorous people who taught them that someone can be a “good person” even a “good Christian” and divorce and remarry, or even live together. That someone can be “deeply spiritual” yet “not religious”. After all, it was pointed out over . and over . and . over that religion was hypocrisy and bigotry. That all religion hid a rotten core. Once that outlook had taken effect, the nasty little closets of the Church were opened to reveal the clergy sexual abuse scandal. By that time, Catholics had assumed a thorough-going relativism that went under the name of tolerance. It’s all in the labels really. And the media get to define the meaning of those labels, and even to coin new ones, such as homophobia.
Gradually, perhaps in self defense, even the traditional Catholic media jumped in and began defining their own labels; Christophobic comes to mind. Thus they are naïvely imitating their foes. And there are none who have not done this, I admit. Labels are such an irresistible way of short-circuiting the rigor of honest debate. Oops, I guess that makes me a “rigorist”.
The reason I restated all the above is to explain why I believe that it is not me that refuses to “think outside the box”, I am actually going up against the most prominent and respected traditional Catholic thinkers. If I were to think inside the box, I’d be a popular blogger, accepted by the illustrious Catholic traditionals extolling Vladimir Putin for his “leadership” and “moral sanity”. I’d be breathlessly reporting that this respected Christian leader “praised the cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian State.”
Instead I assert that the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy is today as much of a tool of the Russian state as it was in the time of Stalin; who by the way has been spoken of favorably by both Putin and Kirill. I also point out that the Russian Orthodox Church oppresses the true Catholics, such as the ever faithful Ukrainian Greek Catholics. See here and here. By the way, these Ukrainian Greek Catholics are also persecuted by the Church, despite their unflagging loyalty to the papacy, even to this current pathetic pope. In fact, Kasper lectured and threatened them to stop proselytising, it is hampering the ecumenical efforts!
For those who care, there is ample evidence that Putin’s much vaunted “Christianity” is window dressing. For in-depth background, the Uniate sites are very useful. I am unfortunately not able to do much more than to state these facts, and you yourselves must do a little leg work on your own if you want the truth. Normally, I would do my research and present a better case, especially since I am opposing people with so much credibility.
The reason I am so passionate in this matter is that I believe Our Blessed Mother needs us now much more than ever before in our lives, to understand where the evil is and speak out the truth. How on earth can we wake up the slumbering Catholics if we are all confused, and if we engage in the same muddy thinking that the enemy does. Readers, you must know that Putin is not a Christian, that the Russian Orthodox primate is still an agent of the Russian secret service and that both of them hate the Catholic faith intensely.
There is so much more you need to know about all this because we are about to experience for ourselves the undeniable truth of who this new Christian leader really is. In due time, the truth will be known to all, but most assuredly, it will be too late to change the course of events. However, we must hold fast to Our Lord’s words to Sister Lucia, “It will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary”. (Sister Lucia’s letter to her Bishop, Aug. 29, 1931, in The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol II )
Our Lady of Fatima really did mean what she said when she “singled out Russia”. A century ago, Our Lady worked a stupendous miracle “so that all may believe”, yet we see that today, even some traditional Catholics do not believe Our Lady’s message at Fatima, that Russia’s errors must be stopped with the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Sister Lucia warned that if the Consecration of Russia was not done, every nation in the world will be overcome by communism.
How far away are we from this?
Let’s discuss it in a few months.
† Please, pray the Rosary and confound satan and all his works and pomps!
† Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come!
† Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
† St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!
~ by evensong, for love of the Immaculata.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin, give me strength against thine enemies!