The current crisis in the Church is part of God’s plan for us, and the Immaculata leads us safely through it.
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary become even richer in meaning as we spend more time with them, and in this papacy all the more so! In the First Sorrowful Mystery, the Agony in the Garden we see Jesus confronting His persecutors who had been led to Him by Judas, the Patron for the current betrayers of Christ who now occupy the visible Church. As Jesus restored the ear of Malchus, He spoke to those who had come to destroy Him, “Are ye come out, as it were against a thief, with swords and clubs? When I was daily with you in the temple, you did not stretch forth your hands against Me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” (Luke 22, 52-53)
We are now deep within this hour of darkness in the Passion of the Church, and so we shall find much to profit us in these Sorrowful Mysteries of Our Lady’s Rosary.
At the beginning of that first Passion, there was a terrible betrayal, and the Apostles fled, scandalized, into the darkness. Today, as the Pope and the whole corrupt edifice of the hierarchy betray our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, Catholics are scattered. Some are indifferent to the scandal, some fall into sedevacantism, some simply fall away. Some few, however, watch and pray in the darkness, trusting in His promise.
Father Malachi Martin explained this situation in the Church in several interviews and in books, such as Windswept House and The Keys of His Blood. In one interview, transcribed into a small book called “The Tempter’s Hour,” Fr. Martin explained that the crisis in the Church is a part of God’s plan for us. During Christ’s Passion, Our Blessed Mother did not rebel or question God’s will (contrary to what Pope Francis suggests), instead Mary willed it. Yes, she accepted God’s will most perfectly. In fact, Mary is our perfect model for the approach we must make to this time of the Passion of the Bride of Christ, His beloved and most holy Church.
Mary, above all others, understands completely that love is reparation. As our Lord Jesus Christ told us on Holy Thursday, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15, 13) All of Christianity hinges on this, that God loved sinful mankind so much He laid down His life despite the jeering rejection by the vast multitudes down through the ages. We must accept the full truth here, the Blessed Virgin Mary willed, with all her Immaculate Heart, that she and her Beloved Son, would suffer this unimaginable trial, so that sins could be forgiven and souls could be saved.
Do not be fooled by today’s sophistry, even when uttered by the Pope and parroted from the pulpits by poor misguided priests. Mary never doubted. Why? because she believed perfectly. The Holy Spirit tells us of Mary, “Blessed art thou that hast believed!” (Luke, 1, 45) Indeed, in Mary, we have our highest example of this perfect faith, this perfect hope.
God, our loving Father, never leaves us orphans. In preparation for a coming chastisement, He always sends ample preparation, for those who are His, that is, those who have chosen to place their trust in Him, to love and serve Him above all else, spurning the world and the regard of men. Those who are blessed to be children of Mary understand that God gives us the Blessed Virgin Mary in these times of crisis, the same as He did at the Annunciation, the same as He did on Golgotha’s bloody rock. Yes, He gives us Mary, although this makes absolutely no sense to unbelievers. She, the exemplar of perfect faith, makes no sense except to the faithful.
Perhaps the best writing on Fatima and the Immaculate Heart of Mary at this time is Father Karl Stehlin’s book, “Who Are You, O Immaculata?“. In it, he explains that “The essence of devotion to the Immaculate Heart is the communion of reparation. The notion of reparation is the most important expression of our love as repentant sinners.” (p. 160). To be clear, in these times, as always, the essence of devotion to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His most pure Mother is reparative love, and this is most perfectly present in our Holy Communions of Reparation.
This is a very good time to remind ourselves of the value of beginning our day with a devout spiritual communion after our morning offering, for those of us who cannot attend the true Mass every day. Let us make use of every grace we can obtain, offering all to the Most Holy Trinity through the Immaculata in reparation, until at last this blight is cleared and the Church restored in splendour even greater than before. For it will be restored, even as we await the glorious Easter of the Resurrection, we have no doubt that God will preserve His Church from destruction.
We will close this essay with another quote from “Who Are You, O Immaculata?”
“At Fatima, the Immaculate indicates the way that leads us to God and this way is nothing other than a more profound understanding of the means of grace that Christ Himself has given us. … Mary herself at Fatima leads us into the utmost depths of the mystery of all mysteries on earth, namely that of union with God in Holy Communion.”
We are in the Passion of the Church. Many today are concerned but often they are concerned for the wrong reasons. Like Judas, they do not want to see their Savior undergo a humiliating defeat. Their pride demands that the Church be worthy of their own exalted opinion of what “their” church should be. They miss the point and place themselves in danger of losing their souls. This is a time that calls more than ever before for a profound spiritual warfare of intensive reparation: the reparation of Holy Communion coupled with our Rosaries and our daily sacrifices as we attempt to follow Christ in this anti-Christian world.
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.
† . 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.
† . Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† . Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
† . St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† . St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
O my Jesus! Forgive us our sins and save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy!
~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King. Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!
