History has recorded as already having taken place many of the terrible disasters predicted by the Mother of God in 1917. These things cannot be undone. But we still have the future ahead of us. It can be a happy future, filled with peace, if we live our lives according to Our Lady’s requests.
These requests, 1) penance and reparation, 2) the daily recitation of the Rosary, 3) the five First Saturdays, and 4) consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, form the “peace plan from Heaven”— our only hope.
PENANCE AND REPARATION
By penance, Our Lady explained that men must amend their lives, give up their easy lives of sin, ask pardon for their sins, and make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so grievously offended by the sins of men. By reparation, Our Lady means: 1) offering sacrifice to atone for our sins, 2) fulfilling our daily duties to the best of our abilities, 3) accepting the responsibilities of our state in life, 4) obeying the Commandments of God. The sacrifice Our Lord requires of each of us is that sacrifice necessary to avoid sin and the occasion of sin and to accept with submission all the suffering sent to us. Also, we should make everything we do a sacrifice, and in offering it to God, we should say this prayer: “O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
THE DAILY ROSARY
Our Lady pleaded and insisted that men must say the daily Rosary. Reparation holds back the hand of God from striking the world in just punishment for its many crimes. The Rosary is like a sword or weapon the Mother of God can use to cut down heresy and the forces of evil. It is most powerful, and many times it has saved the world from situations as bad as, if not worse than, the one facing us today.
Four centuries ago, the Turks were overrunning all Europe, and seemed on the verge of wiping out Christianity. When all seemed lost, Pope St. Pius V organized a great Rosary Crusade. The Christian soldiers literally went into battle with swords in one hand and rosaries in the other. On October 7, 1571, at Lepanto, one of the greatest military upsets in all history took place. The smaller Christian fleet, greatly outnumbered, defeated the mighty Turkish Armada, and Christendom was saved—all through the power of the Rosary.
In early 1964, the country of Brazil was within days of falling to Communism. The courageous Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro broadcast radio appeals for prayer and penance in keeping with Our Lady’s Fatima requests. The response of Brazilians rose and rose until it culminated in a vast march of 600,000 Rosary-praying women in Sao Paulo on March 19. More such marches were scheduled, but on April 1, the Communists fled the country, and freedom was preserved. Today, we are threatened on all sides by Communism.
But the Blessed Virgin Mary can overcome these forces of evil overnight—if enough people will say the daily Rosary. Pope Pius IX said: “Give me an army saying the Rosary, and I will conquer the world.” Particularly is the Family Rosary recommended, for “the family that prays together stays together,” and today our families are threatened with breakup on all sides. After each decade of the Rosary, you should recite the prayer: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy.”
THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS
This devotion consists in 1) going to Confession, 2) receiving Holy Communion, 3) reciting 5 decades of the Rosary, and 4) spending 15 minutes with Our Lady meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary—all with the intention of making reparation to her. The Mediatrix of All Graces has promised, at the hour of death, all graces necessary for salvation to those who faithfully practice this devotion for the First Saturday of any five consecutive months. (NOTE: The Confession may be made under the usual condition of 8 days before or after Holy Communion, provided the person is not in the state of mortal sin when he receives Holy Communion.)
The first Friday, first Saturday, and first Sunday of the month normally come together in the same week. The Confession good for one is good for the others. It is recommended that people receive Holy Communion in reparation on all three days, giving Our Lady a little more than she asks—and helping to make up for those who refuse to give her anything at all. In addition to assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, receiving Holy Communion is the most perfect form of reparation that can be offered.
CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
This consecration is the least understood but one of the most important parts of the message of Fatima. Our Lady is looking for people willing to become cells of prayer and sacrifice through consecration to her. Personal consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary can take many forms. It can be done simply by reciting with sincerity the act of consecration printed further on. This consecration can be renewed each day merely by saying the morning offering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. However, the act itself should be repeated on all important feast days of the Blessed Mother. More important than reciting the act is to live up to the conditions which it sets forth, particularly by fulfilling Our Lady’s requests at Fatima.
In consecrating oneself to Mary, a Christian pays her homage, places himself in her service and under her protection, and strives to imitate her virtues. One of the best forms of consecration for the average layman is to wear the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Sister Lucia has said that all Catholics should wear the Brown Scapular as part of the Fatima message. She said, “The Rosary and the Scapular are inseparable.” The Brown Scapular of Mt. Carmel is an abbreviated form of the large Scapular worn by members of the Carmelite Order; thus it can be called a “holy habit” and “Our Lady’s livery.”
A person who wears this Scapular declares that he or she belongs to Mary. In return, the Mother of God has promised eternal life to those who die wearing this mantle. In 1251, when she gave the Scapular to St. Simon Stock and thereby to the world, the Queen of Heaven stated: “Whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire.” Wearing the Scapular serves as a constant reminder of one’s personal consecration to Mary and of the necessity of imitating her virtues and heeding her requests.
NOTE: The Scapular Medal may be substituted when it is impossible or impractical to wear the cloth Scapular. However, to be worn validly, the person wearing the medal must first have been enrolled in the cloth Scapular, and the medal must be blessed by a priest. It is not necessary to have the cloth Scapulars blessed.
TRUE DEVOTION, ONE OF THE MOST PERFECT FORMS OF CONSECRATION
Another excellent but more difficult form of consecration is the practice of True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as preached by St. Louis Grignion De Montfort. This consists in giving oneself as a servant or a “slave” to the Blessed Mother, so one can be used as an instrument of God’s mercy in drawing the souls of poor sinners to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
This means giving to Mary all our thoughts, words, actions, sufferings and possessions, plus, the merits from our good works, that she may use them as she sees fit in reparation for sin, for the conversion of poor sinners, and for the greater love and honor and glory of God. St. Louis De Montfort says that as Christ came to us through Mary, He desires that we come to Him through her.
The Saint states that by consecrating ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary we consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the two are one. All we do for Mary, we do for Jesus; all we ask of her, we ask of Him; and Our Lord cannot refuse if His Blessed Mother intercedes for us. Since she desires and requests it, can we choose a more perfect form of consecration to Jesus than through the Immaculate Heart of His Holy Mother?
HER IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH
At Fatima, Our Lady promised that in the end her Immaculate Heart will triumph, Russia will be converted, and some time of peace will be granted to the world. That final triumph can come soon, without a lot of blood being shed, if enough people will still grant the requests she made at Fatima. Or, it can come after a nuclear war, or more terrible disasters, that may see the greater part of humanity wiped off the face of the earth. It depends upon how many of us are willing to follow Our Lady’s “peace plan from Heaven.”
“WHAT CAN I DO?”
1. Start by observing Our Lady’s requests at Fatima:
a. Consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
b. Offer up your daily tasks as a sacrifice in reparation for your own sins and the sins of others.
c. Say the Rosary every day.
d. Wear the Brown Scapular as a sign of personal consecration to Mary, and make acts of reparation to her Immaculate Heart.
e. Make the 5 First Saturdays with the attendant 15 minutes of meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary in company with Mary.
f. Make visits to the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for sins against her Immaculate Heart.
g. Do extra penances and say extra prayers for the conversion of sinners.
2. Begin today to reform your life completely and to orient it toward God. Determine, with God’s grace, to become a saint. Engage in spiritual reading every day.
3. Distribute extra copies of this booklet. It is a brief but complete statement on Fatima.
4. Ask Our Lady to guide you in your vocation and to give you an apostolate suitable to your station in life.
5. Say the prayers taught by Our Lady and the Angel at Fatima.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
O MARY, VIRGIN most powerful and Mother of Mercy, Queen of Heaven and Refuge of Sinners, we consecrate ourselves to thy Immaculate Heart. We consecrate to thee our very being and our whole life: all that we have, all that we love, all that we are. To thee we give our bodies, our hearts, and our souls; to thee we give our homes, our families and our country. We desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to thee and may share in the benefits of thy motherly blessing.
And, that this act of consecration may be truly fruitful and lasting, we renew this day at thy feet the promises of our Baptism and our First Holy Communion. We pledge ourselves to profess courageously and at all times the truths of our holy Faith, and to live as befits Catholics, who are submissive to all directions of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him. We pledge ourselves to keep the Commandments of God and of His Church, in particular to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
We pledge ourselves to make the consoling practices of the Christian religion, and above all, Holy Communion, an important part of our lives, in so far as we shall be able to do. Finally, we promise thee, O glorious Mother of God and loving Mother of men, to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the spreading of devotion to thy Immaculate Heart, in order to hasten and assure, through the queenly rule of thy Immaculate Heart, the coming of the kingdom of the Sacred Heart of thy adorable Son, in our own hearts and in those of all men, in our country, and in all the world, as in Heaven, so on earth. Amen.
THE FATIMA PRAYERS
“O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.”
“Most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I adore Thee profoundly. 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 the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”
“O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (To be said when offering up personal sacrifices, penances, sufferings, etc.)
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy.” (To be said after the Glory Be to the Father following each decade of the Rosary.)
This article is taken from a chapter in Our Lady of Fatima’s Peace Plan from Heaven, which is available from TAN Books.
