A. God respects the free will of every human being.  We can choose to either embrace the graces and vocation that He has created for us as our path to sanctity and discipleship, or to forsake them and follow our own way. So, too, it was with Mary. Pope Pius IX declared in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that Mary “was from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by the virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin” as well as from all personal sin throughout her entire life (CCC 491). This means that God gave Mary all the graces and blessings that she would need in order to make her YES to Him. However, God did not force her to do so.  He allowed her, in total freedom, to say yes to His plan.  As a humble handmaiden, she corresponded to this special grace and said, “Let it be done unto me according to thy word!” God did not simply give her this grace to use her but to equip her for her vocation as Mother of God. He made her a pure vessel for His son as one Full of Grace.

This shows us yet again that the Immaculate Conception of Mary – her preservation from all sin – is not meant to glorify Mary, but to show how this blessing comes totally from the glory of our Lord Jesus.  It is only because He would later die on the Cross that Mary could be saved and preserved from all sin. Mary required salvation just as each of us do; the difference is that God “pre-saved” her because the sacrifice of love which is the Cross is not something confined to a particular moment in history.  The effects of this redemption reach out into the past, present and future.  Thus, Mary is saved and made immaculate in anticipation of what we all received through the sacrifice of Jesus and the gift of baptism. Think of it as one person being saved from a disease by a vaccination in order to prevent it, while another is saved from the same disease by an operation to cure it – both are saved yet the order of events is different (Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity, 410).

When I became a Catholic, I really didn’t feel that I had much in common with any of the saints.  They somehow seemed so inaccessible – so “out there.”  I imagined that they must have been born with a Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the other.  I, on the other hand, was nothing like that.  I had stumbled through a wilful and stormy adolescence that was followed by an unhappy first marriage.  Remarried, I had come to learn about the Catholic faith through my new husband (Henry) and a wonderful priest, Fr. Jeremiah, who had taken an interest in our lives.

Needless to say, I didn’t feel like much of a poster child for the Catholic faith, and as I prepared for my Confirmation, I felt a little like the black sheep in the family.  As it is traditional to take the name of a saint on the occasion of one’s Confirmation, I dutifully leafed through page after page of stories about their lives.  However, I didn’t feel a connection with any of them.  And then I stumbled on the story of St. Rita.

The Life of St. Rita

The first thing that caught my attention about St. Rita is that she is the saint of impossible causes.  I liked that. I figured that whatever name I chose, with my background, I needed a saint with that kind of pull.  I also liked the fact that, like me, she had experienced difficulties in her marriage.  She was also the mother of two children, born after several years of eagerly awaiting such a blessing.  I figured she would have a good understanding of the challenges that we all face in family life.

Having said that, St. Rita would never have married at all had she been allowed to choose her own path in life.  Even as a very young girl, her dream had always been to become a nun.  However, when she asked her parents for permission, they refused.  Rita was their only child, born long after they had given up hope of ever having any children.  By the time that Rita was 12, their health was already failing and they needed a lot of care and attention.  They were concerned that if Rita entered the convent, there would be no one to take care of them.  But perhaps even more important, they were concerned that if Rita did not marry, there would be no one to carry on the family line.  Although their refusal to give her permission caused Rita a great deal of anguish, she obediently agreed to do as they asked.

Her parents chose a young man named Ferdinando to be her husband. The son of well-to-do and influential parents, he unfortunately proved to be an abusive, hot headed, and immoral young man.  It was said that he was cruel to Rita and squandered a lot of money gambling.  Yet despite her difficult marriage, Rita was always extremely humble and patient with her husband.  Although she suffered a great deal, she continued to be a loving and attentive wife.  She prayed fervently for Ferdinando’s conversion, and after a number of years her prayers were answered.

Although Ferdinando became a peaceful man as well as a loving husband and father, he had made many enemies during his life.  One day, a band of men attacked him outside the walls of the town, stabbing him to death and leaving him to die by the side of the road.  Rita was overwhelmed with grief.  To add to her sorrow, she discovered soon afterwards that their only children, Giovanni and Paulo, were planning to avenge their father’s death.  Unable to reason with them, Rita prayed that God would either change their hearts or take their lives before they would have the opportunity to commit such a sin.  Her prayers were again answered.  Both died within a year, reconciled with God and ready for life in eternity.

Why the Saint of the Impossible?

Rita had never given up hope that she would one day become a nun.  Now that she was free to realize her dream, she applied to the nearby Augustinian community of St. Mary Magdalen (also known as the ‘Maddalena’).  Unfortunately, they had a rule that stated that they could only admit young girls whose vocations were certain.  Widows could only be admitted by special dispensation, and none had ever been admitted up to that point.  Given this rule, it is perhaps not surprising that they turned her away.  However, Rita persisted.  She applied a second, and then a third time.  Finally, the prioress told her that it was absolutely impossible to admit her as a member of the community and asked her not to apply again.

Anyone else would have given up, but Rita continued to pray and offer penances and mortifications.  She pleaded with her patron saints, St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine, and St. Nicholas of Tolentine to intervene on her behalf.  Then one night, while she was praying at home, she heard a knock at the door.  She heard the voice of Jesus, telling her to come – that it was time for her to enter the Maddalena Convent.  Her patron saints – St. John the Baptist, St. Augustine, and St. Nicholas – appeared to her and led the way.  Although the doors and the windows of the convent were tightly closed, they miraculously led her into the cloister.  Before disappearing they said, “You are now in the house of your Spouse, Jesus. Love Him with all your heart and soul, and your eternal salvation is secure.  Return thanks to God for so great a favour done in your behalf.  Praise His infinite mercy, and publish that there is nothing impossible to God.  Rita, the impossible is overcome in your behalf.”¹

When the sisters discovered her in the cloister the next morning, they were amazed to find her there.  At first they thought someone must have let her in. But as Rita humbly explained what had happened, they became convinced that a miracle had truly taken place.  They accepted her as a companion.

Throughout her life, St. Rita was a model of the virtues of humility, obedience, patience, and charity.  She was an amazing witness to the power of prayer and faith in God, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties.  She had a great devotion to the Passion of Christ.  In her desire to share His pain, she asked our Lord to give her at least one of the thorns that had pierced His Sacred Head.  Her prayer was answered in a most miraculous way.  A thorn penetrated the flesh and bone of her forehead and remained there, leaving an excruciating and putrid wound that lasted her entire life.  Even in the midst of her sufferings, she was happy as she prayed, “O loving Jesus, increase my patience according as my sufferings increase.”²

The fame of her virtue and sanctity became known even beyond the walls of the convent.  Many came to seek her, asking for her prayers and intercession, her advice, and her instruction.  St. Rita died on May 22, 1457, and many miracles have been attributed to her intercession.

-  Sharon van der Sloot

¹ Fr. Joseph Sicardo, O.S.A., St. Rita of Cascia: Saint of the Impossible (Wife, Mother, Widow, Nun); originally published under the title Life of Sister St. Rita of Cascia, Chicago: D.B. Hanssen, 1916; reprint, Rockford Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers Inc., 1990), 67 (page citations are to the reprint edition).

² Ibid., 112. The Devotion of the Fifteen Thursdays of St. Rita marks the last 15 years in which St. Rita suffered from this thorn.  For more information on this devotion, see St. Rita, Saint of the Impossible: Prayers and Devotions to St. Rita Including the Devotion of the Fifteen Thursdays (New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1999).

Novena Prayer to St. Rita¹

Saint Rita, God gave you to us as an example of charity and patience, and offered you a share in the Passion of His Son.  I thank Him for the many blessings He bestowed upon you during your lifetime, especially during your unhappy marriage and during the illness you suffered in the convent.

May your example encourage me to carry my own Cross patiently and to live a holier life.  By serving God as you did, may I please Him with my faith and my actions.

I fail because of my weakness.  Pray to God for me that He may restore me to His love through His grace and help me on my way to salvation.

In your kindness hear my prayer and ask God to grant me this particular request if it be His Will: (Mention your request).

May your prayers help me to live in fidelity to my calling as you did and bring me to the deeper love of God and my neighbour until I reach eternal life in heaven.  Amen.

¹ Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., Treasury of Novenas (New York: Catholic Book Publishing Co., 1986), 245.

[Please watch the included video clip either prior to listening or at the indicated moment within the talk.]

“Why Catholicism is… AWESOME!” – Talk by Fr. Cristino to St. Michael’s DMC Group.

PDF Version   

San Lorenzo – Marble Slab…

In this week’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say two times, “Peace be with you.”  The first time, it’s meant as a greeting as He miraculously comes to His disciples despite the doors being locked.  Yet the second time is even more significant – His words are an invitation to receive His Holy Spirit and thus join in His mission to spread the message of His Father.  In spite of all they had seen and heard, the disciples were nevertheless sad and fearful after Jesus’ death; they needed the power of the Holy Spirit to embolden them to carry on this mission.  Jesus came to them to specifically prepare them for this work.  With the gift of the Holy Spirit, He also gave them the power and authority to “bind and loose” – to forgive sins in His name – and commissioned them to bring His message of forgiveness and salvation to the world.

What does all this mean for us?  First, that Jesus offers us His peace as well – not in the way the world gives, as merely an absence of conflict, but the peace that comes from living in truth.   Yes, the Holy Spirit is the dove of peace that consoles, but it’s also the consuming fire that inspires us and gives us the courage to live our faith.  We receive an outpouring of this Spirit in the sacraments, beginning with Baptism, and are asked to join in the mission of the Church, whose birth we celebrate today.   We all have a share in this blessing and subsequent call to bring truth and peace to the world.  Moreover, we can trust in the authority given to the apostles, an authority that is now passed down to their successors – the bishops of our Church today – to guide us in this endeavour.  If we let the Holy Spirit have free reign in our lives, He will help us to all speak the same language – one of God’s indescribable love.

- Kelley Holy

A. The Perpetual Virginity of Mary is a dogma of our faith (a divinely inspired and articulated teaching) that proclaims the divinity of Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, as well as the supernatural nature of the Church as a virgin mother. The virginal conception of Jesus was a divine action – He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and thus has no human father. His divine nature comes from God the Father, while His human nature comes from Mary and her alone. The uniqueness of Jesus’ conception is further revealed in that the Church has always taught that Mary is aeiparthenos (Ever-Virgin) before, during and after Christ’s birth.

Why did God ask this of Mary? To forgo having any children with her husband Joseph when to do so would have been a good and holy act of love? Mary accepted her call from God to be a perpetual virgin (and we must say Joseph deserves equal admiration for honouring God and his wife in forgoing any conjugal relations with her) as a way to testify to the divinity of her Son who alone would bless her womb with His divine and human presence. But there are also two other important reasons. The first was to show her perpetual virginity as a sign of her faith. St. Augustine said that Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ.  In doing so, she offers us all an example to imitate in our own relationship with Christ, one of deep and abandoning faith and trust as to whatever plans He has in store for our lives. Second, Mary’s perpetual virginity allows her to be a virgin mother, and not just as the mother of Jesus, but also a spiritual mother to all who come to the Lord to be saved (CCC 501).

As virgin and mother, Mary reveals how she is a perfect example of what the Church is meant to be. For just as Mary conceived Jesus in faith and gave birth to Him to allow Him to save us from our sins, so too does the Church as a mother conceive the Lord in faith and through her preaching and the gift of baptism give birth to countless sons and daughters (LG 64). As Mary allowed God to preserve her virginity for all time, so too is the Church preserved as a virgin by God to keep the faith in its entirety and purity for countless generations to embrace (LG 64).

You see, the relationship between husband and wife is the most important one in the family.  It is the foundation.  So, if it’s strong, then the family will be strong.  It’s easy to understand this on your wedding day – you are marrying the person you love most in the world.  But something happens once we have kids, and in the midst of the busyness and chaos, it’s all too easy to forget this fact.  To be sure, a baby is helpless and insistent; there’s no way to ignore his demands.  But we mustn’t allow our marriages to suffer unnecessarily either.

I once read a surprising statistic that after the death of a spouse, the most stressful event in a marriage is the birth of a child, especially for those entering the realm of parenthood for the first time.  The demands on your time and energy as parents are enormous, but for the health of your new, growing family, your marriage still needs a lot of attention.  In short, what’s good for the marriage is good for the family!  Sure, it’s way harder to continue to put your marriage first – but it’s extremely important to try.  It just requires some thought and ingenuity.

As a mother of five children ranging in ages from 23 to 7 years, I’d like to suggest some practical ways to help ensure that your marriage stays strong after having kids.  It’s all a matter of maintaining boundaries, balance, perspective, and unity.  First, let’s consider the idea of boundaries.  We live in a society that has taken freedom to the extreme, with all sorts of implications and potentially negative consequences.  We’ve even extended this notion to our children and don’t want to put any limitations on their freedom.  For instance, not so long ago, mothers used playpens to keep their children in one place once they were mobile – the idea was to keep them safe.  Now, this practice would be unthinkable to most parents.  I’m not actually promoting the use of playpens, but just want to point out that it’s all part of a mindset that our culture would have us believe – that we are somehow harming our children’s development by limiting their freedom.

Teaching boundaries to our children from early on is actually healthy – both for them and for our marriages.  We don’t necessarily need to go back to the staunch attitudes of “children should be seen and not heard,” but we do need to teach them respect in this regard and give them reasonable boundaries.  Here are some suggestions:

• Once children are old enough to understand, don’t allow them to interrupt when mom and dad are speaking to one another…good manners that will go a long way outside the family, too!
• Set aside time that is just for mom and dad to talk and catch up on the events of the day.
• As much as they would have you believe otherwise, your children don’t need to be with you 24/7!  Find a reliable sitter and go out to dinner or on date nights to foster the closeness and intimacy of your relationship.  If finances are an issue, consider a babysitting co-op where you can trade help with other families in your area.
• Remember the sacredness of the marriage bed, the place where both new life is created and the life of the marriage is nourished and strengthened.  One way to preserve this sacredness is by not allowing your children to share your bed once they are no longer nursing at night.  On Saturday mornings, everyone in our family likes to pile in and snuggle, but my husband insisted from early on that our children not sleep in our bed.  If necessary, one of us will go to them – to a sick or frightened child’s bedroom – or allow them to sleep on our floor, but that’s where we draw the line.  I know this is a divisive issue…just so long as it’s not dividing your marriage!  Make sure that you and your spouse are in complete agreement on what’s best for your marriage and family.
• When they ask, let your children know whom you love most – your spouse.  It may sound contrary to what you would think, but children actually find this reassuring.  As much as you love them, they must know that nothing they say or do can shake the love that their parents have for one another.  Even though most children aren’t able to verbalize it, they get this idea and grow in confidence by the strength of their parents’ relationship.

Another important aspect to consider in our families is balancing time.  While it can be challenging for anyone, new moms in particular find this extremely difficult.  The tricky part is to provide for their children while not neglecting themselves or their relationship with their husbands.  Before becoming a mom myself, I had never really considered what was involved.  The sacrificial nature of motherhood requires totally giving of yourself to another, beginning with your very body to bring this new life into existence, but also your time, energy, intelligence, and a whole lot more.  This selflessness is at the heart of what it means to be a mother.

It’s no different for dads – they want to support their wives while not losing sight of the need to provide for their growing families.  I know over the years that my husband has struggled with juggling work and responsibilities at home.  Finding that balance is imperative for everyone.  Two principles are at work here that you should keep in mind:

1. You will quickly begin to feel depleted if life gets out of balance.
2. You can’t give what you don’t have.

It’s sort of like the advice we get when traveling on airplanes – put on your own oxygen mask first, before trying to help someone else!  You must first find what nourishes you as a person, the oxygen in your tank – things like prayer, exercise, hobbies/interests, and friendships – and make sure these things are happening.  Then focus on what nourishes your marriage.

There’s a huge mind-shift in the way we view our lives once we have children; it’s almost like we separate events into the things that happened BC – before children – vs. AD – after delivery.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a mom say, “Well, before having kids, we went on dates…” and then her voice trails off in reverie, as if such things will never happen again.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!  It’s easy to say that you don’t have time to spend with your spouse once you become parents – there never seems to be enough time.  But you must be creative to come up with ways.

For instance, going for a walk together is a great time to talk, and you accomplish two important things at once.  Never underestimate the benefits of a little fresh air and exercise to anyone who’s been stuck inside all day, whether it’s at home or the office.  Over the years, David and I have come up with many strategies to “steal time” away together.  Even one night alone can do a world of good!  For us, it’s simple things that we’ve built into our routine.  After we put the kids to bed, we spend some time catching up on the news, while also catching up with each other (mute out the commercials and boring stories).  I like to use this time to fold laundry, too – nothing wrong with multi-tasking.  Occasionally, we even enjoy a late dinner together.  Believe me, it’s worth the effort!

Another aspect of balancing time is work vs. play.  Unlike a 9 to 5 job, the job of running a home is never done.  This is even more pronounced once you have children.  If you are a perfectionist, like me, dealing with the workload and perpetual mess (piles of papers, toys with a gazillion little pieces, nonstop laundry…) can become exhausting and very frustrating!  I’ll admit that it’s tough for me to walk through a room in my house without stopping to straighten or put away something.  Even on weekends, we frequently have lists of chores and household projects to do.  But, at some point, it is important to put work aside and have some fun together as a family and as a couple!  Don’t let the cares of life make you boring or estranged from one another…or worse, relegated to mere roommates.

This brings us to the idea of maintaining proper perspective when parenting young children.  Perspective is essential so that you do not feel overwhelmed.  Here are a few things we’ve learned over the years in this regard:

• “Never say never.”  In my book, that’s the first rule of parenting.  Truth be told, it’s hard to know what you may resort to in the heat of the moment.  Sure, you and your spouse should discuss and agree on your main principles of parenting and try not to deviate from them.  But don’t beat yourself up if you do.  Before we became parents, I can’t tell you how many times we watched some poor parent with dismay and said, “I’m never going to let my kids do that!”  Famous last words.
• Which brings us to the second rule of parenting:  Don’t worry about every little thing – children are very resilient, and it’s highly unlikely that you will ruin them.  But also do not hesitate to say you are sorry if you have messed up or had a bad day.  It gives children a chance to learn about forgiveness – and that it goes both ways.  They also begin to understand about unconditional love and that none of us is perfect.  God loves us in spite of our mistakes – this is the kind of love we are striving for in our families!
• Good friends are essential in helping us keep things in perspective, especially ones who know us well and understand what we want for our children.
• We like to make jokes about it in our family, but phrases such as “It will go on your permanent record” or “He’ll be scarred for life” do tend to become burned into the brain.  Unlike these phrases, very few things last forever.
• “It’s just a phase.”  This little gem came from my older and much wiser sister-in-law, and it carried me through many a trying time.  Similar to the wisdom of “And this, too, shall pass.”
• Just as we can’t take all the credit when our children turn out great, we also can’t take all the blame when they don’t.

Remember that love covers a whole range of blunders and offenses!¹  The truth of this statement is never understood more than in the context of a family.  We may make mistakes or even hurt one another from time to time, but if love is our motive, we aren’t far from the mark.

Finally, how do we maintain unity once we have children?  That oft quoted phrase, “United we stand, divided we fall” doesn’t only apply to civilizations – it’s every bit as important in maintaining good, strong marriages.  There are endless ways this principle plays out in our relationships in regard to parenting.   I’d like to just mention a few:

• To be united doesn’t mean to be carbon copies of one another. The message and values that you teach your children should be the same, but the way you get those messages across may vary.  In fact, for a healthy understanding of the varying male/female perspectives, what you do and how you teach your children probably should be different as you each bring something unique to the parenting role.
• If there are times when you do disagree on something, let your children see how you work through that and still come to a united decision.  It’s important for them to understand that sometimes we defer to one another out of respect for our spouse in a particular situation.
• Consult each other privately, if possible, before giving your child an answer.  Children are extremely perceptive and will play you against each other if it’s to their advantage. (Who ever said there was no such thing as original sin?)
• Visible signs of unity are important, especially to our children.  Some ways to do this are holding hands, giving each other hugs, or choosing to sit next to each other.  For years, I always admired a family who sat a few rows in front of us at Mass – the parents would always sit together with all four of their boys surrounding them.  That’s the way it’s meant to be and a goal to strive for, recognizing that at times it’s better to corral everyone in or break up squabbling siblings!

The real beauty of parenthood is that we get to see our spouse in a whole new way.   It is an opportunity to discover this person we’ve married all over again.  Parenthood brings so many beautiful moments of seeing our children – the fruit of our love – experience life and begin to understand God’s love for them.  In fact, the love of parents for one another and for their children is a reflection of God’s love in the world.  What an awesome responsibility we have been given!  He entrusts these little souls to our care, so we must do our best to bring them up right.  By nurturing the marriage relationship and keeping it as the heart of the family, the love of the parents will continue to grow, spilling over to the rest of its members.  Through all the ups and downs of parenting, we must be the steadying force and the enduring witness that keeps the family on the path of love.

- Kelley Holy

¹A rough translation of 1 Peter 4:8

Jacinta Marto (age 7 – Lucia’s cousin), Lucia Santos (age 10), and Francisco Marto (age 9 – Jacinta’s brother)

Lucia Santos, the oldest of the three children and the only one to speak to Our Lady, described seeing a woman who was “brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun.”¹ Our Lady asked the children to pray, to make sacrifices for sinners, and to pray the Rosary.

The First Two Secrets – The Vision of Hell and How to Save Souls

She also entrusted them with three secrets, the first two of which were revealed in Lucia’s memoirs in 1941. Sister Lucia² wrote:

“The secret is made up of three distinct parts, two of which I am now going to reveal.  The first part is the vision of hell.

Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.

We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly:

‘You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI.³ When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. 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.⁴ If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of 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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.’”⁵

In the summer of 1929, Sr. Lucia had another vision.  Our Lady returned as promised to ask that Russia be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart.  Although the Church had declared the apparition at Fátima to be ‘worthy of belief’, no action was taken. It was not until July 7, 1952, that Pope Pius XII consecrated the people of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.⁶

On May 13, 1981, an assassination attempt was made on the life of Pope John Paul II.  It appeared evident that Our Blessed Mother had intervened in order to keep him from harm.  It was shortly after that incident that he read the third part of the secret.  The Holy Father immediately thought of consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and this “Act of Entrustment” took place on June 7, 1981 in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. Sr. Lucia herself confirmed that this Act of Consecration fulfilled the request of Our Blessed Lady. “Yes,” she wrote. “It has been done just as Our Lady asked.”⁷   

The Third Secret – The Violent Persecution of People in the Church

Pope John Paul II did not choose to reveal the contents of the third secret until May 13, 2000, the day on which Jacinta and Francisco were beatified.⁸ This part of the secret speaks of the violent persecution of many religious people, including the Pope, bishops, priests, religious men and women, and lay people.  In revealing the final secret, Sr. Lucia wrote,

“After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’. And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father’. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.”⁹

The Final Apparition

The final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima took place on October 13, 1917.  Lucia had announced that Our Lady would perform a great miracle that day, to testify to the truth of her apparitions.  Seventy thousand people turned up – not just the faithful, but also many atheists and sceptics who were eager to discredit the story.  It was raining that morning, and the field had become a sea of mud.  At noon, the rain stopped and Lucia suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted, “Look at the sun!”

As the crowd watched, an extraordinary miracle took place.  It appeared as though the sun was dancing.  It spun and twirled, casting off beams of many-coloured lights in all directions.  According to witnesses, the phenomenon lasted for at least ten minutes.

Although there are many accounts of what took place that day, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that something extraordinary had happened.  One of the men who was there, Ti Marto, said, “We looked easily at the sun, which for some reason did not blind us. It seemed to flicker on and off, first one way, then another. It cast its rays in many directions and painted everything in different colours—the trees, the people, the air and the ground. But what was most extraordinary, I thought, was that the sun did not hurt our eyes. Everything was still and quiet, and everyone was looking up. Then at a certain moment, the sun appeared to stop spinning. It then began to move and to dance in the sky until it seemed to detach itself from its place and fall upon us. It was a terrible moment.”¹⁰

Panic broke loose – people thought that the world was coming to an end.  But then the sun stopped.  It returned to its place in the sky, and it was again a beautiful day. People realized that their clothes, which had been soaking wet just moments before, were now completely dry.

Could the ‘Miracle of the Sun’ have been the result of a mass hallucination or some other scientifically explainable fact?  In a 1922 pastoral letter on the apparitions, the Bishop of Leiria wrote, “This phenomenon, which was not registered in any astronomical observatory, and could not, therefore, have been of natural origin, was witnessed by people of every category and class, by believers as well as unbelievers, journalists of the principal daily papers and even by people miles away, a fact which destroys any theory of collective hallucination.^”11 After much deliberation and prayer, the Catholic Church officially recognized this event as a miracle on October 13, 1930.

What does it mean?

Over time, Sr. Lucia came to realize that the purpose of the apparitions was to help us to grow in faith, hope, and love.  She wrote,

“The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: ‘If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.’.

Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfilment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.

And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible.”¹²

-  Sharon van der Sloot

¹ Fr. John de Marchi, I.M.C., The True Story of Fatima [book on-line]; (St. Paul, Minnesota: Catechetical Guild Educational Society, 1956, accessed 7 May 2013); available from http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/tsfatima.htm; Internet.

² Lucia entered the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy as a postulant in 1925.  She professed her first vows in 1928 and made her perpetual vows in 1934.  In 1948, she received Papal permission to be relieved of her perpetual vows and entered the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra.  She made her profession as a Discalced Carmelite in May, 1949.

³ Our Lady spoke first of World War I, which ended in 1918, a year after the apparitions in Fátima.  World War II began in 1939, the last year of Pope Pius XI’s pontificate.

⁴ For more information on the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays of the month, go to http://www.rosary-center.org/firstsat.htm.

⁵ Sr. Lucia, Third Memoir for the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima (August 31, 1941).  Quoted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Message of Fatima; available from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html; Internet;  accessed 7 May 2013.

⁶ Cf. de Marchi, The True Story of Fatima.

⁷ Sr. Lucia, Letter of November 8, 1989.  Quoted by the Congregation from the Doctrine of the Faith, The Message of Fatima.

⁸ Both Jacinta (1920) and Francisco (1919) were victims of the Great Spanish Flu epidemic.  Sr. Lucia died on Feb. 13, 2005 at the age of 97.  Pope Benedict XVI fast-tracked her path to the formal recognition of her sainthood by eliminating the five-year waiting period to start the canonization process.

⁹ Sr. Lucia, Letter of January 3, 1944.  Quoted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Message of Fatima.  In the translation of Sr. Lucia’s letters, the original text – including imprecise punctuation – has been respected.   

¹⁰ de Marchi, The True Story of Fatima.

¹¹ Ibid.

¹² Sr. Lucia, Letter to the Holy Father (May 12, 1982).  Quoted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, The Message of Fatima.

Solemnidad de la Ascensión del Señor (Lc. 24:46-53) “¿Quieres ir al Cielo?”