"In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph", Our Lady predicted at Fatima. Therefore we can be assured that is is true. Yet until that triumph is complete, it is clear that the closest that we can come personally, in our families, and as a Church, to the peace we can expect from the arrival of her heart's triumph is to live out her requests at Fatima.
Much ink has already been used in the various arguments about whether or not Russia has been consecrated to Our Lady. I shall not enter that debate here, but what I will say is that rather than point the finger at what someone else has or hasn't done I should examine the way I personally fulfill Our Lady's requests.
"When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world by means of war, hunger and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I shall come to ask for the
Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the
Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If people attend to my requests, Russia will be converted and the world will have peace. If not, Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, fomenting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer and
various nations will be annihilated..." (source "Fatima: The Great Sign" by Francis Johnston. My emphasis added in bold.)
Sr Lucia saw a light in the night sky in 1938, on 25th January in April the same year Germany invaded and took control of Austria, the following year the Second World War broke out. We tend not to see communism as much of an influence on the Western world today. Yet the roots of the anti-God and specifically anti-Catholic secularist movement - which came to the fore when the Pope visited the UK recently for example - has it's roots in the same soil as communism. The annihilation of nations happens nowhere with such huge numbers and such a relentless appetite as in abortion. As a Counsellor I know only too well that atheism - or the kind of pratical atheism which sadly many nominal Catholics live - results in an inability to recognise the infinitely precious and irreplaceable nature of the unborn child.
The fact remains then, that to prevent the annihilation of various nations Our blessed Mother requests
not just the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, but also the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays.
Do I make the first five Saturdays? Do I offer a total Consecration of myself and my life to Jesus, through Mary? And if not then I must realise that I am part of the cause of the annihilation of nations, rather than the solution.
Whatever else I do as a Catholic, whatever pious works and practices, I must consider that if the Blessed Mother was sent to earth to warn me and my fellow Catholics, and the world as a whole, and to offer us a solution, I should not be so arrogant - or even more likely -so lazy - as to fail to implement any part of it that I can.
Join us in making the Total Consecration of Our Lives to Jesus, through Mary. Read about the Consecration and the 30 Day preparation period by following this
link . You can find all the readings and preparatory prayers on that site too (If you prefer it in book form you can obtain it in book form from Montfort Press. 28, Burbo Bank Rd, Liverpool, Merseyside L23 6TH. Tel: 0151 287 6862) . We begin on Sunday the 20th February and end by making the Consecration on March 25th, Feast of the Annunciation.
In case anyone doubts the words of Our Blessed Lady at Fatima that if her instructions were not followed, "various nations will be anihilated", Monsignor Reilly's comments at his recent brilliant talk in London, that there have been 400 million forced abortions in China. A beautiful answer to the current worldwide abortion situation is the Pro-Life Vigil organised by Daniel Blackman involving a Consecration to Our Lady and offered in reparation to her Immaculate Heart coming up next Saturday in London. Here are the details:
