Pope John Paul II, statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and Sr. Lucia, one of the three children to whom Mary appeared
Prologue: In search of a common point of departure and dialogue
While we should not recklessly seek signs from God, the Scriptures and the Second Vatican Council both assert that it is wise to be able to read the “signs of the times” (Mt. 16:3).1 After all, if God does offer a sign to us, there could be serious consequences if we do not recognize and heed it.
So what are the “signs of the times” for us in this second decade of the third millennium, at the start of 2017?
I believe the “signs of the times” for us in the 21st century are the very signs that were revealed to Pope Leo XIII in 1884, and the children at Fatima in 1916 and 1917. I would further propose that it is a mistake for the world—especially for the Church—to relegate the mystical experience of Pope Leo XIII, and the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, to the historical past. Yet, that is what has happened. Especially with regard to Fatima, many, if not most, in the Vatican hierarchy seem to have dismissed the details of Mary’s warnings (including the so-called Third Secret) to the category of already-has-happened.
I believe nothing could be further from the truth. To dismiss the Fatima message today is like dismissing the sound of a fire alarm, and smoke detector going off, at the same time in one’s house. To a stunning degree, the world has actually embraced the offenses against purity and marriage which Our Lady warned about at Fatima. Today, a century later, we see the effects all around us: a contempt for the true meaning of marriage, a widespread delight in sexual depravity, and a sacrilegious disregard for the proper reception of Holy Communion.
Unless the Church returns to an acknowledgment of the importance of the Fatima event, and the enthusiastic teaching of its message (and especially a fierce opposition to satanic activity, as alluded to by Pope Leo XIII), my faith tells me that we are doomed to suffer the consequences.
However, God does not want us to suffer this! I believe that’s why He gave us the important signs in the 19th and early 20th centuries, so we could repent and correct ourselves in the 21st.
Therefore, I am appealing to the Church hierarchy, to every priest and teaching authority in the Church, to reconsider the present indifference to the signs at Fatima, and the experience of Pope Leo XIII. Every lay Catholic should reconsider this, as well.
These important signs have been authenticated by the Church, and they have great relevance for us today. Pope Leo XIII received a sign from God in 1884, and, 33 years later, the three shepherd children of Fatima, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, received signs through apparitions from an Angel, and from Our Lady at Fatima, that spanned from 1915 through 1917.
Taken together, the message to Pope Leo XIII, and the apparitions of the Angel and Our Lady at Fatima, reveal a satanic plan: that Satan would try to destroy the Church during a period of 100 years.
Three important events
I would like to explore, in detail, the events behind these signs, because I believe we have not seen the conclusion of the messages. This is why it is urgent for the Church to revisit these events. Unless the Church leads her people to an acknowledgement of these warnings, and leads the way to a major repentance, we will still face the consequences.
The first event was the vision (or locution) of Pope Leo XIII on Oct. 13, 1884; the second was the appearance of an Angel to the three children of Fatima in 1916; and the third and final sign was the Oct. 13, 1917 apparition of Our Lady to the Fatima children. This last event and sign presented an especially urgent and dramatic message because it included the spinning of the sun, which appeared to thousands of people (including many atheists), as it hurtled toward the earth, as if to destroy mankind.
First event: In Pope Leo XIII’s post-communion vision or locution on Oct. 13, 1884, he overheard a conversation between God and Satan in which Satan challenged God by saying that he could destroy the Church if he had the time, and the power. He asked God for 100 years to test the Church, and God permitted it—most likely for His own honor and glory.2
This divine message to Leo XIII indicated that, in the end, St. Michael the Archangel would defeat Satan, and God’s power would shine forth on the world. This message echoes the accounts in Scripture where St. Michael defeats Satan in Rev. 12:7-12, and locks him up for a thousand years in Rev. 20:1-3. This is, no doubt, why Leo XIII wrote the Prayer to St. Michael, which was given to the Church after he heard the locution on Oct. 13, 1884—which prayer was recited at the end of every Mass up until the Second Vatican Council (at least, in the USA), and then mysteriously disappeared—though it lives on through countless Catholics around the world, who recite it regularly, if not daily. Obviously, this prayer should be reinstated at the conclusion of every Mass throughout the world.
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen 3
Second Event: Thirty one years later, in 1915, and again in 1916, while Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco tended their sheep at Fatima, they received an apparition from an Angel, one each year. During the second apparition, the Angel appeared with a Chalice over which hung a Host, from which some drops of Blood fell into the Chalice. Leaving the Chalice and Host suspended in the air, the angel prostrated himself in adoration before the Host and Chalice, and asked the Children to do the same. He then asked the children to repeat with him three times:
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 in the world, in reparation for all 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.
The Angel then took the Host, and gave it to Lucia, and gave the Chalice to Jacinta, and Francisco, and said:
Take the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by thankless men. Recover their sins, and comfort your God.4
So, God is deeply offended by those who receive Holy Communion unworthily, and they must repent of these sacrileges. The clear message here is that sacrileges against the Eucharist will not go unpunished. Someone must do penance for these offences.
Third Event: The next year, on Oct. 13, 1917, just 33 years after Leo XIII’s locution, Our Blessed Mother appeared to the three shepherd children of Fatima. The message of Our Lady of Fatima was quite simple. The world must repent of its sins, or God would punish the world. Our Lady asked the children to “Pray the Rosary and do penance for world peace.”5 Later when Jacinta lay dying in the hospital in Lisbon, Our Lady told her, that the sins that offended God the most were the “sins of the flesh,” and that “many marriages are not good.”6 So how does a dying pre-pubecent, 10-year-old Jacinta come to know about these things in 1920? Sr. Lucia says:
She had often questioned me on this matter, and I think, now, that when in Lisbon, perhaps it occurred to her to put the question to Our Lady herself, and that this was the answer she received.7
This does not mean that the “sins of the flesh” or “bad marriages” are the worst sins, but that they are the ones that people commit most often, with the horrible result of eternal punishment.
Our Lady gave the children a sign—which she announced ahead of time—so that many would come to see and believe her message. During the apparition, Lucy pointed to the sky, and at that moment the clouds rolled back, and the sun seem to spin, and come crashing to the earth. Between fifty and seventy-five thousand people, who gathered on that day, became believers. The sea of mud they were standing in dried up immediately, and so did their clothes, which had become drenched from a three-day rain.8 Atheists who printed the report of the event in their secular newspapers were among the witnesses. One can even find photos9 of the newspapers’ stories in books about the Fatima miracle.10
The meaning of the “rain” and the threat of the “Sun” crashing to earth, in the context of Our Lady’s warning about avoiding sin, can be grasped by those familiar with Sacred Scripture. For it was the people of Noah’s time that were punished by a flood for taking human life, and it was Sodom and Gomorrah that were punished by fire from the sky for their “sins of the flesh,” especially “sodomy” which is the name given to homosexual acts (Gen. 6-9; 18-19). The threat was an echo of St. Paul’s teaching in the New Testament that “God’s wrath” is coming upon all those who practice “sexual immorality, impurity, and lust” and especially “unnatural lust” or homosexuality activity (Col. 3:5-5; Rom. 18-28). So, “God’s wrath” comes down upon the world when murder and sexual impurity—especially homosexual acts—become rampant. Why? Probably because these violations of life and love will bring the world to an end if allowed to continue.
Thus, Our Lady was warning the Church that Satan would try to destroy the Church, especially through the “sins of the flesh,” like bad marriages—made worse by “sacrilegious communions.” The message is that God is highly offended by these evils, and if they are not corrected, He will punish the world as in the days of Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah.
The three signs are a warning from God
Gathering all the information together, it can be assumed that this satanic assault would be in our own historical times. The timing is hard to dispute when we consider that the signs reveal that Satan’s dual weapons would be “the sins of the flesh” and “sacrilegious communions.”
In fact, these two great evils are all around us today. At the same time, there has been very little correction of these evils in recent times, especially from Church leaders. No one can doubt that we are a long way from being united in our doctrine. This is very troubling because, according to the three signs which span the years from 1884 to 1917, unless the Church and world authorities act to oppose and correct these evils, Our Lady will not be able to “stay the arm of her Beloved Son upon the world” in justice. Then the earth will be purified, and God will once again be adored as He should be.11
If God’s hand falls upon the world, it will certainly be seen as a punishment, but it will actually be an act of God’s mercy. Why? Because, if mankind is permitted to continue on its anti-life path much longer, the end result will surely be death on a worldwide scale. Both reason and faith tell us that if mankind uses its free will to promote death, then death is what we will bring upon ourselves.
Consider that Paul VI predicted almost 50 years ago, in no.17 of Humanae Vitae, that contraception would lead to the collapse of marriage and families, and that women would be subject to violence, and be treated like objects. We live with this sad state of affairs every day. Now, add in every other evil that has become universally accepted in our world since 1968. We have gone far beyond contraception, to an acceptance of sterilizations, abortions, genocide, euthanasia, assisted suicide, homosexual marriages, and most recently, “gender dysfunction.”
Today we are in the midst of what John Paul II saw in 1995, and warned about in no.28 of Evangelium Vitae —the ever expanding growth of the “culture of death.” This is becoming a perfect storm of evils all around the world, and it is not far-fetched at all for people of faith to believe that this rampant acceptance of evil is leading us toward some kind of world suicide, perhaps mutual nuclear self-destruction. Obviously, mankind would not survive nuclear contamination—nor would it want to. This was part of the warning that Our Lady gave to Sr. Lucia after she went to the convent.12 The case has already be made that, today, we have a choice between “Fatima or World Suicide.”13
So evil must be opposed. If mankind will not do it, God will. If God does it, the result will probably be great suffering throughout the world. But no matter what happens, Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart will triumph, and “a period of peace will be given to the world.”14
The warning was meant for us today
Today, we see Our Lady’s warnings acted out all around us. Statistics show contempt for marriage, and widespread divorce. Adultery and fornication are common. While “sodomy” has been around since antiquity, in 1917 the idea of legal “homosexual marriage”—especially on a worldwide scale—would have been inconceivable. Similarly, while abortion has played a sad role throughout human history, except for some brutal pagan cultures, abortion was certainly not glorified by societies, and protected by governments, as a “legal right” in 1917. Today, it is protected, even in traditional Catholic countries, which has led to the horrifying number of 1.5 billion babies murdered worldwide since 1980. And to think that after the flood, God said to Noah: “from man in regard to his fellow man, I will demand an accounting for human life” (Gen. 9:5).
And consider the sacrileges against Our Lord in Holy Communion. In 1917, I doubt you could find a practicing Catholic, in those days, who would not be horrified to hear that a Catholic was regularly receiving Communion despite being divorced and remarried, or practicing fornication, adultery, or acts of homosexuality.
Today, all these actions are being overlooked, shrugged off, or hushed up, and not just by ordinary Catholics in the pews, but by many clergy and leaders of the Church! It is as if the Church is going in the opposite direction from what the Angel of Fatima directed.
Who can deny that, today, the Church seems to be encouraging sacrilegious communions? A majority of German Bishops want the divorced and invalidly remarried to be able to receive Communion, even without an annulment, and without practicing complete continence.15 Similar thoughts are emerging in other nations, such as in the United States. Some bishops in these countries are promoting sacrileges (perhaps unknowingly) by interpreting the papal document, Amoris Laetitia, as if it gives permission for invalidly married couples, living in objective adultery, to receive Communion through the so-called “internal form solution” in confession.16 Others even go so far as to argue for open communion, defying the Church’s Canon 915, which requires ministers to refuse people Communion who are obstinately, and publicly, living in objective sin.17 Even the Vatican’s head of the department of Marriage and Family Life appears to say that, in some cases, people living in invalid marriages may be able to receive Communion without living as brother and sister.18
It appears that a number of bishops think that, if people do not believe, or do not know, that they are living in adultery, then they are free to receive Holy Communion, because there is no evil act and, therefore, no sacrilege. The truth is, that while a person may be free of sin because of their ignorance, the act itself remains an intrinsically evil act. The act itself still offends God! The Church clearly teaches that:
It is, therefore, an error to judge the morality of human acts by considering only the intention that inspires them, or the circumstances (environment, social pressure, duress or emergency, etc) which supply their context.
Furthermore, the Church teaches that:
…there are acts, which in themselves, independently of their circumstances and intentions, are always gravely illicit by reason of their object; such as blasphemy, murder and adultery. One may never do evil so that good may result from it. 19
And when objectively evil acts are combined with the reception of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion, that is always a sacrilege. 20 It brings great harm to the Church, and invites a just punishment from God.
It is a mystery, and a sign of our troubled times, that this harmful teaching has not been corrected. It is a blow to authentic Church teaching, and it ignores the truth that the Scriptures, and St. Paul, cannot be in error. The joining of adultery with Holy Communion is fanning the flames of God’s “wrath” upon the Church, and the world. Surely, this is why there is so much confusion and disharmony in the Church among her leaders, and why the world is afflicted with escalating immorality, strife, violence, bloodshed, and war today.
Oct. 13, 1917 was probably Satan’s choice
Therefore, given the rampant spread of evil and sacrilege in the world since 1917, it is not beyond the realm of possibility—and, in fact, is likely to be true—that Satan chose to begin his 100-year war on the Church on Oct. 13, 1917. Perhaps, that date has satanic significance because it marks the 33rd year since Leo XIII had his vision/locution. Perhaps, Satan wanted to mock Our Lord’s 33 years on earth? It is not ours to know, but we can speculate.
Did Our Lady intervene in this satanic plan by asking and receiving permission from God, the Father, to warn the world? And did she do so through her apparitions and messages to the children of Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917? I believe the answer to these questions is “yes.”
If so, that means that Oct. 13, 2017 will mark the end of the 100-year reign of Satan. Therefore, that day, which will also mark the 100th anniversary of the miracle of the sun at Fatima, will be important as a great Marian anniversary, and, perhaps, as a day of warning for the world. Again, there is so much we are not permitted to know, except that we can observe the state of our world, and we know that as of now, it has not repented of these sins of the flesh, or of sacrilegious communions. Instead, everything is growing worse, and at an accelerated rate.
So what is to be done?
The Church must revisit these urgent messages from Pope Leo XIII, and at Fatima, and act on the warnings. Listen to the words of the future St. John Paul II, then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who spoke in 1976 at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia:
We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community, realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the Antichrist. The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God’s Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up, and face courageously.21
Where is the courage in the Church today? Of course, there are many, many courageous individuals, priests, religious, and lay people who are living in harmony with God’s laws. But the Church’s general image in the world is that she regards “climate change” as a graver problem than sacrileges, the breakup of families or unholy marriages! People are confused, and rightly so, and many of them are living as if they will never have to account to God for their actions.
Yet, the Church hierarchy seems to be helpless in the face of the world’s moral collapse. They even seem to have lost interest in doing more in regard to Fatima. A May 13, 2000, a Vatican document states:
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 fulfillment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it, little by little, with great strides.22
This is ambiguous. It is important to note that the Vatican itself is not certain if we have seen the “complete fulfillment” of the Fatima prophecy. Once more, there seems to be a fatalistic focus on the remaining negative conclusion of the prophecy, rather than on Our Lady’s requested solutions.
This focus is incorrect. In fact the message of Fatima is only reaching its climax. Similarly, few people realize that this promise of a “period of peace” by Our Lady of Fatima could very well be referring to the final battle between good and evil, which begins with a “period of peace,” in which the “full inclusion of Jews” and the “full number of Gentiles” will be brought into the Church.23 This “period of peace” is of unknown duration. It could last for months, decades, years or even centuries.
The only solution
Does this mean that on Oct. 13, 2017 a chastisement will occur? We cannot know, but we can read the signs of the times. If the Church unites, and courageously begins to teach the truth, Oct. 13, 2017 could mark the beginning of a new era, when the kingdom of Satan will begin to disintegrate through the courageous works of the Church.
However, if the leaders of the Church, and the world fail to stop these evils, God Himself will do so by “handing over” mankind to more “shameful” and “perverse” deeds of “mutual degradation of their bodies” and “degrading passions”—perhaps beyond the homosexual acts mentioned by St. Paul (1 Rm. 1: 24-32). God will “hand over” mankind to Satan, to drive the world back to God, through worldwide calamities, disasters, and diseases.
Our Lady warns the world so the world can avoid these chastisements. The solution asked for by Our Lady and St. Michael is clear. It is the same solution that they have been asking of us—and not receiving from us—since 1917: the daily and worthy reception of Holy Communion, daily adoration the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for the “outrages” and “sacrileges” committed against the Blessed Sacrament; and daily praying of the Rosary. Only this time we better do it because the punishment will surely be greater than the last, i.e., the spread of communism, war, and the destruction of many nations.
Some will surely say that doing these religious acts “daily” is too much to expect. Why “daily”? The answer is that it is now too late for half measures. We must do these requests of Our Lady as close to “daily” as possible. There is still time left. Remember God’s mercy. We must not despair. When these duties are joyfully accepted and practiced, along with the penances that come from our state in life, God will be pleased. When enough of the entire Church, led by the Pope, bishops, deacons, and priests, make these efforts throughout the world, Satan’s power will end. We will surely avoid the chastisement that justice demands, and peace will come to the world.
And if our Church leaders still refuse to do what Our Lady has been requesting since 1917, then I believe that we must prepare for penance—a lot of it—and soon.
- John XXIII, “Pope John Convokes the Council,” found in The Documents of Vatican II, edited by Walter M. Abbott, S.J. (Corpus Books: New York, 1966), p. 704. ↩
- wjpbr.com/leoxiii.html ↩
- EWTN, National Catholic Register, ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/michael.htm ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, (New York: J.P. Kennedy & Sons, 1948), p. 6 ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, (New York: J.P. Kennedy & Sons, 1948), p. 6 ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, p. 137. ↩
- Sr. Mary Lucia of the Immaculate Heart, Fatima: in Lucia’s own words,8th edition, ed. by Fr. Louis Kondor SVD (Fatima Portugal: Postulation Center,1989), p. 107 ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, p. 108; patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2014/10/so-that-all-may-believe-the-miracle-of-the-sun ↩
- images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=Fatima+Miracle+of+the+Sun ↩
- John de Marchi, Fatima from the Beginning (Fatima: Missoes Consolata, 1988), pictures between pages 96-97. ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, pp. 135-136. ↩
- Sr. Lucia responds to Journalist’s Aura Miguel of Radio Renascenca of Portugal interview of John Paul II during a Jan 25, 1990 flight to Africa, found in “John Paul II and Sister Lucia Relate Current Events to Fatima,” Soul Magazine (May-June, 1990). ↩
- Rt. Rev. Wm. C. McGrath, P.A., Fatima or World Suicide” (St. Meinrad, In.: The Abbey Press, 1959). ↩
- John de Marchi, The Crusade of Fatima, p. 47. ↩
- Jonathan Luxmoore, “German Bishops Speak Out on Communion for Divorced, Remarried,” America (Catholic New Service), Jan. 2, 2015. ↩
- Catholic World News, “San Diego’s Bishop McElroy strongly encourages Communion for divorced / remaried,”Nov.29, 2016 (Catholic Culture.org Nov. 29, 2016) ↩
- John Henry Westen and Pete Baklinski, “Archbishop Cupich lays out path way for gay couples to receive Communion at Vatican pres scrum” Life Site News, Oct. 16, 2015. ↩
- Cindy Wooden, “Bishops need shared approach to “Amoris Laetitia,” Catholic News Agency, found in National Catholic Reporter, Nov. 16, 2016. ↩
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1756 ↩
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1756 ↩
- catholic.org/news/national/story.php?id=57376 ↩
- vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html ↩
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, no.674. ↩
About Fr. Regis Scanlon, OFMCap
Thank you for your courageous and honest article. I agree with everything you said. I feel truly sad that so many nuns, priests, bishops …and now cardinals have turned their face away from teaching the Truth and only look towards the pastoral position of the people. God is no longer first in their lives: people are everything! Sin is excused and never preached against and the Real Presence is no longer believed by many people. 90% of Catholics in my country no longer go to Mass .
Nevertheless, there are many wonderful religious and lay people who devote themselves to Jesus and His Church, the teaching of the truth (and some are ridiculed for it) and to the people.
We remember that God is victorious. The battle is won but not over.
As a member of the Third Order of the Alliance of the Two Hearts we are committed to spreading the messages of Our Lady of Fatima and in doing Penance, Reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages committed against the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Here in Brisbane, Australia we are preparing to receive the blessed images of Our Lady of Fatima which is here on a Pilgrim. These are one of the images which has been blessed by Pope Francis, is part of the Jubilee Year mission. We now have five parishes where we hold overnight vigils and where the devotion of the First Friday, First Saturdays are being held as well as that we thank God very much for allowing us to open our first PERA (Perpetual Eucharistic Reparative Adoration chapel) where we come and adore, make reparation for our sins, our families’s sins, the sins of the world. All Thanks, Glory and Praise to Almighty God for His Mercy and Goodness. Anna Hickson
Fr. Scanlon, you may be interested in reading about some thoughts on these matters:
https://kevinsymonds.com/2016/08/05/leo-jesus-satan/
https://kevinsymonds.com/2017/01/01/fatima-year-2017/
Also, my book on the history of the Prayer to St. Michael might be of interest:
https://kevinsymonds.com/books/
This a very important message, and ought be listened to.
However I would have liked there to be more emphasis on the sins of the use of abortafacients in marriage especially between Catholic marriages.
I believe this also to be a message of Our Lady of Fatima. to me a very important issue to be discussed in the Vatican , Cardinals Bishops and Priests and Deacons
Unfortunately, it was reported that when Putin met the Pope (I think the second time?) he started to say that in Russia they’ve heard of Fatima when the Pope dismissed the thought by saying something like “in the Vatican we do not mention Fatima”!, AND YET THE POPE IS GOING THERE FOR MAY 13 THIS YEAR!! (talk about confusion!).
Thank you Father for this excellent and enlightening article on the ‘ signs of the times’. We certainly live in an explosive period with regard to the ongoing and widespread immorality sanctioned even by members of the Church hierarchy through their often veiled comments which only serve to fuel an already badly catechised portion of Catholics who are oblivious to Our Lady’s warnings at Fatima. These are truly desperate times when a Maltese bishop threatens his priests with loss of faculties if they do not conform to error. It seems that several once Catholic countries which never failed to uphold Church Teaching in the past have been sucked into the chasm of confusion pervading our world today. May Our Lady of Fatima guide those who have lost their way.
Thank you so much for this sorely needed article, but you did not reference the approved Apparition of Our Lady of Akita. I do not think that Cardinal Burke’s recent reference to her messages “bishops against bishops, cardinals against cardinals” in regard to the dubia, was unintentional.
The Bishop of Akita, Bishop Francis Sato was heavily pressured to declare this apparition a false one, but before he passed away, a few years ago, definitively pronounced that this apparition was approved by his predecessor and would remain so.
Of note, also is the reference that Our Lord made to Sr. Lucia in His last public message at Tuy, where He said that the consecration would be done, but it would be late; and His warning that the bishops would suffer the fate of the “kings of France”, an apparent reference to the 100 year delay in responding to the request of Our Lord through St. Mary Margaret Alacoque which ended in the French Revolution and the execution of King Louis.
Also to consider, is the rather remarkable coincidence that Asteroid 2012 TC4 is predicted to come dangerously close or impact the earth on Oct. 12, 2017. The theme of “fire from the sky” is not only part of the Akita predictions, but other, not yet approved apparitions of our Blessed Mother.
More optimistically, we need to remember that when Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 70 AD, there were no Christians in the city. They had fled to the mountains, presumably because they were warned of the coming devastation. Our hope is in the Sacraments, Our Lady, her Rosary, the Scapular, and the fullness of the True Faith. I hope and pray that the Church will follow the example of the people of Ninevah and God will relent.
Great presentation on Fatima. I would only add that the Five First Saturdays Devotion be added.
Our Lady promised the salvation of souls and world peace if this Devotion is carried out. Somehow most articles on Fatima neglect to mention this. Maybe because it was presented in 1925. Still I consider the Devotion the major tool of reparation.
as appealing as this concept sounds, calmer minds will prevail.
http://lagniappeobserving.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-asteroid-2012-tc4-is-making-safe.html
“If we count 2008 TC3 and 2014 AA(both were small and impacted the Earth and would tie for first) 2012 TC4 could come in as the sixth closest known approach to date. While there is some uncertainty about how close the close-approach will be, there is sufficient observational data to rule out an impact on October 12, 2017, When talking about astronomical distances it can be tough to wrap one’s head around this can lead one to use of analogies such as close shave which is not aways helpful.”
Thank you father. continue to spread the true catholic faith and the Marian devotion. may the good God bless you.
Our Holy Mother still calls us today, to repentance, and to believe in God, in Medjugorje. Medjugorje is her last call to us..The call is urgent. CONVERT NOW.
Thank you father for this great article. If I may ask one question, Why are priests and bishops so reluctant to say the prayer to St. Michael before the final blessing at mass? I have tried for 7 years with letters to our local bishop, one letter to Pope Benedict ,one letter to Pope Francis and my parish priest. They all say it is not doctrinally part of the mass or it is not my job I need permission from the bishop. If we are in need of help during these times St. Michael the arch angel is one of our protectors. Thank you Mary Anne
Hi Mary Ann,
In our parish we started praying the St. Michael prayer after the final blessing as the Priest turns away from the altar to process out. If there is a song being sung as he processes out, we start the prayer immediately after that. At first, some people left but as they got familiar with it, more people stayed long enough to pray it. We did not get permission and I don’t think it is needed. If you watch the Mass on EWTN, you will notice they start the prayer after the song. It is not a bad idea to get some holy cards with the prayer on the back and have them available for people to take so they learn it. Most young people do not know it. People my age remember it well. Find a few other friends who will join whoever starts the prayer and pray it loudly and boldly. Have courage.
Maureen and Vladimir thank you very much for your encouragement and I will get the word out on the St Michael prayer via prayer cards and asking others to say the prayer with me after mass.
God bless
Mary Anne
Hello, Mary Ann, we pray the prayer right after the Holy Mass, I believe this prayer is so powerful in any way, be it recited before the final blessing or after. Have a blessed day.
Vladimír, Slovakia
Our priest leads the “St. Michael” prayer after the Mass and before the final song. I love it!
Another aspect for 1917 and timing was that this was the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Freemasons a Satanic group. Apparently there were large celebrations throughout Europe that year for this
Father Scanlon,
Thank you for your excellent summary of these events. I have attempted multiple times to explain the “Fatima” times to my friends, family and associates; now you have given me a succinct version to share with others.
I personally was reminded of Fatima a decade ago and remembered its emphasis from my elementary Catholic school days in the 60s…we were all aware of the secrets of Fatima and their importance to the whole Church. However, it seems a widespread amnesia has been keeping many from considering their importance in our present times. May your article be a goad and a blessing, one which the Church does not ignore.
In Christ,
Colleen DeRose
Jesus revealed to St. Faustina that her mission was to proclaim His Divine Mercy and that the purpose was to prepare mankind for His final coming. St.J.P>II was the “spark from out of Poland” .Benedict XVI kept the fire burning & Francis I proclaimed the year of Divine Mercy …how much clearer can it be ? Fatima,Divine Mercy,Akita all speak of the fact that God is a watchful loving Father who wants His children to wake up,repent ,show mercy , and return to Him while there is still time…….
There is still the possibility that a compressed final half of the Tribulation could take place between now and October and that we could be into the Era of Peace by October 13th, exactly one century to the day after Our Lady announced it as coming.
I agree with this article completely. I fear things will not change and bring terrible consequences.
Romans 9:16 – “So then, everything depends not on what man wants or does, but only on God’s mercy.”
Thank you for this wonderful article Father. Just to add, Our Lady also asked for the devotion of the Five First Saturdays (in reparation for the sins committed against her Immaculate Heart). Holy Mass, Confession (with the intention of reparation), 5 decades of the Rosary and spending 15 minutes “keeping her company” meditating on one or all of the other mysteries.
The gist of this article is to PRAY FOR PRIESTS.
Priests are the shepherds of the flock; if they do not speak the truth, the laity will not follow.
Most people do not read these wonderful articles and the ones who do are already doing what Our Lady requested.
We have until October–2017 to try to get this right.
The article is VERY AND CALMLY ACCURATE, a few points not mentioned in the article:
It seems to me that a world wide WARNING must come first with a short pause afterwards to allow sufficient time for mankind to choose which side to be on, only then would come the chastisements., which subsequent interventions (many) of Our Lady in various parts of the world have repeated like Akita. etc:
The calling of Vat II by St John XXIII was DIRECTLY THE OCCASION for marginalizing Fatima in the Western Church, because of the secret meeting of Soviets and the Vatican at Metz (Belgium?) allowing for observers of the Russian Orth. Church to attend on the condition that the Church not condemn communism nor criticize any communist nation. This was a (worldly?) COMPROMISE;
[it was later followed by Paul VI’s removal of the Confessor Hungarian Cardinal Mindzenty from the US embassy where he was silent sign of hope for his people for 10 years!, so much for Ost Politik in Church policy]
AND ALSO Paul VI’s forceful imposing of his N.O rendition of the Roman Rite’s quickly saw the dropping the Leonine prayers AS UNLITURGICAL.
An egregious example of the downplaying reading the signs of the time in the Vatican was its influence on the Ruanda hierarchy pretty much observing silence about Our Lady’s Apparitions warning of massive carnage,which was to come if Her message was ignored (which was what happened IN THIS LARGELY CATHOLIC COUNTRY — 60%). the hierarchy AFTERWARDS officially declared the Apparitions supernatural !
[the same thing happened in the USA TWICE re O.L. of America, despite the nuns spiritual director being and archbishop approving of her visions and its message formally twice, ( it was represented to the US bishops in closed session in their Nov. conference 2007 and ignored except by only20bishops out of nearly 200! Note that THAT WAS THE YEAR AND MONTH OBAMA, MARXIST, MADE HIS DECISION TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT!
1
In 2013 the Carmel Sr. Lucia belonged to for over 50yrs published a new biography of her– English version in Jan. of 2015 — revealing the Blessed Mother appeared to her in very late Fall of 1943 allowing her to write down the 3rd Secret asked for by her spiritual director, a local bishop (released to the world in 2000) AND SHOWED her ANOTHER SHORT VISION, this of an Angel hurling a fiery spearhead at the AXIS of the earth, CAUSING IT TO WOBBLE OFF KILTER resulting in HUGE EARTHQUAKES, FLOODING,GREAT STORMS AND DROUGHTS, GREAT HEAT AND FIERCE COLD,( as a punishment for sin — no Blessed Mother stopping him) ,and ALSO open conflicts between bishops and bishops, cardinals and cardinals.
This accounts for Climate Change of planetary forces done by an ANGEL which is different form POLUTION we humans have caused. Sr. Lucia wrote this new shorter vision down in Jan of 1944 first and then the longer one she saw in 1917 second THE VATICAN HAS HAD COMPLETE SILENCE ON THIS TO THIS DAY, even after this NEW INFORMATION.
Is there not a sign that this short Second vision HAS ALREADY STARTED WITH THE 9.1 EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAME IN 2004, killing 230 K people from Indonesia to E India and beyond? with the magnetic North pole travelling quickly from north of Canada towards being over Russia — scientists speculate it’s going to stop over where Siberia Mongolia and China meet — exposing the glaciers and ice of the North to melting , while a build up of ice in the eastern Antarctic
God bless you Father. If only more priests were like you. I pray every day for a stronger, more united Church but all too frequently I read about weak, vacillating Church leaders fomenting division, watering down doctrine, virtually caving in to a society which desperately needs faithful priests like you to bring a change of heart, to restore faith in a loving God and to keep His commandments.
One way or another, 2017 is going to be a fateful year. May it signal a more faithful, more united Catholic Church with a more saintly and courageous leadership.
Thank you Fr. Regis for such a powerful article. We definitely need more passionate priests like you to shepherd the flocks. The church is the foundation for all truth. We must believe in GOD not man.
I enjoyed your article “Fatima and the ‘signs of the times'”, Fr. Regis. Overall, it was well done and contained a great deal which needed to be said.
In the cause of accuracy, however, I would like to make one correction. Though small, I believe it is important because inaccuracy in small details can result in disbelief in much larger matters. It occurs in the SECOND EVENT you mention. There were, in fact, 3 visits from the Angel, one in 1915 and two in 1916. In 1915, four little girls saw the Angel, One of the girls was Lucia dos Santos. In 1916, the Angel appeared twice to Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta only.
An observation. You record the words of the Angel during the last visit, in the 4th paragraph of this section: “Take the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by thankless men. Recover their sins, and comfort your God.” You reference this as #4 from Fr. John de Marchi’s book “The Crusade of Fatima”, p. 6. However, in Fr. de Marchi’s book “The True Story of Fatima”, p. 8, the words spoken by the Angel were: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.” Slightly different! (see pp. 5 thru 8 of this last mentioned book, available from The Fatima Center.)
Lastly, in addition to the world-wide dissemination of Devotion to Her Immaculate Heart (which task Our Lady entrusted to the Church), it remains that the ENTIRE so-called Third Secret be revealed to the Church and the World, and that the Pope and all the Catholic bishops of the world Consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, on the same day, at the same time. These last three commands of Our Lady have not been carried out to this day. When will we begin to finally heed Her (and Her Son’s) demands?
Again, Father Regis, thank you for the article!
yes they have, March 25, 1984
Dear Father wonderful article. Thank and God bless you. Feel so sad at the way the world is going. Our pillers of strength are Holy Eucharist , Adoration of the Blessed Sacrement, frequent reconciliation and the rosary. God has given us the weapons.
It has been a couple years, and I haven’t heard back, but felt it my responsibility to write Pope Francis requesting the Saint Michael prayer be reinserted at the end of the Mass. It is that important!
Fater, Many catholics are receiving communion without confessing for months or even years at a length. That does not mean that they had not committed any mortal sin, and had been living only with venial sins. Moreover, in India, sizeable numbers of Cathoilc couples opt for permanent tubectomy of wife as a contraceptive measure, yet they receive regular communion in the church, and even partake in liturgy committees. Here you are discussing about married and re-married people who could be easily identified in a parish, and who eagerly seek the Lord, but are unable to get an annulment for their earlier marriages as it is not an easy procedure, done overnight. On the one hand, a penitent sinner wants to return to the Lord who, as per your opinions, should be blocked at any cost by saying that they had committed adultery, on the other hand, are lukewarm and layed back Catholics who outwardly seem to be sinless, but partaking in the Eucharist with all kinds of sins. Which case is a sacrilege in front of divine mercy? pl. discern.
I am pretty darn confused. While I personally believe what you say in this article, I have to say that the gist of what I hear the Pope saying is that we shouldn’t be “rigorists” re: morality, liturgy etc. Nevermind the USCCB. To my memory, they’ve never done a full-court press on any issue like they’ve done on immigration during the last few days. Which is fine, I guess, but it’s as if they suddenly woke up. Would that Catholics could get such clear, unambiguous teaching on any of the issues you raise here.
My sense is that at least 60% of their reaction is politically based….but that’s just me.
So basically, we just don’t know who to listen to anymore.
Hi, Father,
Thank you for such a wonderful article. I would like to say, in theology I have pondered for many years now, that our modern situation in the Gentiles is the parallel situation that the Jews were in just before the Exile.
Here are the parallels:
God confounded the world into many tongues and called on nation to be His Bride.
God reunited all languages at Pentecost into one universal Bride, the Church.
The Jews had Egypt, the Church had Pagan Rome.
The Jews had Moses, the Church had Constantine.
The Jews had a Kingdom and Prophets.
The Gentiles had Catholic Christendom and the Magisterium.
The Jews fell into Apostasy just before the Exile.
Over the last several centuries, the Gentiles have fallen more or more away from the Church (Protestantism, Enlightenment, Solo-Ratio, Godless apostasy of 20th century).
The OT had a split, North and South. The North took most of the twelve tribes, though in schism. The true King remained in the South. The North got chastised first by Assyria. The South didn’t repent and so had Babylon.
The NT had a split. The East went into Schism and took all but one Apostolic See, but the ultimate Apostolic King remained in the remnant West. The East was chastised first, foretold by Fatima, atheistic materialism. The West has not repented and so is going into persecution by relativistic materialism (assyria, babylon, atheism, relativism).
The Jews were painfully exiled into Babylon, the Gentiles are about to be exiled into the consequences of their sins, the chastisement.
The Jews repented, were restored to their land, and rebuilt the Temple.
The Gentiles will repent in the chastisement, Christians will be reunited, and they shall come home to the spiritual homeland, the Catholic Church. Catholic Christendom will be rebuilt in Our Lady’s age of peace.
The Jews remained largely faithful and resisted Hellenistic influences in their renewed life until Maccabees, when they were martyred by Antiochus, the OT Antichrist figure.
The Church will walk in light for a great time of Our Lady’s Heart, until the laziness in the Gentiles creeps in, when the Great Apostasy will occur, at which time NEW Testament Antichrist shall arise and martyr many.
And just the Maccabees was the final Bibilical time of Jewish history before Christ came the FIRST time, so the NT Antichrist and Great Tribulation will be the last Divine History before the SECOND Coming of Christ.
So again, we are the time on the edge of the Exile in Church history, relative to Judaism, except that the Gentiles will not be displaced to a LITERAL place, but exiled into the “CONSEQUENCES” of their errors and heresies!
Thank you for informing the Catholic faithful of this great need. But it is critical to note that what Our Lady asked for. She was very clear: 1) The Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope and all the Catholic Bishops in union with the him. Our Lady said it was to be done by the Pope of 1960 before the Second Vatican Council. It did not happen. Period. 2) Our Lady asked for the faithful to do the Five First Saturdays. Most Catholics don’t even know what this is. Please research and learn what they are. And finally, as it is clear that the Popes since 1960 have refused to Consecrate Russia, the world has suffered and the institutional Church has decayed and has been rotted by the enemies of Christ. Sr. Lucia said do not wait for your bishops or priests to tell you this because Our Lady and Our Lord has asked them and they ignored Her Mandate. Part of the true Third Secret is that priests and bishops will fall into hell like leaves if Pope and Bishops ignore Our Lady of Fatima. It was told to the seers that the bottom of hell is paved with heads of priests. This for failing to fulfill their Holy Duty and for permitting heresy and sacrilege among the faithful. Our Lord did promise that the Gates of Hell will not win and that Mary’s Immaculate Heart will Triumph. This is true. Say the Rosary everyday. Find a SSPX parish and pray to God that you will be spared from this coming chastisement. Little Jacinta, one of the three seers was one day staring in a daze shortly before she died. She said: there will be a worse war coming and most of the people who will die will go to hell. We have a promise from Our Lady that if you seek Her, Say the Rosary, repent of your sins with true sorrow, she will help save you. At Fatima, she said only “I can help you” at this stage of the world. Our only hope is through Her Immaculate Heart that will lead you to Christ the King. God gave to us as the last means which He will help save the remnants of the Catholic faithful. Find the True message of Fatima and that is through the SSPX and Fr. Gruner’s Crusader.
FEAR NOT!!! TRUMP T=TRUMP R=RUNS U=UNDER M=MARY’S P=PROTECTION
Our Lady’s Peace Plan, Over Atheistic Communism…Family Rosary