Saturday, May 12, 2007

Our Lady of Fatima


From a report in a major anti-clerical publication, O Dia, in Fatima, October 17th, 1917:

"At one o'clock in the afternoon, midday by the sun, the rain stopped. The sky, pearly gray in color, illuminated the vast arid landscape with a strange light. The sun had a transparent gauzy veil so that eyes could easily be fixed upon it. The gray mother-of-pearl tone turned into a sheet of silver which broke up as the clouds were torn apart and the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy gray light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds. A cry went up from every mouth and people fell on their knees on the muddy ground. The light turned a beautiful blue as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands. The blue faded slowly and then the light seemed to pass through yellow glass. Yellow stains fell against white handkerchiefs, against the dark skirts of women. They were reported on the trees, on the stones and on the serra. People wept and prayed with uncovered heads in the presence of the miracle they had awaited.

From the road, where the vehicles were parked and where hundreds of people who had not dared to brave the mud were congregated, one could see the immense multitude turn toward the sun, which appeared free from clouds and in its zenith. It looked like a plaque of dull silver and it was possible to look at it without the least discomfort. It might have been an eclipse that was taking place. But at that moment a great shout went up and one could hear the spectators nearest at hand shouting:

" A miracle! A miracle!" Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was Biblical as they stood bareheaded, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside any cosmic laws - the sun "danced" according to the typical expression of the people.

This was not the sparkling of a heavenly body, for it spun round on itself in a mad whirl, when suddenly a clamour was heard from all the people. The sun, whirling, seemed to loosen itself from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge fiery weight. The sensation during these moments was terrible."

It was in this apparition that the now famous three secrets of Fatima were told to Lucia dos Santos, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. They were disclosed in 1942, after they had been committed to writing in four separate memoirs between 1935 and 1941, by the surviving seeress - Lucia. The Secrets revealed by the Blessed Virgin in 1917 were:

· A vision of the reality of hell, previously described, which so horrified the visionaries that they willingly took on every penance and mortification they could imagine, if it could only prevent souls from going there. Mary said to them, "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."

· "World War I will end soon. However, if humanity does not stop offending God, another and worse war will break out in the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign that God gives you, that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. To forestall this, I shall come to ask consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my request is heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, Russia shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecution 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 shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me which will be converted, and some time of peace will be given to the world."

· The third Secret, Lucia said it could be opened "not before 1960". Three Popes are reported to have read it in the years since 1960, but decided not to publicize the contents, until the Vatican released it in June, 2000.

VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Given below is the complete translation of the original Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria-Fatima on July 13, 1917, and committed to paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:

"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.

"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 splendor 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."


8 comments:

Odysseus said...

I have noticed many people blithely assume that the 3rd secret applies to the attempted assassination of JP II and they drop it at that.

But it seems to me that it has nothing whatsoever to do with that. If one belives the prophecies (since it is a private revelation we are not bound to, but the evidence is compelling) then one must believe that this vision treats of a future still to come.

I find the 'arrows' interesting. You cannot dismiss it as an anachronism. There are also bullets in the vision and arrows were really not a part of military usage by 1917 (though as recently as 1915 Itaian troops had marched to war with pikes!). If the visions are trustworthy, I would bet that there really will be arrows when these events play out. Why? I cannot figure.

paramedicgirl said...

FF, the anti-clerical publication is a news source that was not friendly to the Catholic Church. even they could not dismiss the events that happened as anything less than a miracle.

Rob, you make some interesting points. It is totally possible that the third secret has not been played out yet.

Anita Moore said...

I thought Rome's official position (the explanation of which was authored by then-Cardinal Ratzinger) is that the Third Secret refers to the assassination attempt.

Of course, it may have multiple meanings; it can still always refer to additional events that have not yet taken place, or that will take place if we don't straighten up. We have to remember, though, that since this is private revelation, it is possible that there were inaccuracies in recounting the Third Secret, or in the seers' interpretations of the same; that's why we're not bound to believe it (though I personally do).

paramedicgirl said...

Anita, I remember Rome applying a meaning to the third secret, but I wonder if we are free to believe that these events have not yet taken place. I'll have to do some checking on it.

Anita Moore said...

Anita, I remember Rome applying a meaning to the third secret, but I wonder if we are free to believe that these events have not yet taken place.

Well, if we're free either to accept or reject the apparitions in the first instance, surely we are free to accept or reject their interpretation. But since Rome interprets the Third Secret as referring to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, the acceptance of the same must be anything but blithe.

Terry Nelson said...

When Ratzinger, or was it Sodano, spoke about the 3rd secret, they said, "though it seems these events are in the past" which says to me that it is possible not everything has taken place...

However, I do believe the secret wss fully revealed. I wrote as much on Abbey-Roads today.

I also think JPII was the Pope in the prophecy and his life was miraculously saved. John Bosco has a similar prophecy wherein the Pope is killed. Prophecy is tough to figure out however.

The key to Fatima is living the message and following Our lady's requests.

Pilgrim Tom said...

In my view, the fact that the events at Fatima in 1917 are still mainstream news strongly suggests the 'prophecy' is not yet fulfilled. The recent news article was published in a mainstream Chinese newspaper(in Chinese). It occured to me that Our Lady wants to place Her visit to Fatima in the consciousness of a wider audience of mankind today!

Tonight I felt compelled to review some notes that I wrote about the 3rd secret in 2002 ... I have copied them below.

Also, I feel it is worthwhile to reflect on the events in the immediate vicinity (time line) of October 13, 1917. The three events that I find intriguing are ... the Bolshevik Revolution ... leading to Communism and the exasperation of the East West conflict.

The defeat of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent malaise in the Middle East.

The Balfour Declaration leading to the current state of Israel.

My notes written while walking the Camino Santiago in Spain.

"Seems I agree with the Portuguese people that the vision(Lucia's) in 1917 ... described in her letter was intended to tell us more than the attempted suicide on the pope many years ago. Although there is no question in my mind that the attempted suicide was part of it and is also consistent with what I am about to write.

May the Holy Spirit control my thoughts and this pen as I write ...

I do not remember all the details of the letter. I will write about the details I do remember.

The mountain or hill ... this seems consistent with all milestone scriptural writings ... Mount Zion ... Mount Sinai ... Mount Tabor ... the beatitiudes ... always a mountain.

The use of a mountain in these writings and events must be trying to tell us something. I will look up the definition of the word later but while walking this is what came to me ...

A mountain is up ... above the normal level of ground ... like grace is above nature ... metaphysical is above physical ... supernatural is above nature. All the same notion ... much of scripture infers going up to heaven ... up to God ... up the mountain ... paradise is up in the sky ... the heavens are up ...

The man in the white robe represents all of God's messengers ... prophets ... popes ... priests ... Levi's ... Budda ... Mohammed etc. All of the people sent by God to help us people make our way up this 'mountain'.

Climbing a mountain infers hard work ... the way to God is hard work ...

Seems to me all people in all times had somewhere inside themselves ... sometimes buried very deep and imperceptible ... nonetheless still there ... a longing to go home ... without knowing where this 'home' is ... we do not know what is on 'top of the mountain' but we want to get there.

The dead people ... the arrows ... the bullets. This suggests to me that the vision represents a long long period ... arrows are a primitive weapon from ages and ages ago ... bullets are 20th century. Thus the possibility that this vision is intended to convey the entire history of mankind.

The dead ... religious and secular people ... We know today that man has been killing man in the name of religion ... greed ... self defense etc etc. There has always been horrific and seemingly unexplainable wars and crimes against humanity ... empires have risen and fallen leaving countless dead bodies ... innocent victims.

The man in white ... the pope ... of course our pope John Paul II is a man of God and like so many men of God(prophets etc) people want to kill him ... the attempted suicide fits this explanation ... they nailed Him to a cross.

I can't remember but it seems to me the vision suggests man is near the 'crest' of the mountain ... the human race is about to meet GOD ... FACE to FACE ...

This can not be so bad ... we have been waiting for this day for so many thousands and thousands of years!

Seems to me though that if those of us living at this time are about to meet our GOD face to face we should try to be ready ... try to prepare ourselves ... pray! ... pray! ... pray!

St John the Baptist and Elijah have been on my camino several times ... maybe it is time to prepare the way for the coming of our Saviour ... the return of Jesus Christ! ...

For myself ... I will keep walking and see what happens tomorrow."

July 29, 2002

Anonymous said...

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