I thought I would start a thread that avoids the usual 3rd secret, or consecration issues. The centenary starts now While this prayer is well known to most of us , I have neglected this prayer for many years . I will really to make an effort to pray it it couple of times a day.... View attachment 5206
The Archangel came and prostrated on the ground before them and told the children to do the same thing; and to repeat it over and over and over again. That first day, even after he left, they prayed that prayer all day long, and when they finally got up it was nighttime. They gathered the sheep together and brought them home.
View attachment 5211 Thank you Mac! For anyone who would like to see the movie, "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima", here is a link to purchase it. https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Our-Lady-Fatima/dp/B000E1MXTG Share it with your family, schools and church. I'm sure that there are priest that have never seen this great movie!
It looks like the 100 years will be celebrated with a new movie....http://variety.com/2016/film/news/miracle-of-fatima-movie-producers-1201768029/
Then the Angel appeared to us for the third time. He was holding a chalice in his hand. A Host was over it, from which fell some drops of Blood into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and Host suspended in mid-air, he prostrated himself on the ground, repeating this prayer three times...
This Angel first indentified himself to the children.... “Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” The next visit he told the three children that he was the Guardian Angel of their country, Portugal. Sr Lucia described him ...."It was a young man, about fourteen whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it, and of great beauty." Who is this Angel of Peace that came to Fatima as a precursor of Our Lady? Portuguese historians recognize St. Michael the Archangel as their patron and protector, who had always been venerated as the Guardian Angel of their country. In addition, in the Roman Breviary as well as in the litanies, the Archangel Michael is also invoked under the titles Author of Peace and Michael, the Angel of Peace.http://www.fatimacrusader.com/geof/II.asp
Oh...your right Mac....I forgot about that. I'm going to look for a trailer. I hope it's as good as the original...!! Here is the original:
When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that it 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 against the Church and the Holy Father. http://www.catholicvoice.co.uk/fatima2/ch2-10.htm
The world did not recognise this sign because the secret had not been revealed.... In effect, Sister Lucy’s confessors had not yet authorized her to reveal the Secret. «“It is a shame that the Secret was not published before the war”, Father Jongen said to her in 1946. “In this way the prediction would have had more force. Why didn’t you make it known earlier?” “Because nobody asked me to.”»11 It was not God’s will that Sister Lucy reveal the Secret on her own authority, without the consent of her superiors, with the intention of acting completely independently, like a prophet. She explained this to her bishop on August 31, 1941:
This is the prayer I always pray upon entering into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament! You have to love Fatima! Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
This is a marvelous prayer to pray when you lie down to sleep. My beautiful wife, Geralyn, and I try to pray it together at bedtime. Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
I have to confess that if the internet was around before my Mom, Christine, died (1975), it would have been her, not Padraig, who began the MOG forum. From my Mom comes my fascination with private revelation! Christine, please join us here in praying for the Church. And bring Dad along with you! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
An excerpt from the above article: MARCH 19, 1939: «WAR OR PEACE IN THE WORLD DEPEND ON IT» In November of 1938, Father Aparicio had left Portugal to begin a long missionary career in Brazil. On March 19, 1939, Sister Lucy wrote to him, keeping him abreast of her efforts to propagate the devotion of reparation on the five first Saturdays, as far as she was able. At her request, the Mother Provincial of the Dorotheans went to the Bishop of Porto to ask permission for publishing the text of “the great promise”, and she obtained it. Sister Lucy concludes her letter: «On the practice of this devotion together with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, world peace or world war depends. This is the reason I desired its propagation so greatly and especially because it is the will of Our Good Lord and our beloved Heavenly Mother.»23 JUNE 20, 1939: «A CHASTISEMENT SUCH AS NEVER BEFORE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE...» Three months later, in a new letter to Father Aparicio, she speaks to him once more of the coming peril, and in even more striking terms: «Our Lady promised to delay the scourge of war if this devotion was propagated and practised. We see Her avert the chastisement to the extent that efforts are made to propagate it. But I am afraid that we cannot do more than we are doing and that God in His anger will lift the arms of His mercy and let the world be ravaged by this chastisement. It will be a chastisement such as never before, horrible, horrible.»24 On August 10, 1939, Father Aparicio noted the strong impression which Sister Lucy’s prophecies had made upon him: «The way in which she affirms and prognosticates events impressed me. She does not doubt, and she speaks categorically, like some one who has seen future events. I even think that Our Lady has revealed them to her.»25 May we members of MOG not be negligent even now to live out Our Lady's requests for the First Saturdays devotion! Lord have mercy! Spread the word! Even now, might not the Chastisement of Akita be mitigated and more souls saved? We can't simply be spectators viewing the inevitable, then telling everyone we knew it was coming! May our consciences be as clear as was that of Lucia! Lord Jesus, we trust in you! Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
On the practice of this devotion [the First Saturdays] together with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, world peace or world war depends. In no way do I want to monopolize this thread, but this line above struck me deeply. There have been threads where we have debated whether or not Mary's request for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart has been fulfilled. But, more importantly for us who are neither Pope nor bishop, have we fulfilled Our Lady's request to live the First Saturdays Devotion? See in the above statement of Lucia, the awesome responsibility that we lay faithful carry. And it takes only about 90 minutes per month to demonstrate our obedience to Our Lady! I think if we committed to do this together with a prayer partner we might better hold ourselves accountable. Of what does it consist? The following is found at: http://www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix2.htm Our Lady then spoke: “See, my daughter, my Heart encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you, at least, strive to console me. Tell them that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, in order to make reparation to me, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.” The elements of this devotion, therefore, consist in the following four points, all of which must be offered in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. One should make this intention before carrying out Our Lady’s requests. A renewal of the actual intention at the time is best; however, if such an intention is made now, it will fulfill the requirements if, for instance, the actual intention is forgotten at the time of confession. Confession: This confession can be made before the First Saturday or afterward, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. In 1926, Christ in a vision explained to Lucia that this confession could be made a week before or even more, and that it should be offered in reparation. Holy Communion: Before receiving Holy Communion, it is likewise necessary to offer it in reparation to Our Lady. Our Lord told Lucia in 1930, “This Communion will be accepted on the following Sunday for just reasons, if my priests allow it so.” So if work or school, sickness, or another just reason prevents the Communion on a First Saturday, with this permission it may be received the following Sunday. If Communion is transferred, any or all of the other acts of the devotion may also be performed on Sunday if the person so desires. Rosary: The Rosary is a vocal prayer said while meditating upon the mysteries of Our Lord’s life and Passion and Our Lady’s life. To comply with the request of our Blessed Mother, it must be offered in reparation and said properly while meditating. 15-minute meditation: Also offered in reparation, the meditation may embrace one or more mysteries; it may include all, taken together or separately. This meditation should be the richest of any meditation, because Our Lady promised to be present when she said “...those who keep me company....” To those who faithfully follow Our Lady’s requests for the Five First Saturdays, she has made a wonderful promise which she, as Mediatrix of All Graces, will certainly fulfill: “I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation.” This means that our Blessed Mother will be present at the hour of death with the actual grace of final perseverance, (which after the gift/grace of Faith), is the most important grace. After completing the Five First Saturdays, one may continue the devotion simply to console the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady. A tender love of our Blessed Mother will lead one to do all he can to make reparation for the sins which pierce her Immaculate Heart. Let us remember, too, that although Our Lady made this promise to those who would observe five such First Saturdays in succession, in her July apparition she asked simply that Communions of reparation be made on every First Saturday to atone for the sins of the world. Safe in the Refuge of the Immaculate Heart!
Fatima and the Miracle of Santarem The Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem provides a foreshadowing of the message of Fatima, even 650 years removed from each other. About 40 kilometers from Fatima, in Santarem - which shares the same district as Fatima - a Eucharistic miracle took place on February 16, 1266. Though some put the actual year at 1247, the exact year is insignificant, as the fact remains that a consecrated host has been preserved for 750 years, intact and drenched in Blood, in the church of St. Stephen of the Holy Miracle. The story of this miracle begins with an unfortunate wife whose husband had abandoned her for another woman. Tired of suffering, she turned not to God, but to a sorceress to use her spells to do something about the woman's sorry fate. The sorceress promised to help her if she brought her a consecrated host. The unhappy woman, her desperation blinding her, agreed to commit the sacrilege. She went to St. Stephen’s church and received Communion. After receiving the Blessed Sacrament from the priest on her tongue, she furtively dropped the Host into a veil, left the church, and hurried to the sorceress’s den. But on her way, drops of Blood began to drip from the veil without her realizing it, and the people she encountered asked her how she had hurt herself badly enough to be bleeding so much. The unfortunate woman, overcome with confusion, rushed home instead and locked the miraculous Host in a chest. As it turned out, her husband returned that very evening. In the middle of the night, they both awoke and saw the house shining with light, and mysterious rays coming from the chest. When his wife told him of the sin she had committed, the husband spent the rest of the night with her on their knees in prayer. At dawn the parish pastor was informed of the event and came to the couple’s house to take the Host and carry it back to St. Stephen’s church in a solemn procession, followed by a crowd of religious and faithful. The Host continued to bleed for three more days. It was then placed in a beeswax pyx in the church’s tabernacle. A Century Later, a Shocking Event In 1340, a priest opened the tabernacle and found the wax envelope broken into several pieces and replaced by a crystal vial; the miraculous Host and the blood were inside the vial. How had they been put into the sealed vial? No one knows. The vial and its contents were left to be exposed for the continual adoration of the faithful, then in the 18th century were placed in a magnificent monstrance above the main altar of St. Stephen’s church - since moved to a shrine above the altar, accessible by a staircase. Blood has flowed from the Host several times throughout the centuries, and images of Our Lord have appeared on it. St. Francis Xavier, who visited the sanctuary before he left for the missions, was one of many who witnessed this extraordinary sign. Popes Pius IV, St. Pius V, Pius VI and Gregory XIV, all recognizing the extraordinary privilege of this miracle, granted a plenary indulgence to any pilgrim who came to adore the Blessed Sacrament in the church of St. Stephen of Santarem. The Connection to Fatima 650 years later, in the Fall of 1916, at the Cabeço (hilltop in Fatima), the Angel appeared with a chalice and a Host. Drops of Blood dripped from the Host into the chalice. Then, leaving the chalice and the Host suspended in midair, the Angel prostrated himself with his face on the ground and repeated three times the following prayer: Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners." If there was any doubt as to the heavenly source of this prayer, these are the exact words of the catechism of St. Pius X. The events of Fatima contain the essentials of Catholic doctrine: the dogma of the Most Blessed Trinity, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Mary Mediatrix of all Grace, the Angels, man’s last ends, the Church, the pope, the communion of saints, sin, prayer… Doctrine and piety are inseparable. Then the Angel arose and gave them Communion, saying: “Take and drink of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men; repair their crimes and console your God.” Then, after receiving Communion from the Angel’s hand, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, bowed their faces to the ground and joined in the adoration of the heavenly Messenger: "Most Holy Trinity…" Enveloped in such prayer, when they finally rose to go home it was already night.
