This week we will
take a look at one of the most famous and popular apparitions of Mary, her
appearance to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal. These visions began
on May 13, 1917 as the children were pasturing their flocks. We begin today
with the three visits by the “Angel of peace” to the children which preceded
this first apparition. Pay very close attention to the words and prayers of the
Angel. In them, we will find guidance as to what Jesus and Mary ask of us in
our daily lives.
They began a year before, in the spring of
1916. While the children were attending their sheep, a strong wind began to
blow, and a white light enveloped them. A cloud in the form of a man appeared
before them who said, “Fear not, I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” The children and the Angel knelt and bowed
low, and repeated the words of the Angel’s prayer three times, “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I
love You. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope,
and do not love You.” The Angel then rose to leave and said, “Pray this
way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your
supplications.
Here we find a
prayer we should say every day, and a way to lead our daily lives, by offering
all of the graces, mercies and blessings we may obtain throughout the day for
the salvation of those who no longer, or who never, felt it necessary, to believe
in, adore, hope in or love God. It is not enough to work for our own salvation;
we must daily work and pray for the salvation of all.
The second
apparition of the Angel occurred in the summer. The children were playing when
the Angel appeared and said, “What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal. The
hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs on you. Offer prayers and
sacrifices continually to the Most High.” When the children asked how this
could be done, the Angel replied, “Make everything you do a sacrifice, and
offer it as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as
a petition for the conversion of sinners. By this you will bring peace to your
country. I’m its Guardian Angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all accept and
bear with submission all the suffering the Lord will send you.” The children
then spent many hours every day praying the prayer the Angel taught them.
Now the Angel gives
us our marching orders: all of our thoughts, words, deeds and sufferings are to
be offered up to God. God has great plans for those of us who believe in Him
and have dedicated our lives to Him. Will we achieve worldly recognition? No way.
At best we will be gently tolerated; at worst we will be vilified for trying to
say that sin exists and that actions of family, friends and society are
offending God. The world needs us to be warriors,
praying it back to God. We must live the life of redemptive suffering,
believing that we can offer up all of the pain and sadness we receive in life
as a petition for the conversion of sinners. Looking at recent events in the
news should be enough for all of us to see what happens to people who choose
the prince of darkness over God. We need to follow the prayer of the Angel of
Peace, pray constantly, and make our lives a prayer for the world. It is good
to note that countries have Guardian Angels and we should pray to the Guardian Angel
of our country.
The Angel made his
last appearance in the autumn of 1916. He appeared holding a chalice with a host
suspended above it. Drops of blood dripped from the host into the chalice. The Angel
knelt with the children and prayed 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.” Then, giving the host to Lucia and the
contents of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco he said, “Take the body and
blood of Jesus Christ horribly outraged by thankless men. Recover
their sins and comfort your God."
The Angel makes it
perfectly clear to all of us: there is no “winking” at sin in the eyes of God.
Parents today must call a sin a sin and risk the ire of their children. Leaders
of society must stop the outrages of abortion and euthanasia and bring life
back to the culture. Friends must be told the truth about their prideful stands
on issues which cause the body and blood of Jesus Christ to be horribly
outraged. It is not love to tolerate sin. It is weakness and lack of trust in
God. It is saying, “I will live my life for God, but I will not risk losing my
friends and family for Him.” In other words, I would rather they offend God and
love me than offend me and love God. We
all need to take a hard look at ourselves today and see if the words of the Angel
apply to us, and begin today to choose God over ourselves.
“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.”
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