How To Live The Fątima Message

Pope Saint Leo The Great told us "To make friends with the angels." We shall begin with an account of the apparition of the guardian angel of Portugal in 1916.

The glorious archangel appeared on three occasions and in three different places to the privileged children who were destined to see our Lady.

He taught them how to pray and how to sanctify themselves, assuring them that Jesus and Mary had special designs for them, thus preparing them for the coming of God's Holy Mother in the following year, 1917.

The oldest of the three children to whom Our Lady appeared, L£cia dos Santos, now known as Sister L£cia (at the time, age 9), tells us in her own simple language how the angel of Portugal appeared to her and her cousins, Jacinta (6 years old) and Francisco Marto, 8 years old, three times.

She didn't remember the exact date of these apparitions because, she said, "At that time, I made no account of months, or weeks, or days." She was an uncultured little peasant girl.

"It was sometime in the Spring of 1916," she writes, "Jacinta and Francisco and I were minding our sheep in a place called Chusavaya. It was in the morning and a light rain, like dew, began to fall. As we went up the side of the hill with our sheep, looking for a rock, some place we could shelter ourselves from the rain.

"In the midst of an olive grove, we found a cave which we entered for the first time. When the rain had cleared off, we still lingered there some time, ate our lunch, and said our Rosary. After this, we began to play with some stones. Suddenly, though the day was very mild, a strong wind began to sway the branches of tree and we glanced up to see the cause of it.

"We saw over the trees a light as white as snow, and in the midst of it, the form of a young man brilliant as crystal is when it is lit up by the light of the Sun. As he approached us, we began to see his features clearly. We were surprised, absorbed by what we saw, but said not a word.

"On coming near us, he said, Don't be afraid. I am the angel of peace.' Then kneeling on the ground, he bent his head low and we, moved by supernatural inspiration, imitated him and repeated the words we heard him say, which were:

"After saying these words three times, he arose and said to us, ' Pray thus. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are listening to the voice of your supplications.' He then disappeared. The supernatural feelings that had taken possession of us were so intense that we didn't even think of our own existence. We remained for a long time as the angel had left us, repeating over and over again saying the same prayer

"The second vision was in the heat of summer," writes L£cia. We went to pass the hour of the great heat of the day in the shade of some trees in a place called Inaro. Suddenly, we saw the angel near us. He said:

"What sacrifices? I asked."

"These words of the angel engraved themselves on our hearts like a light which made us see who God was, how He loved us, and how He wished us to love Him. It made us understand the value of sacrifice, how pleasing it is to God, and how He converts sinners by means of it.

"The third vision was at the end of October or beginning of November, for as I have said, I did not in those days make an account of days or weeks. It took place in an olive grove, belonging to my parents, called Bregatta. We had said our Rosary, and the prayer in the first vision.

"He now appeared to us with a chalice in his hand, and over it a host, from which drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and the host suspended in the air, he prostrated himself on the earth and repeated the following prayer three times:

"He then arose and took the chalice; to me," Lłcia says, "he gave the host, and to Jacinta and Francisco, he gave what was in the chalice, saying:

"Then again, he prostrated himself on the earth and repeated three times the same prayer: Most Holy Trinity, and so on And then he disappeared.

"Overcome by supernatural emotion, we imitated the angel and did all that he had done.   The feeling of a divine presence overcame us and as it were, annihilated us completely.   It seemed to deprive us of our corporal senses for a long time.  During these days we performed our material actions as if im- pelled by this supernatural force. The peace and happiness which we enjoyed were great and intimate.  Our souls were completely wrapped up in God."

Thus began the story of Fątima in which Our Lady appeared 6 times, once each month from May 13 through October 13, 1917.

She made seven requests.   Living the Fątima Message consists in fulfilling Virgin Mary's requests. They are:

Stop offending Jesus

Pray, especially the Rosary

Offer sacrifices and sufferings to Jesus



1. Much pain and sufferings are wasted when they could be offered to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the Conversions of Souls. You may also offer them for those in purgatory, and so forth.
   
   
2. Our Lady says we can eat less food, smile at people we don't want to, and cheerfully go about our daily task offering everything we do to the two hearts, that is, Jesus and Mary.
   
   
3. However, the main sacrifice that is above all others, she told Sister Lłcia, is to cheerfully perform our Daily Duty to the best of our status in life whether it be a physician, clerk, or housewife.
   
   It must be done without remorse, recriminations, or anger. Performing our daily duties the best way possible is one sacrifice that stands above all others.
   
   Sister Therese Martin, The Little Flower, of Lisieux, France, was recently made Doctor of The Church.   Because, her "little way," was to do her daily duty, uncomplainingly.
   
   

Devotion to her Immaculate Heart



Make the Five First Saturdays (and this consists of nine other items).  If we look at the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it is pierced with thorns because of the five sins committed against it.   The Blessed Virgin wants us to remove the thorns that sin has put there.  The Virgin has requested that on the first Saturday of five consecutive months we:



1. Go to confession (this can be made 8 days before as long as we are in the state of grace when we receive Jesus.
   
   
2. Receive Holy Communion.
   
   
3. Pray the Rosary.
   
   
4. Meditate for 15 minutes on some or all of the Rosary Mysteries. However, we must do these four things with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. For example:
   
   

Before we go to Confession, before we receive Holy Communion, before we recite the Rosary, and before we Meditate for 15 minutes on some or all of the Rosary mysteries, we should say to Jesus:

"O my Jesus, I offer You this confession (or Communion, or Rosary, or Meditation) in reparation for the five sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of our dear Mother Mary."

These are the five sins that pierce the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

1. Sins against her Immaculate Conception.
   
2. Sins against her Perpetual Virginity.
   
3. Sins against her Divine Maternity, refusing also to accept her as the Mother of all mankind.
   
4. Sins of those who try publicly to implant in children's hearts indifference, contempt, and even hatred against our Immaculate Mother.
   
5. Sins of those who insult her directly in her Sacred Images.
   

Meditate each first Saturday on one or all of the five sins as we become the Fątima request by living the Fątima message. Also, meditate on the five sins as we do our daily Rosary. It can be combined with the Mysteries of the Rosary as we say the decades.

Wear the Brown Scapular

Offer prayers and sacrifices for Russia's conversion

1. Personal Salvation, through her son.

2. Conversion of Russia, resulting in a "period of peace" for the world.