The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
The ongoing prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima
May 13th is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three young shepherd children in the town of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She appeared six times to Lucia, who was 9 years old; her cousin Francisco who was 8; and his sister Jacinta who was 6 years old between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917. In that same year World War I was occurring with the most horrific and powerful forms of warfare even seen. Also, this was about the time of the Communist Revolution in Russia, plunging Russia and later Eastern Europe under an atheistic regime. Today, Our Lady of Fatima is still relevant in the world we live.
In Portugal, a lady dressed in a white mantle edged with gold and with a rosary in her hand appeared to the three shepherds and said, “I am the Angel of Peace.” Lucia asked the woman where she was from, and she answered, “I come from heaven.” The resplendent woman told the poor shepherd children to devote themselves to the Blessed Trinity and to pray the Rosary every day in order to bring peace to the world and an end to the war. She also revealed to them that the two younger children would suffer and be taken to heaven soon, and that Lucia would live longer to spread the message and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the last apparition in October of 1917 the woman revealed her name to Lucia by stating, “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” That same day 70,000 people turned out to witness the apparition and saw the sun make three circles and move around the sky in a zigzag movement in a manner which left no doubt in their minds about the apparition being true.
Our Lady of Fatima revealed three secrets. The first two of which were revealed earlier and refer to the vision of hell and the souls there and a request for the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the prediction of the second World War and the terrible damage Russia would do to humanity by abandoning Christian faith and embracing Communism. In 2000 the third secret was revealed and it referred to the many persecutions during the last century: “The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.” This suffering of the Popes includes the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II on May 13th, the 64th anniversary of the apparitions of Fatima. The Holy Father attributed his escape from certain death to Our Lady of Fatima: “It was a mother’s hand that guided the bullet’s path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death.”
Our Lady of Fatima declared to the shepherd children that “My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” Pope Benedict XVI interpreted these words as “The Heart open to God purified by contemplation of God is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world thanks to her “YES.” The Evil One has power in this world because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God.” However, the last words come from John 16:33: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world.”
According to her writing, Lucia, who became a nun and died in 2005, Russia would be converted and peace would reign if the pope and all of the bishops consecrated Russia to the “Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Lucia stated that Pope John Paul II fulfilled that prophecy during a Mass on March 25, 1984 even though he never specified Russia in the prayer. This year Pope Francis corrected the 1984 omission as he prayed, “Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all of humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world.” Francis continued saying that Mary’s Immaculate Heart is not “a magic formula, but a spiritual act” that was taking place even as bombs are destroying the homes of many of our defenseless Ukrainian brothers and sisters. According to Pope Francis our greatest weapon is the rosary.
How ironic! As a children we all prayed for the conversion of Russia and still today we pray the same prayer for the conversion of Russia and peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima, help us in our needs and bring peace to the world!
The Rev. Gus Puleo is pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown and serves as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania.