FATIMA - THE MESSAGES

The messages of Fatima came in three parts.  The first two parts were made known at the time of the apparitions.  But the third message, often called the “Third Secret” was sealed with instructions that it not be opened until after 1960.

Here are the first messages.

Saturday, July 13, 1917:

Our Lady appeared only to the children but bystanders sensed that something unusual was taking place.

Seeing Our Lady, Lucia asked, “What do you want of me?”

Our Lady responded, “I want you to come on the thirteenth day of next month and to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war for she alone can help.”

Lucia said, “I would like to ask who you are and to perform a miracle so that people will believe that you are appearing to us.”

Our Lady replied, “Continue to come here every month. In October I will tell you who I am and what I want. And I will perform a miracle so that everyone may see and believe.”

Lucia then submitted petitions and prayer requests for Our Lady to present to God. Our Lady gave some responses to Lucia. Lucia then said, “Yes, she wants people to recite the Rosary. People must recite the Rosary.”

Our Lady gravely said, “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice, ‘O my Jesus, this is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’ ”

At this point the children see a terrifying vision of Hell. [This vision was so real that the children later made severe sacrifices for the salvation of sinners.] Our Lady responded to the vision with sadness and tenderness, “You saw Hell where the souls of poor sinners go. In order to save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I ask, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.

“The war is going to end. But if people do not stop offending God, another, even worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you shall 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 many crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the first Saturdays.

“If people attend to my requests, Russia will be converted and the world will have peace. If not, she [Russia] will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to  suffer, and various nations will be destroyed.

“In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me; it will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal the dogmas of the Faith will always be kept” [at this point Lucia and Jacinta are given the Third Secret that was eventually given to the Pope but has yet to be publicly revealed]. “Do not tell this to anyone.“When you say the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need.”

After a pause, Lucia asked, “Do you want anything more of me?”

Our Lady replied, “No, today I want nothing else of you.”

Lucia then stood and pointing to the sky said, “There she goes! There she goes!. Now you can’t see her anymore.”

Do you recognize the “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins”?  How many times have you heard that said after a decade of the rosary?   This is where it came from.

“When you shall 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 many crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father.”

What is this strange light that she speaks of? 

World War I ended one year after the last of the Fatima apparitions. Most historians would agree that World War II actually began in 1938, the last year in the reign of Pius XI, with the German annexation of Austria. Two months prior to this event a very unusual auroral display, an eerie light show in the northern sky occasionally visible at night in high latitudes, was seen all over Europe and reported widely by the press since it was observed as far south as Rome. Astonished observers reported forest fires and building fires apparently associated with these strange lights.

• On the night of January 25, 1938, Sister Lucia stood at her convent window in Tuy, Portugal, and saw an ominous red glow that lit the entire sky. This light was seen throughout Europe and parts of Africa and Asia. Scientists tried to explain it as a most unusual Aurora Borealis. It covered an area of 500,000 square km with a vertical extent of 400 km. The rays reached an altitude of 700 km and are accompanied by a strange noise “similar to the sound of burning grass or brush”. Millions of people in many countries saw it and feared the world was on fire and about to end.

• The New York Times for January 26, 1938, carried the following :

  • “London, January 25th, 1938. The Aurora Borealis rarely seen in Southern or Western Europe spread fear in parts of Portugal and lower Austria tonight while thousands of Britons were brought running into the streets in wonderment. The ruddy glow led many to think half the city was ablaze. The Windsor Fire Department was called out thinking that Windsor Castle was afire. The lights were clearly seen in Italy, Spain, and even Gibraltar. The glow bathing snow-clad mountain tops in Austria and Switzerland was a beautiful sight but firemen turned out to chase non-existent fires. Portuguese villagers rushed in fright from their homes fearing the end of the world.”
  • “Grenoble, France, January 25th, 1938. A huge blood-red beam of light which scientists said was an Aurora Borealis of exceptional amplitude tied up telephone systems in parts of France tonight and spread anxiety in numerous Swiss Alpine villages. Emblazoned in the Northern sky the light brought thousands of telephone calls to Swiss and French authorities asking whether it was a Fire? War? or the End of the World?”
• The Literary Digest Account:
  • “Thousands of frightened Portuguese peasants rushed from their homes one night recently and pointed to huge shafts of blood, red, greenish, blue and purple light shimmering on the northern horizon. ‘It’s the end of the world!’ they cried.
  • “In London the luminous heavens also caused alarm. Half the city appeared to be ablaze Frantic citizens telephoned newspaper offices. ‘Where’s the fire?’ they asked. Out in Windsor fire engines clanged through the streets. ‘Windsor Castle is afire,’ everyone said.
  • “In southwestern France, in the Alpine villages of Switzerland and along the Danube in Austria, the heavenly blaze brought thousands into city streets and country roads. ‘Fire?’ they asked one another. ‘War?’ ‘Doomsday?’
  • “In Holland crowds awaiting the birth of Crown Princess Juliana’s baby hailed the celestial spectacle. ‘A good omen,’ they said. But in the lowlands of Scotland, men and women shook their heads. ‘Northern lights,’ they declared, ‘always spell misfortune for Scotland.’
  • “The excitement spread across the Atlantic. Bermudans stared at the distant glow. In Canada, much closer to the phenomenon, the Canadian Press reported that ‘wire services throughout northern Ontario were disrupted,’ while radio transmission went dead.”
• In America, the sighting of this light was testified by J.C. of Lincoln, Nebraska: “January 26th, 1938, I was walking across campus with 2 or 3 other faculty members of St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana. We saw that Aurora Borealis, and stopped to watch. I don’t recall the colors, the night was very dark, but it was the first ‘Northern Lights’ I’d seen. I remarked about the Fatima prophecy, and wondered if this could be the Sign . . . Frightening!…World War II started not long after that.”(Letter to Divine Love, Vol. 24, No. 2-3, 1981, Fresno, California).

More Newspaper Accounts. 

“Northern lights disrupt radios in Maine, frighten Europeans” - [Maine Press Herald, January 26, 1938, p. 1]

“Aurora borealis startles Europe. People flee, call fireman” - [New York Times, January 26, 1938, p.25 ]

“Magnetic storms playing heck with news wires” - [Dalas Morning News, January 26, 1938, p.1 ]

“Aurora borealis cutting capers” - [Savanna Morning News, January 26, 1938, p. 1]

“Borealis over Tennessee valley” - [The Kansas City Star, January 27, 1938]

“Blame it on the sun” - [Rocky Mountain Herald, January 29, 1938, p.1 ]

“Europe upset at first aurora since 1709″ - [Bismark Tribune, January 26, 1938, p.2 ]

“Aurora borealis glows in widest area since 1709″ - [Chicago Daily Tribune, January 26, 1938, p.2 ]

“Northern lights give prize show” - [Boston Globe, January 26, 1938, p.1 ]

“Neon Lights in the sky: Display of aurora borealis viewed on two continents” - [Christian Science Monitor, January 26, 1938, p.1 ]

“Northern lights down south” - [London Times, January 26, 1938, p. 12]

“Aurora borealis abroad” - [London Times, January 27, 1938]

Science Journal Reports:

“A large sunspot” - [Nature, January 22, 1938, p.156]

“Aurora of January 25-26″ - [Nature, January 29, 1938, p.192]

“The aurora of January 25-26″ - [Nature, February 5, 1938, p.232-235]

“Cosmic rays and the aurora of January 25-26″ - [Nature, April 16, 1938, p.686-7]

These are some additional messages given to Jacinta:

Additional Visions of Jacinta

Our Lady appeared to Jacinta several times between December 1919 and February 1920. Our Lady told her many things including:

“The sins of the world are very great … If men only knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives.”

“You must pray much for sinners and priests and religious.”

“Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father gravely displeases Our Lord.”

“Fly from riches and luxury; love poverty and silence; have charity, even for bad people.”

“More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”

“Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.”

“The Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by the vow of chastity.”

“Woe to women wanting in modesty.”

“Confession is a sacrament of mercy and we must confess with joy and trust.”

“Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord.”

“Let men avoid greed, lies, envy, blasphemy, impurity.”

“Never speak ill of anyone. Never complain or murmur. Be very patient, for patience leads us to Heaven.”

“Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come.”

“If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to our Holy Religion, it will be blessed by God.”

“Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her.”

And here are some addition messages given to Lucia:

Additional Visions of Lucia

December 10, 1925:

 “Look my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

February 15, 1926:

While Lucia was attending to her daily chores, the Child Jesus appeared and said, “And have you spread through the world what our heavenly Mother requested of you?”

Lucia replied, “My Jesus, You know very well what my confessor said to me in the letter I read to You. He told me that it was necessary for this vision to be repeated, for further happenings to prove its credibility, and he added that Mother Superior, on her own, could do nothing to propagate this devotion.”

Jesus replied, “It is true that your Superior alone can do nothing, but with My grace she can do all. It is enough that your confessor gives you permission and that your Superior speak of it, for it to be believed, even without people knowing to whom it has been revealed.”

Lucia replied, “But my confessor said in the letter that this devotion is not lacking in the world, because there are many souls who receive You on the First Saturdays, in honor of Our Lady and of the fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary.”

Jesus replied, “It is true My daughter, that many souls begin the First Saturdays, but few finish them, and those who do complete them do so in order to receive the graces that are promised thereby. It would please Me more if they did Five with fervor and with the intention of making reparation to the Heart of your heavenly Mother, than if they did Fifteen, in a tepid and indifferent manner….”

Lucia placed before Jesus the difficulty that some people had about confessing on Saturdays, and asked that if it might be valid to go to confession within eight days.

Jesus replied, “Yes, and it could be longer still, provided that, when they receive Me, they are in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Lucia asked, “My Jesus, what about those who forget to make this intention?”

Jesus replied, “They can do so at their next confession, taking advantage of the first opportunity to go to confession.”

December 17, 1927:

In prayer at Pontevedra, Spain, Lucia asked Jesus for direction concerning revealing the secrets of Our Lady’s apparitions, particularly the December 10, 1925 apparition concerning the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

By means of an inner locution, Jesus told her, “My daughter, write what they… [her spiritual director] … ask of you. Write also all that the most holy Virgin revealed to you in the Apparition in which she spoke of this devotion. As for the remainder of the Secret, continue to keep silence.”

June 13, 1929:

While in prayer in the chapel, Lucia had a very powerful and enlightening vision of the Most Holy Trinity. Our Lady of Fatima was part of that vision.

Lucia wrote of this vision, “Suddenly the whole chapel was illuminated by a supernatural light, and above the alter appeared a cross of light, reaching to the ceiling. In a brighter light on the upper part of the cross, could be seen the face of a man and his body as far as the waist; upon his breast was a dove of light; nailed to the cross was the body of another man. A little below the waist, I could see a chalice and a large host suspended in the air, on to which drops of blood were failing  from the face of Jesus Crucified and from the wound in His side. These drops ran down on to the host and fell into the chalice. Beneath the right arm of the cross was Our Lady and in her hand was her Immaculate Heart. (It was Our Lady of Fatima, with her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, without sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames). Under the left arm of the cross, large letters, as if of crystal clear water which ran down upon the alter, formed the words; ‘Grace and Mercy.’”

Lucia further wrote, “I understood that it was the Mystery of the Most Holy Trinity which was shown to me, and I received insights about this mystery which I am not permitted to reveal.”

Our Lady then said, “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.”

Our Lord later said, “They did not wish to heed My request. Like the King of France, they will regret it and then do it, but it will be late. Russia will already have spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions against the Church. The Holy Father will have much to suffer.”

Undated, 1933:

Our Lord communicated to Lucia that He was displeased that His requests had not been attended to.

Undated but prior to May 18, 1936:

In response to Lucia’s question as to why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making the consecration, Our Lord replied, “Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later on and put the devotion of the Immaculate Heart besides the devotion to My Sacred Heart.”

Lucia answered, “But my God, the Holy Father probably will not believe me unless You Yourself move him with a special inspiration.”

Our Lord answered, “The Holy Father, pray much for the Holy Father. He will do it, but it will be late. Nevertheless, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia. It has been entrusted to her.”

 

 

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