Thank you and may God Bless You!
December
2015
Advent
Fatima Writings
The late great, Pope John Paul II and the Brown Scapular: Preparing for July 16
When Pope John Paul II was shot and operated on in 1981, he told doctors not to remove the brown scapular he was wearing. One of the two "most recommended" devotions of the Church ... (Inside the Vatican, July 10, 2001) ... Pope John Paul is convinced that Our Lady of Mount Carmel, along with Our Lady of Fatima, saved him from the bullets of Mehmet Ali Agca. [See Inside the Vatican, July 2001, page 44.] The Virgin Mary appeared at the final apparition of Fatima (Portugal) and at Lourdes (France) wearing the brown scapular.
The place par excellence for entrustment and consecration to the Mother of God is without doubt Fatima, where the Virgin appeared to three little shepherds in 1917, revealing the destinies of peace in the world; bound in a special manner to Russia, depends on the consecration of this nation to her Immaculate Heart. From Pio XII until the present Holy Father, there have been various acts of consecration, which the Supreme Pontiffs have made solemnly to entrust the destinies of Russia and of the world to the Queen of Peace. There has been progress in the journey of entrustment and of consecration to the Mother of God, can, which has reached under the present Pontiff "Totus Tuus", as its summit. The "Totus Tuus" of John Paul II, after the attempt on May 13, 1981 (anniversary of the first Apparition at Fatima) the entire content of the message of Fatima has become vested with new splendor.
In his book To Cross the Threshold of Hope, the Holy Father wrote in 1994:
"And what shall one say about the three Portuguese children of Fatima, who suddenly in 1917, on the vigil of the outburst of the Revolution of October, heard: and ? They could not have invented such predictions. They did not know the history and geography, and still less were they conversant orientated with the social movements and development ideologies. And nevertheless, precisely what they announced has come to pass.
Perhaps it is also for this reason that the Pope was called from "a far country", may be for this he needed to be threatened with death at St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, the anniversary of the first Apparition at Fatima, so that all this would become more transparent and comprehensible; so that the voice of God who speaks in the human history through " the signs of the times" would be more easily heard and understood."
In the same book To Cross the Threshold of Hope the Pope wrote: regarding the attempt on his life:
"And behold, May 13, 1981 came. When I was struck by the bullet of the attacker in St. Peter's Square, I did not advert at first to the fact that it was precisely the anniversary of the day in which Mary appeared to the three children at Fatima, Portugal, addressing them these words, that at the end of the century, seemed about to be fulfilled."
In 1982 John Paul II went to Portugal, to give thanks for the gift of life and to renew, at the feet of the Queen of the Rosary, at Fatima, the consecration of the entire Church and of the world, to her Immaculate Heart.
It's from this "cattedra", that the light of the "Totus Tuus" radiates spreading over the world. At his arrival in Fatima, the Pope said that he came in pilgrimage:
"With the Rosary in hand, the name of Mary on his lips and the canticle of the mercy of God in his heart" to repeat "at this hour, here in the sanctuary of the Fatima, in front all of you: "Totus Tuus", all yours, O Mother". (John Paul II at Fatima, 12 May, 1982).
In his homily of 13 May, 1982, John Paul II spoke of the importance of the message of Fatima: "The content of the appeal of the Lady at Fatima is so deeply rooted in the Gospel and in all Tradition, that the Church feels obliged by this message… The evangelical invitation to penance and to conversion, pronounced with the words of the Mother is always actual. It is yet still more actual than 65 years ago. And still more urgent".
It was in Rome, at St. Peter's Square, on 25 March, 1984, that the Holy Father, after having informed all the bishops of the entire world, made in a collegial union with them the most important and solemn act of entrustment and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as the Virgin of Fatima had asked, through Sister Lucia, the only one of the three seers still alive.
In this touching text of the consecration written by John Paul II, we read:
"…O Mother of men and women and of peoples, you who know all their sufferings and their hopes, you who feel maternally of all the struggles between good and evil, between light and darkness, which shake the contemporary world, listen to our cry, which, moved by the Holy Spirit, we raise up directly to your heart: embrace with the love of mother and of servant of the Lord, this human world of ours, which we entrust and consecrate to you, full of anxiety for the earthly and eternal fate of men and women, and peoples. In a special manner, we entrust and consecrate to you those men and women, and these nations, who particularly need to be entrusted and consecration to you. "Under your protection we look for refuge, holy Mother of God! "Do not despise our supplications for we are in trial!…
In 1991 the Pope returned as pilgrim to Fatima "a pause, a moment of recollection, of personal transformation, of interior renewal. In his message and blessing, Fatima constitutes a conversion to God. In this place man's redemption is felt and is testified, through the intercession and help of Her who with her foot, as Virgin has always crushed and will always crush the head of the ancient serpent."
John Paul II has taken to heart the message of Fatima, applying it to the historical context of our century, looking at it as an extraordinary reminder to conversion through entrusting in, and in being consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In profound passage, he himself has compared the event of the entrustment at Golgota with the entrustment at Fatima: the "Totus Tuus" from the very beginning (Jn 19: 25-27) and the "Totus Tuus" of our days.
"The Sanctuary of Fatima is a privilege place, gifted with a special value: in itself it has an important message for the era which we are living. It is as if here, at the beginning of our century, resounded as a new echo, the words pronounced on Golgotha. Mary, who was beside the Cross-of her Son, had to accept again the will of Christ, Son of God. But while on Golgata the Son indicated to her only one man, John, the disciple whom he loved, here she had to accept them all. All of us, men and women of this century and of mankind's of difficult and dramatic history." (John Paul II at Fatima, 13 May 1991).
The act of entrustment which the Holy Father prayed at Fatima in 1991 in front of the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed after Mass, is an authentic song of love and of praise to the Virgin Mary, it is like a re-reading of that long journey of "Totus Tuus", which finds in the "House of Mary", at Fatima, perhaps the highest and the deepest tones. Here some of the most significant passages of this act of consecration, which in the intention of the Pope was in collegial union with all the bishops of the world: "Again we address to You, Mother of Christ and of the Church, gathered at your feet in the "Cova da Iria", to thank you for all that you have done in these difficult years for the Church, for each one of us and for the entire humanity. "Show yourself Mother!", how many times we have invoked you! And today we are here to thank you, because you have always listened to us. You have showed yourself Mother: Mother of the Church, missionary on the earthly ways toward the awaited Christian third Millennium; Mother of men and women, through your constant protection you have spared us disaster and irreparable destruction, and have favoured the progress and the modern social conquests. Mother of the nations, through the unhoped for changes which given again trust to peoples too long oppressed and humiliated; Mother of life, through the multiple signs with which you have accompanied and defended us from evil and from the power of death; My Mother always, and in particular on that 13 May of 1981, on which I felt beside me your helping presence…
Yes, continue to show yourself Mother to all, because the world is in need of You. The new situations of the peoples and of the Church are still uncertain and unstable. The danger to substitute Marxism with another form of atheism exist, which by flattering the liberty tends to destroy roots of human and Christian moral. Mother of hope, walk with us! Walk with the men and women of this last piece of the twentieth century, with the human beings of every race and culture, of every age and condition. Walk with peoples towards solidarity and love; walk with the youths, protagonists of the future days of peace. Nations, who have recently acquired their liberty and now are engaged in constructing their future, need you. Europe needs you, which from East to the West cannot find her true identity without rediscovering the common Christian roots. The world needs you to solve the many and violent conflicts, which still threaten it.
Show yourself Mother of hope! Watch over the road where lies ahead. Watch over the men and the women and the new situations of peoples who are still threatened by the risks of war. Watch over those in authority of the Nations and over those who rule the sorts of humanity. Watch over the Church always beset by the spirit of the world. Watch over my 'Petrine' ministry, at the service of the Gospel and of humanity toward the new goals of the missionary action of the Church. Totus Tuus!
In collegial union with the Pastors in communion with the entire People of God, spread out in every angle of the earth, I also today renew to you the filial entrustment of the human race. With confidence, we entrust to ourselves to you. With you we intend to follow Christ, Redeemer of man: we are not burdened with tiredness, nor does fatigue slows our pace, difficulties do not discourage us, neither does sadness, extinguish the joy of the heart. You Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, continue to show yourself Mother of all, watch over our journey, grant that in full joy we may see your Son in heaven. Amen."
(John Paul II at Fatima, 13 May 1991).
"Day after tomorrow, the liturgical memorial will be celebrated of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima. Beloved, I exhort you to turn incessantly and with confidence to the Virgin, entrusting to her each one of your needs." ...
Pope Benedict XVI, May 11, 2005
