Fatima and the Government's Contraception Mandate

Today, the Church celebrates the feast day of the humble shepherd children of Fatima, Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta. Given the various many attacks on the Church and the Catholic Faith by government, most recently the assault on religious liberty and conscience by the Obama Administration, we need to remember what Our Lady told us at Fatima -- although the faithful will suffer, and the Church will be persecuted, her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

The Mission of Fatima Continues

On October 13, 1917, a reported 70,000 people were present for the "Miracle of the Sun" outside the small town of Fatima, Portugal, where a radiant Lady in white had appeared to three humble shepherd children. The Lady had spoken of the war then raging in Europe (World War I) and had warned of an even greater war to follow (World War II), and she asked that people pray for the conversion of Russia to prevent its errors (e.g. Communism) from being spread throughout the world. A third "secret" involved the suffering and shooting of a "bishop in white," who has since been interpreted as being the pope.

The world wars are over, the Soviet Union is no more, and Eastern Europe is free. Pope John Paul II was in fact shot on May 13, 1981, the anniversary of the first apparition, and he suffered greatly before his death. Now that so much of the prophetic message of Our Lady has come to fruition, does that mean that Fatima is now relegated to the past? Are those events and the message of Our Lady of Fatima now merely a historical curiosity? Or perhaps we ought to ask: What really is The Message of Fatima?

We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete. Here there takes on new life the plan of God which asks humanity from the beginning: "Where is your brother Abel . . . Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!" (Gen 4:9). Mankind has succeeded in unleashing a cycle of death and terror, but failed in bringing it to an end... In sacred Scripture we often find that God seeks righteous men and women in order to save the city of man and he does the same here, in Fatima, when Our Lady asks: "Do you want to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the sufferings which he will send you, in an act of reparation for the sins by which he is offended and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?" (Memoirs of Sister Lúcia, I, 162).

At a time when the human family was ready to sacrifice all that was most sacred on the altar of the petty and selfish interests of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals, our Blessed Mother came from heaven, offering to implant in the hearts of all those who trust in her the Love of God burning in her own heart. At that time it was only to three children, yet the example of their lives spread and multiplied, especially as a result of the travels of the Pilgrim Virgin, in countless groups throughout the world dedicated to the cause of fraternal solidarity. May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions hasten the fulfilment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Fatima, May 13, 2010

What is The Message of Fatima? What is the ultimate message given to us, the ultimate meaning?

There is great hardship and suffering in the world. Yet, we do not despair because Jesus came to save us from death and destruction. We have hope. Not the "hope" of wishes and grasping at straws, but of trustworthy confidence and assured expectation of salvation. (Spe Salvi) But Jesus asks for our help in the work of salvation, which comes through the Cross. We are called to, among other things, pray for others, make a gift of self in love to others, and to help Him carry the Cross, taking upon ourselves what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ and suffering with Him. (Col 1:24).

The ultimate message of Fatima is this: Humanity will necessarily suffer great hardship in this world, but God has not abandoned us. The Lady in white, clothed as with the sun, asks us to help her Son in the work of salvation, including prayer, penance, and redemptive suffering, not merely for ourselves, but for the salvation of others, for their conversion away from sin to embracing holiness. The faithful will suffer and even be hated and persecuted, but all this is beatitude (Mt. 5:3-10). In the end, notwithstanding all of the great evils that are thrust upon us, her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

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 Saviour into the world — because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time.

The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise. (Theological Commentary on Fatima, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)

Evil will not have the last say, the good will prevail. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain." (Rev. 21:1-8)

Ultimately, The Message of Fatima is hope.

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Here is a really interesting documentary from Italy on Fatima --

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See also -
--Timeline of the Events of Fatima
--Theological Commentary on Fatima by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
--Church Teaching on Marian Apparitions and Other Private Revelations
--Beatification of Francisco and Jacinta and the Message of Fatima
--The Truth of Sin and Suffering, and Our Helping Jesus in the Work of Salvation
--Other Source Material on Fatima

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Various Source Material on Fatima

Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words
the Memoirs of Sr. Lucia dos Santos (.pdf file)

The True Story of Fatima
by Fr. John De Marchi (1952)

The Message of Fatima
Vatican Presentation of the “Third Secret”

Address of Cardinal Angelo Sodano regarding the "third part" of the secret of Fátima

Pope Benedict apostolic journey to Fatima

Sanctuary of Fatima

The Fatima Network

Our Lady of Fatima Conference

EWTN Special Section on Fatima

Catholic Culture Special Section on Fatima

The films The 13th Day and The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima are both available for purchase at Pauline Books and Media and other local and on-line retailers.

Beatification of Francisco and Jacinta and the Message of Fatima

Homily of His Holiness Pope John Paul II
May 13, 2000

According to the divine plan, "a woman clothed with the sun" (Rv 12: 1) came down from heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children of the Father. She speaks to them with a mother's voice and heart: she asks them to offer themselves as victims of reparation, saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God. And behold, they see a light shining from her maternal hands which penetrates them inwardly, so that they feel immersed in God just as - they explain - a person sees himself in a mirror.

Later Francisco, one of the three privileged children, exclaimed: "We were burning in that light which is God and we were not consumed. What is God like? It is impossible to say. In fact we will never be able to tell people". God: a light that burns without consuming. Moses had the same experience when he saw God in the burning bush; he heard God say that he was concerned about the slavery of his people and had decided to deliver them through him: "I will be with you" (cf. Ex 3: 2-12). Those who welcome this presence become the dwelling-place and, consequently, a "burning bush" of the Most High. . . .

A transformation takes place in his life, one we could call radical: a transformation certainly uncommon for children of his age. He devotes himself to an intense spiritual life, expressed in assiduous and fervent prayer, and attains a true form of mystical union with the Lord. This spurs him to a progressive purification of the spirit through the renunciation of his own pleasures and even of innocent childhood games.

Francisco bore without complaining the great sufferings caused by the illness from which he died. It all seemed to him so little to console Jesus: he died with a smile on his lips. Little Francisco had a great desire to atone for the offences of sinners by striving to be good and by offering his sacrifices and prayers. The life of Jacinta, his younger sister by almost two years, was motivated by these same sentiments. . . .

The message of Fátima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the "dragon" whose "tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth" (Rv 12: 4). Man's final goal is heaven, his true home, where the heavenly Father awaits everyone with his merciful love.

God does not want anyone to be lost; that is why 2,000 years ago he sent his Son to earth, "to seek and to save the lost" (Lk 19: 10). And he saved us by his death on the cross. Let no one empty that Cross of its power! Jesus died and rose from the dead to be "the first-born among many brethren" (Rom 8: 29).

In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came here to Fátima to ask men and women "to stop offending God, Our Lord, who is already very offended". It is a mother's sorrow that compels her to speak; the destiny of her children is at stake. For this reason she asks the little shepherds: "Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them."

Little Jacinta felt and personally experienced Our Lady's anguish, offering herself heroically as a victim for sinners. One day, when she and Francisco had already contracted the illness that forced them to bed, the Virgin Mary came to visit them at home, as the little one recounts: "Our Lady came to see us and said that soon she would come and take Francisco to heaven. And she asked me if I still wanted to convert more sinners. I told her yes". And when the time came for Francisco to leave, the little girl tells him: "Give my greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners". Jacinta had been so deeply moved by the vision of hell during the apparition of 13 July that no mortification or penance seemed too great to save sinners.

She could well exclaim with St Paul: "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church" (Col 1: 24). Last Sunday at the Colosseum in Rome, we commemorated the many witnesses to the faith in the 20th century, recalling the tribulations they suffered through the significant testimonies they left us. An innumerable cloud of courageous witnesses to the faith have left us a precious heritage which must live on in the third millennium. Here in Fátima, where these times of tribulation were foretold and Our Lady asked for prayer and penance to shorten them, I would like today to thank heaven for the powerful witness shown in all those lives. And once again I would like to celebrate the Lord's goodness to me when I was saved from death after being gravely wounded on 13 May 1981. I also express my gratitude to Bl. Jacinta for the sacrifices and prayers offered for the Holy Father, whom she saw suffering greatly.

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Timeline of the Events of Fatima

Spring-Fall 1916 – In preparation for what was to follow, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto receive three visitations by an angel, who teaches them to pray for non-believers, asks them to pray and sacrifice in reparation for sin, and brings them Holy Communion.

May 13, 1917 – Lucia (age 10), Francisco (9), and Jacinta (7) are tending sheep at the Cova da Iria when they see lightning and a strange light. They then see a Lady dressed in white, who is radiating light, and she asks if they are willing to offer themselves to God to bear suffering in reparation for sins and supplication for the conversion of sinners. After Lucia says, “yes,” the Lady asks the children to pray the Rosary every day.

June 13 – After Lucia says that they want to go to heaven, the Lady says that Francisco and Jacinta will go there soon. Lucia is to remain to make her message known, but her Immaculate Heart will never abandon her. The Lady also says that Jesus wishes that devotion to her Immaculate Heart be established in the world.

July 13 – After asking the children to pray the Rosary to obtain peace, the Lady says that a miracle will be performed in October so that others will believe. Three “secrets” are then revealed to them: (1) a brief terrifying vision of poor sinners suffering in Hell, (2) a warning of an even greater war to follow WWI, and (3) the suffering of the Church, including a vision of a Bishop in white being shot and killed. The Lady also asks for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and prayers for the conversion of Russia to prevent that country from spreading errors throughout the world. Further, the Lady asks for the establishment of First Saturday devotions. She says that she asks these things in order to save souls and bring peace and assures them that, in the end, her Immaculate Heart would triumph. She then teaches the children the “Fatima prayer” to be included in the Rosary.

August 13 – The children are arrested, interrogated, and thrown into jail, preventing them from going to the Cova, but some of a crowd of 15,000 report a mysterious light and heavenly fragrance of flowers.
August 19 – The Lady appeared to the children and again urged them to pray and sacrifice for sinners because many end up in Hell because they have no one to pray for them.

September 13 – Before a crowd that has grown to 30,000, the Lady asks the children to pray for the end of the war.

October 13 – A reported 70,000 people come to the Cova on a rainy day. The Lady asks that a chapel be built and says that the war will end soon. She finally identifies herself, "I am the Lady of the Rosary, I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it everyday.” What followed then has been called the “Miracle of the Sun,” and it was reported in many newspapers throughout the world. As the crowd was witnessing the miracle, the children saw a vision of the Holy Family and a vision of Jesus carrying His cross with Our Lady of Sorrows. Lucia also saw Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who signifies the triumph over suffering.

April 4, 1919 – Francisco dies of influenza, which had become epidemic in Portugal.

February 20, 1920 – Jacinta follows her brother and also dies of influenza. She continued to have periodic visions before her death.

October 24, 1925 – Lucia enters the Sisters of St. Dorothy. In 1946, Sister Lucia entered the Carmelite Convent. Like Jacinta, Lucia received many additional visions on occasion.

May 13, 1981 - On the anniversary of the first apparition, Pope John Paul II is shot by a would-be assassin. He is gravely wounded, but survives. Noting the date of the shooting, the Pope credits Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life, saying that "one hand fired the gun, but another one guided the bullet."

May 13, 2000 – Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta are beatified by Pope John Paul II. The "Third Secret" of the July 13 apparition, which had previously been withheld, is made public, and it is interpreted to refer in part to the 1981 shooting of the Pope.

February 13, 2005 – Sister Lucia dies after a period of illness.

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