Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7th

 Our Lady's 15 Promises

for Praying the Rosary

Besides the Indulgences attached to the Rosary, Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary. Our Lady's promise is shown in darker blue text. Additional explanation on and doctrinal connections to each promise is shown following in the smaller normal text font and color. Note that the Rosary is the prayer (non-Liturgical) with the most published Magisterial / Papal documents expounding on its excellence. Vatican II's summary on Our Lady is contained in Lumen Gentium chapter VIII.

1.	Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.Signal Graces are those special and unique Graces to help sanctify us in our state in life. See the remaining promises for an explanation for which these will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically that the best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [True Devotion to Mary, chapter four].
2.	I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.Our Lady is our Advocate and the channel of all God's Grace to us. Our Lady is simply highlighting that She will watch especially over us who pray the Rosary. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) [a great more detail is available on this topic in True Devotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort]
3.	The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.This promise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how fervent prayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especially a prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holiness necessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice, and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could be convinced to pray the Rosary! (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) St. Louis de Montfort states "Since Mary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)..." [True Devotion to Mary #167]
4.	It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.This promise, along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live in virtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing in virtue. (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42)
5.	The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.Since Our Lady is our Mother and Advocate, She always assists those who call on Her implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of this in the Memorare prayer, "... never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided ..."
6.	Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.This promise highlights the magnitude of Graces that the Rosary brings to whomever prays it. One will draw down God's Mercy rather than His Justice and will have a final chance to repent (see promise #7). One will not be conquered by misfortune means that Our Lady will obtain for the person sufficient Graces to handle said misfortune (i.e. carry the Crosses allowed by God) without falling into despair. As Sacred Scripture tells us, "For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Matthew 11:30)
7.	Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.This promise highlights the benefits of obtaining the most possible Graces at the hour of death via the Sacraments of Confession, Eucharist, and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick). Being properly disposed while receiving these Sacraments near death ensures one's salvation (although perhaps with a detour through Purgatory) since a final repentance is possible.
8.	Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.Our Lady highlights the great quantity of Graces obtain through praying the Rosary, which assist us during life and at the moment of death. The merits of the Saints are the gift of God's rewards to those persons who responded to His Grace that they obtained during life, and so Our Lady indicates that She will provide a share of that to us at death. With this promise and #7 above, Our Lady is providing the means for the person to have a very holy death.
9.	I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.Should one require Purgatorial cleansing after death, Our Lady will make a special effort to obtain our release from Purgatory through Her intercession as Advocate.
10.	The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.This promise is a logical consequence of promises #3 and #4 since anyone who truly lives a holier life on earth will obtain a higher place in Heaven. The closer one is to God while living on earth, the close that person is to Him also in Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states "Spiritual progress tends toward ever more union with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2014)
11.	You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.This promise emphasizes Our Lady's role as our Advocate and Mediatrix of all Graces. Of course, all requests are subject to God's Most Perfect Will. God will always grant our request if it is beneficial for our soul, and Our Lady will only intercede for us when our request is good for our salvation. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
12.	All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.If one promotes the praying of the Rosary, Our Lady emphasizes Her Maternal care for us by obtaining many Graces (i.e. spiritual necessities) and also material necessities (neither excess nor luxury), all subject to the Will of God of course.
13.	I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.Since Our Lady is our Advocate, She brings us additional assistance during our life and at our death from all the saints in Heaven (the Communion of Saints). See paragraphs 954 through 959 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
14.	All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.Since the Rosary is a most excellent prayer focused on Jesus and His Life and activities in salvation history, it brings us closer to Our Lord and Our Lady. Doctrinally, Our Lady is our Mother and Jesus is our Eldest Brother, besides being our God. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
15.	Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.Predestination in this context means that, by the sign which is present to a person from the action of devoutly praying the Rosary, God has pre-ordained your salvation. Absolute certainty of salvation can only be truly known if God reveals it to a person because, although we are given sufficient Grace during life, our salvation depends upon our response to said Grace. (See Summa Theologica, Question 23 for a detailed theological explanation). Said another way, if God has guaranteed a person's salvation but has not revealed it to Him, God would want that person to pray the Rosary because of all the benefits and Graces obtained. Therefore the person gets a hint by devotion to the Rosary. This is not to say that praying the Rosary guarantees salvation - by no means. In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosary helps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that a soul is on the road to salvation. (See also paragraphs 381, 488, 600, 2782 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) In fact, St. Louis de Montfort says even more strongly that "an infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God's true friends is that the hardened sinner and heretic show nothing but contempt and indifference to Our Lady..." [True Devotion to Mary, #30]

Reminder: these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying the Rosary, Our Lady will obtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises. It is still up to each individual soul to respond to those Graces in order to obtain salvation.

Taken from: http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/15promise.htm

Apparition of 13 September 1917

Despite the ridicule and jokes of the secular, atheistic press, more than 30,000 people gathered in the Cova for the September apparition. Whether drawn by devotion or curiosity, they prayed the rosary while awaiting the arrival of the visionaries and their vision. When at least the time came they could hear Lucia say,

Video
"What do you want of me?"
Continue the Rosary, my children. Say it every day that the war may end. In October Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world.
God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to wear the cords to bed. Keep them on during the day.
"I have the petitions of many for your help. Will you assist a little girl who is deaf and dumb?"
She will improve within the year.
"And the conversions that some have asked to have brought about? The cures of the sick ones?"
Some I will cure, and some I will not. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.

With these last words still ringing in their ears, the Lady rose and disappeared in the heavens, as Lucia called to the crowd, "If you wish to see her --- look! Look!"

The Account of Msgr. John Quaresma

Examination by Rev. Dr. Formigao

John Paul II and the Fall of Communism

Nine Days that Changed the World | Trailer

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Pope John Paul II's historic nine-day pilgrimage to Poland in June of 1979 created a revolution of conscience that transformed Poland and fundamentally reshaped the spiritual and political landscape of the 20th Century. Newt and Callista Gingrich, along with a Polish, American, and Italian cast, explore what transpired during these nine days that moved the Polish people to renew their hearts, reclaim their courage, and free themselves from the shackles of Communism.

Millions of Poles, almost one third of the nation, turned out to see the Holy Father in person, while the rest of the country followed his pilgrimage on television and radio. Within sixteen months, Solidarity became the first officially recognized free trade union in the Communist bloc, with over 10 million members. The momentum of this dramatic nine-day visit would eventually lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Featuring exclusive interviews with George Weigel, Michael Novak, John O'Sullivan, Jerzy Kluger, Fr. Adam Boniecki, Fr. Thomas Williams, Fr. Wojciech Giertych, President Lech Walesa, President Vaclav Havel, Former CIA Director James Woolsey, and many more.

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Remembrance of Encyclical on Devotion to Sacred Heart of Jesus

ZE06061522 - 2006-06-15
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-16328?l=english

Papal Letter on 50th Anniversary of "Haurietis Aquas"

Remembrance of Encyclical on Devotion to Sacred Heart

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's letter to the superior general of the Jesuits to mark the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's encyclical "Haurietis Aquas," on devotion to the Sacred Heart.

* * *

To the Most Reverend Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
Superior General of the Society of Jesus

Today, 50 years later, the Prophet Isaiah's words, which Pius XII placed at the beginning of the Encyclical with which he commemorated the first centenary of the extension of the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus to the entire Church, have lost none of their meaning: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3).

By encouraging devotion to the Heart of Jesus, the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" exhorted believers to open themselves to the mystery of God and of his love and to allow themselves to be transformed by it. After 50 years, it is still a fitting task for Christians to continue to deepen their relationship with the Heart of Jesus, in such a way as to revive their faith in the saving love of God and to welcome him ever better into their lives.

The Redeemer's pierced side is the source to which the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" refers us: We must draw from this source to attain true knowledge of Jesus Christ and a deeper experience of his love. Thus, we will be able to understand better what it means to know God's love in Jesus Christ, to experience him, keeping our gaze fixed on him to the point that we live entirely on the experience of his love, so that we can subsequently witness to it to others.

Indeed, to take up a saying of my venerable Predecessor John Paul II, "In the Heart of Christ, man's heart learns to know the genuine and unique meaning of his life and of his destiny, to understand the value of an authentically Christian life, to keep himself from certain perversions of the human heart, and to unite the filial love for God and the love of neighbor."

Thus: "The true reparation asked by the Heart of the Savior will come when the civilization of the Heart of Christ can be built upon the ruins heaped up by hatred and violence" (Letter to Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, superior general of the Society of Jesus for the beatification of Blessed Claude de la Colombière, Oct. 5, 1986; L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, Oct. 27, 1986, p. 7).

In the Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," I cited the affirmation in the First Letter of St John: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us," in order to emphasize that being Christian begins with the encounter with a Person (cf. No. 1).

Since God revealed himself most profoundly in the Incarnation of his Son in whom he made himself "visible," it is in our relationship with Christ that we can recognize who God really is (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," Nos. 29-41; "Deus Caritas Est," Nos. 12-15).

And again: since the deepest expression of God's love is found in the gift Christ made of his life for us on the Cross, the deepest expression of God's love, it is above all by looking at his suffering and his death that we can see God's infinite love for us more and more clearly: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Moreover, not only does this mystery of God's love for us constitute the content of the worship of and devotion to the Heart of Jesus, but in the same way it is likewise the content of all true spirituality and Christian devotion. It is consequently important to stress that the basis of the devotion is as old as Christianity itself.

Indeed, it is only possible to be Christian by fixing our gaze on the Cross of our Redeemer, "on him whom they have pierced" (John 19:37; cf. Zechariah 12:10).

The Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" rightly recalls that for countless souls the wound in Christ's side and the marks left by the nails have been "the chief sign and symbol of that love" that ever more incisively shaped their life from within (cf. No. 52).

Recognizing God's love in the Crucified One became an inner experience that prompted them to confess, together with Thomas: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), and enabled them to acquire a deeper faith by welcoming God's love unreservedly (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 49).

The deepest meaning of this devotion to God's love is revealed solely through a more attentive consideration of its contribution not only to the knowledge, but also and especially to the personal experience of this love in trusting dedication to its service (cf. ibid., No. 62).

It is obvious that experience and knowledge cannot be separated: The one refers to the other. Moreover, it is essential to emphasize that true knowledge of God's love is only possible in the context of an attitude of humble prayer and generous availability.

Starting with this interior attitude, one sees that the gaze fixed upon his side, pierced by the spear, is transformed into silent adoration. Gazing at the Lord's pierced side, from which "blood and water" flowed (cf. John 19:34), helps us to recognize the manifold gifts of grace that derive from it (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," Nos. 34-41) and opens us to all other forms of Christian worship embraced by the devotion to the Heart of Jesus.

Faith, understood as a fruit of the experience of God's love, is a grace, a gift of God. Yet human beings will only be able to experience faith as a grace to the extent that they accept it within themselves as a gift on which they seek to live. Devotion to the love of God, to which the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" invited the faithful (cf. No. 72), must help us never to forget that he willingly took this suffering upon himself "for us," "for me."

When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love "into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (cf. Romans 5:5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 4) is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God.

This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love.

Whoever inwardly accepts God is molded by him. The experience of God's love should be lived by men and women as a "calling" to which they must respond. Fixing our gaze on the Lord, who "took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:17), helps us to become more attentive to the suffering and need of others.

Adoring contemplation of the side pierced by the spear makes us sensitive to God's salvific will. It enables us to entrust ourselves to his saving and merciful love, and at the same time strengthens us in the desire to take part in his work of salvation, becoming his instruments.

The gifts received from the open side, from which "blood and water" flowed (cf. John 19:34), ensure that our lives will also become for others a source from which "rivers of living water" flow (John 7:38; cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 7).

The experience of love, brought by the devotion to the pierced side of the Redeemer, protects us from the risk of withdrawing into ourselves and makes us readier to live for others. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16; cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 38).

It was only the experience that God first gave us his love that has enabled us to respond to his commandment of love (cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 17).

So it is that the cult of love, which becomes visible in the mystery of the Cross presented anew in every celebration of the Eucharist, lays the foundations of our capacity to love and to make a gift of ourselves (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 69), becoming instruments in Christ's hands: Only in this way can we be credible proclaimers of his love.

However, this opening of ourselves to God's will must be renewed in every moment: "Love is never 'finished' and complete" (cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 17).

Thus, looking at the "side pierced by the spear" from which shines forth God's boundless desire for our salvation cannot be considered a transitory form of worship or devotion: The adoration of God's love, whose historical and devotional expression is found in the symbol of the "pierced heart," remains indispensable for a living relationship with God (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 62).

As I express the wish that the 50th anniversary will give rise to an ever more fervent response to love of the Heart of Christ in numerous hearts, I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you, Most Reverend Father, and to all the Religious of the Society of Jesus, who are still very active in promoting this fundamental devotion.

From the Vatican, May 15, 2006

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

[Original in Italian; translation by Vatican, adapted]

© Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Fatima Apparition of July 13, 1917

The message of Fatima

Taken from: http://www.rosary-center.org/fatimams.htm

....

The following is a brief consideration of Our Lady's three requests: penance, prayer and devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

1.PENANCE

In the Gospels the word penance means a conversion of one's life, a turning away from sin, and a turning back to God. As Our Lady insisted at Fatima: "Men must amend their lives, and ask pardon for their sins. . . . They must no longer offend Our Lord, Who is already so much offended." The Fatima message is a call for men to give up sinful practices which grieve God and draw down His chastisements on the world, and to make reparation for them. Commenting on Our Lady's request for penance, Sr. Lucia wrote: "The part of the last apparition which has remained most deeply imprinted on my heart is the prayer of our heavenly Mother begging us not to offend any more Almighty God, Who is already so much offended." Jacinta, too, shortly before her death remarked: "If men only knew what eternity is, how they would make all possible efforts to amend their lives . . . mortification and sacrifice give great pleasure to Our Divine Lord." In August of 1917 Our Lady told the children, "pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." As to the kinds of sacrifices Our Lady was asking, she revealed to Sr. Lucia on one occasion: "The good Lord is allowing Himself to be appeased . . . but He Himself complains most bitterly and sorrowfully about the small number of souls in His grace who are willing to renounce whatever the observance of His laws requires of them." "Many persons," Sr. Lucia explained, "feeling that the word penance implies great austerities, and not feeling that they have the strength for great sacrifices, become discouraged and continue a life of lukewarmness and sin." Then she said Our Lord explained to her: "The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require." In this materialistic culture in which we live, almost heroic virtue is required to be faithful to the duties of the Christian life. Yet, over and above those sacrifices "required of every person," the children of Fatima practiced many little acts of mortification and renunciation on their own initiative. It is hoped that many devotees of Our Lady will not be content with the minimum required and will not pass up opportunities of voluntary mortification, placing in the hands of Our Lady the fruits of the little trials, frustrations and irritations of each day accepted with patience and resignation. It was in this same spirit that the Angel spoke to the children in 1916: "Offer up everything in your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners . . . More than all else, accept and bear with resignation the sufferings that God may send you."

2.PRAYER

Besides a call to penance Fatima is in a special way a call for the Rosary. So central is the Rosary to the Fatima message that Our Lady chose to identify herself as "The Lady of the Rosary." In each of the six apparitions she asked for the daily Rosary, and especially as an instrument of world peace. As she revealed in the third apparition: "You must recite the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war for only she can obtain this." In this Our Lady renewed her request for the prayer she gave to the Church centuries before, a prayer that has proven a powerful weapon against the enemies of Christianity as history testifies. When asked about the importance of the Rosary, Sr. Lucia responded: "My impression is that the Rosary is of greatest value not only according to the words of Our Lady at Fatima, but according to the effects of the Rosary one sees throughout history. My impression is that Our Lady wanted to give ordinary people, who might not know how to pray, this simple method of getting closer to God." The Rosary is basically a gospel prayer, and for those who pray it properly, it is, as Sr. Lucia said, "a simple method of getting closer to God." But to pray it properly requires that each decade be a reflection on some aspect of the joyful, sorrowful or glorious mysteries of our redemption. Without that meditation, the Rosary would become monotonous repetition. As Pope Paul VI wrote in MARIALIS CULTUS: "Without this (contemplation) the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas." In praying the Rosary we can well take Our Lady as a model, for as the Scriptures tell us, "Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her Heart." The Rosary is a simple form of prayer that can be prayed by the young or old, the learned or the uneducated, the saint or the sinner. Each can adapt it to his or her own capacity. It is so pleasing to Our Lady, because it brings us to review again and again the life of Christ, the mysteries of our redemption. As Pope Paul VI pointed out, it not only recalls to mind these mysteries, but stimulates the will to draw from them the norms of living. That is, it not only points out the way, but helps us to obtain the graces needed to follow in that way. After repeatedly asking for the daily Rosary, and identifying herself as "The Lady of the Rosary," the Blessed Mother terminated the final apparition by showing the children three separate tableaux symbolizing the entire message of the Rosary. The first was a vision of the Holy family - representing the joyful mysteries; the second a vision of Our Lady of Sorrows - representing the sorrowful mysteries; and the third a vision of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - representing the glorious mysteries. The Rosary may seem like an insignificant thing in the light of the magnitude of the evils of today�s world, but it is the weapon given to us by Our Lady. She merely asks our cooperation, and she will do the rest. It is like the slingshot of David that killed the mighty enemy because the power of God was behind it. Thus, as the saying goes, he who prays the Rosary has the power of God in his hand.

1.DEVOTION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

In 1916, a year before the apparitions of Our Lady, the Angel of Peace appeared to the children to prepare them for things to come. "The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy for you," he said. "Offer unceasingly to the Most High prayer and sacrifices." In the second apparition the following year (June 13) Our Lady let the children know that "Jesus wishes to establish throughout the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart." Several times in the June and July apparitions Our Lady spoke of this devotion, as we shall see; and soon there began to burn in their hearts (especially Jacinta�s) a deep love for the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Shortly before Jacinta went to the hospital where she was to die, she said to Lucia: "In a short time now I am going to heaven. You are to stay here and say that God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. . . . Tell everybody that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and that they must ask them from her. Tell them that the Heart of Jesus wishes that by His side should be venerated the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask peace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; God has placed it in her hands. Oh that I could put into the heart of everybody the flame that I feel burning within my breast and which makes me love so much the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary." June 13, 1917 Lucia asked Our Lady if she would take them to heaven. Our Lady answered: "Yes, I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. You, however, are to stay here a longer time. Jesus wants to use you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by me before His throne." When Lucia asked if she were going to be left alone, Our Lady responded: "No, my daughter. Does this cause you to suffer a great deal? I will never leave you, my Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God." As the Blessed Mother uttered these words she extended her hands and in the rays of light that shone from them, the children saw themselves as if submerged in the Divine presence. Jacinta and Francisco were on the side of the light that was ascending to Heaven, while Lucia was in the light that seemed diffused over all the earth. In the palm of her right hand was a Heart pierced with thorns; and the children understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so offended by the sins of mankind and pleading for reparation. July 13, 1917 "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners; and say often when you make some sacrifice, 'My Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'" After showing the children a vision of hell, Our Lady said to them: "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish throughout the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do as I shall ask many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.... But if people do not cease offending God... another and more terrible war will begin. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign that God gives that the chastisement of the world for its many transgressions is at hand through war, famine, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father." "To prevent this, I shall come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and Communions of reparation on the first Saturdays. If my requests are heard, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, fomenting wars and persecution of the Church. The good will suffer martyrdom; the Holy Father will suffer much; different nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted, and some time of peace will be granted to humanity." NOTE: From the above, we must not think of the Five First Saturdays merely in terms of personal salvation, of receiving "at the hour of death the graces necessary for salvation;" but also in terms of world peace, of avoiding the terrible social consequences mentioned above by Our Lady. December 10, 1925 The visits of Our Lady to Lucia did not end with those in 1917. In fact it was only through later apparitions that Lucia received permission to make known some of the messages revealed in 1917. While Lucia was in her room at the convent of the Sisters of St. Dorothy, Our Lady and the Child Jesus appeared to her. Resting her right hand on Lucia�s shoulder, the Blessed Mother held in her other hand a Heart surrounded by sharp thorns. The Divine Child was the first to speak to Lucia: "Have pity on the Heart of your most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation." Then Our Lady made known her request for Communions of reparation: "My daughter, look at my Heart encircled with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you at least try to console me and announce in my name 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, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to me."

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Every sin, great and small, is an offense against God for which reparation must be made. Yet, so dear is the Heart of Mary to her Divine Son, and so much is He pained at the offenses and blasphemies against her Immaculate Heart that, as Fr. Thomas McGlynn, O.P. expresses in his book VISION OF FATIMA: "God has told us now, through Fatima, that we can make reparation to Him if we repair the sufferings we have caused her. The Heart that received the fullness of participation in the divine life, that knew the affections of a mother for Jesus Christ during the years at Nazareth, that went through the agony of seeing Him die, that honors Him in heaven more than all the rest of creation, is now gloriously proclaimed by Him through Fatima."

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Back to the Fatima outline, or go to Next chapter.

Pope Reminds Jesuits of Devotion to Sacred Heart of Jesus

ZE06061522 - 2006-06-15
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-16328?l=english

Papal Letter on 50th Anniversary of "Haurietis Aquas"

Remembrance of Encyclical on Devotion to Sacred Heart

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's letter to the superior general of the Jesuits to mark the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's encyclical "Haurietis Aquas," on devotion to the Sacred Heart.

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To the Most Reverend Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
Superior General of the Society of Jesus

Today, 50 years later, the Prophet Isaiah's words, which Pius XII placed at the beginning of the Encyclical with which he commemorated the first centenary of the extension of the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus to the entire Church, have lost none of their meaning: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3).

By encouraging devotion to the Heart of Jesus, the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" exhorted believers to open themselves to the mystery of God and of his love and to allow themselves to be transformed by it. After 50 years, it is still a fitting task for Christians to continue to deepen their relationship with the Heart of Jesus, in such a way as to revive their faith in the saving love of God and to welcome him ever better into their lives.

The Redeemer's pierced side is the source to which the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" refers us: We must draw from this source to attain true knowledge of Jesus Christ and a deeper experience of his love. Thus, we will be able to understand better what it means to know God's love in Jesus Christ, to experience him, keeping our gaze fixed on him to the point that we live entirely on the experience of his love, so that we can subsequently witness to it to others.

Indeed, to take up a saying of my venerable Predecessor John Paul II, "In the Heart of Christ, man's heart learns to know the genuine and unique meaning of his life and of his destiny, to understand the value of an authentically Christian life, to keep himself from certain perversions of the human heart, and to unite the filial love for God and the love of neighbor."

Thus: "The true reparation asked by the Heart of the Savior will come when the civilization of the Heart of Christ can be built upon the ruins heaped up by hatred and violence" (Letter to Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, superior general of the Society of Jesus for the beatification of Blessed Claude de la Colombière, Oct. 5, 1986; L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, Oct. 27, 1986, p. 7).

In the Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," I cited the affirmation in the First Letter of St John: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us," in order to emphasize that being Christian begins with the encounter with a Person (cf. No. 1).

Since God revealed himself most profoundly in the Incarnation of his Son in whom he made himself "visible," it is in our relationship with Christ that we can recognize who God really is (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," Nos. 29-41; "Deus Caritas Est," Nos. 12-15).

And again: since the deepest expression of God's love is found in the gift Christ made of his life for us on the Cross, the deepest expression of God's love, it is above all by looking at his suffering and his death that we can see God's infinite love for us more and more clearly: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

Moreover, not only does this mystery of God's love for us constitute the content of the worship of and devotion to the Heart of Jesus, but in the same way it is likewise the content of all true spirituality and Christian devotion. It is consequently important to stress that the basis of the devotion is as old as Christianity itself.

Indeed, it is only possible to be Christian by fixing our gaze on the Cross of our Redeemer, "on him whom they have pierced" (John 19:37; cf. Zechariah 12:10).

The Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" rightly recalls that for countless souls the wound in Christ's side and the marks left by the nails have been "the chief sign and symbol of that love" that ever more incisively shaped their life from within (cf. No. 52).

Recognizing God's love in the Crucified One became an inner experience that prompted them to confess, together with Thomas: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), and enabled them to acquire a deeper faith by welcoming God's love unreservedly (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 49).

The deepest meaning of this devotion to God's love is revealed solely through a more attentive consideration of its contribution not only to the knowledge, but also and especially to the personal experience of this love in trusting dedication to its service (cf. ibid., No. 62).

It is obvious that experience and knowledge cannot be separated: The one refers to the other. Moreover, it is essential to emphasize that true knowledge of God's love is only possible in the context of an attitude of humble prayer and generous availability.

Starting with this interior attitude, one sees that the gaze fixed upon his side, pierced by the spear, is transformed into silent adoration. Gazing at the Lord's pierced side, from which "blood and water" flowed (cf. John 19:34), helps us to recognize the manifold gifts of grace that derive from it (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," Nos. 34-41) and opens us to all other forms of Christian worship embraced by the devotion to the Heart of Jesus.

Faith, understood as a fruit of the experience of God's love, is a grace, a gift of God. Yet human beings will only be able to experience faith as a grace to the extent that they accept it within themselves as a gift on which they seek to live. Devotion to the love of God, to which the Encyclical "Haurietis Aquas" invited the faithful (cf. No. 72), must help us never to forget that he willingly took this suffering upon himself "for us," "for me."

When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love "into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (cf. Romans 5:5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 4) is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God.

This explains why the devotion, which is totally oriented to the love of God who sacrificed himself for us, has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love.

Whoever inwardly accepts God is molded by him. The experience of God's love should be lived by men and women as a "calling" to which they must respond. Fixing our gaze on the Lord, who "took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Matthew 8:17), helps us to become more attentive to the suffering and need of others.

Adoring contemplation of the side pierced by the spear makes us sensitive to God's salvific will. It enables us to entrust ourselves to his saving and merciful love, and at the same time strengthens us in the desire to take part in his work of salvation, becoming his instruments.

The gifts received from the open side, from which "blood and water" flowed (cf. John 19:34), ensure that our lives will also become for others a source from which "rivers of living water" flow (John 7:38; cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 7).

The experience of love, brought by the devotion to the pierced side of the Redeemer, protects us from the risk of withdrawing into ourselves and makes us readier to live for others. "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16; cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 38).

It was only the experience that God first gave us his love that has enabled us to respond to his commandment of love (cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 17).

So it is that the cult of love, which becomes visible in the mystery of the Cross presented anew in every celebration of the Eucharist, lays the foundations of our capacity to love and to make a gift of ourselves (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 69), becoming instruments in Christ's hands: Only in this way can we be credible proclaimers of his love.

However, this opening of ourselves to God's will must be renewed in every moment: "Love is never 'finished' and complete" (cf. "Deus Caritas Est," No. 17).

Thus, looking at the "side pierced by the spear" from which shines forth God's boundless desire for our salvation cannot be considered a transitory form of worship or devotion: The adoration of God's love, whose historical and devotional expression is found in the symbol of the "pierced heart," remains indispensable for a living relationship with God (cf. "Haurietis Aquas," No. 62).

As I express the wish that the 50th anniversary will give rise to an ever more fervent response to love of the Heart of Christ in numerous hearts, I impart a special Apostolic Blessing to you, Most Reverend Father, and to all the Religious of the Society of Jesus, who are still very active in promoting this fundamental devotion.

From the Vatican, May 15, 2006

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

[Original in Italian; translation by Vatican, adapted]

© Copyright 2006 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

'Marialis Cultus' being undermined by Medjugorje

A Perth (Western Australian) correspondent has written to us the following letter on the subject of Medjugorje and Fr. Timothy Deeter, who is promoting it enthusiastically in the Archdiocese of Perth (30 December 2010):

Dear [Editor]

You may receive this missive in the New Year, thought the content of Marian Centre Newsletter [see next page] may interest “us” especially the blatant deception being pushed about the validity of Medjugorje.

Priest Tim Deeter is a priest kicked out of his diocese in America by his bishop – but accepted in the Perth Archdiocese by [Archbishop] Barry Hickey who allows him to peddle the “lies” throughout our Archdiocese and beyond .... Also the Catholic paper has advertised an appearance in our Cathedral of “Ivan” so called visionary in February 2011.

Fr. Tizio Bogoni is sponsoring him and Yolanda Nardizzi who is hand in glove with him and Archbishop Hickey – who by the way has visited Medjugorje several times along with the new Dean of our Cathedral Monsignor Keating whom they call the travelling pilgrim.

The damage these people do to true devotion to Our Lady and the message of Fatima by their actions in confusing people about Church approved visits of Our Lady is not only a scandal but (in my view) a sin against the true cult of Our Blessed Mother and an insult to Her Son and Our Lord.

Please pray for this Archdiocese and us ... as we pray daily for you and your apostolate ....

....

AMAIC: Certainly, our prayers are assured for the Archdiocese of Perth and for all those there who are trying to promote a true devotion to the most Blessed Virgin Mary.

Now follows that part of the Marian Centre Newsletter, from Western Australia, to which our correspondent has referred regarding Fr. Deeter [taken from pp. 2-3 of that Newsletter].

Marian Centre (WA)

NEWSLETTER

No: 119

MARCH 2010

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O my God, relying on Thy infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain the pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

….

FR TIM DEETER ON MEDJUGORJE

Q. Hasn't the Church forbidden pilgrimages to Medjugorje?

A. Since Medjugorje is not yet an officially approved apparition site, official pilgrimages, i.e., pilgrimages organised by a diocese and led by a bishop - are forbidden. However, the Vatican has repeatedly stated that Catholics are free to go to Medjugorje, and that they may bring along bishops and/or priests to minister to their needs.

Q. Isn't it a negative sign that the Church hasn't approved Medjugorje?

A. On the contrary, it is a positive sign that the Church is still investigating Medjugorje. If it were so obvious that Medjugorje were false, the Church would have shut it down years ago.

Q. Didn't the local bishop disapprove of Medjugorje and forbid people to go there?

A. Yes. However, the Yugoslav Bishops' Conference took the matter into its own hands and said that pilgrims could go there while investigations continued. Then, when war broke out in 1991, the Vatican took over the investigation. It said that, since the local bishop never convoked a formal theological or psychological inquiry into the events, and never even once met with any of the visionaries, his pronouncements were to be considered his personal opinion only.

Q. Why hasn't the Vatican approved Medjugorje?

A. The Vatican never approves any apparitions; the decision is left to the local bishop. Guadalupe, La Salette, Lourdes, the Rue de Bac, Fatima and all other ‘approved’ apparitions received their approval from the local bishop. However, due to the war in ex-­Yugoslavia and the mishandling of the matter by the Bishop of Mostar, the Vatican has assumed responsibility for the ongoing investigation into Medjugorje. There is some hope that this case can be returned to the local bishops' conference, but that remains to be seen.

Q. I read in the media that a local Franciscan priest, who was the visionaries' spiritual director, got a nun pregnant and then was removed from the priesthood. Isn't that proof that Medjugorje is false?

A. It is true that one of the Franciscans then stationed in Medjugorje impregnated a woman and was reduced to the lay state. However, the media misconstrued several facts:

(1) the woman was a German lay person, not a nun; (2) the priest was never the visionaries' spiritual director, but had only spoken with one visionary on four occasions, after which she avoided his counsel; (3) the affair occurred in 1977, whereas the apparitions began in 1981; (4) the priest was removed From the priesthood in 2009; (5) the Vatican explicitly stated at the time of the priest's removal that this affair had absolutely no bearing upon the ongoing investigation into Medjugorje, and that pilgrims are still free to go there. That said, think about this: if a priest in trouble were a sign that Medjugorje is false then what should be believed about the Church, considering the popes, bishops, priests, religious and lay people who have at times been unfaithful to God's commandments?

Does this mean that God is not present in the Church? Of course not.

Q. I've heard that the visionaries live in large houses and are making a lot of money. Is this true?

A. No. Several of the visionaries have built large houses which have rooms for pilgrims, but the visionaries' families live in only a few rooms of the house; and the visionaries cook, clean, and serve in these pilgrim hostels. They barely make ends meet. Several of the visionaries travel to speak at conferences, etc. and are given an honorarium for their talks; but again, this is not a living wage. Most of the visionaries' spouses work and provide for their families.

Fr Tim Deeter

For the best antidote to Medjugorje: Fatima, read on.

Understanding Medjugorje Book
Review which appeared in
the Brandsma Review (Issue 84)

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Probably the worst thing about Medjugorje, believes Foley, is the way it has obscured the message of Fatima, which is still absolutely crucial for our times.

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Understanding Medjugorje review - ISBN 0955074606

CLEARING THE MEDJUGORJE MINEFIELD By NICK LOWRY, a review of UNDERSTANDING MEDJUGORJE: Heavenly Visions or Religious Illusion?, by Donal Anthony Foley

…. Foley's previous work, Marian Apparitions and the Modern World (Gracewing, 2002) examined the major Marian apparitions of the past five centuries, showing how each apparition is connected with the scriptural types of Mary found in the Bible. This earlier book-as Fr Aidan Nichols OP pointed out in the foreword-avoided the opposing extremes of scepticism and credulity. Foley is well qualified to enter the Medjugorje minefield. He is no lightweight, having degrees in Humanities and Theology, and his work has appeared in the orthodox American publication The Homiletic and Pastoral Review.

….

Probably the worst thing about Medjugorje, believes Foley, is the way it has obscured the message of Fatima, which is still absolutely crucial for our times. "It [Fatima] represents an unprecedented intervention on the part of the Blessed Virgin in order to bring back to Christ a world which is increasingly denying and rejecting the Gospel of eternal salvation..."

As Foley pointed out in his earlier work, the devotion to Mary proposed at Fatima is both a guarantee of individual salvation and a necessity for the world if there is to be true peace. The main problem with Medjugorje is that it is diverting the faithful away from Fatima, and risking their estrangement from the true life of the Church.

Chequered history

…. In the 1920s the Franciscans, who had heroically stayed with their people during the centuries-long Turkish occupation, refused to hand over their parishes to the local Ordinary, even when ordered by Rome. They were still in a state of active disobedience by the time the visions began in the early 1980s. The revolt culminated in 1995 with a physical attack on the local Ordinary, Bishop Ratko Peric by a mob sympathetic to the Franciscans.

So, as Foley says, this is not a normal Catholic culture, "but one with a strange and chequered history, comprising heretical sects, pagan religion, seemingly endless violence, and a long-running dispute between the official Church and the Franciscans".

In his third chapter, Foley tackles the question whether the visions are genuine or not. Most testimonies are based on interviews which took place about 18 months after the first alleged visits of the Blessed Virgin, when memories could well be at fault.

He goes to the little-known primary source material, taped during the first few days of the apparitions. As he points out, they are a severe embarrassment to proponents of Medjugorje; it emerges that the apparitions, which have now been going on for a quarter of a century, were supposed to end after three more days-on July 3rd, 1981.

So what did happen? Foley believes the visionaries certainly saw something on that bleak hillside outside Medjugorje - at least in the earliest days - but not the Blessed Virgin. The whole thing is so bizarre, indeed "tacky", that one would have to agree that it cannot have been Our Lady. First, there is evidence that some of the visionaries may have been on drugs. They had certainly been smoking. The testimonies of Ivan Dragicevic and Vicka Ivancovic are particularly strange. Ivan said the hands of the vision were "trembling", while Vicka reported: "We kept touching her and kissing her, and she kept laughing." But at that stage she didn't speak. As Foley says:

None of this accords with the supreme, calm presence of the Blessed Virgin, speaking words of reassurance to those who have been favoured with her presence, that one finds in her recently recognised apparitions. But conversely, it does seem that some people did see strange lights, and so we do not appear to be dealing with hallucinations. It appeared that something was happening up there on Podbrdo, but the exact nature of that "something" had still to be determined.

It is interesting, too, that the "Gospa" gradually appeared in an indistinct form out of a cloud or mist. That is not a mark of genuine Marian visions, but is one of the main characteristics of false or suspect visions-such as those which followed the genuine apparitions at Lourdes.

Diabolical origin?

He then asks the disturbing question: whether what the visionaries saw in the early days was in fact of diabolical origin? The strange phenomena, untypical of Marian apparitions would point to this possibility in the early days, but Foley believes the later ecstasies, which took place in the church, were more likely self-induced trances. There is also a very strong possibility that the later manifestations have been to a large extent stage-managed by the Franciscans.

As news of the visions spread, pilgrims began flocking to Medjugorje, and the seers would spend quite a lot of time laying hands on them or "blessing" pious objects for them. What a contrast to Fatima, where young Francisco told an old woman: "I could not give a blessing .... Only priests do that." It appears, in fact that a mixture of magic and Christian rituals has grown up around the Medjugorje visionaries, who are being treated by some as pseudo-priests or folk doctors with special powers. Foley points out that for generations people in Medjugorje have been living in a primitive spiritual universe, believing in a "middle field" between good and evil which could be influenced by occult practices.

Dottiness and banality

Perhaps the most telling evidence against the authenticity of Medjugorje is the sheer dottiness of some of the things Our Lady is alleged to have said (leaving aside the utter banality of the daily messages). For instance, there is the so-called, "bloody handkerchief" incident, written by Vicka in her diary. This concerned a meeting between a "driver" and a man covered in blood - apparently Our Lord Himself - who ordered that a handkerchief soaked in blood should be thrown into a river:

This driver then met Mary who asked for the handkerchief, although he was apparently reluctant to hand it over. Then the Blessed Virgin reportedly said, "If you had not given it to me that would have been the end of the world. Vicka stated categorically that: "The Gospa said that was the truth."

To swallow anything like that you would need not simple faith, but the digestion of an ostrich. One does not need to consult theological experts in order to discern nonsense. In these interminable messages, the "Gospa" repeatedly signs off by saying: "Thank you for having responded to my call." As Foley notes, this suggests that people are conferring a favour on Our Lady. It is without precedent in any approved apparitions. Sometimes the encounters with the "Gospa" descend to the level of farce. In the early 1980s one of the visionaries, Jakov, asked her how his favourite football team had fared in a match-causing the others to burst out laughing.

Yet in spite of all the difficulties - involving both the seers themselves and the Franciscans most involved with them - from the publicity surrounding Medjugorje you would think it was all perfectly acceptable in a religious sense. ….