MARY'S PREDICTIONS COME TRUE
Dramatic events in the world of communism, such as the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent advent of democracy, stirred journalists to reexamine the 1917 apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.
A front-page boxed article in the Oct. 1, 1991 issue of the Asian Wall Street Journal took note of the collapse of communism; the event was seen as the Fatima prophecy fulfilled. The U.S. edition of the Sept. 27, 1991 Wall Street Journal also noted that the Blessed Virgin beat CNN to the news on the fall of communism by more than 74 years. In this regard, Our Lady was featured as Time Magazine's cover story on Dec. 30, 1991.
On Nov. 7, 1991, the anniversary of the communist revolution, for the first time there was no official communist parade of strength in Russia, but a Russian TV station aired a program on Fatima - the second time it did so!
(Fatima Family Messenger, Jan.-March 1992).
In 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Lucia dos Santos, in Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions, which have been approved by the Catholic Church, revealed to the children coming events:
* The End of World War I
* World War II
* The Rise of Communism and future wars it would bring about
* The Fall of Communism
These prophecies have already come true.
Atheists Editor Sees Mary's Miracle
The children requested from Our Lady a sign of her presence, so Mary promised a great miracle would take place at Fatima on Oct. 13, 1917. It occurred on that date, as recorded by the Portuguese paper O Seculo which formerly denounced the apparitions as fraudulent. (The country then was under an anticlerical government.)
The atheist editor wrote the following article, obeying his duty as a journalist to report the truth:
TERRIFYING EVENT! HOW THE SUN DANCED AT MIDDAY IN THE SKY AT FATIMA
"We witness a spectacle unique and incredible. The sun resembles a dull silver plate. It does not warm, it does not dazzle. One would say that an eclispes had occurred. But now a shout is heard: "Miracle! Miracle." Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose attitude takes us back to biblical times, and who, pale with fear and with heads bare, look at the azure sky, the sun trembles. makes abrupt movements, never seen before, and outside all cosmic laws, the sun "begins to dance" as the peasants say.
"Only one thing remains to be done, namely for the scientists to explain from the height of their learning, the fantastic dance of the sun, which today at Fatima has made "Hosannas" burst forth from the hearts of the faithful, and which, as trustworthy people assure me, has impressed even freethinkers, as others not at all interested in religious matters, who have come to this spot, henceforth celebrated."
The solar miracle wasn't meant only as a show of God's power. It was objective proof that what Mary said at Fatima would really happen.
Mary Calls Us to Repentance
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's chief theologian, spoke of the message of Fatima in his Report on Faith Today.
"A stern warning has been launched from Fatima which is directed against the prevailing frivolity, a summons to the seriousness of life, to the seriousness of history, to the perils which threaten humanity today. It is that which Jesus himself recalls very frequently, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3)
"The contents of the Marian apparitions approved by the Church only reconfirm the urgency of penance, fasting, forgiveness, conversion."
Mary Predicts World War II
On July 13, 1917, Our Lady of Fatima said that another world war was coming and provided the signs:
"The war is going to end but if they do not stop offending God, another and worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you shall see a night illumined by an unknown light, you know that this is a great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its many crimes by means of war, hunger, and of persecution of the Church and the Holy Father.
"To prevent this, I shall come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the communion of reparation on the Five First Saturdays. If my requests are granted, atheistic Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will suffer much, and various nations will be annihilated.
"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and it will be converted and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world."
The war going on at that time was World War I, and Pius XI was not the pontiff then. The "unknown light" was seen on the night of January 25, 1938 and was described by scientists as a freak form of aurora borealis. But observers noted that unlike the aurora borealis, the streaks of light and color did not originate from below the horizon, but at the zenith of the sky, shining downwards. The
New York Times reported the event as follows:
"London, January 25, 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."
Forty-five days later, Hitler invaded Austria, starting the World War II in the reign of Pius XI.
Significant World Events on Marian Feastdays
May 13, 1955, Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The Soviets pulled out from Austria after a daily rosary campaign involving some 700,000 individuals.
October 12-13, 1960, Anniversary of the Fatima Miracle. Pope John XXIII gathered a million at Fatima to pray for Russia. At the same time, a nuclear missile had malfunctioned and exploded at a Moscow launchpad, killing some 300 people. Among those killed were Soviet officials and the man reputed to be the USSR's best nuclear scientist then, Marhal Nedelin.
May 13, 1981, Fatima. Pope John Paul II was gravely wounded by an assassin's bullet at St. Peter's square.
December 7, 1988, Eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In his UN speech, Mikhail Gorbachev promised to withdraw 10,000 Soviet tanks, 8500 artillery pieces and 800 fighter aircraft from Hungary, East Germany and Czechoslovakia.
On the same day, Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan also signed a treaty on Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) to eliminate the entire array of shorter-range nuclear missles of both the United States and the Soviet Union.
September 14, 1989, Eve of the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. The last wave of 13,000 East Germans left Hungary for West Germany, an event which led to the toppling of the Berlin Wall.
November 20, 1989, Eve of the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The 200,000-strong protest march in Prague that demanded free elections and the resignation of Communist leaders caught fire in other cities, eventually leading to the fall of the Communist Party from power.
August 22, 1991, Feast of the Queenship of Mary. The coup attempt in the Soviet Union was defeated.
December 8, 1991, Immaculate Conception. The Soviet Union was declared officially dead.
FATIMA VISIONARY JACINTA MARTO (died 1920) :
"I saw the Holy Father in a very big house. He was kneeling before a table, holding his face in his hands and he was weeping. Outside there were many people: some were throwing stones, others were cursing him and saying many ugly words to him."
POPE SAINT PIUS X (died 1914):
"I saw one of my successors by name fleeing over the corpses of his brethren. He will flee to a place for a short respite where he is unknown, but he himself will die a cruel death."
KAROL CARDINAL WOJTYLA (later Pope John Paul II), June 24, 1977:
"We find ourselves in the presence of the greatest confrontation in history, the greatest mankind has ever had to confront. We are facing the final confrontation between the Church and the Anti-Church, between the Gospel and the Anti-Gospel."
POPE JOHN PAUL II (from Crossing the Threshold of Hope):
"And thus we come to May 13, 1981, when I was wounded by gunshots fired in St. Peter's Square. At first I did not pay attention to the fact that the assassination attempt had occurred on the exact anniversary of the day Mary appeared to the three children of Fatima in Portugal and spoke to them words that now, at the end of the century, seem close to their fulfillment."
PRAYER OF THE ANGEL AT FATIMA
"My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love you. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love you."
THIS IS WHAT OUR LADY OF FATIMA WANTS
"Do whatever He tells you." - John 2:5
Convert. Turn away from sin and go back to God "If you love Me, keep My commandments." - John 14:15
"Offer up each day whatever God requests of you. for the conversion of sinners and reparation for sin."
"Pray, fast and make sacrifices for your sins and for the sins of all sinners and unbelievers."
"Confess, offer Mass, receive Holy Communion on the First Saturday of five consecutive months with the intention of making reparation to me."
Pray the rosary every day.
Consecrate yourself to Jesus and to Mary's Immaculate Heart. Wear the brown scapular as a sign.
(Marian Messenger, Volume IV, Issue 1, October 1996)
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Taken from: http://www.mariansolidarity.com/features/fatima/marypredicts.htm
