Chapter 2
THE PRE-1917 EVENTS AT FATIMA
Some Background
Over the centuries, the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of Our Lord, has appeared to various individuals and in most
appearances, She has given messages to them. However, in recent years, reported appearances and messages of the
Blessed Virgin have been so numerous even the authorities in Rome have begun to take notice. During the twentieth
century, by far the most noteworthy of the visits of Our Lady were her appearances to three young shepherd children
near Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions began in 1917. The oldest child, Lucia dos Santos was born on March 22,
1907 and the other two children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, both cousins of Lucia, (Lucy) were born on June 11,
1908 and March 11, 1910 respectively. Our Lady usually appeared when the children were tending their sheep on a
bit of countryside which the locals called the Cova da Iria,1 and which belonged
to Lucia’s parents. At the time, Lucia had just reached the age of ten years, Francisco was almost nine years old
and his younger sister, Jacinta, was just 7 years of age. The children all lived in Aljustrel, a small hamlet close
by the town of Fatima. As foretold in one of the first messages of Our Lady to the children, both Francisco and
Jacinta died soon after the early apparitions. Francisco died on April 4, 1919 and during the following year Jacinta
died on February 20, 1920. Each death occurred under the circumstances and at the time foretold by Our Lady. Today,
Lucy is over 94 years of age and lives in a Carmelite monastery. In the message foretelling the deaths of Francisco
and Jacinta, Our Lady also told Lucia she would remain here on earth for some time longer because Jesus wishes
her to help establish a devotion which, if practiced, will insure the salvation of one’s soul. The devotion is
the Five First Saturday Devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. Much to thedetriment of souls, the devotion is relatively
unknown and to this day is not ardently promoted by the conciliar Church.
The Blessed Virgin appeared monthly to the three children for a period of six months beginning on May 13, 1917
and continuing until October 13, 1917. The apparitions were preceded by three visits of an angel who informed the
children: "The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs concerning you." During these
visits the angel conversed directly with Lucy and the existing records of the Fatima events and conversations are
primarily from the recollections and memoirs of Lucy. After the Miracle of the Sun on Oct. 13, 1917, Our lady appeared
several times to Jacinta and both Our Lord and Our Lady thereafter appeared infrequently to Lucy for a period of
many years. Some years after the 1917 apparitions, Lucy entered a religious order called "The Institute of
Saint Dorothy" and later transferred to the Carmelite order of nuns where she now resides under the name Maria
Lucia de Jesus.
The content of the conversations, and particularly the messages of Our Lady to Lucy and to Jacinta, are important
for the Catholic Church since they directly address the salvation of souls which is the specific reason for the
existence of the Church. To enable a clear appreciation of the messages and their relation to today’s Church, the
messages are presented below in approximate chronological order. For most of the messages remark statements have
been added. They contrast the import of Our Lady’s words on the welfare of the souls of the Catholic Faithful to
the import of teachings and actions of the conciliar Church on the welfare of their souls. The one and only function
of the Church is to prevent souls from going to hell. Since it is sin which causes souls to go to hell, many of
the remarks will contrast what the Fatima messages of Our Lord and Our Lady say about sin with what the conciliar
Church teaches or does concerning sin.
Most of this writer's information concerning the apparitions at Fatima and the messages of Our Lady was obtained
from the thorough and exhaustive investigation of the Fatima events by Frere Michel de la Sainte Trinite of the
Little Brothers of the Sacred Heart. His investigation was encouraged by his Father Superior, the Abbe George de
Nantes. The findings appear in the three volume work entitled: "The Whole Truth About Fatima."
Vol. 1 is subtitled: "Science and the Facts"; while Vol. 2 is subtitled: "The Secret and
the Church"; and Vol. 3 is subtitled: "The Third Secret." The latter volume covers events
from 1942 up to 1960. A fourth volume entitled: "In the End My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph"
has not yet been released for publication. Also included in Frere Michel’s work are comments on what is now called
"The Third Secret" along with predictions of the effect of the Fatima events on the future of the Church
and the world. Due to their being both complete and thorough, each of these volumes is quite lengthy and so the
set has been abridged into a series of four short volumes whose respective titles are:
Book 1: Fatima: The Astonishing Truth (A summary of volume I, Science and the Facts.)
Book 2: Fatima: Mary’s Immaculate Heart and Your Salvation (A summary of the first
part of Volume II, The Secret and the Church)
Book 3: Fatima: The Only Way to world Peace (A summary of the second part of Volume II,
The Secret and the Church)
Book 4: Fatima: Tragedy and Triumph (An abridgement of Volume III, The Third Secret
as well as an abridgement of volume IV, In the End My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph)
In order to better communicate the Fatima phenomena I have taken the liberty of frequently quoting directly and
extensively from Frere Michel’s works. The messages of Our Lord and Our Lady to the children are as they appeared
in both his work and in Sister Lucy’s memoirs. At different times and over a period of several years, at the request
of her confessor, her bishop and/or a representative from the Vatican, Lucy wrote a total of four memoirs. Her
initial writing concerning the apparitions was made in 1922 when she was only 15 years old and was little more
than a brief survey. The four memoirs were written on or near the following dates: December 25, 1935, November
14, 1934, August 31, 1941 and December 8, 1941. The last memoir is by far the longest and most detailed of the
four memoirs and was written at the direct request of her bishop, Bishop Jose Aves Correia da Silva. Each memoir
appears in full and complete detail in the book, "Documents of Fatima & the Memoirs of Sister Lucy"
by Fr. Antonio Maria Martins, S. J., 1992. It has been alleged that Sister Lucy is writing or has written a fifth
memoir but, to the author’s knowledge, this has not yet appeared in print.
There was, and there continues to be, intense political controversy surrounding the events at Fatima. The events
were first thoroughly investigated by Father Joaquin Maria Alonso, a Spanish priest and member of the Claretian
order, who after ten years effort, read, classified, presented or commented upon a total of 5,396 documents! He
prepared a series of 14 preliminary manuscripts entitled: "Fatima, Texts and Critical Studies."
Father Laurentin, who has devoted his life to the study of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin and is considered
an expert in Mariology, declared these preliminary manuscripts of Father Alonzo "extremely well prepared."2 In his study, Father Alonzo had given his version of the third secret of Fatima. Suddenly,
in 1974, when the work was ready for imminent publication, the publication was postponed indefinitely by the hierarchy.
As a result, Fr. Alonzo entered a monastery where up to and including the time of his death, he maintained silence.
His work remains unavailable. However, prior to entering the monastery, Father Alonzo had issued some publications
and thus made known a portion of his work. These publications, along with Lucy’s memoirs and interviews of Father
Alonzo prior to his entering the monastery, form the basis of much of the material presented in the three volumes
of Frere Michel. It is noteworthy, that in addition to the silence of Fr. Alonzo, both Frere Michel and Sister
Lucy are now in silence. Frere Michel had intended to publish a fourth volume entitled: "In the End My
Immaculate Heart Will Triumph" but in August, 1989, he entered the contemplative life in Chartreuse, France.
Sister Lucy remains in the Carmelite order and since July 2, 1959 she has been silenced and no one outside the
immediate order or her family is permitted to speak with her unless they have direct permission from the Holy See.3 Thus, with the exception of the pope and some high ranking Vatican officials, the three
individuals with the most knowledge of Fatima, particulary, the famous third Secret of Fatima, are now in silence.In
the years immediately following the events at Fatima, the opposition to Fatima was led by Father Edouard Dhanis,
a Belgian Jesuit Priest who in 1963 was appointed rector of the Gregorian University in Rome by Pope Paul VI. In
succeeding years the pope promoted Fr. Dhanis to a series of increasingly important positions in the Vatican until
by 1967 he was given the position of "special secretary" of the First Synod of Bishops. The role of Fr.
Dhanis and others in their attempts to discredit the Fatima events is well described in part II of volume I of
Frere Michel’s three volume study. As if to add to the controversy over the Fatima events, in 1984, after glowingly
praising the first two volumes of Frere Michel’s study, Fr. Antonio Marie Martins had a sudden change of mind and
wrote several critical articles about the study of Frere Michel. The evaluation of these criticisms and the circumstances
surrounding them is described in the preface of "Fatima, Tragedy and Hope."
The events of Fatima have been formally approved by the Catholic Church. Essentially this means none of the
events and revelations contradicted Catholic teaching and a Catholic may believe in them but is not required to
do so. It is important to note such a formal declaration by the Church also implies any new or novel teaching contradicting
the messages at Fatima is not valid. Equally important is the fact that none of the Fatima messages have in any
way contradicted the teachings of the Magesterium of the Church; rather they have vigorously reinforced such teachings.
For this reason the messages have in no way contained any new revelation of Catholic dogma and thus do not contradict
the fact all revelation of dogma was complete after the death of the last apostle. The fact a very large number
of clergy, religious and hierarchy have attested to their total belief in the messages and also have strongly attested
to the necessity of obeying the requests of Our Lady at Fatima, further suggests Her messages should be fully heeded.
For several years following the events at Fatima, Sister Lucy continued to be blessed by apparitions and locutions
from Our Lord as well as from Our Lady.
The content of the messages by Our Lord and Our Lady to Sister Lucy during these later appearances directly concerned
the Church and the hierarchy. However, given the overwhelming credence attributed to the messages during the Fatima
apparitions of 1917, and the fact that the only source for the such messages is Sister Lucy herself, it
is reasonable to believe the post 1917 messages have the same credibility as those of 1917. Giving further credence
to the post 1917 messages is the fact nearly all of them refer directly and/or indirectly to the 1917 events at
Fatima and they usually expressed the overwhelming concern of Our Lord and/or Our Lady for the early messages of
Fatima to be heeded and obeyed. Finally, and most importantly, these latter messages contain requests for prayers
and reparation for sinners and for the many sins committed against the Sacred Heart of Our Lord and/or the Immaculate
Heart of His Blessed Mother. In this matter it is appropriate to quote in full the footnote on p. 75 of Frere Francois’s
work, "Fatima, Tragedy and Triumph":
"The fact that the revelations of Fatima should be so-called "private" does not justify in the least
this refusal of the Pastors of the Church to enter into the Divine Plan which the messenger of
Our Lady made known to them.. The most certain Theology teaches us that since the death of
the last apostle, apostolic revelation is concluded, but it does not result from this that all new
heavenly revelations should be forbidden or can be considered by the Pastors of the Church to
be without importance or usefulness; (on "the position of the church with regard to apparitions",
"the rules of discernment" and "the proper theological status of apparitions called private", see
Frere Michel de la Sainte Trinite, "Medjugorje en toute verite", pages 155-220.) If the hierarchical
Church has the sovereign authority to judge private revelations, it also has the duty to zealously
satisfy the Divine wishes, especially when those revelations <<of ecclesiastical faith,>> are charged
with a message useful for the welfare of souls and they announce the fulfillment of a providential
design. In the case of the revelations of Fatima, the Church having passed an episcopal judgement
recognizing the authenticity of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin in 1917, the hierarchy, and
and quite particularly the pope, then had the duty of accomplishing with exactness the requests of
Our Lady (my emphasis). In as much as these revelations of Fatima, which announce the great
apocalyptic drama of the end of time, unveil to us simultaneously the most dear wishes of the Heart
of God, His plan of mercy for our century, while indicating to us not only the helpful means that
could be could be considered optional, but even more indicate the indispensable help to which they
(the hierarchy and the pope, my addition) must have recourse in order to obtain the salvation of souls,
peace of the world, safeguarding the faith in the Church, and the universal triumph of the Holy Hearts
of Jesus and Mary."
This footnote has been included because some readers may argue there is no necessity to heed nor to obey the Fatima
related messages of Our Lord and/or Our Lady since they all occurred in private apparitions. This seems rather
a foolhardy argument since both Our Lord and Our Lady, over the years, have frequently used such private apparitions
to emphasize a particular church teaching. For example, at Lourdes, France, the fact Bernadette said Our Lady told
her She was the Immaculate Conception was used by Pope Pius XI when he defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Another example was the message Our Lady gave to Melanie at La Salette, which also received the approval of the
Church. This message stressed the need for repentance of sins. Our Lord and Our Lady are made to appear fools if
one is free to ignore, or to contradict such messages when the Church has formally stated the events surrounding
them are worthy of belief. In other words, there is no point in declaring worthy of belief an event in which Our
Lord and/or Our Lady is (are) the principal participant(s), and then simultaneously declaring it is perfectly permissible
to contradict the messages given by Our Lord or Our Lady accompanying the event. In addition, those defending the
right to contradict the messages are usually asserting a teaching contrary to the messages. The validity of the
messages accompanying the apparitions or Our Lord and Our Lady to the three children is discussed again below.
Since it is the purpose of this work to contrast the Fatima messages with the teachings of the modernist conciliar
Church it is appropriate to again discuss which set of teachings has the most credibility for the welfare of souls.
In this regard it should be noted that while the Fatima messages were authenticated by the Miracle of the Sun,
God has given absolutely no such sign of authenticity for the modernist teachings of the conciliar Church. Now
the modernists claim their new teachings derive their justification from the documents of Vatican Council II. However,
both Pope John XXIII who initiated the council, and Pope Paul VI who closed the council, insisted on several different
occasions the council was not a dogmatic council. For this reason, the council could not claim its teaching was
under the guidance of the Holy Ghost and therefore free of error. Furthermore, both Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul
VI, insisted only those teachings of the Council that agreed with the traditional teachings of the church
could possibly be considered as worthy of mandatory belief (author's emphasis). Thus, since the Fatima messages
do not in any way contradict the pre-Vatican Council II teachings of the Church while many of the teachings and
actions of those in authority in today’s conciliar church do indeed contradict the teachings of the pre-conciliar
traditional Church, it is the Fatima messages which are the more credible. This assertion follows from the fact
that it has always been the practice of the Church to hold fast to tradition when a doubtful teaching or novelty
is proposed. Hence, it follows that the messages of both Our Lord and His blessed Mother at Fatima are true and
excellent guides for the welfare of souls.
Messages by the Angel
One day during the summer of 1915 the three children were herding their sheep and, as was usual, they began
to pray the Rosary. While doing so an angel appeared to them but remained silent. The children continued saying
the rosary and before they finished the angel had disappeared. In the following year, while again tending their
sheep, the angel appeared to them on three different occasions and on each occasion gave the children a short message.
The message was a prayer and/or an urging of the children to pray and make sacrifices for sins against God. The
children told their parents of the visions and their parents, of course, did not believe the children and so reprimanded
them by saying: "the visions are just childish nonsense"4 The subsequent
trials of the children due to the apparitions are thoroughly described in the first volume of Frere Michel’s trilogy.
During the visits in which the angel spoke to the children, only Lucy was able to hear his words.
The First Visit of the Angel in the Early Summer of 1916.5
The children described the angel as: "a young man, about fourteen or fifteen years of age, whiter than snow,
transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it, and of great clarity." The angel said to them:
"Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me."
All of the children immediately knelt on the ground and bowed their heads and then heard the angel say three times:
"Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your
supplications."
The angel then disappeared.
The Second Visit of the Angel in the Middle of Summer, 1916.6
The children were again attending their sheep and as the day was very hot the children sought refuge in the shade
of a nearby tree. While there, the angel again appeared and said:
"What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary
have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High."
Lucy asks: "How are we to make sacrifices?"
The angel replies:
"Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation
for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.
You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its angel guardian, the angel
of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord
will send you."
Remark:
These first messages of the angel to the children define the theme of the angel’s subsequent messages as well as
the theme of the messages by Our Lady and Our Lord. In essence the theme is two fold: the necessity of prayer to
God and the necessity of making sacrifices as acts of reparation for the many sins which have offended God. Because
the angel is the angel of peace and because the Hearts of both Jesus and Mary will be very attentive to such prayers
and sacrifices, the angel is clearly stating peace can be achieved by prayers and sacrifices to God. Note how the
angels words paraphrase our Lords’s words in St. Matthew 6:33:
"But seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be given you besides."
In addition, the messages of the angel state the road to peace will be difficult and require suffering and moreover, the suffering will be sent by Our Lord yet! The requiring of suffering to achieve peace is in complete contrast to the desire of the conciliar Church which emphasizes the establishing of a temporal nirvana in keeping with Pope Paul VI’s proud boast at the close of Vatican Council II that:
"We too, more than anyone, now have the ‘cult of man’."
The angel’s words on the need for the reparation of sins by which God is offended together with the supplication for sinners implies if people will so act as to assure the salvation of their souls then God will grant peace to the world. Hence, the angel is saying sin and the actions of sinners are the source of the prevention of peace in the world. Now sin is any action demonstrating a lack of love for God. Thus, since Jesus said: "If you love Me, keep My commandments" it follows that actions contrary to any of the commandments are actions demonstrating a lack of love for God and are therefore sins. Many of the actions of the modernists in the conciliar Church are in clear violation of one or more of the commandments. Just a few are:
The having of false idols before one as at Assisi. Such behavior contradicts the First Commandment.
The vilification of both the faithful who attend the traditional Latin Mass of Pope
St. Paul V as well as those faithful who desire to have pre-conciliar sacramental
rites while simultaneously reaching out in a loving, caring and sensitive manner to
Muslims, Jews, Animists and Protestants of all sects. In addition to being blatant
hypocrisy, such action contradicts the commandment to love thy neighbor as thyself.
The advocacy of abortion and mercy killing thus contradicting the Fifth Commandment.
The advocacy of divorce and sodomy thus contradicting the Sixth and sometimes the
Ninth Commandment.
The stressing that the Novus Ordo Liturgy is a meal and a community gathering rather
than being a sacrifice, that is a re-enactment of Christ’s terrible death on the
cross at Calvary. This violates the Eighth Commandment in that it is a false witness
and it does concern one’s neighbor.
The corruption of the Novus Ordo Liturgy by many priests who render this liturgy
suspect or even invalid by their changes of the words, actions and/or form of the
liturgy thus denying the right of the faithful to the fulfillment of their Sunday obligation.
In addition, excising the so-called "imprecatory" cursing verses from the psalms
and removing from twenty-two places in the Gospels used at Mass any reference
to the last judgment, to the condemnation of the world and to sin, denies the faithful
an effective deterrent to the commission of sin. Such actions are indeed forms of
stealing and so violate the Seventh Commandment.
Each of these sins, together with other sins of a similar nature, is primarily due to the all out attempt by the
conciliar Church to adapt itself to the modern world instead of attempting to adapt the modern world to the wishes
of God as expressed in the traditional teachings of the Church. Since the modern world is solely concerned with
self fulfillment and personal happiness which does not include prayer and sacrifice, it is evident such an adaptation
by the Church clearly contradicts the messages of the angel. In the conciliar Church rarely does one hear a sermon
on the terrible effects of sin on the eternal welfare of the soul, and heaven forbid any sermon should be so "callous"
and/or "judgmental" of sinners as to mention the need for changing their lifestyles to assure the salvation
of their souls. An excellent example of this occurred following the president’s recent confession of "inappropriate
relations" with a young female White House intern. Soon after his confession, at many Sunday Liturgies throughout
the country, this confession elicited sermons in Catholic Churches on the necessity of the faithful to demonstrate
forgiveness for the president, while simultaneously failing to call for prayers or sacrifices to God for the welfare
of the souls of the president and the young intern. Things have reached such a state in the conciliar Church that
the mere mention of the conversion of sinners, would likely elicit accusations of callousness, of a lack of love,
of judge-mentalism, of hypocrisy, etc. Such modernist accusations are effective because they prevent the mention
of the word "sin" since "sin" implies the existence of a sinner. In this way, the modernists
cleverly prevent the salvation of souls since even the very mention of the acts of prayer and sacrifice to God
with the intention of the conversion of sinners is effectively banished. In reality, the refusal to effectively
warn sinners about the eternal consequences of their sins is anything but loving, caring, sensitive, etc. since
the eternal residence in hell of the souls of sinners is surely not loving, caring, sensitive, etc.
The methods for achieving peace as stated in the angel’s messages are in stark contrast to the methods for achieving
peace as advocated by the conciliar Church. The latter continually emphasize humanist solutions while the former
stress penance and sacrifice. It is also evident the angel’s messages require man follow the dictates of God to
achieve peace while the "cult of man' conciliar Church requires man to follow the humanist dictates based
upon the latest social, political and econimic theories.
The Third Visit of the Angel in the Fall of 1916.7
The children were in a small olive grove accompanying their pastured sheep. They were repeating the prayer the
angel had taught them when he again appeared. The angel was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended
over it and from the Host drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice suspended in mid-air, the angel
knelt down beside the kneeling children and made the children repeat three times:
"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the
sacrileges, outrages and indifference by which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite
merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion
of poor sinners".
At the conclusion of this prayer, the angel rose, took the chalice and the Host and gave the Host to Lucy and shared
the Blood from the Chalice between Jacinta and Francisco. While doing so the angel said:
"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make
reparation for their crimes and console your God."
Again the angel prostrated himself on the ground and repeated with the children three times the prayer,
"Most Holy Trinity . . ." He then disappeared.
Remark:
To such young simple, pure and unsophisticated children, seeing the chalice suspended in mid air must indeed have
been an awe inspiring sight and left an indelible impression. The suspension of the chalice could only have served
to deeply impress upon the minds of the children the importance of the message of the angel. In addition, the prayer
to the Trinity so impressed the children that during an apparition of Our Lady on May 13, 1917 they exclaimed spontaneously,
"O Most Holy trinity, I adore Thee! My God, My God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament."
This incident, plus the Trinitarian vision at Tuy on June 13, 1917 clearly demonstrates the reality of the Trinity
of God the Father, Our Lord the Son, and the Holy Ghost.8 In the pre-conciliar
Church the preface Prayer honoring the Holy Trinity was recited at all Sunday Masses except on special feast days
and a few short periods during the year. In contrast, the non-conversion ecumenical efforts of the conciliar Church
have all but silenced both praise and religious services honoring the Most Holy Trinity to avoid offending other
religions, such as the Moslem religion, because these religions deny the existence of one or more members of the
Holy Trinity. In today’s conciliar church it is far better to offend Our Lord by not upholding His teachings than
it is to offend members of other religions who uphold the teachings contrary to those of the Church established
by Our Lord Himself!
Another truth of the traditional Catholic faith emphasized by the messages of the angel is the extreme gravity
of personal sin and the real necessity to make reparation for it through sacrifice, prayer and love. In all of
the Fatima messages the practice of reparation for sins is urged. The reparation first consists in prayer, then
sacrifice, then Eucharistic offering and finally the communion of reparation. The love is the love devoted to Our
Lord as noted in the command:
"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful man.
Repair your crimes and console your God."9
Rarely do the faithful today hear sermons on the need to console God for their sins and far more rarely do they
hear sermons on the need to console God for the sins of others. Because the conciliar Church now has the ‘cult
of man’, it emphasizes the consoling of man for offenses committed against man and dismisses consoling God for
the many sins of man, all of which offend Him. The refusal to so console God is another direct modernist contradiction
of an explicit teaching of the messages at Fatima. For the conciliar Church to console God for man’s sin would
contradict the conciliar Church’s implicit belief in universal salvation. In addition, the irenical view of sin
which is now so prevalent throughout the conciliar Church, is not consoling to God since it forbids the admonishing
of sinners which is a strong, effective and time-tested deterrent to sin that it was even used by Our Lord.
In 1916, when the messages of the angel were given to the children they were quite young. Lucy was barely nine
years of age, Francisco was seven years of age and Jacinta was only six years old. Thus, the question naturally
arises: "How was Lucy able to be so certain of the exact wording of the messages of the angel?" In an
interview with W. T. Walsh on July 15, 1946, he asked her if she had quoted the messages of the angel exactly as
they were pronounced or only gave their general sense.10 Lucy replied:
"The angel’s words had an intense and overpowering quality, a supernatural reality, that could not
be forgotten. They seemed to engrave themselves exactly and indelibly upon the memory."
Such a response indicates she was most certain of the exact wording of the messages.
Today the faithful are regularly urged to pray for peace. However, it has always been the teaching of the pre-conciliar
Church that there could be no peace on earth until the world stops offending God by sin and reparation is made
for sins and for the conversion of sinners. Today, in order to build a 'cult of man,' the conciliar Church is so
devoted to assuring that one's personal actions do not harm or displease one's fellow man, that offenses against
God, that is, personal sin, are virtually ignored or treated as irrelevant. Consequently prayers for peace today
are not directed to the cessation of personal sin and so are ineffective in obtaining peace. In contrast, the prayers
advocated by the angel are directly aimed at the root cause of the lack of peace in the world since they call for
the cessation of personal sin and for the reparation to God for sinners. The angel’s messages emphasize the old,
and now banished, traditional Catholic teaching that until each of us is at peace with God, on His terms
and not on our terms, there will be no peace in the world. Recall the previously quoted words of Our Lord
as given in St. Matthew 6:33. In the conciliar Church of today it is as if the modernists think they know better
what is good for the world than does God who actually made the world.
The angel states: "....the precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ is present in all tabernacles
of the world." That was certainly true back in 1917, but it is questionable if it is true today since
there is reason to believe many consecrations are invalid due to such factors as: unlawful constituents in the
bread and/or wine, unbelief by the priest in the true presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, the use of improper
words at the consecrations, etc. In fact, today the number of occurrences of invalid consecrations is so great
the Holy Father himself has frequently addressed the issue in an attempt to assure the faithful will indeed receive
the true Body and Blood of Our Lord with their attendant sanctifying graces. In 1917, in recognition of the centrality
of Our Lord in the Church, the tabernacles were the centerpieces of the Catholic Churches throughout the entire
world. However, today in the post Vatican Council II era, because of a concerted effort, nearly all tabernacles
have been removed from their place of honor and relegated to at best a secondary position in the Church. In fact,
in many Churches the tabernacle has been completely removed from the church proper and hidden away in some back
or side room. Since the tabernacle truly contains the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord who is God by
virtue of being the second Person of the Holy Trinity, such displacement of the tabernacle from its deserved place
of prominence is a deliberate statement that God no longer holds the privileged place in the Church. It is hard
to imagine a more deliberate insult to God. One wonders what the angel would say if he were to appear today!
Most works concerning Fatima properly concentrate on the messages of Our Lord and of Our Lady to the three children.
However, this message of the angel on this third visit contains much that is relevant for today; particularly for
the way in which the Novus Ordo Liturgy is far too frequently celebrated throughout the world. The introduction
and establishment of the Novus Ordo Liturgy was accompanied by promises and assurances from the conciliar theologians,
clergy and hierarchy that the new Liturgy was merely an updated version of the Mass of Pope St. Pius V and most
assuredly would better convey the iFaith and graces to the faithful than did the Mass of Pope St. Pius V. Thus
the faithful were given the distinct impression that absolutely no significant changes in belief nor reductions
in graces were to accompany the new Liturgy. The author, and other Catholics of the same age, well remember hearing
sermons and reading articles in Catholic journals and newspapers of that day attesting to the changes being for
our spiritual benefit. The old Mass has always been a re-enactment of the truly incredible and cruelly painful
sacrifice made by Our Lord at Calvary. However, in many liturgical celebrations of today there is dancing, raucous
music, joke telling, clowning and general merriment of all sort.
As stated previously, at the time of the introduction of the Novus Ordo Liturgy the faithful were repeatedly
assured the new liturgy was only an improved and updated form of the Mass of St. Pius V, and hence remained a re-enactment
of Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary. This assurance is repeated in Pope John Paul II’s recent Catechism of the Catholic
Chruch. Therefore, the abovementioned sacrilegious actions during the Liturgy are telling the faithful: ‘If the
celebrant and his assistants were actually present at Calvary witnessing Christ’s horribly painful ordeal they
would be doing such things as enjoying being a part of a community partaking of a nice meal, laughing when Christ
fell under the heavy load of the cross, joking as Christ hung on the cross gasping for breath because the weight
of His body pressed down so heavily on His lungs, dancing while Christ was undergoing the excruciating pain of
being nailed to the cross, and in general just having a merry old time during Christ’s entire trial’. One has only
to read the book, "A Doctor at Calvary" by Pierre Barbet, M. D. to get a true appreciation of the indescribable
suffering for our sins incurred by Our Lord in His agonizing ordeal at Calvary. It is incomprehensible that a priest,
believing the liturgy is a re-enactment of the agonizing death by Our Lord, would deliberately and gleefully so
mock Our Lord’s intense agony, suffering and death. Yet such gleeful mocking is done every time these sacrilegious
liturgies are performed. Thus, the angel, at least for our times, is certainly speaking directly to those clergy
and hierarchy celebrating such sacrilegious liturgies when he calls for ‘reparation for sacrileges, outrages
and indifferences by which He (Our Lord) Himself is offended.’
It was only a few years after the introduction and firm establishment of the Novus Ordo Liturgy that the modernists
and the hierarchy publicly revealed their true intention for introducing the new Liturgy. In direct contradiction
to their original statements accompanying the introduction of the Novus Ordo Liturgy, the modernists began to insist
the Mass was no longer a re-enactment of Our Lord’s sacrifice on calvary, but rather it was a combination of meal
and community gathering. To this day the modernists have not ceased in their efforts to eliminate the sacrificial
nature of the Mass and to emphasize the Liturgy is a meal and community gathering. Now sacrilege, as defined in
Webster’s dictionary is, ‘the crime of stealing or desecrating that which is sacred.’ Thus an actual sacrilege
has been committed since previously the entire purpose of the Mass was to honor Our Lord for his soul saving sacrifice
at Calvary by re-enacting that sacrifice and the modernists, by their own proud admission, have completely stolen
that re-enactment. Another form of sacrilege is committed in the modernist form of celebration of the Novus Ordo
Liturgy when it is insisted kneelers be removed and Holy Communion must be received while standing rather than
by when kneeling. Each of these actions is intended to deliberately remove something sacred. The removal of kneelers
prevents the act of kneeling to show respect for Our Lord just as the many witnesses to the death of Our Lord at
Calvary knelt to show their respect for His incredible sacrifice. The prevention of kneeling while receiving Holy
Communion certainly contradicts the example of the kneeling of the children and the angel whose visits,
messages and actions were direct manifestations of the will of God. The action of the presider celebrating the
liturgy with his back deliberately turned to Our Lord in the tabernacle is also a sacrilegious act since deliberately
turning your back on someone has always been considered a lack of respect. Presently, more than three-fourths of
the faithful do not believe in the Real Presence and this non-belief is certainly encouraged by the presider celebrating
the Novus Ordo liturgy with his back to the tabernacle. The faithful know that if the priest truly believed in
the Real Presence of Our Lord in the tabernacle, he most definitely would not celebrate any part of the liturgy
with his back to Our Lord. As previously mentioned, a cardinal of Vatican Council II said, "The Mass as
we now know it no longer exists." Hence, since the Mass of Pope St. Pius V was always considered the most
sacred of all Catholic rites, and according to this cardinal it no longer exists, the cardinal is in effect admitting
Vatican Council II committed a truly great sacrilege!
Therefore the angel’s statement concerning the offering of "reparation for the sacrileges, outrages and
indifferences by which He Himself is offended" definitely applies to the actions of those many clergy,
religious and hierarchy who so insidiously removed the Mass of Pope St. Pius V. It also applies to the many clergy
who vigorously promote and practice the outrageously disrespectful behavior characteristic of many celebrations
of the Novus Ordo Liturgy. The understanding of the Liturgy as a community gathering and a meal also contradicts
Article 3, item #1323 in The Catechism of the Catholic Church where it is stated:
"At the Last supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of
His Body and Blood. This He did to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until
He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death
and resurrection....."
This contradiction is typical of the many contradictions of the conciliar Church’s teachings with the teachings
in the catechism. The plethora of such contradictions is probably one of the reasons why the modernists do not
encourage the reading of the catechism by the laity. In fact, the laity is discouraged from reading the catechism
by the simple but effective technique of rarely, if ever, mentioning the catechism.
Note that before delivering the message to the children the angel knelt down beside the kneeling children. Thus
God’s representative knelt down to properly adore and show respect for the Real Presence of Our Lord. Upon concluding
the prayer the angel gave the Host to Lucy and shared the precious blood with Francisco and Jacinta thus giving
them Holy Communion, after which they all remained prostrate in prayer. However, today in nearly all churches the
faithful are prevented from kneeling while receiving Holy Communion since the new ‘cult of man’ Church implies
that man is so important that he no longer need give special recognition to God. This impression is reinforced
by the mobs of lay people in the sanctuary, the callous handling of the hosts and the bold thrusting of hands into
the tabernacle to obtain hosts as if they were cookies, the indiscriminate handing out of hosts to people who obviously
have not been to confession in years or who are not even Catholics, the forceful discouraging of praying before
and after receiving the host, the ignoring of dropped hosts, the pouring of His precious blood down drains or even
toilets, etc. Finally, the angel’s statement: " ... I offer you the most precious Body, Blood and Soul
and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world ... " is a forthright assertion
of the true presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. Some conciliar theologians are denying Our Lords’s presence
as are some priests and are thus directly denying the words of God as expressed through the angel. These denials
along with the many irreverent Eucharistic celebrations and the deliberate non-emphasis on Christ’s actual and
true presence in the Holy Eucharist all contribute to the large and increasing number of Catholics who, to the
detriment of their eternal souls, no longer believe in the true presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. During
the consecration of the bread, by not holding the host up for adoration and by not genuflecting, the presider dramatically
shows his non-belief in the true presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. A similar comment obtains concerning
the consecration of the wine. Another deleterious action practiced by the Novus Ordo authorities is to continually
refer to the Holy Eucharist as the Eucharist, that is the world "Holy" is deliberately omitted. Many
authorities in the conciliar Church also use the word "Eucharist’ to describe the Novus Ordo liturgy itself
thus further minimizing the true presence. The phrase "Holy Communion" has been modified to "communion"
thus removing one more reminder of the Real Presence. Such actions are subtle but since actions are known to be
a good teacher, they are most effective in discouraging a belief in the true presence of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.
A measure of the effectiveness of such actions may be obtained by noting that now almost three out of four of the
faithful do not believe in Our Lord’s Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist whereas prior to the Novus Ordo liturgy
it was rare to find a Catholic who did not believe in the Real Presence.
In an article entitled: "Mary Help of Christians" by Mark Alessio in the Dec. 15, 2000 issue of the Remnant,
the author uses the words of Our Lady and the angel at Fatima to make a very strong argument against the Novus
Ordo liturgy now forcibly universal in the conciliar Church. The author does this by showing the words of both
the angel and Our Lady would have been deficient in that they neglected to say something about the coming changes
in the Mass. Speaking of Our Lady’s message to Sister Lucy at Pontevedra on Dec. 10, 1925, Mr Alessio writes:
At the time Our Lady spoke these consoling words, the means by which one `could "receive
Holy Communion" was the venerable Mass, which is today scorned and segregated as the
outdated "Latin Mass." Reason dictates that, had there been anything "wrong" with that Mass,
or even remotely "deficient" to meet the needs of modern, oh-so-complex-and-evolved mankind,
Our Blessed Mother would have been obliged, as the Mother of the Church, to say something about
it. As we are neither more enlightened nor virtuous than our fellow human beings who lived 75 years
ago, do we dare tell the Mother of God that she was disseminating "bad advice?" As St. Paul would
respond, "God Forbid!" Yet, the very Mass that was being celebrated throughout the world at the very
moment the Blessed Virgin was appearing at Fatima, or Lourdes, or La Salette, has been scrapped for
reasons that can never, in a million years, be "good" ones. (My emphasis)
Mr. Alessio presents other equally forceful substantiations for the endorsement of the Latin Mass. His thesis is
most important because it speaks directly to the welfare of souls which was always the only concern of both
Our Lady and Our Lord in their many appearances to the children. By their appearances to the children both Our
Lady and Our Lord emphasized the great desire God has in saving as many souls as is possible. Consequently, God
would surely not be pleased with a liturgical rite which was deliberately made deficient in providing the faithful
with the many graces He intended the celebration of the rite should be make available to them. This is particularly
true when one recognizes the Novus Ordo liturgy removed many prayers and admonitions which were spiritual works
of mercy of great value in the salvation of souls. Some of the items removed are specified later in the text.
The examples cited above are just a few of the many modernist teachings which are in opposition to this important
message of the angel. These examples are characterized by a removal of, or a distortion of, sacred rites and teachings
whose purpose was to better enable the faithful to save their souls. Thus the examples further illustrate the modernists’
deliberate disregard for the salvation of the souls of the faithful.
Go to Chapter THREE
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References
1. The Whole Truth About Fatima. Vol I. p. 109.
2. Frere Michel de Marie des Anges, Fatima, Tragedy and Triumph. p.VIII.
3. The Whole Truth About Fatima. Vol. III, p. 411.
4. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 62.
5. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 67.
6. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 73.
7. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 75.
8. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 84.
9. Ibid. Vol. I, p. 89.
10. William T. Walsh, Our Lady at Fatima. Doubleday, 1990. p. 219.