In 1911 the new masters of Portugal (the masons) seized Church property, scattered, imprisoned and exiled hundreds of priests and nuns, and gave the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon five days to leave the city, never to return. They boasted that within one generation they could wipe out the Catholic Church.

On June 13, 1912 Pope St. Pius X granted a plenary indulgence to all who went to Confession, Holy Communion, prayed for the Pope's intention and performed some exercises of reparation for the blasphemies uttered against the name and prerogatives of Our Blessed Lady.

On May 5, 1917 Pope Benedict XV lamenting the war and the suicide of Europe, said since all graces were dispensed "by the hands of the most holy Virgin, we wish the petitions of her most afflicted children to be directed with lively confidence, more than ever in this awful hour, to the great mother of God" He asked us to pray. "Queen of Peace, pray for us." And said; "To Mary, then, who is the Mother of Mercy and omnipotent by grace, let loving and devout appeal go up from every corner of the earth - from noble temples and tiniest chapels, from royal palaces and mansions of the rich as from the poorest hut - from every place wherein a faithful soul finds shelter - from blood drenched plains and seas. Let it bear to Her the anguished cry of mothers and wives, the wailing of innocent little ones, the sighs of every generous heart: that her Most tender and benign solicitude may be moved and the peace we ask for be obtained for our agitated world."

Eight days later Our Lady appeared to the children of Fatima. She spread out Her hands and from the palms came streams of light so intense that it not only enveloped the children with its radiance, but also seemed to penetrate the breasts and to reach the most intimate parts of their hearts and souls. "Say the Rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war." [On that day in Rome the future Pope Pius XII was being ordained a bishop.]

Five years after Pius X granted a plenary indulgence for acts of reparation for blasphemies against Our Blessed Lady on that same day, June 13, 1917, feast of Saint Anthony, Our Lady visited Fatima again and said that She would take Jacinta and Francisco to heaven soon, but that Lucia would "remain here for some time more. Jesus wishes to make use of you to have Me acknowledged and loved. He wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart." Again She opened Her palms and streams of light enveloped them, but this time in front of Her right hand did thorns, which seemed to be pierced like nails, encircle a Heart. They then saw Jesus and Mary inside a vision of the Most Holy Trinity.

On July 13 Our Lady told the children that She alone could bring peace to the world and asked them to offer sacrifices for sinners saying, "O Jesus, it is for your love, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." Again she enveloped them in rays from Her palms. She then showed them Hell.

"You see hell, where the souls of poor sinners go.... To save them God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If they do what I will tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. 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 illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, of hunger, and of persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father.

"To prevent this I come to ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the Five First Saturdays. If they listen to my request, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not she will scatter her errors through the world provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, 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.

"In Portugal the dogma of the faith will always be kept.

"Tell this to no one. Francisco, yes, you can tell it to him.

"When you say the rosary, say after each mystery, 'O my Jesus, pardon us and deliver us from the fires of hell. Draw all souls to heaven, especially those in most need."

Our Lady then told them the secret.

On August 13, 1917 they were jailed by Arturo de Olveira Santos, the Administrator of Ourem - Fatima and the president of the Grand Orient Lodge of Ourem. He was with the Grand Orient Lodge of Lieria during the 1910 revolution when the Grand Orient Chief, Magahaes Lima, predicted the end of the Catholic Church in Portugal. Santos' children were named Democracia, Republica and Libertade.

On August 15, 1917 Our Lady appeared to them in the village of Aljustrel asking for a chapel to be built.

On September 13, 1917 Our Lady told of what would happen on October 13^th.

On October 13, 1917 was the miracle of the sun. Our Lady appeared with Saint Joseph holding the Christ Child. Saint Joseph blessed the people. Then Lucia saw Our Lady of Sorrows with Her Son grieving as when they met on the way to Calvary. Then Lucia saw our Lady of Mount Carmel with Christ on Her knee. Only Lucia saw the last two visions.

In 1918 Our Lady visits Jacinta many times, and also in 1919 and 1920. By 1920 Jacinta and Francisco were in heaven with Our Lady. The little boy died from the flu in April 1919 and his sister from pleurisy in February 1920. Before she died, little Jacinta revealed some little-known but remarkable statements made by Our Lady to a sister, who was her nurse, Mother Godinho, who she called, "little mother".

"Wars are nothing but punishments for the sins of the world."

"More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason."

"Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much."

"Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God."

"Pray much, my little mother, for sinners. Pray much for priests. Pray much for religious. Priests should occupy themselves with the affairs of the Church. Priests should be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests to their superiors and to the Holy Father offends Our Lord very greatly."

"Our Lady can no longer hold up the hand of Her Beloved Son over the world. It is necessary to do penance. If people reform, Our Lord will save the world. But if they do not reform, He is going to punish it."

"Our Lord is profoundly indignant with the sins and crimes that are committed in Portugal. For this, a terrible cataclysm of the social order threatens our country and principally the city of Lisbon. There will break loose there, as it appears, a civil war of anarchist or communist character, accompanied by sacks, assassinations, fires and devastations of all kinds. The capital will be converted into a veritable image of hell. On the occasion when the outraged divine justice inflicts so frightful a punishment, all who can should flee form this city. This punishment now predicted should be announced little by little and with due discretion."

"My little mother, pray for those who govern. Alas for those who persecute the religion of Our Lord! If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to the Holy Faith, it will be blessed by God."

"My little mother, do not walk in the midst of luxury. Flee from riches. Be very friendly to holy poverty and to silence. Have great charity even for the wicked. Speak ill of no one and flee from those who do. Be very patient, for patience carries us to heaven. Mortification and sacrifices please Our Lord a great deal."

"Confession is a sacrament of mercy. For this reason it is necessary to approach the confessional with confidence and joy. Without confession there is no salvation."

"The Mother of God wants more virgin souls, which bind themselves to her by the vow of chastity."

"I should like to go to a convent. But I should like better to go to heaven. To be a religious it is necessary to be very pure in soul and body."

Mother Godinho (little mother) asked, "And do you know what it means to be pure?"

"I do. I do. To be pure in body is to keep chastity. To be pure in soul is not to commit sins, not to look at what one should not see, not to steal, never to lie, always to tell the truth whatever it costs us."

"Those who do not keep the promises made to Our Lady will never be happy in their affairs."

"Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her."

Mother Godinho (little mother) asked, "Who taught you all these things?"

"It was Our Lady. But some I think of myself. I like very much to think."

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In 1920 the Holy Father created a new diocese of Leiria, which included Fatima, Ourem, Aljustrel and the Cova de Iria. He appointed a new bishop, Dom Jose Alves Correira da Silva. Bishop Silva consecrated the diocese to Our Lady on the feast of the Assumption in 1920 as his first act as bishop. In 1921 he discovered the miraculous water and bought the property for the Church to build that shrine.

On December 10, 1925, Our Lord spelled out to Sister Lucia what form the reparation should be. The Child Jesus stood at His Mother's side enthroned in a cloud of light, displaying His Sacred Heart saying; "Have pity on the heart of you most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment and there is no one to remove them by an act of reparation."

Our Lady then held out her thorn-wreathed Heart and said; "See, my daughter, my heart, surrounded by thorns with which ungrateful men wound it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you at least console me and announce that I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation, to all those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite 5 decades of the rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while mediating on the mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

At the Convent in Tuy, just across the Northern Border of Portugal in Spain, Sister Novice, Lucia had two more visions in 1927 of Christ, who confirmed the request of devotion to the Immaculate Heart.

On July 13, 1929 in Tuy, Lucia saw the vision of the Trinity over Our Lord Crucified and its relationship to the Mass and Our Lady as dispenser of all graces. In this vision is all the mysteries of the relationship of the Trinity to the Heart of Mary and to the Eucharist, the fountain of all grace, and His Sacred Heart, opened to inaugurate the Church, the Mass, Sanctifying Grace, Heaven and everyone's Salvation through the Church and through Mary.

On January 25, 1938 Lucia, now Sister Maria das Dores (Sister Mary of the Sorrows) saw the northern lights in the sky as predicted in 1917.

.Jacinta to Lucia:

It is almost Christmas, 2001 here in Fatima. An hour away in a cloistered Carmelite Convent prays a beautiful little nun over 90 years of age. She says she prays for the unity of all Christians, for the spread of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Holy Father, and for peace in the world. Lucia said, "Who is with the Holy Father is with God, and who is not with the Holy Father is not with God." The Holy Father is the anchor of unity, as all splits in the Church split from him. Our Lady said at Fatima that Portugal would not loose the dogma of faith. So, Doctrine is very important. Being with the Holy Father is very important. To be a Catholic is to be with the Holy Father. To be a Catholic is to obey the Doctrine of the faith. To obey the Doctrine of the faith, one must know the Doctrine of the Faith, just like the first of the two great commandments, "Love God with your whole soul, your whole mind, and your whole being."

The Doctrine of Faith in the Immaculate Heart of Mary must first be understood in the mind, then loved in the heart (soul) and then acted upon with the body, a life of action and prayer. In the first Newsletter we showed the evolution of this Doctrine and Devotion from the doctors of the Church, to the Popes, and then to an evolution of apparitions all the way to Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy. Catherine Laboure's Miraculous Medal showing Mary as the dispenser of all graces on one side, Her unity and participation with the crucifixion on the other side, the two hearts as one, and taken from Her, His Body, Soul, and blood shed on the cross for our sins. This is represented in the "M" woven in the ground in which the cross of Christ comes forth. Surrounded by the twelve stars shows that She is the woman of Revelation Chapter 12 as later revealed at Tre Fountain, Italy. The two visions of Laboure show Mary as the one who offers all prayers to the Triune God and then dispenses all grace to the world, even to those who do not go through Her intercession.

"Jesus received His body from Mary. It was her blood that ran through His veins. Therefore it was her blood that she watched being shed as He died on the Cross. His heart of flesh He obtained from her." (Bishop Sheen) Their hearts are truly one! But more than that, all has been given to Our Lady so that everything passing to God or from God goes through Her. Even the battle with Satan has been given to Her to wage and to win. Her prayers on our behalf is our salvation, as not one of us deserves salvation on our own merits nor do we deserve the merits earned for us at Calvary.

Immaculate Heart from birth and never stained with any kind of sin or weakness of soul. This Heart which represents her life, her soul, her love was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit's love so that God in the form of the Son could enter into Her and take from Her flesh His flesh and blood that would be sacrificed for all mankind. It was Her heart the beat and pumped blood through His body in Her womb until His tiny Heart could beat on its own. It was her love, her milk that sustained him until he could eat on His own.

It was Her faith and acceptance that brought about salvation. Man closed the gates of heaven by disobedience to God's law. Now man must accept redemption by saying "Yes!" to Christ entering into the world. It was Mary, representing all mankind, who was picked to say "Yes!" and so, Christ entered into the world through Her, by Her, and because of Her. He, always obedient to His own commandments, would not even go about His Father's business (dying on a cross) without His Mother's permission. Finally She gave it with tears in Her eyes as she said at Cana, "Do whatsoever He tells you." Never again in Scripture did she utter another word.

True love is not something that we just want, it is something we must strive for. We must know someone and know him or her well. We must want to love them, to communicate with them, to listen to them, to contemplate them, to simply be with them without words. There is no love without action, but the love of the soul, the heart, comes first so that we not only act but love to act, want to act, are even angry at ourselves when we do not act. How one can look deeply into the Universe at all that God created, and then deeply into the mind to contemplate the Triune God, and then contemplate Mary as the greatest of all creations, and not love Her - not possible. But it is the contemplation of God, of His mysteries, especially the mysteries of the Rosary, that lets us know, love and serve Him. This is also true of His Mother - contemplate Her before the world was created as She was shown in a vision to the angels in Heaven, (Chapter 12 - Revelation); contemplate Satan's hatred for Her from all time; contemplate Her immaculate conception; contemplate Her life in Solomon's temple from 6 to 14 years of age; contemplate Her teacher, the prophetess Anna; contemplate Her engagement to Joseph at the command of the High Priest; contemplate Her "Yes!" at the request of the angel; contemplate all the mysteries of the Rosary, and then love your Mother as God loves you. [ See "Mysteries of the Rosary as Told by the Mystics"]

"My God, I Believe, Adore, Hope and Love Thee; I ask pardon for those who do not Believe, do not Adore, do not Hope and who do not Love Thee

"Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I Adore Thee profoundly and I offer the Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all of the tabernacles on earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the forgiveness of poor sinners."

"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God."

"Say the Rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war."

"Say after each mystery, 'O my Jesus, pardon us and deliver us from the fires of hell. Draw all souls to heaven, especially those in most need (of thy mercy)."

St. Simon Stock. She gave him the brown scapular, with this great promise, "WHOSOEVER DIES WEARING THIS GARMENT SHALL NEVER SUFFER THE FIRES OF HELL!"

"O MARY CONCEIVED WITHOUT SIN, PRAY FOR US WHO HAVE RECOURSE TO THEE." On the back was a large M surmounted by a bar and a cross, beneath this were the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, one crowned with thorns, the other pierced with a sword.

I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation, to all those who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite 5 decades of the rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes while mediating on the mysteries of the rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me."

"I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my heart, that my all-powerful love will grant to all who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of the month for nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in disgrace and without receiving the sacraments. My divine heart shall be their safe refuge in their last moment.'"

"Wherever this image is exposed in order to be given special honor, it will draw down all sorts of blessings upon those who so honor it.'"

"Our Father, Hail Mary, I believe in God, etc.,

On large beads:

"Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world."

On the ten beads:

"For the safe of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world."

In conclusion three times:

"Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."

 "Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: 'Jesus, I trust in you.' ... The soul that shall venerate this image shall not perish..."

"Confession is a sacrament of mercy. For this reason it is necessary to approach the confessional with confidence and joy. Without confession there is no salvation." (Jacinta of Fatima)

"I do. I do. To be pure in body is to keep chastity. To be pure in soul is not to commit sins, not to look at what one should not see, not to steal, never to lie, always to tell the truth whatever it costs us." (Jacinta of Fatima)

"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men."

"Above all accept, with submission, the suffering that the Lord may send."

The last four popes have worked for the unity of all Christians. Lucia is praying for this. Our Lady of Soufanieh has appeared to Mirna asking for this. If we were all one as Christ prayed for in Chapter 17 of John, we would light a candle that would convert the world.