Fatima: devotion to the Heart of Mary will save the world
As we have said before, the studies we publish on Fatima assume that Our Lady has really appeared to Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco (on May 13, 1917 for the first time, -ed.) and has conveyed to them the messages that they in turn have passed on to the world. For the record, we would like to remind you of this point, which is the cornerstone of everything written about Fatima.
Fatima: either false or true
When it comes to apparitions whose seers claim were intended to be brought to the attention of the Holy Father, the Holy Hierarchy, in short, of all Christianity, there is no middle ground: either the evidence is clear, certain, completely convincing, in which case the revelations deserve all praise; or the evidence is doubtful, confusing, debatable, in which case the messages are false, for it is incomprehensible that, if Our Lady really wanted to send a message to the world, she would not arrange the facts in such a way that humanity would have reasonable grounds to understand them as to be considered authentic.
If true, then of utmost importance
If we look at the case in this way, the nature of things leads us to a different alternative. If the evidence is certain, if the messages are authentic, it is impossible not to attach the greatest importance to what is in it. If Our Lady has really spoken to us, we must respect what she has told us, think long and think about each of her words and diligently analyze everything that is in it.
Many people believe Fatima half…
But on the other hand, if the evidence is not certain, we better not waste a minute on it. Just as you cannot attach ‘half faith’ to the messages, you cannot attach half an importance to their content either. We emphasize this fundamental aspect of the issue so strongly, because it seems to us that an atmosphere of ‘half faith’ and ‘half importance’ unfortunately occurs much more often with regard to Fatima than one would think at first glance.
Our Lady spoke to the world
So Our Lady has spoken to the world. She described the situation as extremely serious, pointed to the amazing moral decadence of humanity as the cause of this situation, threatened us with terrible earthly punishments – a new war, the worldwide spread of the errors of communism, persecution of the Church – and with a thousand times worse eternal punishment – hell – if we do not improve, and finally the means that are necessary to improve ourselves and prevent so many punishments.
Only improvement if we improve
Despite some fools who close their eyes to the most obvious reality and like to claim that this world in which we live with God is in order, a world of doubt, naturalism, moral indiscipline and of worship of earthly happiness, we must believe otherwise, for it is the opposite that Our Lady tells us. It is true that some evolutionary sociologists – much more evolutionists than sociologists – are pleased to say that today is better than yesterday and that tomorrow will necessarily be better than today; but Our Lady tells us that the truth is very different: tomorrow will only be better than today if we improve and do our own good. Otherwise, we are on a great and universal collapse, no matter how much material progress, medicine, finance, entertainment and the comfort of life develop.
Our Lady showed hell
Unfortunately, there is also no shortage of optimistic theologians who create a pleasant atmosphere of sympathy around them by claiming that almost no one is condemned to hell. However, Our Lady learns the opposite and does so not only with words, but also with the invincible argument of the concrete fact: she opens hell before the eyes of the terrified shepherds, so that they can tell the whole world what they have seen. And it is in Our Lady and not in some lukewarm theology of orange blossom water that we must believe.
Thoughtless Catholics
We have casually noted in a previous article that Our Lady points out prayer, penance and change of life as fundamental remedies for today’s world. On these three purely spiritual measures it allows the maintenance of peace, the preservation of the West against communist propaganda and the survival of civilization itself depend. This can shock many thoughtless Catholics, who all their hopes for purely human resources. It seems to them that everything would be saved on the day when the Church would be heavily equipped with seminars, universities, newspapers, magazines, bookstores, cinemas, theaters, charity and social assistance. In this view, everything is reduced to the purely natural. The cause of the de-Clistency is the inadequacy of our propaganda and means of action.
Fatima in violation of papal exhortations?
On the day we fixed this shortfall, we overcame the de-Christmas. But Our Lady appears in Fatima and does not speak a word about all these means of action. How can we explain this mystery? Where is the word of the popes, who do not stop recommending everything about which Our Lady is silent? Do Fatima’s messages contradict the papal guidelines? It would be easy to answer all these questions if Catholics took the trouble to read the papal documents seriously and completely, instead of settling for quotes they find scattered here and there in certain books and newspapers that seem to be keen to filter everything from the words of the Supreme Sheard which could be contrary to their prejudices.
Means of action are secondary
The popes never tire of recommending the use of all legitimate natural resources to promote the social rule of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But they don’t leave it at that. In truly countless documents they show that natural means will not be effective when those who fight for the Church do not also lead a constant life of piety, eterty and sacrifice; if the soldiers of Christ do not constantly keep in mind that natural means of action should be channels of God’s grace and that the apostle – clergyman or layman – must himself be a reservoir of the graces that should bring his works to life.
Intimate life of soul with God
In one word, the essential theses of the incomparable book of Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard, L’âme de tout apostolat (‘The soul of every apostolate’), have been emphatically presented by the popes in every way. And these are exactly the principles that Our Lady teaches us in Fatima. The Blessed Virgin does not say that we should not devote ourselves completely to the works of the apostolate. But she repeats the teaching of Our Dear Lord in Bethany: it is necessary to live in intimate connection of the soul with God, for all else flows from it, and without such connection the wise, most useful, most opportune works will be pitifully sterile.
Every people its guardian angel
Now let’s take a quick look at other aspects of Fatima’s messages. The appearance of the Angel of Portugal reminds us of the Church’s doctrine that every people has its own Guardian Angel. There was a time when each people had a special devotion to its guardian Angel and that called in its trials and especially in the struggle to keep the people in the member of the Church. Have we thought about this? Do we venate the Guardian Angel of Brazil?
Love and fear for God
The Angel prays in the presence of the shepherds, deeply bent, with his face to the ground. He is an example that we should follow. In our prayers we must be trusting, intimate and childish. But we must not forget that true childlike piety does not exclude the deepest respect, but rather implies it. This is another point on which the revelations of Fatima contain valuable lessons for modern man. Because by talking about democracy in everything and for everything, we often distort our mentality in such a way that we even introduce an egalitarian ‘tone’ in our relationship with God!
Devotions that liturism fights…
Recently, liturgism in Catholic ranks has fueled persistent prejudices against certain devotions, including the worship of the Blessed Sacrament Extra Missam (‘outside of St. Mass’) and the Holy Rosary. Nothing is impossible for God. So if Providence had pleased it, the shepherds could have been transported – for example by a bilocation phenomenon – to a place where the Holy Mass Sacrifice was celebrated, to bring the H. Receiving communion. In the end, this would be as extraordinary as the entrustment of the Holy Dots to the Angel, so that the shepherds of them could receive Communion.
‘I am the Lady of the Rosary
Yet this was the intention of Providence. If there were anything intrinsically contradictory to the true way of understanding the Real Presence in the Eucharistic worship service extra Missam, then it would be impossible for Providence to determine that the Eucharistic worship of the Angel and the first communion of the shepherds should take place in the way it was done. The Holy Rosary can hardly be recommended with more urge. “I am the Lady of the Rosary,” the Blessed Virgin said of herself in the last of her apparitions. And in almost all of these apparitions, she has explicitly dedicated this devotion to the little shepherds. How can we claim that the rosary has lost its relevance?
Fear of hell
It is also claimed that meditation on hell is unsuitable for our time and can only instill a slavish fear. This statement falls apart in light of what happened in Fatima, because the vision of hell with which the three shepherds were favored was clearly intended to sharpen their love and desire for the apostolate.
Devotions to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary
In Fatima, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is also emphasized with great emphasis, but this too has been hit in the background by a certain trend in spirituality that is very popular today. The cult of the Holy Heart of Jesus is considered by all theologians to be one of the most precious graces with which the Holy Church has been comforted in the past centuries. It was intended to revive among people the love for God that had been dulled by Renaissance naturalism, by the errors of the Protestants, Jansenists, deists and rationalists.
Heart of Mary as a goal
In the last century, it was through this devotion that the apostleship of prayer brought about an admirable revival of religious life around the world. And as the evil against which the Holy Heart of Jesus must protect us increases by the day, it is clear that the relevance of this incomparable devotion increases with the day. However, it should be added that Providence in the sharpening of contemporary evil has wanted to surpass itself by pointing out to men the Heart of Mary as the purpose of their piety, which in a certain way refines the cult of the Holy Heart of Jesus and brings it to its fulfillment. Studies and devotion of the Heart of Mary are not new.
Fatima is meant for now
However, it seems to us that just reading the Messages of Fatima shows how emphatically Our Lady wants them for our time. The mission she entrusted to Sister Lucia was mainly to stay on earth to attract people to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion is recommended several times in the visions. This Blessed Heart even appears to us in the second apparition, crowned with thorns for our sins and asking for the prayer of the restoration of the people. It seems to us that this point has summarized all the treasures of Fatima’s messages.
Who has ears, he hears…
On the whole, the apparitions of Fatima teach us on the one hand in the terrible seriousness of the world situation and the true causes of our ailments. On the other hand, they teach us the means by which we should avert the earthly and eternal resons that threaten us. God sent prophets to the Ancients. In our time he spoke to us through the Queen of the Prophets herself. After studying what Our Lady wanted, what else can we say? The only appropriate words are those of Our Dear Lord in the Holy Gospel: who has ears to hear, that hear…
This article by prof. Pliny was taken from pliniocorreadeoliveira.info and was originally published in Catholicismo Nº 30 of June 1953.
Laatst bijgewerkt: 5 March 2026 14:16