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See EWTN for Photo of Original Documents or sources at the Vatican Vision of the Pope Dressed in White |
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The theological commentary : And let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible”. … the purpose of all the apparitions was to help people to grow more and more in faith, hope and love—everything else was intended to lead to this. ... A person who foretells what is going to happen responds to the curiosity of the mind, which wants to draw back the veil on the future. The prophet speaks to the blindness of will and of reason, and declares the will of God as an indication and demand for the present time. In this case, prediction of the future is of secondary importance. What is essential is the actualization of the definitive Revelation, which concerns me at the deepest level. ... When, after the attempted assassination on 13 May 1981, the Holy Father had the text of the third part of the “secret” brought to him, was it not inevitable that he should see in it his own fate? He had been very close to death, and he himself explained his survival in the following words: “... it was a mother's hand that guided the bullet's path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death” (13 May 1994). That here “a mother's hand” had deflected the fateful bullet only shows once more that there is no immutable destiny, that faith and prayer are forces which can influence history and that in the end prayer is more powerful than bullets and faith more powerful than armies. ... Beneath the arms of the cross angels gather up the blood of the martyrs, and with it they give life to the souls making their way to God. ... The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians, said Tertullian. As from Christ's death, from his wounded side, the Church was born, so the death of the witnesses is fruitful for the future life of the Church. Therefore, the vision of the third part of the "secret", so distressing at first, concludes with an image of hope: no suffering is in vain, and it is a suffering Church, a Church of martyrs, which becomes a sign-post for man in his search for God. … In biblical language, the "heart" indicates the
centre of human life, the point where reason, will, temperament and
sensitivity converge, where the person finds his unity and his interior
orientation. According to First of all we must affirm with Cardinal Sodano: “... the events to which the third part of the ‘secret' of Fatima refers now seem part of the past”. Insofar as individual events are described, they belong to the past. Those who expected exciting apocalyptic revelations about the end of the world or the future course of history are bound to be disappointed. Fatima does not satisfy our curiosity in this way, just as Christian faith in general cannot be reduced to an object of mere curiosity. What remains was already evident when we began our reflections on the text of the “secret”: the exhortation to prayer as the path of “salvation for souls” and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion. ... I would like finally to mention another key
expression of the “secret” which has become justly famous: “my
Immaculate Heart will triumph”. What does this mean? The Heart open to
God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons
of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the
history of the world, because it brought the Saviour into the
world—because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and
remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see
and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually
lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human
heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the
freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time
forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have
tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world” ( |
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| Father Robert Fox gives the following at his
web site: The final sentence of the Secret showing two angels beneath the Cross, gathering up the blood of the martyrs, and sprinkling it on the souls of those making their way to God, reminds us of what has come down from the early Church Fathers: the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity. This gives cause for great hope for the new springtime for the Church which Pope John Paul II foresees for the third millennium. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation, in the
Commentary took special note of: “my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” He
concludes that Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of
the world, because it brought the Savior into the world. He ends on a
note of optimism of how Jesus Christ has
“overcome the world.” ( The Vatican Commentary on the “Message of Fatima” informs us that prayer and penance for conversion is still in order. The reparation of First Saturdays, needed for peace and conversions, is a primary form of penance called for in the entire Fatima message.
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| Fatima - Home Page
New York Times Testimonies of 1917 First and Second
Third Secret Confusion and Controversies
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