The Key in the Fatima Message

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

A year has passed since the centenary of Our Lady’s apparitions at Fatima. After all the excitement and fervour of the Jubilee Year, have we responded to our heavenly Mother’s requests?

Our Lady of Fatima had said that the triumph of her Immaculate Heart is the answer to our woes. On July 13, 1917, after showing the three shepherd children a vision of hell, Our Lady said:

“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”[1]

She said that the First World War would end, but if people continued offending God, a worse one would break out during Pope Pius XI’s pontificate. She continued:

“When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.”

“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing 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. …”

Those were the first two parts of the Fatima secret. When disclosed in 1942, an atheist Russia had already spread her errors worldwide. The use of atomic bombs during the Second World War in 1945 showed the possibility of several entire nations being annihilated. Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia to ask for the First Five Saturday Communion of reparation in 1925, and for the consecration of Russia in 1929,[2] both early enough to avert the Second World War.

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart means fulfilling Our Lady’s requests to:

· Offer up to God whatever He sends us as we fulfil our daily duties in reparation for sins  we and others committed, 

· Pray the Rosary daily,

· Wear the Scapular as a sign of our consecration to her Immaculate Heart, and

· Practise the Five First Saturdays devotion – on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, to go for Confession, receive Holy Communion, pray the Rosary, and accompany Our Lady by meditating on the Rosary mysteries for 15 minutes, all in reparation for sins against Mary’s Immaculate Heart

The practices are meant to make us holy and our prayers effective, to convert many more souls and prevent nations’ annihilation. Our Lord insisted on Russia’s collegial consecration to show the world that it was Mary’s Immaculate Heart that won Russia’s conversion when it happened. It is to place devotion to her Immaculate Heart alongside devotion to His own Sacred Heart thereafter.

On the night of January 25–26, 1938, millions saw the “unknown light” that seemed to blaze Europe. Two months later, Hitler invaded Austria, leading to the Second World War. The prophecies materialised because too few responded to Our Lady’s request.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II consecrated the whole world, especially those most in need of God’s love and care, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Lucia confirmed that it fulfilled Our Lady’s request. In 1991, Communism ended in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Despite Russia’s conversion, war and sin still pervades the world. In 1973, Our Lady updated the Fatima message at Akita,[3] this time with her own blood and tears (her statue bled and wept). Why? Because most of the world seems to have ignored or forgotten the terrible warning of Fatima. If we have not responded to her miracles at Fatima, will we respond to her tears?

As the 101^st anniversary of the Fatima apparitions approaches tomorrow, let us use this prayer card, which bears Our Lady’s face as Sister Lucia described. Her countenance on the image reflects heaven, as the visionaries experienced a century ago.[4] May it inspire us to greater devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, and so save souls.

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[1] All extracts of Our Lady’s words during the Fatima apparitions are from Louis Kondor, ed., Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words: Sister Lucia’s Memoirs, trans. Dominican Nuns of Perpetual Rosary (Portugal: Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007), 123–124, http://www.pastorinhos.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/MemoriasI_en.pdf.

[2] John de Marchi, The True Story of Fatima, “The Secret”, 1952, https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/tsfatima.htm; John M. Haffert, Dear Bishop (Washington, N.J.: AMI International Press, 1982), 34, 225, http://johnhaffert.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Dear-Bishop.pdf.

[3]Haffert, The Meaning of Akita, 60.

[4] John M. Haffert, Dear Bishop (Washington, N.J.: AMI International Press, 1982), 37, http://johnhaffert.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Dear-Bishop.pdf.

Our Final Remedy?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

What does this headline – “Christianity is finished in Iraq” (The Herald, 17 Aug, 2014) make you feel? The threat of genocide on our Iraqi brothers and sisters can happen anywhere. Their grotesque violence and mass murder leave many of us feeling helpless in the face of cruel injustice. Concurrently, we have conflicts in Syria, The Gaza, and Ukraine; the Ebola outbreak; airplane tragedies. As both Church and humanity, we feel threatened.

But are all these new? Throughout history, the Church and Christians have faced heresies, persecution, oppression and plagues. Our forebears must have experienced evil’s grip as we do now. Amidst all the tribulations, though, we still find God’s providence. One common thread running through the incidences is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession. In the book, “The Five Warnings”, Fr. Faroni and Cisostomo highlighted several episodes.

According to tradition, in the 12^th and 13^th century, when the Albigensian heresy was widespread in southern France, Our Lady advised St. Dominic to counter it by asking the people to pray the Hail Marys alongside his preaching of our salvation mysteries. This is essentially what we do when we pray the Rosary, which was officially approved by Pope St. Pius V in 1569.

On 7 October 1571, members of the Confraternity of the Rosary in Rome processed praying the Rosary while Christian troops battled against the Muslim Turks to prevent the invasion of Rome. The outnumbered Christians won the battle. Hence we commemorate the victory by the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October.

Praying the Rosary also saved Catholicism in Asia, when in 1646, the Dutch was prevented from conquering the Phillipines. The ill-equipped joint Filipino-Spanish forces prayed the Rosary before every encounter with the Protestant Dutch forces. (Fr. Marie-Dominic, n.d. as cited by Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo, 2006)

According to Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo (2006), however, the greater victories of the Rosary were against the apostate forces of Freemasonry and Communism. Since 1910, the Catholic Church in Portugal was heavily and openly persecuted by the Freemasons. By 1917, the country was nearing economic disaster and beset with lawlessness. World War I then worsened things. In 1917, Our Lady appeared in Fatima. She asked for the Rosary prayer and devotion to her Immaculate Heart; the people listened. After the apparitions, the Masonic government was defeated. A religious revival happened. And Portugal was spared from World War II, as Sister Lucia, one of the Fatima seers, foretold. (Freemasonry Watch / Fatima Crusader, n.d., as cited by Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo, 2006)

Since 1938, Austria lost its independence; first to Germany, and later given to Communist Russia. From 1947, Fr. Petrus Pavlicek, heeding Our Lady’s counsel to pray the Rosary daily for restoration of peace, started Rosary crusades with annual processions throughout the nation. In 1955, against all expectations, Austria was miraculously granted independence by Russia. (Charles E. Schaffer / Fr. Marie-Dominic, O.P., n.d., as cited by Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo, 2006)

In 1964, Brazil almost became a Communist state. Fr. Patrick Peyton preached a rosary crusade across the country. Its people prayed the Rosary fervently, kneeling or parading on the streets. Rosary marches were held. Inexplicably, President Joao Goulart, who attempted to sell out his country, was gradually abandoned by his aides. The military took over without bloodshed on 26 March; Goulart and the Communist leaders fled. On April 2, the people held a gigantic prayer march in thanksgiving to the Lord and Our Lady. (Fr. Marie-Dominic, O.P., n.d., as cited by Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo, 2006)

The victories of Our Lady’s intercession for Portugal, Austria and Brazil were influenced by Our Lady of Fatima’s messages. Sister Lucia understood from her that the Devil is waging the final battle against the Blessed Virgin, and that God is giving two last remedies to the world – the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This seems most urgent, since God always exhausts all means to win back mankind before He punishes the world.

To explain the importance of the Rosary, Fr. Faroni and Crisostomo uses the allegory of a mother sending her child to buy some milk, but being brought ice cream instead. Ice cream is better than milk, but it is not what she asked for. They added, (I quote) “Whatever else a person may do, even though they go to Mass every day, they still need to say the rosary in their home. It is the medicine our Mother has told us to take, to keep our faith strong and healthy.” (unquote)

Brothers and sisters, just as light shines the brightest in darkness, only in the midst of our world’s gloom, will the joy of the Gospel shine the brightest. Let us not despair, but use the remedy that God has given us – the Holy Rosary, which is the Gospel on beads. In this Month of the Rosary, let us pray the Rosary more fervently in the face of current events. We are not helpless; we have the most effective remedy against the Devil. It could be our final remedy.

Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us. Amen.

St. Francis Xavier the Evangeliser

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 12 Apr 2014)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

If St. Francis Xavier were alive today, he would be 508 years old. Passing the anniversary of his birthday on Monday, 7 April, I cannot help but share about our beloved Patron Saint; this time in light of our Holy Father’s Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. As the Patron Saint of All Foreign Missionaries, none could be a better model than St. Francis Xavier himself in living out Pope Francis’ call to be joyful evangelisers.

We have heard of how St. Francis Xavier was converted to a life dedicated to Christ by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Francis, who had been Ignatius’ most difficult convert, would later always regard Ignatius as the “dear father” of his soul. He would write letters to Ignatius while kneeling, and seal Ignatius’ signatures, cut out from his letters, in a locket hung from his neck. So faithful and obedient was Francis to Ignatius that Ignatius’ plans became his plans. Pope Francis wrote, “The believer is essentially 'one who remembers'.” He quoted the letter to the Hebrews: "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God" (Heb 13:7). He exhorted us to constantly implore the grace of remembrance, for “The joy of evangelizing always arises from grateful remem­brance…”. (Evangelii Gaudium, #13)

Perhaps less known is the influence of Francis’ spiritual upbringing. In the castle of Xavier, where he was born and grew up, was a family chapel with a life-size crucifix called the “Christ of the Smile”. The features of the Crucified One must have left a deep impression on Francis’ young heart every time he heard his mother explained Jesus’ story then. His family’s piety had also been characterised by devotions to Our Lady and to the Saints.

In compiling stories on St. Francis Xavier’s life, Fr. Albert Jou wrote that his eldest sister, Magdalena’s death in 1533 might have also helped Francis change his life. A nun in a convent of Gandia, Spain, her virtuous and saintly life might have influenced Francis. She had prophesied the great honour that Francis would bring to God, and encouraged their brother Miguel to continue financing Francis’ studies in Paris.

Francis became one of the founders of the Society of Jesus led by Ignatius Loyola. Two of their hallmarks were their ministry to the sick and incurables, and austerity. Wherever they went, they lived at or near hospitals. They begged for their food, and also for the poor and the sick. Once, Francis was serving in a hospital in Venice. The patients were suffering from the contagious syphilis that rotted the body gradually. Sores full of smelly puss covered their bodies, and a continuous headache tortured them. One day, a patient asked Francis to scratch his back, covered with sores. While doing so, fear of contracting the disease suddenly seized Francis. To overcome it, Francis put his fingers into his mouth. At night, he dreamt of his throat having been infected and kept coughing and spitting all night. He not only did not catch the disease, but he was free forever from all disgust in serving the patients.

Evangelii Gaudium #15 reads, “It is not by proselytising that the Church grows, but 'by attraction'”. Later, in his missions, Francis continued to attract people by his saintly charity, humility, and friendliness. He was always smiling, cheerful and speaking about God, and made himself the servant of all. He was exemplary even in the most challenging circumstances. For instance, in the arduous voyage to the East Indies, many fell sick or died. Francis was seasick and weak, but he went around helping the suffering and cooked the food that he begged. Seeing his charitable acts, the people listened to Francis readily. He preached at “dry Masses” and instructed the children and workers. On Saturday evenings, they would all meet and sing hymns to Mary and pray to her and the Saints. Francis Xavier’s conduct reflected Pope Francis’ exhortation to us to let the joy of faith slowly revive us even amidst the greatest distress. (Evangelii Gaudium, #6)

Pope Francis wrote, “evangeliza­tion is first and foremost about preaching the Gospel to those who do not know Jesus Christ or who have always rejected him.” (Evangelii Gaudium, #15) Francis Xavier embodied this best by his zealousness in bringing the Gospel to everyone and to save souls. In the short ten years in the East, he baptised and catechised thousands of people, and converted those who strayed from the faith. Always on the move, his apostolic enterprise and harvest have been unparalleled since the Apostles’ time.

Again, echoing Evangelii Gaudium (#10), St. Francis Xavier is the epitome of one who has lived his life to the fullest by answering the Church’s call to evangelise. As we answer that call ourselves, let us ask for St. Francis Xavier and Mother Mary’s intercessions.

The Biggest Marian Shrine – Born Out of Faith

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 26 October 2013)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Marian shrines at Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, and so on have originated from Mary’s apparitions at those places. In her apparitions, Mary calls us back to our faith, to conversion and prayer. She asked for the shrines to be built so that we remember the messages. Do you know that the biggest Marian shrine in the world, was born not out of Mary’s apparitions and messages, but rather from the faith of the faithful? I would like to share with you the story of the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.

In October 1717, when Brazil was still under Portugal rule, the Governor of the State of São Paulo was going to pass through Guaratinguetá, a small city in the Paraiba river valley (now called Aparecida). The people there decided to honour him with a feast. Although it was not the fishing season then, they went down to the Paraiba river to fish for the feast. Three fishermen, Domingos Garcia, Filipe Pedroso and João Alves prayed to God and invoked the intercession of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. After hours of fruitless fishing, they were going to give up. João decided to cast his net for the last time near the Port of Itaguagu. This time, he hauled in a statue’s headless body. A later cast of the net brought up the head of the statue. After cleaning up the statue, they saw that it was a black version of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. According to legend, the slender statue then became so heavy they could not move it. They named it Our Lady of the Conception Who Appeared from the Waters, or in short, Our Lady of Aparecida [which means who appeared]. They wrapped it in cloth and continued fishing. This time, their nets were full to the point of sinking their boats.

Felipe Pedroso brought home the statue and repaired it. Over the next 15 years, he and his family and friends venerated the statue with many rosaries, hymns and prayers before it. Friar Agostino de Jesus, an Augustinian monk famous for his sculptures, was known to have made the statue around 1650. Why it was at the bottom of the river, however, remains a mystery. Devotion grew around the statue with many miracles attributed to it. Later a local chapel was built; it was replaced by a large colonial basilica by 1888, receiving 150,000 pilgrims a year then (de Oliveira, n.d.). To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1904, the statue was crowned at the decree of the Holy See. Around 1930, Our Lady of Aparecida was proclaimed the Patroness of Brazil.  Her feast day is on 12 October. In 1955, they started building the new Basilica, which was consecrated in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.

Today, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Sao Paulo, which houses the statue, is the largest Marian shrine, and the third largest basilica in the world (Schaeffer, 2011). Receiving 8 million pilgrims a year, it is the fourth most visited Marian sanctuary in the world. William Thomas wrote in the Catholic Voice, an Irish Catholic newspaper:

‘Although there were no words spoken, nor apparition seen here, nevertheless, the extraordinary number of miracles which are recorded attest to the fact that Our Lady wanted this Shrine built in her honour.’

What can we learn from the history of Our Lady of Aparecida? A certain Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira noted that through the graces, Our Lady persuades the people, especially the simple and poor, to come to her in all their needs, thus stimulating the grace of prayer. The discovery of Our Lady in Brazil as the Immaculate Conception also prepared the Brazilian Catholics to believe in the dogma, which was proclaimed more than a century later.

From Pope Francis:

1)    Like the fishermen who found the Marian statue and then abundant fish, Christians need to be open to being surprised by God. He said, “…even in the midst of difficulties, God acts and he surprises us.” (Aparecida, July 24, 2013)

2)    In the mysterious discovery of Our Lady of Aparecida, the fishermen did not dismiss the incomplete mystery, but awaited its completion patiently. They got the answer not long after. Whenever we see pieces of the mystery, (I quote the Pope), “We are impatient, anxious to see the whole picture, but God lets us see things slowly, quietly. The Church also has to learn how to wait." (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 28, 2013)

In this Year of Faith, may the Aparecida story remind us that with faith all things are possible. We only have to be patient.

References

de Oliveira, P.C. (n.d.) Our Lady Aparecida – October 12. Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j227sd_OLAparecida_10-12.html.

Pope's Homily at National Shrine of Our Lady of Conception in Aparecida. (24 July 2013). Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.zenit.org/.

Reflections From Francis for the Church in Brazil. (28 July 2013). Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.zenit.org.

Schaeffer, F. (27 Oct 2011). Our Lady of Apericida. Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://franciscan-sfo.org/FP2/FR2-580.html.

The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

(Sharing during the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 21 September 2013)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Today, I would like to share on a devotion that contains one of my favourite prayers. Although I did not fully understand the purpose of this devotion then, I took to it because of the meaningful prayer. This devotion relates specially to Christ’s passion and death, two of the central elements of our faith. It is the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.

In this devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, we meditate on the seven sorrows of Mary while praying one Our Father and seven Hail Mary’s for each sorrow. At the end of each cycle, we pray, “My Mother, share thy grief with me; let me bear thee company, to mourn thy Jesus’ death with thee.” This sums up the devotion’s purpose, that is, to share in Mary’s sorrows and unite ourselves with the Passion of Christ and His holy Mother. Thus, we are led to enter into Jesus’ Heart and honour Him, more so because we have honoured His Mother by revering her sorrows.

As written by Scott P. Richert (About.com Catholicism, n.d.), by uniting ourselves to Mary in her sorrow, we hope to one day also share her joy in the triumph of her Son. Accordingly, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on 15 September, one day after the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are events in Jesus’ life, taken from the Scriptures. They are:

1)    The prophecy of Simeon

2)    The flight into Egypt

3)    The Child Jesus lost in the Temple

4)    Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross

5)    Mary at the foot of the cross

6)    Mary receives the body of Jesus

7)    The burial of Christ

As Fr. William Saunders (Arlington Catholic Herald, 10 October 2000) wrote, the key image is our Blessed Mother standing faithfully at the foot of the cross with her dying Son, as recorded in St. John’s Gospel. The Lumen Gentium document wrote: ”…  She stood in keeping with the divine plan, suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself, with a maternal heart, to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth” (#58). Through her sufferings with Christ, she plays a part in our redemption.

The Calvary event is also seen as Mary’s spiritual martyrdom. Fr. Saunders cited St. Bernard thus, “Truly, O Blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart.... He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since His” (De duodecim praerogatativs BVM).

Indeed, throughout the centuries, Our Lady has shown her love for us, her children, given by Christ at the foot of the Cross, by her visitations to us. Twenty centuries after Christ’s resurrection, Our Lady still weeps in sorrow, at her apparitions at La Salette, Akita, and Kibeho, among others. Why? At Kibeho, Rwanda, in her most recent and famous apparitions as Our Lady of Sorrows, she told us why.

“The world conducts itself very badly.” “The world hastens to its ruin, it will fall into the abyss.” The Mother of God was very saddened by people’s unbelief and lack of repentance. She complained of our bad way of life. “Faith and unbelief will come unseen”, referring to apostasies.

In her urgent appeal for repentance, she exhorted us, “Convert while there is still time.”  

“No one will reach heaven without suffering.” Suffering helps us compensate for the sins of the world and participate in Jesus’ and Mary’s sufferings for the world’s salvation.

“Pray always and single-heartedly”. Mary begs us to pray with greater zeal and purity of heart.

Marian devotion should be expressed through sincere and regular praying of the Rosary.

She asks for the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Mother of God to be renewed and spread in the Church, but not replacing the Holy Rosary.

She asks to pray always for the Church, when many troubles are upon it in the times to come. Her messages are for the whole world, for all times.

Upon reflexion, the call for repentance, while there is still time, applies to all of us, who face our own inevitable deaths. Indeed, there is a prayer in preparation for death, in the devotion; it is the one that caught my fancy.

In this Year of Faith, let us with greater zeal pray for conversion and daily prepare ourselves for our inevitable deaths. Only then would we progress into our heavenly Father’s kingdom. Our Lady of Sorrows, intercede for us. Amen.

Faith of Hope

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 27 Apr 2013)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ

During this Year of Faith, the Nicene Creed is our central prayer. Rightly so, as it tells us and others of our faith. Have you ever wondered why we bow profoundly at the Incarnatus, i.e. the phrase “...and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man”? On the solemnities of Christmas and the Annunciation, we even genuflect at this moment. Father Daniel Schomaker[1]wrote,

(I quote) “As God comes down to earth, we too go down to the earth and touch our knee to the ground. ...God, in the person of Jesus Christ, emptied himself of all that he was and, putting on flesh, became one like us,”

while maintaining fully his divinity.

Such profound gestures show how central the doctrine of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in our faith. The Incarnation is the beginning of our Christian faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (# 463) states, belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is what marks us apart as Christians. The person who gave our God a body, so that we can be redeemed, is none other than Mary. That is why she is called the Mother of God. As award-winning Catholic writer, Kathy Coffey, highlighted, the crucial moment that led to the Incarnation, the Annunciation, must have been the most unforgettable in Mary’s life. Today, I would like to share Kathy Coffey’s thoughts on the Annunciation, and its applications to us.

Coffey painted Mary’s background as such. Immersed in the Torah, Mary, who probably could not read, would have memorised sections of it. The story of God’s fidelity to His people ran in her veins. She would have lighted the Sabbath candle every week, and sung the psalms regularly, reminding of God’s goodness. On the other hand, there was the Roman oppression. She had friends who were sold as slaves with their children when Romans killed Israel’s two thousand men. Admist these two powerful forces, she received a most puzzling message from the Archangel Gabriel, that turned her life upside down. No agenda was given; she did not have any clue of what to expect after the startling visit.

Mary’s dilemma is like ours, moving between two worlds: the promises of our faith, and the sad realities of our culture. If we hope in our faith, we may be accused of ignoring reality. If we focus on people’s inhumanity, we may despair and ask where God is. Coffey boldly wondered about God’s seemingly bad sense of timing. Could the news of the pregnancy not waited till Mary was safely and respectably married to Joseph? Could the birth not have happened when they were settled at home with family and friends’ support? Could God not have struck Herod with a simple lightning bolt, and spared the besieged family the difficult trip? Coffey then wrote that we balk at hardship and inconvenience because we cannot see into the future.

How could Mary have so easily answered “yes”? Ladislas Orsy, S.J., a Jesuit professor, says that human hopes name future expectations and then cling fast to them, whereas divine hope means immersion in God’s plan. “God guarantees a good outcome but without telling us what it will be.” Mary’s participation (I quote) “...was perfect; she never said, ‘I had hoped.’” (unquote) Mary participated actively in her own drama, without knowing how it would unfold. She did not try to hide her fear or uncertainty, but she knew the cure for our human failure to see: blind trust. She could praise God in the Magnificat thereafter, because she knew God’s constancy and fidelity. Mary’s way was divine hope.

According to Coffey, Mary can help us here, because she understood the kind of tensions we face. Living with the dramatic contrasts, she made her peace with disparate worlds. Throughout her life, she would help her friends remember God’s goodness, especially through her son. She directed Jesus’ disciples towards hope when they despaired. We, who have been baptized into Mary’s same gift of faith, must also live on hope, trusting in God’s promise. Like Mary, we have been called to participate in the fullness of God’s life and bring Christ into our worlds.

As we prepare for the coming general elections, let us keep this hope alive for our nation by praying and fulfilling our duty to vote, guided by the Holy Spirit. By our faith, may we show others the reason for our hope. Mary, our Mother, show us the way and pray for us. Amen.

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[1] An associate director of the diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy of Covington, Kentucky, the USA

The Miraculous Medal

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 16 Mar 2013)

•    The Year of Faith is a command to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world (Benedict XVI, 2011, Porta Fidei, #6).

•    We, the Church, have the mission to faithfully proclaim the mystery of our Lord until it is finally manifested in full light.

•    The call to conversion is not new. The mystery of our salvation has been filled with God’s seeking out mankind who often strayed, calling him to return to the Creator in heart and mind.

The Miraculous Medal

•    The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Catherine (Zoe Labore) three times in 1830 at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Paris. On the second occasion, 27 November 1830, Sister Catherine records that the Blessed Virgin appeared as if standing on a globe, and bearing a globe in her hands. As if from rings set with precious stones dazzling rays of light were emitted from her fingers. These, she said, were symbols of the graces which would be bestowed on all who asked for them. 

•    Around the figure appeared an oval frame bearing in golden letters the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"; on the back appeared the letter M, surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it and, under all, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the latter pierced by a sword. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    In the image of Her Immaculate Heart pierced by a sword, we see the heart of the Blessed Virgin stabbed for all of those who have lived – and died – by the sword, and by sin. 

•    Jesus said, “Put your sword back, for all who have lived by the sword, die by the sword.” (Mt 26:52)

•    At the second and third of these visions a command was given to have a medal struck after the model revealed, and a promise of great graces was made to those who wear it when blessed. After careful investigation, M. Aladel, the spiritual director of Sister Catherine, obtained the approval of Mgr. de Quelen, Archbishop of Paris. Sister Catherine Laboure was canonized by Pope Pius XII on 27 November 1947. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    The Miraculous Medal is a sacramental, a physical manifestation of the gift of grace that perpetually exudes from Our Lady. It was originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception but because so many miracles were reported by those wearing it, the sacramental became known as the Miraculous Medal. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    Marie-Alphonsus Ratisbonne, who had resisted the calling to the Church, wore the medal and prayed a simple prayer to Mary out of respect for his friend. Our Lady appeared to him and brought about his conversion. He later became a priest and, together with his converted priest brother, founded the Institute of Our Lady of Sion. The Pope inaugurated the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on 27 November.

•    In this Year of Faith, let us like trustful children place our faith in our Blessed Mother’s guidance to prayer, sacrifice and penance so that we, too, would be conveying to the world the mystery of our Lord. Then, we would have fulfilled the command of the Holy Father for this grace-filled Year. 

•    Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we unite ourselves to you under your title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

May this medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your motherly affection for us and a constant reminder of our filial duties towards you.

While wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son.

Most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Saviour, keep us close to you every moment of our lives so that like you, we may live and act according to the teaching and example of your Son.

Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death so that in union with you we may enjoy the happiness of heaven forever. Amen.

References:

•    Benedict XVI. (11 October 2011). Porta Fidei.

•    Catholic Tradition webpage. (n.d.). The Miraculous Medal. Retrieved from http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/miraculous-medal.htm