Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: The message of Fatima

Thursday, October 13, 2022

The message of Fatima - prayer, penance and conversion

Today we remember that mysterious event known as Our Lady of Fatima - where our lady appeared to 3 shepherd children in Portugal to ask them to pray the rosary , make atonement and sacrifices to save sinners. Two of the children are now recognised by the Church as saints - St Francisco & Jacinta.

Without going into all the particulars around the apparitions and the messages, the importance for all of us is to understand prayer, penance and conversion. The Church does not require us as Catholics to believe in particular apparitions and devotions - however the events and meaning of Fatima have been promoted by multiple Popes at the highest level.

Whether you do the First Saturday devotions, pray the Fatima prayers, wear them Brown scapular, pray the rosary everyday or offer intentions through the Immaculate Heart of Mary - the important thing is that we take seriously what Jesus taught us, the Church has always taught, and what Fatima reaffirmed - the importance of prayer, sacrifice and conversion.

Many of us are used to now praying the Fatima prayer at the end of every decade in the rosary, and this is a prayer that I have found very beautiful. Another prayer that I have found fruitful in my own spiritual life is the “pardon prayer”. I pray this before I pray the Divine Office, it helps me to understand the importance of intercessory prayer as a hermit as well as offering the Divine Office as prayer for others.

One of the main messages Our Lady spoke about was the reality of hell, and many people going there. This is a mystery that many of us struggle with and would prefer to try and rationalise away. But it’s important for us all to understand the need for ourselves to grow in holiness, and through our example and prayers, to help other people come close to Jesus.

Apart from the warnings about Communism and war, Our Lady also specifically singled out sins of the flesh. In todays society we have never been more inundated and saturated with sexualised speech, advertising, tv shows, music, pornography and promiscuity. It is almost impossible to escape from. So based on my own past life experience of living a gay lifestyle and now reconverting back to God as a hermit - I pray everyday for people bound in bondage with sexual addictions. This is my way of taking the message of Fatima and making it part of my spiritual life.

If you have not heard before of the 5 Fatima prayers, I encourage you to look at them today and perhaps see which one speaks to you and try to make it part of your prayer life. Whatever devotions and prayers we do, Our Lady has specifically requested we pray the rosary for our families, our nations, peace in the world and the conversion of sinners. Let us always remember that ultimately all conversion needs to start with our own heart first.

Our Lady has promised that in the end her Immaculate Heart will triumph. She will be the refuge that brings us to Jesus who is our peace.

Immaculate Heart of Mary - pray for us

Sts Francisco & Jacinta - pray for us

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.