Our Mediatrix, Daughter of Abraham

FROM the very first pages of Sacred History, the story of the terrible punishment of the city of Sodom inspires horror at the crime against nature that takes its name from this account.

This occurred despite the intercession of Abraham, with whom God had sealed a Covenant:

“Yahweh said: ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him? No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing righteousness and justice; so that Yahweh may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

“Then Yahweh said: ‘Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.” (Gn 18:17-21)

Abraham who “still stood before Yahweh, drew near, and said: ‘Will you indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?’ ”

And Yahweh said: “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” (Gn 18:26)

Abraham emboldened: “ ‘Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?’ And He said: ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.’

“Again Abraham spoke to Him, and said: ‘Suppose forty are found there.’ He answered: ‘For the sake of forty I will not do it.’

“Then Abraham said: ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.’ He answered: ‘I will not do it, if I find thirty there.’

“He said: ‘Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.’ He answered: ‘For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.’

“Then he said: ‘Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.’ He answered: ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.’

“And Yahweh went His way, when He had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.’ ” (Gn 18:27-33)

The next day Abraham returned to see:

“And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.” (Gn 19:27-28)

The same applies today to the divine intercession of Our Lady of Fatima in 1917, during the First World War. During the third apparition, on July 13, Mary replied to Lucy who asked Her: “ ‘What does Your Grace want of me?”

‘I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue reciting the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for only She can help you.’

‘I should like to ask You to tell us who You are, and to work a miracle so that everyone will believe that Your Grace is appearing to us.’

‘Continue to come here every month. In October, I will say Who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle so that all might see in order to believe.’ ”

Lucy began to present the requests entrusted to her to the Blessed Virgin. Our Lady answered that she would cure some but not others.

“I made a few requests here:

‘Could you not convert a woman from Pedrogao and another from Fatima, and cure a child from Moita?’

“Our Lady replied that it was necessary to pray the Rosary in order to obtain these graces during the year. As for Maria Carreira’s crippled son, She said he would not recover. He will remain poor. He must pray the Rosary every day with his family, and he will be able to earn a living.

John Carreira thus kept his infirmities, he nevertheless became sacristan of the Chapel of the Apparitions.

Lucy presented other requests entrusted to her:

“I must ask Your Grace to take a sick man from Atouguia to Heaven, the sooner the better.

‘He should not be in such a hurry. I know very well when I have to come and fetch him.’ ”

It was Manuel da Silva Reis, whom Our Lady did not come to fetch until seven years later, on February 18, 1924.

She also requested the conversions of a woman from Fatima and her children and of another woman from Pedrogao; she asked for certain drunkards to be cured of their vice, and for other cures. They all had to recite the Rosary, which was the general condition for obtaining the graces requested during the year.

“Then,” Lucia wrote in her Memoirs, “in order to rekindle my flagging fervour, Our Lady said to us:

‘Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and often say to Jesus, especially when you make a sacrifice:’

‘Jesus, it is for the love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’

“As She said these last words, Our Lady opened Her hands again, as She had done the two previous months. The reflection of the light seemed to penetrate the earth and we saw what looked like a vast ocean of fire. Plunged in this fire we saw demons and the souls of the damned.

“The latter were like transparent burning embers, black or bronzed, having human form. They were floating in this fire, lifted up by the flames that issued from within themselves, along with clouds of smoke. They fell back on all sides, like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid cries and groans of despair that were horrifying to hear and made us tremble with fright. It must have been this sight that caused me to let out the cry that the people around me heard. The demons could be distinguished from the souls of the damned by their horrible and repellent likeness to frightening and unknown animals, but they were transparent, like burning black coals.”

Now our Holy Father, Pope Francis, instead of praying for the conversion of poor sinners addicted to this vice that condemns them to Hell, grants them what he calls a ‘blessing that descends’ from God Himself “upon those who – recognising themselves to be destitute and in need of his help – do not claim a legitimation of their own status – to put it plainly: refuse to convert –, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit.”●

Thus, Our Lady intercedes, like Abraham in Sodom and Gomorrah, while Pope Francis blesses sinners! without asking them to convert! What can we do? Console Our Lady!

Brother Bruno of Jesus Mary

LITANIES OF REPARATION TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.

O Mary, beloved Daughter of the Father, I want to console You!

O Mary, Mother and Spouse of Jesus, true God made man, I want to console You!

O Mary, Dove of the Divine Paraclete, I want to console You!

O Mary, our Mother, I want to console You!

O Mary, Immaculate Heart most sorrowful, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who so desires to save sinners, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who is so sad to see souls fall into Hell, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who offers your Immaculate Heart for the salvation of the world, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who wants us to pray the Rosary every day, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who asks for our prayers and sacrifices as an act of reparation, I want to console You!

O Mary, Who begs us to stop offending God Our Lord, I want to console You!

O Mary, blasphemed by those who deny Your Immaculate Conception, I want to console You!

O Mary, outraged by those who deny Your perpetual Virginity, I want to console You!

O Mary, reviled by those who deny Your divine Maternity, I want to console You!

O Mary, scorned by those who reject You as their Mother, I want to console You!

O Mary, wounded by those who turn little children away from You and teach them to despise You, I want to console You!

O Mary, struck by those who profane Your holy images, I want to console You!

O Mary, despised by those who refuse to obey Your requests, I want to console You!

O Mary, rejected by those who conceal Your will, I want to console You!

O Mary, Whose Heart is sorrowful and immaculate, I want to console You!

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, forgive us our sins.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, save us from the fire of Hell.

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, lead all souls to Heaven.

V. Sweet Heart of Mary. – R. Be our salvation.

LET US PRAY

Very dear Heavenly Father, Who wishes to see us consecrate ourselves to removing from the Immaculate Heart of Mary the thorns with which ungrateful men are constantly piercing it; grant that, moved with compassion for this lovable Heart, we may be animated by a tender devotion and a holy zeal to do all that depends on us to console and make known and loved the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of Your Son, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of Your Spirit of Love for ever and ever. Amen.