Pope Francis at Fatima

“Why is Pope Francis leaving the World Youth Day to go and pray at Fatima?” asked Jean-Marie Guénois in Le Figaro on the eve of the Holy Father’s escapade. He replied to his own question: “The first reason is geopolitical. It is the war between Russia and Ukraine that incites Pope Francis to go to Fatima. He is seeking a ceasefire and a peace agreement no matter what the cost. Neither Moscow nor Kiev, however, accept the Vatican interfering in a conflict that, in their view, does not concern the Catholic Church. Although rebuffed, Pope Francis did not give up. He is going to implore the Virgin of Fatima to break the stalemate.”

Jean-Marie Guénois recalls “what Pope Francis did in the hope of obtaining an end to the conflict: on March 25, 2022, the feast of the Annunciation of Mary, he performed the solemn act in Saint Peter’s Basilica before the statue of Fatima that had been specially transported there. It was almost a month to the day after the outbreak of hostilities on February 24. The long prayer, said in unison by the bishops present or absent, contained this sentence: ‘Mother of God and our Mother, we solemnly entrust and consecrate to your Immaculate Heart ourselves, the Church and the whole of humanity, in particular Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world’.”

Since March 25, 2022, I have never ceased to assert that the pontifical approval of the Devotion of Reparation by the Holy Father was lacking for the fulfilment of Our Lady’s marvellous promises. Sister Lucy often made this request, for example in her letter to Pope Pius XII of December 2, 1940: “I take advantage of this occasion, Most Holy Father, to ask Your Holiness to deign to spread and bless this devotion for the whole world”.

Pope Francis had chosen to come to the Cova da Iria on the first Saturday in August. Could it be hoped that he himself would practise, approve and recommend the Devotion of Reparation? We prayed for this intention.

It could have been hoped for, especially since this devotion is now officially practised at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. On Saturday, August 5, at 2 p.m., an hour was devoted to making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the chapel of the apparitions, as has been the case each day recently.

Pope Francis arrived there at 9 a.m. After a long time for silent prayer, the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary were recited in his presence. The Pope then began his address: “We prayed the Rosary, a beautiful and vital prayer, because it puts us in touch with the life of Jesus and Mary. And we meditated on the Joyful Mysteries, which remind us that the Church can only be the house of joy.” Is that so? And what about the Sorrowful Mysteries? Not only those of the past, but those of today, revealed to Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta on July 13, 1917: “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.” In a word, Our Lady reminds us of the tragedy of our lives, the danger that threatens us, and the most urgent appeal for generous love towards poor sinners: “Pray, and pray much; make sacrifices for sinners,” She said on August 19 and, with a more sorrowful expression: “for many souls go to Hell because there is no one to sacrifice or pray for them”.

The Head of the Church, however, pays no heed to this warning.

JESUS IS THE DOOR

He went no further in reading his speech, which seemed to bore him. He became animated when he started improvising, revealing what is close to his heart:

“The little chapel we are in is a beautiful image of the Church: hospitable, without doors. The Church has no doors, so that everyone can enter, because it is our Mother’s house, and a mother’s heart is always open to all her children, to everyone, without any exclusion.”

Yet, there is a door! At least, according to Our Lord.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Jn 10:1-3)

But Pope Francis is praying “for the corpses that he meets on his way”, according to the vision in the third part of the Secret of Our Lady of Fatima. Of course Pope Francis is praying, but he is not calling his sheep to conversion, the sheep belonging to his one and only fold, the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church. Nor does he call his Russian sheep lost in the Orthodox schism.

With these words replete with mystery, in response to the refusal of those who, alas, wanted to remain blind, Jesus called those who belong to Him to leave the ‘court’ of the Temple of Jerusalem with Him, as if in a new Exodus. It was on that day that the break took place between the synagogue and the new community that had formed around Christ by those who listened to His voice and followed Him. Where was He leading them? To where He was, to where He was going and to where He would soon be! For the sheep, it suffices for them to be gathered around the Shepherd, to look to Him and listen to His voice, just as He Himself turned towards His Father.

Today, God the Father wants to turn them towards the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope Francis, however, does not want this! “She always accompanies. She is never a protagonist". So She just “accompanies”... even into Hell?

Because Pope Francis does not want to turn them away from Hell!

Now, there is a battle between Hell and the Virgin Mary, and despite what Pope Francis says, She is the “protagonist”. This expression is formed from two Greek words and means ‘first in the battle”. So, “She always accompanies”, at the head of the battle. “In her life,” the Pope added, “She does nothing other than show Jesus: ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ ” Very well. And what does He tell us? “Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, without there being anyone to make an act of reparation to remove them.”

God wants Her Immaculate Heart to reign so that He Himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in His Holy Trinity, may find satisfaction in his ‘pristine’ Love. He loves Mary more than all else, eternally, with a love of predilection without equal, and He wants Her to be glorified, honoured, loved and served by all His creatures. It is from this original and boundless love for the Immaculate Virgin that He derives His absolute will to make Her the universal Mediatrix and instrument of the salvation of our souls, all souls, yes! all, all, all!

TODOS, TODOS, TODOS

Pope Francis “surprised observers by improvising far from the planned texts and by praying in silence on Saturday morning.” Le Figaro’s special correspondent ran as a headline: “Taken by surprise, the Vatican had to clarify the situation”.

Ten years into Pope Francis’ pontificate, is the Vatican caught short? The explanation lies in one sentence, in a slogan that sums up the antichrist revolution that is about to come to fruition with the “Synod on Synodality”.

“The Church is open to all, to all, to all, todos, todos, todos.” She has always been open, but on one condition: the conversion of sinners. The Pope, however, never mentions this condition: Todos, todos, todos.

He already made “all the young people gathered for the WYD welcome evening repeat it like a mantra” on Thursday evening, and again on the plane home, in response to a question. It is the leitmotif of these World Youth Days “and it will be the refrain of the forthcoming synod on synodality next October: a Church open to all, for all, without exclusion. After all, ‘todos, all’ is the simplest message there is, and it is effective when you’re speaking alone, without a safety net, before hundreds of thousands of people,” Jean-Marie Guénois concluded.

Like Jesus in the Gospel, at Fatima, Pope Francis spoke in parables, for those who understand!

SISTER LUCIE’S PLEAS AND HER VIRTUE OF STRENGTH

Jean-Marie Guénois revealed the text that had been prepared for the Pope and which he did not want to read: “Today, as at the time of the apparitions, there is war. The Virgin asked us to pray the Rosary for peace. She did not ask this as a courtesy, but with maternal concern: ‘Recite the Rosary every day to obtain peace in the world and an end to the war.’ Let us unite our hearts, let us pray for peace, let us consecrate once again the Church and the world to the Immaculate Heart of our most tender Mother.”

This speech corresponded to the supplication that Venerable Sister Lucy had given to Pope Paul VI on May 13, 1967, when he came to Fatima:

“Most Holy Father,

“Our Lady’s message is one of peace, mercy and supplication. In May 1917, Our Lady said: ‘Recite the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and an end to the war.’

“This is why I beseech Your Holiness to deign to encourage saying the Rosary and, if at all possible, to establish that on every Sunday and Holy Day, in all public and semi-public churches and chapels where there is no evening Mass, the Rosary be said before the Most Blessed Sacrament exposed, ending with Benediction, in a spirit of reparation, adoration and supplication.

“I implore your Apostolic Blessing.”

Did the speech that Pope Francis set aside on August 5 also contain approval of the Devotion of Reparation?

This is possible since the decree on the heroic character of Sister Lucia’s virtues, approved by the Pope and published on June 22, mentions the apparition in Pontevedra in 1925. This means that the apparition is now officially recognised by the Church, which was not the case previously. Recognition is granted to the apparition, and therefore to the request it made explicit, namely the practice of the Devotion of Reparation on the five first Saturdays of the month.

Sister Lucy particularly demonstrated her virtue of fortitude by practising this devotion, the spirit of which she had understood so well:

“To console the Heart of my dear heavenly Mother, I would be content to drink the bitterest chalice to the last drop.

“I desired to suffer every kind of martyrdom in order to offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, my dear Mother, and remove one by one the thorns that pierced it, but I understood that these thorns are the symbol of the numerous sins that are committed against Her Son, and are conveyed to the Heart of His Mother. Yes, because through them many of Her other sons are lost eternally.”

Moreover, she practised this virtue of fortitude to a heroic degree by persevering in passing on to her superiors the request for approval of this devotion, even though she herself realised “that she was crying out in a desert where only God hears.”

Pontifical approval would come when enough souls had consoled our dearest heavenly Mother. At least, that is what Our Lady’s messenger implied on several occasions. This should encourage us to practise the Devotion of Reparation with greater fervour and to redouble our efforts to spread it by continuing our Crusade.

I love Thee Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee,
Blessed art thou amongst women, 
And blessed is fruit of Thy womb, Jesus, Who wants to establish in the world devotion to thine Immaculate Heart.

His pierced Heart, Your Immaculate Heart crowned with thorns, and the peril of Hell threatening so many souls for whom no one prays, especially that of the Holy Father, and those of the Russians, urge me to embrace this devotion to Your Immaculate Heart. For the conversion of the Holy Father and of Russia.

Brother Bruno of Jesus-Mary