The call of Fatima is more urgent than ever today. As an apostolate we have been charged with disseminating this call for fidelity in an age of apostasy. Ponder for a moment what the world would look like if Our Lady’s call for adherence to the laws of God and respect for civility had been followed in 1917. The peace and stability that only God can provide would rule the day. Instead, confusion about the very nature of the human person and the dehumanization which always precedes conflict is overbearing. The constant upheaval that defines our world today is a product of our insistence on following our own path and not the lead of God. Today society is in a desperate state as we set on the brink of global war and uncertainty. Suicide rates are on the rise as desperation, the most powerful tool of the devil, is prominent among those who do not see the hope that God shows us. People are judged by a secular vision which sees only their apparent usefulness and not their intrinsic human dignity; thus suicide, abortion and euthanasia are easily rationalized.
Mary is the vision of hope in this hopeless world. Her simple response to the angel at the annunciation, “Be it done unto me according to Thy word,” is in direct conflict with the present trends of our society, desiring an impossible level of certainty. Reasonable planning is the responsibility of rational thinkers, but expecting everything to follow precisely as we have laid it out is not realistic. Disrupting our plans and vision is the way in which God directs us to a better path. We make plans and the Almighty proves that He has a sense of humor when we see how he redirects them.
We pray for certain outcomes and do not always realize that all prayers are answered in the way that is best for our long term good. In fact, we fail to realize that the answers to our prayers are often answered in the way we least expect. St. Padre Pio said, “Pray, hope and do not worry.” People of true faith do not live in fear; they live in hope. The greatest saints lived by Divine direction, not by continual self-determination.
As we continue in this Extraordinary Marian Jubilee year, I am strongly encouraged by the promise of peace and stability found in the message of Fatima, especially through the fulfillment of the First Saturdays devotion. Fatima is a message of hope in a world inundated with despair. This centennial of the apparitions given in Pontevedra, Spain, in 1925, to Sr. Lucia must finally be a call to conversion as the Fatima apparitions directed us. The fulfillment of the requests which she received and then shared with us lie between our world and its journey to destruction.
Sr. Lucia stated that if this practice of the First Saturdays Devotion had been promulgated by the Church in 1925, the Second World War would have been avoided. St. Carlo Acutis revealed to his mother after the death of Sr. Lucia that she came to him in a dream and said that this devotion could change the world. We, the members of Our Lady’s Blue Army, have always believed this and must work even harder going forward to bring more people to this practice. For this reason, we are embracing this Extraordinary Marian Jubilee with extra zeal.
It is simple to understand why this is so important. Think why these blasphemies are so offensive to the Divine person.
- The blasphemy of denying Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.
- The blasphemy of denying her Divine Maternity.
- The blasphemy of denying her Perpetual Virginity.
- The blasphemy of instilling in the hearts of children contempt for her.
- The blasphemy of desecration of her sacred images.
These offenses are a direct assault on the Incarnation and the special nature of the one who would bear the Messiah. They reduce Our Lord to just a prophet and deny the reality that He is the Divine Son of Almighty God. Furthermore, by turning children against the purity and forthright nature of Our Lady they perpetuate this contempt into the future. The desecration of her sacred images is an outward sign of contempt for her singular position in salvation history.
Making reparation for the blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart is our counter to the obstinance of sin. War and disruption are the just punishment for this sin, which our acts of reparation hold back. Prayer and reparation are indeed the remedy which brings about the grace to soften hearts and bring us back to rational thinking.
We can change the world by fulfilling the requests of Our Lady. The World Apostolate of Fatima/Our Lady’s Blue Army is dedicated to this goal. Please join our First Saturday Virtual Pilgrimage. For more information and to obtain your Passport and access the videos, visit: BLUEARMY.COM/FIRST-SATURDAY-PILGRIMAGE.
The National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in New Jersey is the center of our operations in the United States. During this Extraordinary Marian Jubilee Year, we have been granted by the Apostolic Penitentiary the designation of a place of pilgrimage so that visitors can receive a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions while visiting the shrine. Our world is desperately in need of the grace that this special year affords.
Yes, I truly believe that if enough people fulfill the requests made in 1925 at Pontevedra for reparation to her Immaculate Heart we can bring about a lasting peace. It is up to us.
God bless you and Mary keep you in her Immaculate Heart.
David M. Carollo Executive Director
If you wish to contact me, please do so at [email protected].
David M. Carollo is the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA/National Blue Army Shrine. He wrote this for his Voice of Fatima column.
If you would like to comment on this post, please contact him at [email protected].
