Catholic Family Life Messenger -- June/July 2007

CATHOLIC
FAMILY LIFE
MESSENGER

Volume 1  Nos. 6 and 7  June-July 2007

UNDERSTANDING
CONTRACEPTION
1. According to the Roman Catholic Church, the oldest, the holy and Apostolic, the daughter of Almighty God, the bride of Jesus Christ, al¬ways guided by the Holy Spirit, “Every act of sexual intercourse ought to be open to new life”. Any action to the contrary is intrinsically evil. (CCC 2370.) The only moral means that ought to be used by the husband and wife to postpone or avoid conception is abstinence from sexual intercourse and from orgasm -- not always, but only during the fertile phase of the cycle. According to the Vademecum for Confessors Concerning Some Aspects of the Morality of Conjugal Life (a manual released by the Vatican in 1997): “This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable.” (Para. 4.) (Emphasis added). This is the irreformable [infallible] official teaching of God and His Church – the one founded by His Son Jesus Christ. The CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) states that
“This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break…” (2366.)
Consequently, because God’s laws are unchangeable, and even though the whole world might choose to contracept, this teaching cannot be altered by anyone in Heaven, on earth or under the Earth. (Gal 1:7-9)
2. As an aid to a better understanding of this teaching, let us briefly refer to the ways we can determine the truth regarding faith and morals and other good things. One or more of these means should help us to find the true path.
History
3. For almost 2000 years, until 1930, all religions, including all the Protestant denominations, agreed, “Contraception is always wrong.”
Nature
4. Contraception attempts to change God’s plan for us by altering our healthy pro-creating and sexual organs.
Scripture
5. The Bible (Gn. 38: 8-10); speaks about the sin of Onan (or coitus interruptus or withdrawal) as punishable by death. Many choose to believe that Onan’s sin was not contraception but the violation of a custom established by Moses; (the Levirate law) which was punishable only by some form of public humiliation, not by death (Dt. 25:7-10). In other Biblical references, God clearly states His wishes, such as:
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: ‘Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.’ (Gn 9:1); Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it. (Gn 9:7); I will render you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you. (Gn 17:6); I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; (Gn 35:11); I will look with favor upon you, and make you fruitful and numerous, as I carry out my covenant with you. (Lev. 26:9); Children too are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children born in one's youth. Blessed are they whose quivers are full…(Ps 127: 3-5).
6. Undoubtedly, God informs us that children are a gift and reward from Him; whereas St. Paul seems to use a different approach to indicate the consequences of not following God’s plan:
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness [contraceptive sex], idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.(Gal 5:19-21); Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic potions, [contraception] their unchastity, or their robberies. (Rv 9:21); But as for cowards, the unfaithful, the depraved, murderers, the unchaste, [contraceptors] sorcerers, idol-worshipers, and deceivers of every sort, their lot is in the burning pool of fire and sulfur, which is the second death. (Rv 21:8).
Apostolic Tradition
7. From A.D. 195, the First Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, as well as in Vatican II the Catholic Church has always taught about the evil of contraception.
The Magisterium
8. None of the Vicars of Christ, since St. Peter, has ever declared that contraception could be used by anyone to limit family size.

Human Experience
9. Consequences of contraception: Infidelity; 50% divorce rate, compared to 3% for married couples who do not use contraception; increase in fornication, abortion, homosexuality, masturbation, and pornography – not to mention all the harmful side-effects of any and all contraceptives – especially hormonal.
Who or What will Convince
the Stiff-necked?
10. In April 2007, the Editor of CFLM gave a talk on Contraception in a neighboring village. To facilitate the question and answer period after the talk, he distributed a sheet of paper to each person (including a priest who was known to the speaker to disagree with the Church’s official teaching on contraception). The paper contained the following text:
For the Sake of Discussion
11. Please, provide your brief input on one or more questions below. Your name is not necessary. Please write clearly and thank you for your cooperation.
Let us suppose that you agree 100% with the official teaching of the Catholic Church on contraception; however, your friends and relatives do not agree. Thus, if you would: 1) Please provide, for your friends and relatives, one or more reasons, briefly stated, for rejecting the Church’s teaching on birth control? 2) Who or what could convince your friends and relatives today that the Catholic Church has the correct teaching on this issue? 3) Do you feel that the answers of your friends and relatives should convince Jesus Christ “tomorrow”, when He asks them to explain their reasons for rejecting the official teaching of His Church on faith and morals?
12. Although every precaution was taken to keep anonymity of those who would respond, all papers were returned blank. Very interesting! How can we help each other if we do not mention what could help us to accept God’s will? Where were the 85% who use contraception? A pastor once revealed that in his parish of 1500 active families (6000 people) only about 12 people go to confession each week. It must be true, Mary is not the only one who was immaculately conceived. Nonetheless, many of the people present congratulated the speaker at the end for his presentation and for his reply to the unorthodox comments of the respondent priest.
Where Is the Problem
13. If, for the sake of discussion, we have difficulty believing God and His Church, we must ask ourselves a few questions; such as: Is our conscience deceiving us? Has Bishop X failed to pronounce convincingly the official teaching in our diocese? Has Fr. Y thoroughly explained his personal opinion to us but only briefly and grimly stated the official teaching of our Church? Has theologian/professor Z, puffed up with pride and expensive words, impressed us with his superior knowledge of the counterfeit brand? Whatever the reason, the Holy Spirit cannot inspire you or I to believe one truth, while at the same time inspire the Church’s official teachers (Magisterium) to teach something false -- because it would indicate that Jesus lied to Peter and all of us when he said:
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Mt 16:18-19)
As previously mentioned in an earlier Issue of CFLM, and as indicated in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, conscience is not supreme, it has been scientifically established that our individual and collective consciences have made mistakes since the Fall. Our consciences are fallible on faith and morals, unlike the official teaching of the Catholic Church.


Some Positive Observations
14. It seems very likely that the most positive reason contraception is contrary to God’s plan for people was revealed the day He created mankind:
Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.’ God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.’ God also said: ‘See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food; and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air, and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground, I give all the green plants for food.’ And so it happened. God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed--the sixth day. (Gn. 1:26-31) (Emphasis added.)
15. The first time God acknowledged that everything was very good was after He created man and woman in His image. Immediately thereafter, He informed them of the first and most important work they had to do: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the Earth…” The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms:
For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. Moreover, they should conform their behavior to the objective criteria of morality. (2368)
Therefore, it seem that two children, for most married couples, excluding physical and psychological limitations, does not seem to be a generous response to God’s commands to “Increase and multiply”; “Be exceedingly fertile”; “Abound”; “Be fruitful and numerous”; “Fill the Earth”; etc. Except for many of the Third World Countries, the rest, especially America, China, and Europe, do not appear to be obeying God’s wishes even with the rarity of three children.
What is the Purpose of Our Organs?
16. As their primary purpose, our male and female organs help us to fulfill the procreating and uniting meanings of intercourse. Similarly, some other organs of our body have a twofold function, such as the mouth, which is used to eat and to speak. If one were to deny us the right to eat or speak, we would immediately understand the injustice and the implications. We would readily explain that some people have died to defend the right to speak and, naturally, that all would die if eating were prevented. In the same fashion, it should be easy to understand that our eyes are made to see beautiful things, our ears are made to hear harmonious sounds, and our hands are made to form beautiful shapes.
17. Another way to help us understand that we cannot separate what God has created is to consider the two meanings or functions of food. We would all agree that good food has nutritional value, and is a pleasure to eat. Under normal circumstances, we would not eat nutrition-less or tasteless food. We can easily understand that it should be both nutritious and tasty and no one ought to take away either quality.
18. Let us examine this idea from yet another view. If we assume that we were created by a perfect, all-powerful, all-knowing, and infinitely wise Creator, then we must be careful not to reject the way He created us, for doing so would insult what He is and imply that He makes mistakes, or that He did not foresee the day when we would need to rearrange ourselves and try to "improve" His creation. By “un-creating” ourselves with contraception, are we not contradicting the all-knowing Creator?
What is Our Purpose on Earth?
19. Among all God's creations, we are the most precious, because we are created in His image. In addition, after God created Adam and Eve, the power of creation (of the body) was given to them and their offspring to enjoy within His plan. By the use of our co-creating organs and processes, we participate in the creation of new human beings--the highest form of life on earth--and because that power comes from God, these organs, as it were, are more sacred than any other organ. Most importantly, by intentionally obeying His command to co-create, we illustrate our love for Him and others. In addition, our faithful relationship to God makes us heirs to His kingdom (1 Pt 3:7), brothers and sisters to Christ (Mk 3:35), and our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).
20. It follows then, that the two aspects of our procreating and uniting sexuality are inseparable, because it is in their nature to function that way. Consequently, when we alter the uniting and/or co-creating meaning of our healthy organs, we are not only changing sacred and important faculties of our being but to a large extent, begin to modify the order of human nature. This attempt to change God's design is not without its own consequences, for it is like a drug that awakens in us, subconsciously or consciously, a similar mentality that rationalizes the alteration of other important and sacred functions or laws, whether divine or human. (See para. 6 above.) Most importantly, attempting to change God’s plan for us alters that special loving relationship we should have with Him. Humanae Vitae makes this very clear:
Equally, if they think about it, they ought to admit that an act of mutual love deliberately deprived of the faculty of handing on life which God, the Creator of all things, has engraved into it, thwarts both the divine design, which is the norm for the establishment of the union, and thwarts the primary desire of the Author of human life.
Thus when anyone uses a gift of God, removing, even if only in part, the meaning and purpose of the gift itself, he goes against the nature of the man or of the woman, against their intimate relationship, and on that account also takes a stand against the design of God and His holy will. On the other hand, he who enjoys the gift of married love while safeguarding the laws of procreation does not indeed claim to be the master of the sources of life, but rather a minister of the plan initiated by the Creator.
For just as men and women in general do not have unlimited power over their own bodies, so also, and really for a special reason, they do not have such unlimited power over the genital faculties as such, since those faculties by their very nature tend to the procreation of human life, of which God is the Principle. "For indeed human life is to be considered by all as holy," our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled "from its very beginning it requires the action of God the Creator.(l3) (para. 13)
21. The Pope continues by stating other means of distorting God's design:
Standing firm on these basic principles of human and Christian teaching on marriage, we are bound to proclaim again that direct interruption of the reproductive process already begun, and especially direct abortion, even though done for therapeutic reasons, must be rejected outright as a legitimate means of limiting the number of children.(l4)
Any direct sterilizing treatment performed on men or women, whether permanent or temporary, must be equally condemned, as the teaching authority of the Church has frequently taught.(l5)
Likewise to be rejected is any act at all which tries, as a means to be used or as an end to be obtained, to prevent procreation when married intercourse is anticipated or performed, or leads to its natural results.(l6) (para. 14) (Emphasis added)
The Contraceptive Mentality
22. Thus, as a probable result of the contraceptive mentality (or the closed-to-life, or the alter-what-you-wish mentality) so common today, it is not surprising to see the general lowering of morality, such as the increase in perverted music lyrics, premarital or non-marital sex, marital infidelity, divorce, sex crimes, prostitution, abortion, child sexual abuse, homosexuality, pornography, and political and moral corruption. It is no wonder that many are unable to distinguish the difference between sexual contraceptive activity of married couples and sexual activity with a prostitute or homosexual. Once the openness to procreation is removed from the relationship, exactly how do these actions differ, and who is to say which perverted ("love") relationship is better than the others? Indeed, that is the logic of contraception, as we are warned in para. 17 of Humanae Vitae:
It must also be feared that men, accustomed to these practices of obstructing conception, might forget respect for women, and without care for their delicate physical and emotional balance, might reduce them to a kind of instrument serving their own lustful desire and not value them as partner-companions whom they ought to look after with respect and love.
23. It is absurd to think that we can change our healthy nature for the better. It would be similar to taking medication for an illness we did not have, or trying to fix an object that was not defective or broken. This is exactly what contraceptives do --treat fertility as a disease. It may seem unnecessary to explain such obvious points, but many today (about 85%) do not seem to (or wish not to) understand these simple fundamental principles.
24. In conclusion, then, if God's design does not seem to make sense, or we are confused or unhappy, the fault must be in the way we perceive things, not in the way they were created. It seems fair and appropriate to say that the only changes we need to make are in our mind and in our heart; a task not easily accomplished at any time in history:
For the heart of this nation has grown coarse, their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, for fear they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed by me (Mt. 13:15).
25. Although, for whatever reason, our hearts may have become hardened, we are assured that it is within our reach to change our ways and to live by God's laws:
The trials that you have had to bear are not more than people normally have. You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and the strength to bear it. (1 Cor. 10: 13).
26. It is good for us, then, to unite our wills with that of the Creator and accept and affirm ourselves the way we were created and to try to live within that context. This should be the same context we were willing to accept when we got married. Did we not say (and mean) we would take one another the way we were, unchanged? As a matter of fact, we took each other because of the way we were. Now, suddenly, some years later, many are saying (about 85% if statistics are correct) that some of our healthy, normal, multi-functional organs are to be altered to make them only instruments of pleasure. Are these married couples saying that the woman's short fertility of twelve hours in each cycle is not acceptable, that the sperm's limited capability to fertilize the egg for as long as three days is unbearable, and that, therefore, they must do whatever is surgically or medically necessary to reduce their fertility and God's control over them? The thought process may not be as detailed or as conscious, but the result seems to be the same.
27. Contraception alters perfectly healthy organs, even though fertility has been considered a blessing for thousands and thousands of years. In the past, married couples prayed to be blessed with many children (Psalm 127: 3-5). Nowadays, some married couples need to have fewer children for real and just reasons. Nonetheless, we have to be especially careful not to misuse our procreating and uniting sexuality, because of its sacredness and its reflection of God's love, His fruitfulness, and His union with us.
28. In order to give of ourselves completely to one another, we have to accept our healthy functions and accept ourselves completely just as we were created, because of who created us. However, accepting God's ways does not necessarily mean to have all the children we are capable of having in our lifetime. For most of us, realistic earthly conditions such as finances, housing, and health would discourage our having as many children as possible or as many as we should like. How, then, do we still express love for each other after our informed and correctly formed consciences tell us our family situation justifies peace of mind in our decision not to want another child now?
29. We learn to love each other in other ways by focusing in other areas of our being, without excluding our extended families, church, community, etc.--without altering our bodies, God's creation, or God's laws. Altering the body at its very depths would be a denial of who we are and how we are made. Since we are made in such a noble way--and we have to be, because, as we said earlier, we are created in God's image--we should affirm healthy aspects of our being, rather than seeking ways to change them.
30. When God created man, He wisely made the body-soul pleasure to be part of the marital act, the kind of pleasure the animal world does not have. If He had not, probably, because of our free will (another gift the animal world does not have) we would have neglected our obligation to multiply and fill the earth--to fill the earth with everything that is good (Gen. 1: 28). Someone has said that the sexual instinct and pleasure is God's way of reminding us, "Don't forget to procreate”.
What is the First Step to begin
Course Adjustment?
31. There is no other way to do this, and each of us has to do it, if culpable, in order to be forgiven. Simply, we must confess our past faults and begin a new chapter as soon as possible. Again, our enemy, the Devil, will whisper all sorts of sugarcoated lies, and he might even use our best friend or confessor to attempt to sway us away from the truth. As St. Paul asserts:
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who masquerade as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. So it is not strange that his ministers also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. ( 2 Cor 11:13-15)
We must follow the official teaching of the Catholic Church – nothing else will work for us in order to be on the right path toward Heaven. If we ask our Lady of Guadalupe, she will be delighted to ask Her Son to help us; He, in turn, will not refuse her.
The Second Step
32. If we have a just reason to postpone or avoid conception, we ought to inquire about the availability of natural family planning (NFP) from our diocesan Family Life office, or Couple to Couple League at www.CCLI.org, and others. For a free paper copy of Humanae Vitae, contact Family Life Promotion flpny@optonline.net or at P.O. Box 115, Lake Grove, NY 11755.

The Third Step
If our fertility has ended, or we know of others who might be in need of this information, we should forward this newsletter to as many of them as possible. It is the good thing to do.
Credits and More
33. Although the editor is fully responsible for every word in this updated and condensed treatment of contraception, the moral statements are unchanged from the original treatment in the NFP manual Sexual Affection and Fertility Control, by the Editor and his wife, which carries an imprimatur by the Archdiocese of New York; therefore, it is free of doctrinal and moral error. For future issues of CFLM we hope to have the continued informal consent of the Editor’s pastor, who unfortunately has suffered a heart attack in early July. The excerpts from Humanae Vitae are from a translation from the original Italian by the Reverend Randall Blackall, D. Min. All Biblical quotations are from the New American Bible, used with permission of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Reactions to the April-May Issue?
34. Issue 4-5 (April-May, Is Unconditional Love of God True or False?) had several comments, two of which are very long; these two, together with the Editor’s responses are available on CFLM.blogspot.com. Another comment from a national Catholic magazine was short, very sweet, and asked permission to publish the past Issues on Does Everyone go to Heaven? and Is Unconditional Love of God True or False? The magazine’s name will be indicated when the publication date is confirmed). A few other comments were verbal and very favorable. We had another free-will donation from a priest, and a lady asked that her name be added to the list. There was one nasty unidentified email which said, besides CANCEL, that the Editor’s pastor is wrong – no explanation. What should the Editor say to his pastor?

35. Again, do you know of anyone who might enjoy reading this live newsletter? Although it is not faultless, like its Editor, it is hard to believe how anyone could dislike it. It is in agreement with the official teaching of the Catholic Church; it is free (tax deductible donations are welcome); it is easy to understand; it is informative; it keeps people awake when reading it; it is good for the heart, for at times it has been known to increase blood circulation and pressure, but it has humor to bring it down. There, CFLM has it all.

36. Reminder: help is needed in every aspect of publishing CFLM, and if in doubt on how you could help, regardless of where you live, contact Carmelo at CFLM@optonline.net or write to: P.O. Box 115, Lake Grove, NY 11755, or call him at (631) 235-7297, for more information with no obligation.

Your Comments/Letters to the Editor
37. As always, feel free to briefly comment (275 words) on any aspect of CFLM. Opinions expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of the Board of Directors of Family Life Promotion of N.Y.

What Is the Topic for the Next Issue?

38. First, a word about this “issue”. As shown, it is a combination of Issue No. 6, June, and Issue No. 7, July. For the next issue, we hope to examine these points: do not judge others, (Mt 7:1-5), and without contradicting Jesus, how and what we ought to judge, even the things we must judge, and why some people do not want their action judged, regardless of how they live. It sounds convenient and self-serving for sure. As usual, we promise to make it interesting, but most of all, we promise to be in line with the official teaching of the Catholic Church, and if anyone feels that we have failed in this promise, please let us know in the same spirit of Mt 3:15-17.

39. Do you know where the “Traditional” Extraordinary Mass is celebrated in your vicinity?

40. Yes, you may copy the entire newsletter, or you may request additional hard copies for free but only for non-commercial use. Or you may cancel your individual “subscription” by returning your address label with CANCEL on it; for emails, simply click on “REPLY” and type CANCEL on the subject line and click SEND. Email recipients who wish to receive paper copy, should send us their name and address. You may ask for both, email and paper copy. So many choices are available to those who receive CFLM. For a copy of previous issues, please visit:

familylifepromtion.org or CFLM.blogspot.com

What Were the Previous Topics?

41. Each issue listed below has a different format to suit its length. A page’s length is about 275 words.

Issue 1: Introduction; Is CFLM more Church Stuff? What Should You or I Do if Someone wrongs Us In any Way? What Are Our Rights and Obligations in the Catholic Church When we witness Error?; What is a Hypocrite? How Did we Become Free? (7 pp.)

Issue 2: Does Everyone Go to Heaven? (20)

Issue 3: Does Everyone Go to Heaven? Part II. (11)

Issues 4 & 5: Is Unconditional Love of
God True or False? (27)

Issues 5 & 6: Understanding Contraception. (17)



For a paper copies, write to
CFLM, P. O. Box 115
Lake Grove, NY 11755

Publisher: Family Life Promotion of N.Y.
a non-profit organization established in 1971

Catholic Family Life Messenger is gratis.
Donations are tax deductible as allowed by
law and are deeply appreciated.

Editor: Carmelo Fallace
© July 2007

Catholic Family LIfe Messenger -- August/September 2007

CATHOLIC
FAMILY LIFE
MESSENGER

Volume 1  Nos. 8 and 9 August-September 2007

Fatima’s Secret
The Message
The Third Part
The Punishment
The Urgency

By Fr. James Anderson, M.S.A.

Editor’s Note: Every Catholic has probably heard about the third secret of Fatima, and how some say it was finally revealed in 2000 by Church officials. On the other hand, Mother Angelica (and other trustworthy Catholics) seems to have said that it was not revealed in its entirety, and that the consecration of Russia was not accomplished as directed by the Mother of God. Most of the clergy hesitate to talk about it and dismiss it as a done deal. However, the evidence presented here by the Rev. James Anderson, M.S.A. (et al) seems to indicate otherwise. It would be wise to take note of what some courageous priests are saying, but most importantly, how the message of Fatima will likely affect us soon in a horrible way. This article seems worth reading twice and we should properly respond to its message.


There is a widespread and accurate perception that our world has become a most dangerous place. Tsunamis, monster hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, epidemics, hunger, and poverty are common. Since September 11, 2001, regional skirmishes have morphed into constant global war. Perhaps the deadliest sign of these times is the abandonment of our most basic law by those sworn to uphold it. Federal judges deny our natural right to public prayer, the public expression of our faith in God, and our obligation to obey His eternal law, including respect for life and sexual morality. Consequently, the most dangerous places in America are mothers' wombs, and our most vulnerable victims are children. What can we do? What should we already have done to remedy this?
Our Blessed Mother's “secret” given at Fatima, Portugal, in three parts to the young shepherds, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on July 13, 1917, is among the most significant prophecies of our times. It contains Heaven's plan to bring us the Peace of Jesus Christ, and prophesies unimaginable chastisement if the Church disobeys Heaven's plan. Catholics owe it attention because the Fatima apparitions have been approved by the Church. Others owe it attention because Mary's appearances and prophesy were authenticated by a spectacular “solar phenomena” witnessed by 70,000 people on October 13, 1917. All witnesses were soaking wet after waiting all night in the rain for the promised miracle. About noon, the sun whirled and danced, became blood red, and came rushing down on them. Minutes later, it returned to its proper place in the heavens. All present had become thoroughly dry, but none was scorched or burned, proving the event to be both real, and supernatural (John DeMarchi, I.M.C., Fatima: The Full Story [A.M.I. Press, 1986], p. 141).
In 1941, after the deaths of her younger cousins, Lucia, then a Dorothean nun, was ordered by the Bishop of Leiria, Portugal, to write down the prophetic secrets. According to the account of Fatima archivist and noted scholar Fr. Joaquin Maria Alonso, C.M.F., she did so in eight paragraphs. The first six paragraphs contain parts one and two of the secret. The first part was a terrifying vision of Hell. Mary explained that that was

“where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” The second part of the secret was: “If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war [World War I] is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated 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 persecution 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. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world”

(Joaquin Maria Alonso, The Secret of Fatima: Fact and Legend [Ravengate Press, 1979], pp. 21-22).
Sr. Lucia's seventh paragraph begins: “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc....” This paragraph appears only in Sr. Lucia's fourth memoir and, as here, is not completed. Fr. Alonso writes that it “contains what is most certainly the third part of the Fatima Secret.” The final paragraph, eight, commands silence: “Do not tell this to anybody. Francisco, yes, you may tell him.” Sometime between Christmas 1943 and January 9, 1944, Sr. Lucia wrote out the third part of the secret on a sheet of paper, sealed it in an envelope, and it was given to the Bishop of Leiria, who put it in his own sealed envelope and gave it to the Cardinal of Lisbon. Sr. Lucia had asked that it not be opened until her death, or until 1960. She asked that it definitely be opened and read to the world in 1960: “Because then it will seem clearer.” In fact, the sealed envelope with the secret was forwarded to Rome, arriving April 16, 1957. Pope Pius XII had not read it before his death. Pope John XXIII read it, and wrote out a comment that he placed with the secret in the archives. His only public statement was: “This makes no reference to my time.” Pope Paul VI probably read the secret, and suddenly journeyed to Fatima for the 50th anniversary of the apparitions, on May 13, 1967. It is well known that the failure to reveal the contents of the third part of the secret in 1960 caused great disappointment in the world. However, the secret was addressed to the Holy Father — not to the faithful or the world. Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, head of the Vatican's Holy Office, who read the third secret, reasons as follows: “Yes, the Secret is important; it is important for the Holy Father for whom it was destined. It was addressed to him. And if the one to whom it was addressed has decided not to declare ‘now is the moment to make it known to the world,' we should be content with the fact that in his wisdom he wished it to remain a secret” (ibid., pp. 70-71)
The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, decided in the year 2000 that the time had come to reveal the third part of the secret to the Church and the world. On May 13, 2000, at the end of Mass at the Shrine of Fatima, during which John Paul had beatified the children Jacinta and Francisco, Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Cardinal Sodano read out, in Portuguese, a text concerning the third secret of Fatima. He stated that His Holiness had visited Fatima both to beatify the two “little shepherds” and to thank “Our Lady for her protection during these years of his papacy. This protection seems also to be linked to the so-called ‘third part' of the Secret of Fatima.” Cardinal Sodano continued:

That text contains a prophetic vision similar to those found in Sacred Scripture, which do not describe with photographic clarity the details of future events, but rather synthesize and condense against a unified background events spread out over time in a succession and duration which are not specified. As a result, the text must be interpreted in a symbolic key.... According to the interpretation of the “little shepherds”, which was also recently confirmed by Sister Lucia, the “bishop clothed in white” who prays for all the faithful is the Pope. As he makes his way with great effort towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (bishops, priests, men and women religious and many laypersons), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a burst of gunfire. (Angelo Cardinal Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State, “Official English Trans. of Address on the Third Part of the Secret of Fatima”, Vatican Information Service, June 26, 2000)

Cardinal Sodano stated that His Holiness believed that the Blessed Mother's hand had saved him from death, and that events from 1989 led to the fall of Communist regimes in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe, which had promoted atheism, for which His Holiness also thanked the Most Holy Virgin. Cardinal Sodano concluded:

“Even if the events to which the third part of the Secret of Fatima refers now seem part of the past, Our Lady's call to conversion and penance, issued at the beginning of the twentieth century, remains timely and urgent today.... In order that the faithful may better receive the message of Our Lady of Fatima, the Pope has charged the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with making public the third part of the Secret, after the preparation of an appropriate commentary” (ibid.).

On June 26, 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) published the English translation, along with photostatic copies of the four pages of the original Portuguese text, which it claimed was the complete third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three children on July 13, 1917, and written out by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:

J.M.J.
The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fatima, on 13 July 1917.
I write in obedience to you, my God, who commands me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.
After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: “Penance, Penance, Penance!” And we saw in an immense light that is God: “something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it” a Bishop dressed in White “we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.” Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross, there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.
Tuy-3-1-1944

(Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, “Complete Official English Trans. of the Third Part of the Secret of Fatima”, Vatican Information Service, June 26, 2000)
He who has read Fr. Alonso's account of the third part of the secret is struck by the stark difference in the account presented at Fatima by Cardinal Sodano and translated by the CDF above. Remember that, according to Fr. Alonso, in 1941 Sr. Lucia wrote down the secret, and did so in eight paragraphs. The first six contained parts one and two of the secret. Paragraph seven begins: “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc....” Fr. Alonso writes that paragraph seven “contains what is most certainly the third part of the Fatima Secret”. The final paragraph, eight, commands silence: “Do not tell this to anybody. Francisco, yes, you may tell him” (Alonso, The Secret of Fatima: Fact and Legend, p. 22). Paragraph seven is incomplete because Sr. Lucia was obedient to the Blessed Mother's order of silence in regard to it, and did not write the whole third part of the secret out until between Christmas 1943 and January 9, 1944. Fr. Alonso's exact words are important to our discernment:
“Therefore, even though our research up until now has not been able to determine the exact date, we know for certain that between December 25, 1943 and January 9, 1944 the famous final section of the Secret of Fatima, revealed on July 13, 1917, was at last written down by Lucia” (ibid., p. 41).
One must note that paragraph seven is not a description of a prophetic vision. It is the first sentence of a statement by the Blessed Mother that certainly would have referred to the prophetic vision, and perhaps explained what it meant, as she had done after the vision of Hell. There can be no question of this because paragraph eight commands silence, but allows the girls to tell the third part of the secret to Francisco. But Francisco was right there and he, along with Lucia and Jacinta, had already seen the prophetic vision together, as noted by both Cardinal Sodano and the statement by the CDF. The Blessed Mother's permission for the girls to tell the secret to Francisco would be meaningless if the secret consisted only of the prophetic vision he and the girls had just seen. Francisco's piety in prayer was not equal to that of the girls and so he was permitted to see the several visions but not to hear the Blessed Mother's beautiful voice (ibid., p. 25). But Heaven has used even that lack of piety by Francisco as positive proof that the third part of the secret of Fatima includes an oral statement of the Blessed Mother made to Lucia and Jacinta, and only with explicit permission later told to Francisco.
Moreover, Cardinal Ottaviani, who had read the third part of the secret, stated that it was addressed to the Holy Father, and if in his wisdom the Holy Father judged that it was not the time for it to be revealed, then we should be content with that. But the prophetic vision shown to the three children and described in four pages by Sr. Lucia, which was presented by the CDF in 2000 as the complete third part of the secret, contains no reference to that vision being addressed to the Holy Father alone, as Cardinal Ottaviani claims!
Nor is that vision mentioned by Sr. Lucia in her fourth memoir, which Fr. Alonso divided into eight paragraphs containing the three parts of the secret (ibid., p. 22). One could conclude that the four pages containing that vision were written “in the notebooks in which I've been told to keep my spiritual diary...”, and then copied onto four sheets of paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944, in obedience to the Bishop. However, she was told by the Bishop either to write the third part of the secret in those notebooks “or, if I wish, to write it on a sheet of paper, put it in an envelope, and then close it and seal it up” (ibid., p. 39; Fr. Louis Kondor reports that the second and last notebook was completed December 8, 1941 [Fr. Louis Kondor, S.V.D., ed., Fatima in Lucia's Own Words: Sister Lucia's Memoirs (Postulation Center, 1963), p. 120]). She chose the latter, writing to the Bishop on January 9, 1944: “I have written what you asked me; God willed to try me a little, but finally this was indeed His will: [the text] is sealed in an envelope and it is in the notebooks...” (Alonso, “Meaning of the ‘Consecration' of Russia [Part I],” The Fatima Crusader, Autumn 1995, issue 50). If the vision copied from Sr. Lucia's spiritual diary in the notebooks on January 3 was the complete third part of the secret, why did she wait until January 9 to write to the Bishop to inform him that she had done what he asked?
From these facts, one can validly infer that the third part of the secret of Fatima includes an oral statement told to Lucia and Jacinta, and repeated by them to Francisco with permission, that begins: “In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc...,” as Fr. Alonso has clearly stated. We may not validly infer why the Vatican has not revealed the rest of the Blessed Mother's oral statement. However, since John Paul II determined in 2000 that the time had come to reveal it to the Church and the world, the admonition of Cardinal Ottaviani to be content no longer applies. In fact, given the Holy Father's decision, and considering the signs of these times, there would seem to be a most grave moral imperative to God's shepherds to reveal our Lady's message to the Church and the world (Ezek. 3:16-21). What must the Blessed Mother have told Lucia and Jacinta that required such secrecy by three Popes until 2000?
On May 13, 1982, John Paul II went to Fatima both to commemorate the anniversary of the apparitions and to thank Mary for interceding to save his life when he was shot several times at close range in St. Peter's Square a year before. Speaking as the leader of the universal Church, the pontiff said in paragraph seven of his homily at Mass:

When Jesus on the Cross said: ‘Woman, behold, your son' (Jn 19: 26), in a new way he ‘opened his Mother's Heart,' the Immaculate Heart, and revealed to it the new dimensions and extent of the love to which she was called in the Holy Spirit by the power of the sacrifice of the Cross.

Then, in obvious reference to Mary's having been made mother of the whole Church in the person of St. John, he continued:

In the light of a mother's love, we understand the whole message of the Lady of Fatima. The greatest obstacle to man's journey towards God is sin, perseverance in sin, and, finally, denial of God.... Can the Mother who with all the force of the love that she fosters in the Holy Spirit desires everyone's salvation keep silence on what undermines the very bases of their salvation? No, she cannot.

John Paul II here states unequivocally that “the whole message of the Lady of Fatima” concerns “what undermines the very bases of salvation.” Could the third part of the secret of Fatima include, therefore, apostasy within the Church? His Holiness's conclusion of paragraph seven of his homily suggests that it does:

The message is addressed to every human being. The love of the Savior’s Mother reaches every place touched by the work of salvation. Her care extends to every individual of our time, and to all the societies nations and peoples. Societies menaced by apostasy, threatened by moral degradation. The collapse of morality involves the collapse of societies”. (L'Osservatore Romano, 5-17-1982).

Fr. Alonso reaches the same conclusion that the opening words of paragraph seven: “In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc...” implies that nations other than Portugal will suffer a crisis of faith, but that Portugal will preserve its faith.
When John Paul was in Fulda, Germany, in November 1980, he was asked by a group of laymen about the third part of the secret of Fatima and about the near future of the Church. Answering the first question, the Holy Father replied,

Due to its shocking content and so as not to allow the global power of communism to interfere with the affairs of the Church, my predecessors gave confidential information in a diplomatic way. In addition, it should be enough for every Christian to know what follows: when you read that oceans will flood whole continents, that millions of men will die very suddenly in a few minutes...if this is known, it isn't really necessary to claim the publication of this secret.... Many people want to know it just for curiosity and sensationalism: but they forget that ‘knowing' involves also responsibility...but they just want to satisfy their own curiosity. This is dangerous when at the same time, they don't want to do anything, saying: ‘It is useless to do anything to improve the situation!’

Then the Pope took his Rosary and said: “Here is the medicine against this illness! Pray, pray and don't question further. Recommend all the rest to Our Lady!” (Vox Fidei, No. 10, 1981). Could the third part of the secret include such a worldwide chastisement? One could so infer from John Paul's words.
In reply to the second question about the near future of the Church, John Paul replied:

We must be ready to face great imminent trials, which could also require the sacrifice of our life for Christ.... The trials could be reduced through your and our prayers, but they can't be (anymore) avoided, because a true renewal of the Church can take place only this way...just as it has already occurred many times that the Church rose up again through blood. It won't be different either this time. Let's be strong and let's get ready, having faith in Christ and in his Mother. Let's pray much and often the Holy Rosary (ibid.).

Could the third part of the secret include a severe persecution of the whole Church? Again, one can so infer from John Paul's words.
On April 22, 1984, the late Bishop John Shojiro Ito of the Diocese of Niigata, Japan, signed a pastoral letter authorizing “the veneration of the Holy Mother of Akita, while awaiting that the Holy See publishes definitive judgment on this matter”. In this letter, Bishop Ito recounted the apparently miraculous events of tears and blood flowing from a carved wooden statue of our Lady, located at Akita in the convent chapel of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist, and the restoration of the hearing of Sr. Agnes Sasagawa. The letter also included three messages claimed to have been given to Sr. Agnes by our Lady, seemingly coming from that same wooden statue. The third message [of Akita] came on an anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, October 13, 1973, as follows:

[The Third Message
of Our Lady of Akita]

My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior.
As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good, as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms, which will remain for you, will be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and the priests.
The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres, churches and altars sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.


Bishop Ito added that: “This message is based on the condition that if men do not repent and better themselves...” (Emphasis added) (Teiji Yasula, O.S.V., trans. John M. Haffert, Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary [101 Foundation, 1989], pp. 190-199).

A former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican, Howard Dee, said in a 1998 interview with Inside the Vatican magazine,

Bishop Ito was certain Akita was an extension of Fatima, and Cardinal Razinger personally confirmed to me that these two messages, of Fatima and Akita, are essentially the same.

Our Blessed Mother's prophesy at Akita includes a most severe apostasy within the Church, devastating worldwide chastisement, and such thoroughgoing persecution that churches and altars will be sacked and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass unavailable. The deduction of such things as the possible content of the third part of the secret of Fatima from the quoted words of John Paul II in 1980 at Fulda and in 1982 at Fatima is confirmed by Ambassador Dee's 1998 conversation with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
This reflection has thus far not included speculation or opinion. Rather, it has been limited to inferences from authoritative facts. However, considering the gravity of the inferred contents of our Queen Mother's prophesy, prudence and filial regard for the wishes of Christ's Vicar justify our consideration of why His Holiness John Paul II decided that the time had come in the year 2000 to reveal these prophesies to the Church and to the world. Could it be that this most spiritual Pontiff foresaw the forces leading to the events of September 11, 2001, and the aftermath the world continues to experience? Could it be that he foresaw usurpation of political power by enemies of the Church and the instigation of a systematic persecution? Could it be that he foresaw that divine justice required that the Church herself be spiritually renewed and purified by the blood of martyrs, as in previous centuries, and that he wanted to prepare us to stand firm and strong in the faith even when all might seem lost? Could it be that he fully accepted the Blessed Mother's maternal authority over us and her love for us from Christ on the cross, and wished as the Vicar of Christ to proclaim her message and lead his bishops in total obedience to it? Could it be that John Paul had lost confidence in mere human institutions and efforts for peace? Did the Vicar of Christ intend to lead his bishops to exercise their authority from Christ to call upon Mary as Queen Mother to fulfill the prophesies of Genesis 3 and Apocalypse 12 to crush the head of proud Lucifer and defeat his misguided minions?
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is what military commanders call a “force multiplier”. Our worship, prayers, devotions, and penances offered to God are good. But when we offer them through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, they will be multiplied by the love in the Holy Spirit with which Jesus, from His cross, pierced His mother's heart with the words: “Mother, behold your son”. As Jesus multiplied her love for us by letting her experience His love for us from His cross, she can increase our love for her Immaculate Heart, and for the souls Jesus has given into her care, as she did for the shepherds at Fatima. Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! [Shading added.]
________________________________________________________

The Rev. James Anderson, M.S.A., retired in 1999 from the U.S. Naval Reserve Chaplain Corps. He writes from Santa Maria, California, where he currently volunteers as a state prison chaplain and gives parish missions and retreats.

Reprinted with permission from NEW OXFORD
REVIEW, 1069 Kains Ave., Berkeley CA 94706, U.S.A.; www.newoxfordreview.org. The original article entitled, The Timeliness & Urgency of the Third Part of the Secret of Fatima, appeared in the July-August 2007 issue of New Oxford Review.

Editor’s Note: Before we judge the above information, let us analyze the shaded SUMMARY OF OUR LADY’s FATIMA MESSAGE below – knowing that each of us will answer to God, all alone and naked, for how we respond to His Mother’s message of Fatima.

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Letters to the Editor

Issue 6-7 (June-July), Understanding Contraception had a couple of strong comments. The first was by a priest who objected to the statement in CFLM that Humanae Vitae (the 1968 encyclical on birth control) is an infallible statement – even though, according to the Vademecum for Confessors Concerning Some Aspects of the Morality of Conjugal Life (an official manual released by the Vatican in 1997) “This teaching is to be held as definitive and irreformable.” (Emphasis added). Furthermore, the CCC states that

“This particular doctrine, expounded on numerous occasions by the Magisterium, is based on the inseparable connection, established by God, which man on his own initiative may not break…” (2366.) (Emphasis added.)

It makes one wonder if some priests wish to follow the official teaching of the Church on Faith and Morals or their own fallible opinions. Unfortunately, their erroneous opinions will be useless at the end of this life, for themselves and for those who follow them. To satisfy all sincere doubters who disagree with the Church, the Editor presented the objection to three American theologians, each with a Ph. D., and none hesitated to confirm that Humanae Vitae IS infallible.
The other objection was by a lay person who disliked the clearly stated opinion in CFLM that even three children does not appear to be a proper response to God’s Biblical commands to: “Increase and multiply”; “Be exceedingly fertile”; “Abound”; “Be fruitful and numerous”; “Fill the Earth”. What would it take to convince most people on earth? Jesus’ flawless speech and style was not very successful with most people. We welcome all letters to the editor of 275 words or less. If you wish your name cited, please so indicate.
HELP
Help is needed in every aspect of publishing CFLM, and if in doubt on how you could help, regardless of where you live, contact the Editor at CFLM@optonline.net or write to: P.O. Box 115, Lake Grove, NY 11755-0115, or call 631-235-7297 What Is the Topic for the Next Issue?
First, a word about this special issue: As shown, it is a combination of Issue 8, and 9. We did not treat the topic of judging others, as promised in the last issue, because of the importance of understanding the Fatima Message; however, we hope to do so in the next issue. In a sense, the third secret of Fatima controversy by Fr. James Anderson is in preparation for the treatment of judging others, (Mt 7:1-5). As usual, we promise to make it interesting, but most of all, we promise to be in line with the official teaching of the Catholic Church; if anyone feels that we have failed in this promise at anytime, please let us know.
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Do You Know Where the
Traditional Extraordinary Mass
Will Be Celebrated Near You?
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Of course, you may copy the entire newsletter, or you may request additional hard copies for a free-will offering. Or you may cancel your individual “subscription” by returning your address label with CANCEL on it; for emails, simply click on “REPLY” and type CANCEL on the subject line and click SEND. Email recipients who wish to receive paper copies, should send us their name and address. You may ask for both, email and paper copy. To view previous issues online, please visit: familylifepromtion.org or CFLM.blogspot.com. So many choices are available to those who wish to receive CFLM.
Previous Issues and Topics
Each issue listed below has a different format to suit its length. A page length is about 275 words.
Issue 1: Introduction; Is CFLM more Church Stuff? What Should You or I Do if Someone Wrongs Us In Any Way? What Are Our Rights and Obligations in the Catholic Church When We Witness Error? How Did We Become Free? (7 pp.)
Issue 2: Does Everyone Go to Heaven? (20)
Issue 3: Does Everyone Go to Heaven? Part II. (11)
Issues 4 & 5: Is Unconditional Love of
God True or False? (27)
Issues 6 & 7: Understanding Contraception. (17)
Issue, 8 & 9: Fatima’s Secret: the Third Part,
the Punishment, the Urgency, and the Message (22)
As a guide, contributions of $2 per issue, includes postage and handling, should suffice to cover cost. Please make checks payable to Family Life Promotion (a non-profit organization) and send to:

Catholic Family Life Messenger
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Editor: Carmelo Fallace
Copyright © 2007



Summary of Our Lady’s Fatima Message
1) "I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord, Who is already deeply offended."
2) "The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the Hand of her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes."
3) "Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world. After each decade add the following prayer:
'0h my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy.'”
4) “Pray, pray, a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them."
5) “Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests to their superiors and to the Holy Father is very displeasing to Our Lord.”
6) “More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh [sexual sins] than for any other reason!"
7) "Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God."
8) "Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much!"
9) "Wars are a punishment from God for sin!"
10) "God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to MY IMMACULATE HEART. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace."
11) "Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her."
12) "I promise to help at the hour of death, with graces needed for salvation, whoever, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for 15 minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart."
13) "If my requests are not granted, Russia will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer. And if Our Lady’s requests are still not obeyed, then various nations will be destroyed!"
14) "In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.
Russia will be converted, and there will be peace!"