In the End
My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph.
Apr 1999
By Fr. Robert J. Fox
 The Immaculate
Heart Messenger
has many different or additional readers since we began reporting on
the power of Marys intercession with the many changes in the world.
This should help all realize the power of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
She is Mother of the Church and she cares about all her children.
Our
goal for the Year 2000 AD is to publish a book on the role of Mary
during 2000 years. Below is a summary of significant dates to the
Fatima Family Apostolate of only some of the events of recent
years. They will serve as signs of Marian interventions in Church and
world history. These events remind us Mary does not forget her children.
May 13 to October 13, 1917 - The
Mother of God appears to three little shepherd children near Fatima,
Portugal on the 13th of six consecutive months. Our Lady gives a
message of hope and warning of dangers to humanity and the faith of
people of the Church. She comes as Our Lady of Light and of the Holy
Eucharist. She speaks of the errors of Russia to spread to all nations.
She tells of great persecutions to the Church, the Holy Father, the
danger of souls falling into hell.
She appears holding her Immaculate
Heart in her hand and says: God wishes to establish in the world
devotion to my Immaculate Heart. ... 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 wishes are fulfilled, Russia
will be converted and there will be peace. If not, Russia will spread
her errors throughout the world, promoting wars, and persecution of the
Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to
suffer .... Our Lady says that Francisco and Jacinta will die soon and
go to heaven but Lucia must remain many years in the world to promote
devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sr. Lucia is still living at
the end of the second millennium.
During
the same six months, Our Lady is appearing in Portugal. Lenin is in
Russia organizing the Bolshevik Revolution which takes over the
government of Russia with the goal of conquering the world for atheism.
December 10, 1925
- Our Lady of Fatima appears to Sr. Lucia now in the convent in
Pontevedra, Spain and asks for sacramental reparation of Confession and
Holy Communion on First Saturdays, plus praying the Rosary with
meditation on its mysteries.
First Saturdays are associated with
the
spiritual welfare of Russia. A spiritual bonus is promised to
individuals of Marys intercession to assist at the hour of death with
all the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first
Saturday of five consecutive months,  perform
the acts of reparation
requested. Reparation on every first Saturday however is encouraged for
the good of mankind.
June 13, 1929
- Sister Lucia in the Convent at Tuy, Spain receives an appearance of
Our Lady of Fatima to ask the Pope and bishops of the world for the
Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, promising by this means
to prevent the spreading of its errors and to bring about its
conversion.
June 13, 1929 onward to March
25, 1984 -
Sister Lucia prays and sacrifices, seeking practical ways to get the
Pope to have the bishops of the world join him in consecrating the
world and Russia in particular to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
December 20, 1940 -
Sister Lucia is permitted for the first time to write to the Holy
Father, Pope Pius XII, asking for this Consecration of Russia. Pope
Pius XII in subsequent years consecrates the world and later Russia but
does so alone, not with the worlds bishops as required by Our Lady of
Fatima.
October 31, 1942 - Pope Pius XII consecrates the world to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary
May 13, 1946 -
Pius XII through a legate crowns the image of Our Lady of Fatima and
proclaims her Queen of the World. Popes begin calling Fatima Altar of
the World.
October 13, 1951 - Closing ceremonies for the Holy Year of the universal
Church is held at Fatima.
July 7, 1952 - Pius XII consecrates the Russian people to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.
November 21, 1964 -
Pope Paul VI renews Pius XII's consecration of Russia to the Immaculate
Heart, speaking to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council but still
does it alone. Sister Lucia insists it should be collegial.
May 13, 1965 -
Pope Paul VI sends a Golden Rose to Fatima, confiding the entire Church
to our Ladys protection and gives official Church recognition of
Fatimas significance for the universal Church.
May 13, 1967 -
Pope Paul VI goes to Fatima, as the first Pope to go there as a
pilgrim. There he calls for renewed consecration to the Immaculate
Heart.
May 13, 1981 -
Pope John Paul II is shot in St. Peters Square on May 13, anniversary
of the first apparition at Fatima. During the long months of suffering
and recuperation in Gemelli Hospital, the Holy Father requests and
studies more deeply documents relating to Fatima. His determination to
consecrate Russia with bishops of the world grows stronger. In leaving
the clinic he remarks: I have come to understand that the only way to
save the world from war, to save it from atheism, is the conversion of
Russia according to the message of Fatima.
May 12-13, 1982 -
The Pope visits Fatima to thank Our Lady for sparing his life and says:
In the plans of Divine Providence I also saw an appeal and, who knows,
a reminder of the message which came from here 65 years ago. ... He
conducted a consecration of the world and Russia at that time but many
bishops did not receive the request to join him in time and Sister
Lucia said it did not fulfill all the requirements.
March 25, 1984 -
Pope John Paul II having sent invitations already in December 1983 to
the worlds bishops, including Orthodox, to join him on March 25, 1984,
he had Bishop Amaral of Fatima bring the Miraculous statue from the
Cova da Iria at Fatima to the Vatican for the Collegial Consecration of
the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was joined by
a moral totality of the worlds bishops in the Act of Consecration to
the Immaculate Heart. The words of the cons-ecration make clear it is a
collegial act with worlds bishops and also renews Pius XIIs acts of
1942 (world) and 1952 (Russia) and the consecration is for all time.
[See our book Documents
of Fatima for details on Consecration].
Shortly
thereafter, Sister Lucia told the Papal Nuncio of Lisbon the Collegial
Consecration for the conversion of Russia has been accomplished and God
will keep His word. The Nuncio answers, Now we await the miracle. On
the following day, Patriarch Dimitrios of Constantinople, honorary
primate of the Orthodox Churches, writes a letter to the Vatican
praising the consecration as a contribution to the creation of
communion between the Catholic and Orthodox  Churches.
May 13, 1984 -
The Holy Father speaks to 50,000 pilgrims in St. Peters Square of his
affection and beatitude for Our Lady of Fatima in protecting him from
the bullets three years earlier. On the same day, the Bishop of
Leiria-Fatima announces that the Pope had given to the Fatima Shrine
the bullet which had struck him.
February 1985 -
Pontifical Council of the Laity writes and encourages Fr. Robert J.
Fox, who years previously founded a Fatima Youth Apostolate, now to go
independent with a Fatima Apostolate which becomes the Fatima
Family Apostolate and the Messenger magazine was born,
first called Messenger of Our Lady then Fatima Family Messenger and
finally Immaculate Heart Messenger.
March 25, 1987 - Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical letter, Redemptoris
Mater,
in anticipation of the forthcoming Marian Year. In the encyclical, the
Pope refers to the common love shared by Orthodox and Catholics for the
Mother of God and the devotion shown her icons.
June 7, 1987 -
The Marian Year of fourteen months began on this date, Pentecost
Sunday, and extended to the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1988.
The timing of the Marian Year exactly spans the two important religious
celebrations in the Soviet Union, the 600th anniversary of the baptism
of Lithuania and the 1000 anniversary of the baptism of St. Vladimir.
Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz said the noticeable easing of
persecutions against religion in the Soviet Union and granting of
greater religious freedoms began with the Marian Year.
September 20, 1987 -
Approximately 100,000 persons, many carrying Solidarity banners, attend
the annual workers pilgrimage to Our Lady of Czestochowa shrine in
Poland. Lech Walesa, during his years as Solidarity leader, goes
repeatedly to Zakopane, Polands major Fatima Shrine, dedicated to
praying for Pope John Paul II. There he consecrates the Solidarity
movement to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope John Paul II in his
Encyclical, Centesimus Annus, credits the Solidarity movement
growing and spreading out from Poland  with
the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.
July 1989 -
Sister Lucia this month began to go public in stating that the
Consecration is accomplished. Previously she talked only to select
persons such as the Papal Nuncio, bishop of Fatima. Now she is anxious
to get her word out publicly. The Messenger is asked to
publicize what Sister Lucia is saying about the Consecration.
November 9, 1989 -
the Berlin Wall came down. President Gorbachev of the Soviet Union then
meets with the Pope at the Vatican and promised religious freedom.
October 13, 1989 - President Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Award -
Anniversary date of Fatima.
December 1, 1989 -
Gorbachev travels to the Vatican and meets with Pope John Paul II in
the Popes private library. The historic meeting, which lasts 70
minutes, is the first meeting between a Pope and a head of the Soviet
state. Departing from his prepared text, Gorbachev invites the Pope to
visit the Soviet Union. The two immediately experience a sense of
mutual affection. The Pope later reported that Gorbachev expressed
gratitude for my prayers and said prayers symbolized the spiritual
order and values which he greatly needed.
December 1991 -
Gorbachev meets the Pope in the Vatican a second time; diplomatic
relations were opened between the Vatican and Russia and Latin-rite
churches were opened.
May 1, 1991 - Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker - 100th anniversary of
Pope Leo XIIIs famous Encyclical Rerum Novarum,
On the Condition of Human Labor. May Day ends as a Communist Holiday
for demonstrations to show Soviet might and to win the working man away
from religion.
May 13, 1990 -
An attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican as his
message to pilgrims at Fatima is read. He attributes the sparing of his
life to Our Lady.
 August
19, 1991 -
74th Anniversary of Our Ladys fourth apparition at Fatima - Communist
coup attempts overthrow of Gorbachev who contributed largely to
dismantling of Soviet Empire.
August 22, 1991 - Feast of the Queenship of Mary - the attempt of
Communist coup to return to hard Communism is defeated.
October 12 - 13, 1991 -
Fatima Anniversary. Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Roman Catholic
Archbishop from Moscow leads first Russian pilgrimage group to Fatima.
It is televised in Russia on 150 stations and 350 radio stations.
Director of Fatima Family Apostolate is asked to be present in Fatima
with the Russian group.
December 8th, 1991 - Feast
of the Immaculate Conception. There begins the Commonwealth of
Republics, the end of the USSR. Twelve days later Yeltsin of Russia met
with the Pope at the Vatican.
December 25, 1991 -
the Communist flag is taken down for the last time over the Kremlin in
Moscow. Gorbachev resigned and sent a letter to Pope John Paul II.
Fifteen republics were freed from Communism.
December 30, 1991 - Sister Lucia is reported saying that the defeat of
Communism was through Marys intercession.
March 8, 1992 -
Mikhail Gorbachev wrote a syndicated column that appears in major
newspapers throughout the world giving a perspective on the Vatican and
the freeing of Eastern Europe. He said that Pope John Paul made the
change possible. Much of what the Pope said was in harmony with the
Soviet Unions new political thinking, with perestroika.
March 14, 1992 - Pravda, the Communist major newspaper ended.
October 8 - 12, 1992 -
the Fatima Sanctuary and the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima in Portugal hosts
together with the Pontifical Council of the Laity the first
International Pastoral Symposium of all recognized major Fatima
Apostolates in the world. Fr. Fox from USA is asked to represent at
Fatima the Fatima Family Apostolate in speaking to delegates from many
countries. The Apostolate then becomes known beyond the USA and quickly
spreads to Poland, Australia, etc.
December 25, 1992 - Communism was declared illegal in Russia.
June 18-20, 1993 - Archbishop
Kondrusiewicz came from Moscow to Mid-Americas Fatima Family Shrine in
Alexandria, SD and announces he hopes  he
can have such a Shrine to Our
Lady of Fatima in Russia some day. Subsequently he authorized the
Fatima Family Apostolate to raise funds for this and the priest
director agrees with the Archbishop that the Shrine should be located
at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church, once known as the heart and
Mother Church of Catholicism in Russia.
October 13, 1997 -
For the 80th anniversary of the miracle of the sun at Fatima, the Holy
Father wrote to the bishop of Leiria-Fatima a letter in which he
referred to Fatima as one of the greatest signs of the times in this
twentieth century.
October 11, 1998 -
The first Fatima Shrine in Russia is dedicated by Archbishop Tadeusz
Kondrusiewicz. The Shrine is located only a few block from Palace
Square where the Bolshevik Revolution began in 1917 with its goal of
world domination for atheism.
A half block from the new Fatima
Shrine
is
the Kazan Cathedral which the Bolsheviks had converted into their
headquarters for militant atheism. Funds for the Shrine were raised by
the Fatima Family Apostolate. Both Sister Lucia and Pope John Paul II
take note of the dedication of the Shrine with Sister Lucia having
venerated the statue for the Shrine in her Carmelite Monastery before
it was taken to Russia.
During the dedication ceremony,
Archbishop
Kondrusiewicz stated that he was presenting the Russian Fatima Shrine
as a gift to Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the 20th anniversary
of his pontificate. The Archbishop was wearing a chasuble with an image
of Our Lady of Czestochowa during the dedication Mass.
Fatima
Documents
For the first time for English-speaking readers,
important historical documents that provide crucial details surrounding
the 1917 apparitions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to three shepherd
children are provided in Documents on Fatima & the Memoirs of
Sister Lucia. Most of the book is a translation of documents compiled
by the foremost Fatima scholar, Fr. Antonio M. Martins, S.J.
The book includes the Memoirs of Sister Lucia, letters of
hers, as well as various historical documents never before printed in
English, such as the Church’s interviews of the seers, letters of
pilgrims who witnessed the events, and media reports.
In addition to Fr. Martin’s documents are a pictoral documentary of
more than 200 pictures of Fatima, past and present, an historical
update by Fr. Robert J. Fox. The Memoirs, documents, and pictures make
this three-books-in-one—the most complete book on Fatima documents in
the world.
Book is in oversized format, 480 pages
|
ich
had
remained faithful to the Catholic Church
during the recent persecutions by the government. Our Lady came with a
message from God to every man, woman, and child of our century. 
MIRACLES TODAY Our Lady of Fatima
continues to work miracles
today through Fatima water which is sent from Fatima, Portugal around
the world. This Fatima water sprang up in Fatima at the spot the Bishop
told people to dig, very near where Our Lady appeared at the
Cova de Iria (the Cove of Peace) in Fatima. The water is known to cure
people with sicknesses and poor health. Still, other people are cured
when they go on pilgrimage to Fatima, which is about 90 miles north of
Lisbon, Portugal. 
The
holm-oak tree - a shrub-size evergreen species-above which the Virgin
appeared to the children is gone now, and in its place stands the
Capelinha ("little chapel"), or Chapel of Apparitions. 
