Palmarian Church History speaks of the Apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in Fatima and Her Apocalyptic Messages: On the 13^th of May in the year 1917, the Most Holy Virgin Mary appeared for the first time in Fatima, Portugal, to three children shepherding their flocks: Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco. The final Apparition was on the 13^th of October that same year, with evident proofs that day of the truth of the Apparitions and of the Apocalyptic Messages She had given, by means of a stupendous miracle. This miracle was witnessed by a multitude of pilgrims and other spectators who had come that 13^th of October to Fatima. Among other Messages given in Fatima, the Most Holy Virgin Mary made an anguished call to prayer and penance, in the face of the chaotic world situation, engulfed in moral corruption and in the midst of the cataclysm of the First World War; She asked for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart; and reparation to Her Immaculate Heart on the First Saturday of the month; She warned that if Her maternal wishes were not attended, Russia would spread her errors, and that, therefore, Russia would be the scourge of which God would avail Himself to punish the world; besides, She announced that after the First World War another far more terrible one would come. The Most Holy Virgin Mary also announced that in the end Russia would be converted. The Most Holy Virgin Mary gave a transcendent message, known as the Secret of Fatima, in which She foretold dreadful future events in the Catholic Church, which would be ferociously trampled upon by her own prelates, to the point that freemasonry and communism would scale the summit and other top posts in the Vatican; thus announcing, long beforehand, that following the Pontificate of Saint Paul VI, last Pope with See in Rome, the great apocalyptic schism would ensue, with the reign of antipopes in Rome, who up till now have been John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, all four being visible heads of judaeo-vatican freemasonry and precursors of Antichrist. Sadly, the Secret Message of Fatima was not promulgated to the world, either by the Popes of Rome, or by Sister Lucia, to whom the Most Holy Virgin Mary had given the Message and the responsibility for making it known in due course. The Most Holy Virgin Mary, however, in Her Apparitions at the Sacred Place of El Palmar de Troya, had already revealed the true content of the Secret of Fatima in all its details, making quite plain the apostasy of the Roman Church brought about by her masonic and communist Church prelates, with the consequent reign of antipopes in the Vatican. In turn, the Most Holy Virgin Mary announced in the Palmarian Apparitions that the See of the Catholic Church would be translated to the Sacred Place of El Palmar de Troya, which happened following the death of Pope Saint Paul VI, for his successor, the true Pope, was Saint Gregory XVII.

Pope Saint Gregory XVII was the great Apocalyptic Messenger. Thanks to his Messages, the world has come to know the whole truth regarding these Last Times or Apocalyptic Era. He was brave and bold enough to make known the great events. Thanks to his fidelity to the Messages he received from God, mankind is aware of the contents of the Secret Message of Fatima. If Sister Lucia of Fatima had given testimony to the Secret the Most Holy Virgin Mary had entrusted to her to reveal in due course, many would not at present be living in apostasy, rather, they would have acknowledged that the true Vicar of Christ resides in the Sacred Place of El Palmar de Troya, Apostolic See of the true Church: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Palmarian. Sister Lucia of Fatima, however, betrayed the truth to please high Vatican prelates. We recall that, fundamentally, the Secret Message of Fatima is as follows: ‘communism and freemasonry will scale the highest office and other chief posts in the Vatican’. This was consummated when the antipapacy was established in Rome following Pope Saint Paul VI’s death.

One day in 1916, three young shepherds, six, nine and ten years of age, were keeping watch over their sheep in Fatima. Shortly after reciting the Rosary, a strong wind shook the trees and upon a light of dazzling whiteness they saw the figure of a brilliant and transparent youth approaching. On reaching them, he said: “Fear not! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me!” And, kneeling on the ground, the Angel bowed his forehead to the ground. Impelled by a supernatural movement, they imitated him, and repeated the words they heard him utter: “My God, I believe and hope in You, I adore You and love You. I ask forgiveness for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope nor love You.” After repeating this three times, he rose up and said: “Pray that way. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.” The Angel disappeared, and the supernatural atmosphere surrounding them was so intense that they were scarcely conscious of their own existence, and this lasted for a good while. They stayed in the same position as he had left them, repeating the same prayer. They felt God’s presence so intensely and intimately that they didn’t dare to speak even among themselves.

Another day, the Angel suddenly appeared at their side: “What are you doing? Pray, much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy upon you! Offer up prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High!” “How must we make sacrifices?” “With everything that you can, offer up a sacrifice to the Lord in act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. In this way, draw down peace upon our country… Above all, submissively accept and bear the sufferings the Lord may send you.”

On another occasion, the Angel came bearing a Chalice in one hand, and over it a Host, from which some drops of Blood were falling into the Chalice. Leaving the Chalice and the Host suspended in the air, he prostrated to the ground and thrice repeated the prayer: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly and offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, I ask You for the conversion of poor sinners.” Afterwards the Angel gave them Holy Communion, saying: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horrifyingly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.”

On the 13^th of May 1917, in Cova da Iría, Fatima, the three shepherds saw a most beautiful and resplendent Lady dressed in white. “Fear not,” said the Lady, “I will do you no harm… I am from Heaven… I come to ask you to come here for the next six months, on the 13^th, at this same time. After that I will say who I am and what I wish.” Afterwards the Lady told the children: “Do you want to offer yourselves up to God to bear all the sufferings which He may wish to send you in reparation for the sins by which He is offended and in supplication for the conversion of sinners?” They replied that they did. “You will have much to suffer, then, but God’s grace will comfort you”, the Lady promised. “Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” She then began to rise upwards until disappearing.

“I want you to come here on the 13^th of the coming month, to pray the Rosary, inserting between the mysteries the invocations: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fires of Hell, take all poor souls to Heaven, especially those most in need.’”

The children asked to be taken to Heaven. “Yes”, replied the Most Holy Virgin, “I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you have to stay here some time. Jesus wants to make use of you to make Me known and loved. He wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world. To whoever embraces it, I promise salvation; and those souls will be beloved of God, like flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne.”

On the 13^th of July, She said: “I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day, in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, to win peace for the world and the end of the war, because only She can do that… Keep on coming here every month. In October I will tell you who I am, and what I want. I will perform a miracle so that all believe.” One of the children told Her of a sick person who asked to go soon to Heaven. “Let him not be in a hurry. I well know when I have to take him.”

Next the Lady said: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and often say, especially when you have to make some sacrifice: ‘O Jesus, this is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against Mary’s Immaculate Heart’.” Saying these last words, She again opened Her hands, as in previous months. The reflection they spread about seemed to penetrate the earth, and they saw as though a sea of fire and, immersed within, demons and souls, as though transparent embers, black or bronzed, in human form floating about in the blaze, launched out by the flames issuing from them together with clouds of smoke spreading about everywhere – as happens with sparks and flashes in great fires – weightless and without balance, uttering howls and cries of pain and despair that horrified and caused to shudder with terror. The demons stood out for their foul and ghastly forms of dreadful unknown animals, but transparent like live black coals turned into embers.

Scared, pallid and ready to plead for succour, the little ones raised their eyes towards Our Lady. The Virgin explained: “You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world. If they do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and will have peace. The war will end; but, if they do not cease to offend God… another worse one will begin. When you see the night lit up by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign that God gives you that He is about to chastise the world for its crimes by way of war, famine and persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Reparatory Communion of the First Saturdays. If My petitions are heeded, Russia will be converted and they will have peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and several nations will be wiped out. In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me and she will be converted, and the world will be granted a time of peace… tell this to no one. You can tell Francisco.” Only the three children contemplated the Apparitions, but some of those present realized that at the end of this Apparition, they cried, saying that the message was “a secret… good for some and bad for others.”

From this moment, the secret constituted a legitimate expectation, and the desire to know it has been aroused in all those who have learnt of its existence. What does it deal with? What does the secret consist of? The Mayor of Vilanova de Ourém, despite being a radical anticlerical and leading freemason, was the first to want to find out the secret entrusted to the seers by the Apparition. He plotted the scheme of extracting the secret from them by threatening them with the most frightful deaths if they did not reveal to him the already, from then on, famous secret. They were kidnapped, interrogated and imprisoned. But innocence and simplicity triumphed over the astuteness of the stonyhearted freemason, and the children stayed firm and serene even in the face of the certainty of a horrible death by cremation. The Virgin did not appear on the 13^th of August, as She had announced beforehand, owing to the events provoked by the Mayor, but She wanted to recompense the children for having remained faithful in such difficult circumstances. She appeared on the 19^th, and they asked Her for a miracle so that all might believe. The Virgin replied: “Yes, in the last month, in October, I will perform a miracle, so that all may believe in My Apparitions. If they had not taken you to the village, the miracle would have been greater. Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus will come to give peace to the world. Our Lord will come too, to bless the people. Our Lady of the Rosary will come as well and Our Lady of Sorrows… Pray, pray much and make many sacrifices for sinners, since many souls go to Hell for not having anyone to make sacrifices and pray for them.”

These words deeply impressed the minds of the little shepherds and awoke in them an ever deeper hunger for mortification, prayer and suffering. Their one desire was to close up the doors of that terrible furnace of Hell forever so that no more souls might go there.

When left in peace in the fields with their sheep, the three little shepherds thus spent hours and hours, at the crag where the Angel had appeared, prostrate on the ground and repeating the prayer the Angel had taught them: “My God, I believe and hope in Thee, I adore Thee and love Thee! I ask forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you! … Most Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He Himself is offended; and through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg Thee for the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.”

When the awkward posture became unbearable, they started to pray the Rosary, without forgetting to insert the invocation taught them by Our Lady: “O Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, take all poor souls to Heaven, especially those most in need.”

The children prayed much, but sacrificed themselves yet more. They devoted themselves to discovering new ways of suffering for the conversion of sinners. To avoid others misunderstanding the motives for their mortifications and preventing them from saving souls from Hell, they kept the secret to themselves and the Most Holy Virgin.

During the Apparitions of July, August and September, the Most Holy Virgin had assured the little shepherds that the last time She was to appear, in October, She would perform a miracle that all might see and in this way come to believe. This the little shepherds had repeated to all those who came asking, and the news to that respect spread throughout the length and breadth of the land. The expectation and anxiety aroused by the announcement of this tremendous miracle weighed heavily on the families of the little shepherds. The incredulous laughed at the prophecy, and the enemies of the Church called it the Church’s great deceit of the people. For them, the 13^th of October would be a day for rejoicing, because the deceit would be unmasked and the Church completely discredited. The children were tremendously saddened in the face of so many incredulous, but trusted completely in Our Lady’s goodness, and hence did not worry.

On the morning of the 13^th of October 1917, in Fatima the rain poured down; a sad beginning to the glorious day promised by Our Lady to the children. Yet the rain did not dampen the lively faith with which thousands of pilgrims from every province of Portugal made their way to the fortunate land to witness the promised miracle. Even the newspapers, till then so hostile to events in Fatima, sent journalists there, and as they published lengthy articles on the following days about the extraordinary events, we shall make use of them here, quoting the reporters’ narratives which describe the authentic history of the event.

All night and all morning, a steady rain kept falling, forming puddles in the fields, making the countryside gloomy, penetrating with its cold humidity into the bones of women, children, men and animals following the poor roads leading to the hills of the miracle. The rain fell, and fell, steady and soft.

The simple woollen skirts and printed cloths seemed rags and weighed like lead in the belts at the waist. The caps and large hats dripped water over new feastday jackets. The unshod feet of the women, and the metalled boots of the men slipped in the great pools of mud on the roads.

“They walked up the hills illumined by faith, anxious for the miracle promised by Our Lady for the 13^th, at one in the afternoon, to the simple and pure souls of three children who were keeping their flocks. (But in reality, it was midday in Fatima, because the sun at that moment was at its zenith.) Ever closer was to be heard a murmur coming down the hill, a murmur which seemed the faraway voice of the sea, penetrating into the silence of the country. This was the gradually discernable canticles coming from thousands of lips. In the high plain of the hills an enormous moving blot was seen to cover the mount, filling a valley, thousands and thousands of creatures of God, thousands and thousands of souls praying.”

Some estimated that the crowds in Cova de Iría that day were at least seventy thousand persons. A professor from Coimbra University, after a careful check, in his account spoke of more than a hundred thousand. They had all spent the night in the open, as there was not a single room available. The sun had not yet risen and they were already praying, weeping and singing.

That day, the Most Holy Virgin Mary appeared and spoke to the three shepherds: “I want to tell you to build a Chapel here in My honour, for I am Our Lady of the Rosary, and that you continue to pray the Rosary every day. The war shall end and the soldiers will soon return home.” And, taking on a very sad expression, continued: “Let them offend Our Lord no more, He is already so deeply offended!”

On the day following the miracle of the sun, the little shepherds were asked what Our Lady had said this time, and Jacinta answered: “I come here to tell you not to offend Our Lord further, who is already too deeply offended; that if the people amend, the war will end, and if they do not amend, the world will end.” When they asked Lucia if she had received some revelation from Our Lady regarding the end of the world, she answered: “I cannot answer that question,” for she had been forbidden to say anything about the secret.

While the Lady bade them farewell, She opened her hands which sent out a blaze of light. Rising up, She pointed towards the sun; the light emanating from Her hands reflected the radiance of the sun.

There was an immense outburst of wonder and astonishment from the crowds. It was at that precise moment that the clouds swiftly dispersed and the sky cleared. The sun was as pallid as the moon. The three children had a vision: To the left of the sun, Saint Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus in his left arm. Saint Joseph emerged from among luminous clouds with his bust scarcely visible, and together with the Child Jesus traced the Sign of the Cross three times, blessing the world. While Saint Joseph did so, Our Lady stood in all Her splendour to the right of the sun, dressed in blue and white as Our Lady of the Rosary. Meanwhile the seers were bathed in the marvellous colours and signs of the sun, and saw Our Lord dressed in red as Divine Redeemer, blessing the world, as Our Lady had foretold. Like Saint Joseph, His bust was scarcely visible. At His side stood His Most Holy Mother with the characteristics of Our Lady of Sorrows, dressed in rose, without swords piercing the breast. This vision ended, the Most Holy Virgin appeared again in all Her ethereal splendour, finally wearing the simple mantle of Our Lady of Carmel.

While the children contemplated the heavenly visions in ecstasy, conclusive and admirable miracles were wrought before the eyes of the countless thousands of people. The sun had taken on an extraordinary colour. The words of eye witnesses describe these astonishing signs better. “People were gazing fixedly at the sun without doing themselves harm. It seemed as though it darkened and lightened successively. It launched out sheaves of light to one side and another, and painted everything in different colours, the trees and the people, the ground and the air. But the most remarkable was that the sun did not harm the eyes.” A man who worked in the open fields every day with his flocks, and cared for his garden under the burning sun of the Portuguese sierra, marvelled at the fact. “Everyone fixed their gaze on the sun-king easily and restfully. Suddenly the sun stopped and began to dance and reel; and again and again began to dance and reel until in the end it seemed to come loose from the heavens and launch itself upon the people. It was a terrible moment!”

The sun produced different colours: yellow, blue and white, and inspired great terror, for it seemed a wheel of fire about to fall upon the people. While the sun cast itself down upon the earth in a vigorous zigzag, the multitude cried out in terror: “Ah, Jesus! We shall all die here! Ah, Jesus! We shall all die here!” Others pleaded for mercy, “Our Lady, come to our help!” And they prayed the Act of Contrition. There was even a lady who made a general confession and said out loud, ‘I did this and that!’

At last the sun returned to its heavenly orbit. “All gave a sigh of relief. We were alive and the miracle announced by the children had taken place.”

Our Lord, already so offended by the sins of mankind, and especially by the way the children were treated by the district’s officials, could easily have destroyed the world on that memorable day. Nonetheless, Our Lord had not come to destroy, but to save. He saved the world that day by way of Blessed Saint Joseph’s blessing and Mary’s Immaculate Heart’s love towards Her children on earth. Our Lord would have detained the great World War then in full swing and granted peace to the world by means of Saint Joseph, Jacinta later declared, if the children had not been arrested and taken to Ourém. “Whenever you did those things to any of these brethren of mine, even to the least of them, you did them to Me”, the Lord warns.

The miracle had happened at the hour and on the day designated by Our Lady. No one was disillusioned, not one, except perhaps Our Lady, who had said that the miracle would have been greater if the children had not been maltreated. Many thousands of those in Cova de Iría and neighbouring villages testify to the convincing signs. Their testimonies are of the greatest interest. There are slight variations in their descriptions of the events, though all agree that it was the most tremendous and impressive event they had ever witnessed. To have an idea of how the people were impressed by the event, the newspaper reports of the time should be read:

“At one in the afternoon, the rain ceased. The sky was a pearly grey, and a strange clarity lighting up that panorama gave the countryside a tragic aspect, sad, very sad, ever sadder. The sun had a kind of veil like transparent gauze so that eyes could gaze at it. The ash-like mother of pearl tone was transformed into a sheet of brilliant silver which broke up until the clouds split apart and the silvery sun, enveloped in the same light ashy wrapping, was seen to roll and spin about the displaced clouds. One single cry came from all lips; the thousands of creatures whom God and their Faith raised heavenwards, fell to their knees in the muddy ground.

“The light turned bluish, a delicate blue, as though pouring down through the stained-glass windows of an immense cathedral into that gigantic nave formed in the air by upraised hands. The bluish light slowly died to appear as filtered through yellow stained glass. Yellow stains appeared on white sheets and upon the poor dark dresses of plain wool. They were stains vaguely reproduced on the drooping oaks, on the stones of the sierra. All wept, all prayed hat-in-hand at the tremendous impression given by the longed-for miracle. They were seconds, they were instants, which seemed hours, so very alive were they!”

‘O Século’, another Lisbon newspaper, published an even more detailed article on the extraordinary events. “… From the high spot on the road, where the carriages massed together and many hundreds of people stopped, without the valour to go down onto the land, the immense multitude was seen to turn towards the sun, which appeared at its zenith, free of clouds. The Luminary seemed a sheet of dark silver, and it was possible to gaze at its disk without the slightest discomfort. It did not burn, nor blind. It might be said that an eclipse was taking place. But behold a colossal scream rose up, and the closest spectators were heard to cry out: ‘Miracle! Miracle! Prodigy! Prodigy!’

To the dazzled eyes of that people, whose doings take us back to biblical times, and who, pale with amazement, with heads bare, faces gazing heavenwards: the sun reeled, with brusque movements never before seen, outside all cosmic laws; the sun danced, according to the typical expression of those simple people.

An agèd man, with a gentle and vigorous expression, prayed the Creed in a clamorous voice, turned towards the sun. I saw him afterwards address those about him who kept their heads covered, entreating them dearly to bare their heads at such an extraordinary manifestation of God’s existence. Identical scenes were repeated where we were, and a lady, bathed in tears and sobbing, cried out: ‘What shame! There are still men who do not take off their hats at such a stupendous miracle!’

And then they asked each other if they had seen it and what they had seen. The greater number confessed that they had seen the sun dance and reel: others declared having seen the smiling face of the Virgin Herself, swore that the sun had spun about like a Catherine wheel, that it had come down almost as far as to scorch the earth with its rays. There are those who say they saw it successively changing colour.”

The testimony of another spectator, a professor at Coimbra University, is very informative and backs up the others: “The sun, moments before, had dissipated a thick group of clouds which had kept it hidden, and shone out clearly and intensely. I turned to this magnet which drew the gaze of all, and could see it like a clear-cut disk of living light, luminous and shining, but not painful. The comparison I heard in Fatima, that of a disk of opaque silver, did not seem right to me; for it had a clearer colour, active and lovely, and besides with a pearly shading. It was not at all like the moon on a clear bright night, for it was to be seen and felt like a living star. It was not like the moon, spherical, it did not have the same tonality nor chiaroscuro. It seemed like a shining wheel cut out of mother-of-pearl. Neither could it be mistaken for the sun seen through a mist (which besides was not the weather then), for it was opaque, diffuse, without veil. In Fatima it had light and heat and was seen clear-cut, and had marked edges like a games table. In the vault of the heavens there were light cirrus clouds with patches of blue here and there, and the sun was sometimes to be seen in a fragment of blue sky. The clouds scudding lightly from west to east did not reduce the light of the sun (which was not dazzling), giving the impression, easily comprehensible and explicable, that they were passing behind; clouds which glide over in front of the sun seem to take on a roseate or diaphanous blue tone. It was wonderful to be able to gaze fixedly on the star for a long time, flame of light and live coal of heat, without the least pain in the eyes and without any dazzling or blinding of the retina. This phenomenon, with two brief interruptions, in which the sun launched out its most scorching and refulgent rays forcing the eyes to turn away, must have lasted ten minutes. This disk was in dizzy movement. It was not the twinkling of a star in full life. It spun about with amazing speed. Of a sudden a clamour was heard, like a cry of anguish from that whole crowd. The sun, retaining its speed of rotation, broke away from the firmament and advanced blood-red towards the earth, threatening to crush us with the weight of its enormous fiery mass. They were moments of terrifying shock. During the solar flight, which it was gradually coursing, in the atmosphere there were changing colours. Looking at the sun, I noticed that around me it was darkening. I looked beside me and then turned my gaze into the distance, and saw everything an amethyst colour. The objects, the sky and the atmosphere all had the same colour. A reddish bush standing in front of me left a deeper reddish shadow on the ground. Fearing to have some retina problem, not very probable, for in this case I would not see rose coloured things, I turned, closed my eyes and held up my hands to block out the light. I opened my eyes again and realized that, as before, the view, the air, was the same rose colour. The impression was not of an eclipse. Continuing to gaze at the sun, I noticed that the ambience had changed. Shortly I heard a farm worker, frightened, say: ‘This lady is yellow!’ In reality, everything was changing, nearby and afar, taking on the colour of beautiful yellow damasks. People seemed to be ill with jaundice. I laughed, seeing them quite ugly. My hand was the same yellow colour.”

The testimony of this learned man shows how difficult it was adequately to describe the marvellous signs that occurred in the heavens that day. The 13^th of October 1917 was a memorable day for everyone who witnessed the events. One reporter from Oporto narrated it in these words: “The sun, at times encircled by very vivid flames, at others haloed by yellow and a faint red, at others appearing to rotate at great speed, at others seeming to become detached from the heavens, approach the earth and irradiate strong heat…”

Another witness says that, after the morning rain, “… the sun immediately appeared with a clearly delineated circumference. It approached as though to the height of the clouds and began to spin dizzily like a Catherine wheel, with some breaks, for over eight minutes. Everything became almost dark, and the people’s faces were yellow. Everyone knelt down on the muddy ground.”

A boy aged nine at the time who lived in a village sixteen kilometres from Fatima, became a Priest, and remembered that day vividly. He was at school: “It was towards midday when we were surprised and startled by cries and exclamations from some men and women passing by in the street in front of our school. The schoolmistress was the first to run out into the street without being able to prevent all the children running out after her. In the street the people wept and clamoured, pointing at the sun. It was the great ‘Miracle’ promised by Our Lady. I feel incapable of describing what I saw and felt then. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale to me, so that it did not dazzle me. It was like a ball of snow spinning on itself. Afterwards, of a sudden, it seemed to zigzag down, threatening to fall upon the earth. Terrified, I ran amid the people. They all wept, awaiting the end of the world from one moment to the next. Beside us was an unbeliever, without any religion, who had spent the morning mocking the simpletons who had walked the whole way to Fatima to see a little girl. I glanced at him. He was as though paralyzed, amazed, his eyes fixed on the sun. Afterwards I saw him tremble from head to foot and, raising his hands to heaven, fell on his knees crying out: ‘Our Lady! Our Lady!’ Meanwhile, the people went on shouting and weeping, begging God forgiveness for their own sins. Afterwards we ran to the two village Chapels, which in a few moments filled up. During those long minutes of the solar phenomena, the objects about us reflected all the colours of the rainbow. Looking at each other, one seemed blue, another yellow, another red. All these strange phenomena increased the terror of the people. Some ten minutes later, the sun went back to its place, in the same way as it had come down, still pale and without brilliance. When the people were convinced that the danger had gone, there was an outburst of jubilee. All broke out in cries of thanksgiving: ‘Miracle! Miracle! Miracle! Blessed be Our Lady!’”

After the solar miracle, the people, thrilled and shaken, broke out in exclamations of repentance and contrition, begging for mercy; and as though moved by the Holy Ghost, all standing up began to sing the Creed out loud. At the same time, when those present rose up from the muddy ground, another surprise awaited them, likewise naturally inexplicable. Some minutes previously, they had been standing in torrential rain, and their clothing was completely soaked. Now they realized that their clothing was suddenly perfectly dry and with no sign of the soaking! With what goodness did Our Lady treat Her friends who had faced up to the rain and the mud, and had worn their Sunday best to go out to meet Her!

The Bishop of Leiria wrote in his pastoral letter that those who had witnessed the events on that grand day were truly fortunate. He said: “Days beforehand the children had fixed the day and the hour it was to occur. The news spread swiftly throughout Portugal and, despite the unpleasant day and abundant rain, thousands upon thousands of people gathered who, at the end of the last Apparition, were present at all the manifestations of the star-king, and paid homage to the Queen of Heaven and earth, more brilliant than the sun at the zenith of its brightness. This phenomenon, which no astronomical observatory registered, and therefore not natural, was witnessed by people of every social position and class, believers and atheists, reporters from the chief Portuguese dailies, and even individuals kilometres away.” Those are his official words, spoken after lengthy studies and careful interrogation of many witnesses of the Apparition. There is no possibility of error or illusion when close on to one hundred thousand people agree in their testimonies. God in Heaven had called the people of this world to join Him in paying homage and glory to His Blessed Mother Mary.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary had promised to take Francisco and Jacinta Marto to Heaven soon. As for Jacinta, she seemed concerned with the one thought of converting sinners and freeing souls from Hell, but Francisco seemed to think of nothing but consoling Our Lord and Our Lady, whom he had seen very sad. They spent their time in prayer and penance, and in praying many Rosaries.

The day before his death, Francisco received Jesus in his heart and closed his eyes in prayer, resting in Jesus while Jesus rested in him. While he was full of the presence of God, he remembered that other day when the Angel came and together they adored Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament. This faithful child had given his life to make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary for the sins of ungrateful men. He had spent hours, whole days, dreaming of his beloved Jesus and Mary, spurning the absorbing pleasures of childhood to console Their loving Hearts. With Christ within him, Francisco often offered himself up as a victim of love, consolation and reparation. It was his first and last Communion, for on the following day, 4^th of April 1919, Our Lady came to take him to Herself. A heavenly smile left his lips half open as he gave his last sigh. Peacefully, without agony or the least sign of suffering, his life ended. This child of ten years had finished the work God had given him to do.

Jacinta said: “I like Our Lord and Our Lady so much that I never tire of telling Them that I love Them. When I often say so, I seem to have fire in my breast, but it does not burn.”

A few days before death, Jacinta said: “The sins which send most sinners to Hell are those of the flesh; fashions will be adopted that deeply offend Our Lord; the Virgin has said that there will be many wars and divisions in the world; wars are nothing but chastisements for the sins of the world; the Most Holy Virgin cannot hold back the arm of Her Beloved Son from the world any more; penance must be done; if men repent, the Lord will still forgive; but if they do not change their lives, the most terrible chastisement ever known will afflict the world. Pray much for sinners; pray much for religious; Priests must be pure, very pure; Priests should not be concerned with anything other than things of the Church and souls; disobedience by Priests to their superiors and to the Sovereign Pontiff displeases Our Lord greatly.”

Jacinta not only prayed but also suffered. Her bronchopneumonia worsened daily and an abscess formed in her chest. To her mother, very sad on seeing her dear little one suffer so, Jacinta always replied with words of consolation: “Don’t be sad, mother, for I am going to Heaven; there I will pray much for you.” Little soldier as she was, she forced herself to forget her illness and her pain to offer everything up for the conversion of sinners. “Poor things! We have to pray and make many sacrifices for them… Ah! If only we could shut the doors of that terrible furnace forever by our sacrifices! If we could make all sinners go to Heaven!” Jacinta did not waste even a moment of suffering; one single stab of pain was worth more to her than all the gold in the world. She died on the 20^th of February 1920, at nine years of age.

Fatima should be taken seriously. Obviously, it cannot be thought that Heaven would promote such spectacular manifestations just to exhort us to do ordinary penance, or to oblige us to keep a secret for so many years that was nothing but a commonplace transmission of trivial things without importance. That would be absurd. If such manifestations are true, and the miracles show that they are, then the secret has to be a vital reality, of sovereign importance. Something of the greatest importance is at stake for mankind in these manifestations. A well informed source stated that Pope John XXIII, on reading the third secret of Fatima in 1960, sealed it up again, saying that he did not want to be a ‘prophet of doom’, and that he told a missionary Bishop: “I cannot publish this text (of the secret), because it would provoke panic throughout the world.”

In 1957, the seer sister Lucia said: “The Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one takes Her message into account, neither the good nor the bad; neither the good, because they keep on along the road of goodness in their apostolate of virtue, ignoring Her Message; nor the bad since, seeing no chastisement from God come upon them for their sins, they too keep on along their road of evil, without taking account of this Message; but, believe me, God shall chastise the world and will chastise it in a tremendous way. The chastisement of Heaven is imminent; how far off, Father, is the year 1960? What will happen then will be something very sad for all and not at all pleasant, if the world does not first do Prayer and Penance… The devil is waging a decisive battle against the Virgin; and as he knows what most offends God and what will win him a greater number of souls in less time, he is now trying to win over souls consecrated to God, both in the religious life and in the priestly life, since in this way he leaves the field of souls forsaken, and so will more easily take possession of them.” (In 1957 the enormous number of defections from the religious and priestly life to occur in the Church after the Vatican II conciliabulum was quite unforeseeable.)

What was this tremendous chastisement announced in the Fatima secret, and which was to begin as from the year 1960? Now, with hindsight, we can see what it was: God abandoned those to blame in the hands of their enemies, as happened when the people of Israel, for their sins, were taken captive to Babylon. The infidelity of clergy and people led God to allow the freemasons infiltrated into the Church to scale the highest posts.

The ruinous Vatican II conciliabulum was from 1962 to 1965. Pope Saint John XXIII, owing to his goodness, was used by the Church’s enemies. Regarding the Vatican II conciliabulum, Pope Saint Gregory XVII said: “Vatican Council II was certainly convoked by Our Revered Predecessor Pope Saint John XXIII, in the face of the terrible events related in the Fatima Secret. The Pope, dismayed at the content of the Fatima Message, felt the inspiration of the Holy Ghost to convoke the Council… After the first sessions, the Council hall was a reflection of mankind prior to the Universal Flood. The Holy Ghost withdrew from the Council, just as He had done at mankind’s general prevarication preceding the Universal Flood chastisement, when He withdrew from men. The Holy Ghost, who had withdrawn from the people, entered into Noah’s Ark, to guide that just man. The Apocalypse too explains about the chastisement: “The first unchaining of Satan occurred during Pope Saint John XXIII’s pontificate, when Vatican Council II turned into a conciliabulum, or satanic council.”

The Treatise on the Holy Mass says of the Vatican II conciliabulum: “Though this Council was convoked by Pope Saint John XXIII inspired by the Holy Ghost, before long, owing to the oppressive influence of a great proportion of masonic and progressivist Council fathers, and owing to the cowardice and human respect of no few traditionalists, the Council’s sound finality became prostituted, and conclusions were reached that were openly erroneous and ambiguous; which evidences that the Holy Ghost had been expelled from the Council hall to give entry therein to Satan. This then is why Vatican Council II, with respect to its unfolding and the decisions made, is not the work of the Holy Ghost, but of the devil. Though in the Council acts there are parts with true teachings, they are mixed up with dreadful heresies and ambiguities; since freemasonry, thus covering up the evil, thereby made it easier for Catholics to accept the Council texts, and for the Church’s enemies to attain their perverse ends more readily… Vatican Council II, because of its documents’ content of heresy, ambiguity and the perverse conclusions to which freemasons and progressivists led it, is unlawful, noxious and abominable, and therefore void of all authority in the Church. By the above we do not stain the illustrious and infallible authority, as likewise the good faith, of Popes Saint John XXIII and Saint Paul VI, who ruled the Church at the time of the Council; for as regards the first of those Pontiffs, John XXIII, his enemies exploited his excessive paternity, kindness and optimism, instead of availing themselves of him for their conversion; as regards the second, Paul VI, as we know he was victim of Vatican freemasonry, that subjected him to frequent brainwashing by means of drugs, causing the irreproachable hand of the Pope on occasions to sign wrongfully, though in the majority of instances his signature was falsified.”

This chastisement was already announced by the Prophet Saint Isaias, as the Holy Bible explains: “Even long before the Pontificate and death of the Great Pontiff Pope Saint Paul VI, Martyr of the Vatican, the official roman church had reached a calamitous state, owing to the spread of false doctrines having the backing of the majority of prelates attending the disastrous Vatican II conciliabulum, artifice of freemasonry to put an end to the Church. Since the death of Pope Saint Paul VI and the election of Pope Saint Gregory XVII the Very Great, darkness and desolation now reign forever in the official roman church, whose turrets and strongholds have fallen, leaving there only gloomy caverns, dens of beasts and feeding ground for vermin.”

And for having thus submitted to freemason prelates, the Church will receive fresh chastisements, as the Lord stated in Palmar in 1972: “I also address you, My Spouse (referring to the Church). You too shall receive great chastisements; for each day you prostitute yourself further. Remember the passage of the Great Harlot and Babylon the Great. All of that concerns you, dear Spouse; remember your vagaries and your pacts with Satan. You have made room in your bosom for the Beast’s emissaries: communists, freemasons, lutherans, calvinists and other heretics. You are demolishing Sacred Scripture and presenting the mysteries ambiguously; you are adulterating the Faith, you are teaching truths together with lies; you are relegating holy Bishops, Cardinals, Priests and good Religious, and making life impossible for them, those who keep the integrity of the Faith; in a word: you wage cold war on them, remove them from their posts, and brand them as anti-conciliarists. You, however, have repudiated the acceptance of all the Holy Councils, founding a new church as from Vatican Council II; which is no such Council!, but one you have invented and interpreted according to your own vagaries, in order to adulterate the Truth and break with Holy Tradition, forger of great Saints. The Heavenly Father will very soon purify and refine you.”

Neither the good nor the bad took any notice of the Most Holy Virgin’s Message, despite the amazing miracle, seen by a hundred thousand eyewitnesses, proving that the Message was a grave demand on mankind by God. So by rigorous justice, the great chastisement was for all who rejected the Apparitions and messages of the Divine Mary. Among them were many traditionalists who defended the dogmas, but blamed Pope Saint Paul VI and considered him a heretic, and even affirmed that the Church was acephalous, headless. Others accepted all the aberrations propagated by freemason and progressivist prelates, and thus submitted to the antipopes of apostate Rome. Only those who listened to the Messages of Mary Most Holy in Palmar were aware that the Pope of the time, Saint Paul VI, was a prisoner and martyr of the Vatican, already in the power of freemasons and of the synagogue of Satan. Only those who humbly attended to the Heavenly Messages remained united to the true Pope after Rome’s apostasy at the death of Saint Paul VI. All who rejected Heaven’s Messages received their due chastisement: they fell into apostasy, the good and the bad. Just like the Good Shepherd, the Divine Shepherdess can say: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”, for they followed Her to the good pastures in the mystical desert of Palmar.

Since neither the good nor the bad took any notice of the great miracle and message of Our Lady of Fatima, and thus threw away the graces and rejected the opportunity of winning God’s forgiveness, it is therefore logical that God perform no other portentous miracle before the eyes of all until the world be purified by terrifying chastisements; and that then come the apotheosic Apparition of the Most Holy Virgin Mary or Great Miracle of El Palmar de Troya for the universal exaltation of the Holy Palmarian Church and the salvation of many.

The Most Holy Virgin repeatedly told the three seers of Fatima that many nations of the earth would disappear, and that Russia would be God’s instrument for chastising the world if we do not obtain the conversion of that wretched nation beforehand. Yes, the devil is launching a decisive battle against the Most Holy Virgin, and a decisive battle is a final battle, making quite plain which side is victorious, and which defeated; so that we are now either with God or with the devil. There is no middle way.

To conquer souls, the devil keeps them away from prayer. By prayer is understood as well any conversation with Jesus and Mary and with our Heavenly Father, from whom we continuously receive the necessary graces to reject evil and overcome the devil. Hence not only in Church and at home, but everywhere and at all times should we pray; whether in town or at work or at school, and even when amusing ourselves. It is to live united to Jesus and Mary, who are always at our side, within our hearts, and converse with Them, our best Friends. The devil, who knows the great power of prayer, will try to snatch this potent means of salvation from us by continuing to invade the world by pestiferous waves of materialism, of human respect, of indifference, by making us ashamed to show ourselves as Catholics everywhere and at all times. We will neither save ourselves nor damn ourselves alone; for by our prayer and penance we will save not only ourselves, but besides all souls linked to ours. Let us remember that we should enter Heaven with many souls; and not receive the complaint, if sadly we were to damn ourselves, from so many souls (in Hell) telling us: “It is your fault that I am here; if you had responded to God, I would have saved myself, but because of you I am in Hell.” And the reason is that each Christian, by vocation, has to be another Christ, striving to identify himself with Him; not only in virtues, but also in the very mission which brought Him to earth: that of redeeming the world by way of His Sacrifice. We should all suffer, not only because pain is intrinsic to human nature owing to the chastisement of original sin, but also because as Christians we should be other christs, so that our sacrifices, united to Christ’s, acquire infinite value, capable of saving the entire world. Thus we all have sufferings, setbacks, afflictions, problems, illnesses, and so forth. Well then, let us offer up to Our Lord all that He deigns to send us, besides whatever we offer Him spontaneously, so that united to His divine merits, they bear infinite value.

On the 13^th of July 1917, Our Lady promised in Fatima, “I will come to ask for… the Reparatory Communion of the First Saturdays.” In Cova de Iría Our Lady had already communicated to the seers Her Heart’s bitter grief at the ingratitude and sins of mankind. She had asked that the First Saturday of each month be considered by all the faithful as a day of reparation to Her Immaculate Heart. In 1925 the Most Holy Virgin appeared to sister Lucia and, beside her, raised on a luminous cloud, a Child. At the same time the Most Holy Virgin showed a Heart She held in Her hand, circled by thorns, and the Child said: ‘Have compassion on your Most Holy Mother’s Heart, full of thorns with which ungrateful men continually pierce Her without there being anyone to make an act of reparation to draw them out’. Then the Most Holy Virgin said: ‘See, My daughter, My Heart, circled by thorns with which ungrateful men continually pierce Me by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me, and say that all those who, on the First Saturdays of five (consecutive) months, confess, receive Holy Communion, pray (five mysteries of) the Rosary and keep Me company for fifteen minutes, meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary, with the aim of atoning to Me, I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for them to save their souls’.”

By way of this lovely devotion, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are consoled, and an immense number of souls will be saved. God in His infinite mercy had asked them to try to make reparation by their sacrifices and prayers, above all to this Immaculate Heart, and beg forgiveness and mercy for the souls who blaspheme against It, since His Divine Mercy does not forgive such souls without reparation.

Those fifteen minutes may seem the most difficult part. Yet it is quite easy. Who is unable to think about the Mysteries of the Rosary? – about the Annunciation by the Angel and the humility of Our Lady who, seeing Herself so upraised, calls Herself ‘Slave’; on the Passion of Jesus who suffered so greatly for our love; on our Most Holy Mother at Jesus’ side on Calvary. Who cannot spend fifteen minutes in these holy thoughts beside the tenderest of Mothers?

“You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go; to save them, God wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world… I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart… If My petitions are attended, Russia will be converted and there will be peace.”

Our Lady explained that this consecration has to be made by the Holy Father in union with all the Bishops of the world, and said that if Her ministers delayed the execution of Her petition, it would be cause of affliction for them; but added that it is never too late to turn to Jesus and to Mary.”

Towards the end of 1942, Pope Saint Pius XII consecrated the Church and the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, making an oblique reference to the Russian people (without mentioning the country by name) in these words: “Extend Your protection… to those peoples who by error or discord are separated, that is, those who profess singular devotion to You, where no home lacked Your venerable icon (perhaps today hidden and reserved for better days). Grant them peace and lead them back to Christ’s one single fold, under the one true Shepherd…” It was a decisive event in the history of the world, and brought about a swift end to the Second World War. Nonetheless, it was not the consecration Our Lady had requested, and so it didn’t achieve the conversion of Russia nor the lasting peace She had promised us.

In 1943, the Lord promised the coming end of the war, in attention to the act performed by the Pope. But as it was incomplete, the conversion of Russia was left till later. Russia will once more be the scourge with which God will chastise us. Our Lord said that “while the present affliction (that is, the Second World War) will be shortened” by the consecration of the world, world peace will not be granted without the explicit Consecration of Russia done by the Pope and the Bishops. The exact petition of Our Lady was that the Holy Father make the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, ordering that, at the same time, and in union with His Holiness, all the Bishops of the Catholic world do likewise. Our Lady did not request the consecration of the world to Her Immaculate Heart. It was specifically the consecration of Russia that She had requested. “What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the Bishops of the world consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart on a special day. If this is done, She will convert Russia and there will be peace. If this is not done, Russia’s errors will spread to all the countries of the world.”

In a revelation in 1952, Our Lady said: “Let the Holy Father know that I am still awaiting the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. Without this Consecration, Russia cannot be converted, nor can the world enjoy peace.” This consecration is an element of crucial importance in the Fatima Message, together with the call to penance. “The good God is letting Himself be appeased, but complains bitterly and sorrowfully of the very limited number of souls in Grace ready to renounce all that the observance of His Law demands of them. This is the penance that the good God now asks: the sacrifice which each person has to impose on himself in order to lead a life of righteousness in the observance of His Law. And He desires that this path be clearly made known to souls; for many, judging the word ‘penance’ to mean great austerities, feeling the lack of strength and generosity for this, become discouraged and fall back to a half-hearted life of sin. God desires that souls be led to understand that the true penance He now wishes and demands consists above all in the sacrifices each one has to impose on himself to fulfil his own religious and temporal duties.” Our Lord said: “The sacrifice I demand of each is the fulfilment of his personal duties and the observance of My Law; that is the penance I now ask and demand.” Sadly, we have to state that the conditions required by the Virgin on the renewal of Christian life, on reparation, on the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart performed by the Pope and all the Bishops of the world, on the recital of the Holy Rosary and devotion of the five consecutive first Saturdays of the month, have not been fulfilled, neither by the Hierarchy nor by the faithful. Hence there will be no peace, rather wars and revolutions; communism will be imposed on the nations, and the Church will suffer persecutions and upheavals. This is all quite evident.

Without this consecration, Russia will not be converted and the world will have no peace. This fact should be emphasized in our times when wars and rumours of wars are growing continually, and when the potential devastation to be caused by the powerful arms of modern warfare far surpass anything experienced in history. Our Lady came to bring peace to the world, and the basis of peace is to live in the state of Grace. Wars are but chastisements for the sins of the world.

Hence it is useful to meditate again on Our Lady’s petition that the Pope, in union with all the world’s Bishops, consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. The petition of the Consecration of Russia has its origin at the start of Our Lady’s visits to Fatima. On the 13^th of July 1917, in Fatima, on the same day She showed the vision of Hell to the little shepherds, Our Lady promised to return to ask for the Consecration of Russia.

Faithful to Her word, the Most Holy Virgin, together with the Most Blessed Trinity, visited sister Lucia on the 13^th of June 1929 in Tuy, Spain. “The time has come when God is asking the Holy Father to perform the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, in union with all the Bishops of the world, promising to save Russia by this means.” She did not ask the Pope to consecrate the world, but Russia. Jesus explained that He would not convert Russia unless His Holiness made this consecration, “because I want My whole Church to acknowledge this consecration as a triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, so as later to spread the veneration of Her Heart, and place devotion to Her Immaculate Heart beside devotion to My Divine Heart.”

For eleven years Saint Pius XI and Saint Pius XII ignored repeated petitions to consecrate Russia, so that in an attempt to get the Pope to do something in the form of a consecration, one Bishop asked him to consecrate the world with “a special mention” of Russia. Our Lord replied that, if the Pope did as this Bishop had asked, He would recompense this act by shortening the days of the Second World War, but that it would not bring about world peace, as would the explicit consecration of Russia by the Pope together with all the Bishops. Pope Pius XII had consecrated the world, not Russia, to the Immaculate Heart in 1942.

In 1952, Our Lady appeared and said: “Let the Holy Father know that I am always awaiting the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. Without this Consecration, Russia cannot be converted, nor will the world have peace.” Thus, ten years after the consecration of the world in 1942 by Pope Pius XII, Our Lady is reminding that Russia will not be converted nor will there be peace at least until Russia be consecrated by name. It is therefore clear that the Consecration of Russia needs to specify and distinguish Russia from the rest of the world. In summary, the Consecration of Russia needs to have Russia named in the Prayer of Consecration. Let us remember that ‘to consecrate’ means to dedicate and set apart a person (or persons), a place or a thing for a holy purpose. The Consecration of Russia means that Russia (the Russian nation) be distinguished and placed apart from the rest of the world and will be dedicated to the service of Mary’s Immaculate Heart.

Pope Saint Peter II wrote: “We ask those willing to listen to Us: Where are the fruits of virtue attained by John Paul II through his contacts and discourses? Where is the pacification of the world, the triumph over communism, its disintegration, including the conversion of Russia attributed to John Paul II? Do you perhaps think that the present-day Russian regime is no longer communist or powerful, and that her oppression over other nations has ceased because Russia has been converted? Whoever thinks that is thinking foolishly. True enough, in the Russian communist regime there is diplomatic fraternity with other nations because of international politics and economic considerations, but without Russia ever renouncing her long-standing imperialist plans. It should be taken into account that if Russian imperialist pressure on Europe has momentarily eased, that is also due to new secret communist tactics, so as to continue infiltrating her errors now in an underhand, pacific manner within the different nations that were outside the iron curtain, and from them to other nations in the five continents; it is well proven that the errors of communism have been propagated and taken root in all the countries of the world. This fulfils one of the messages of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, that Russia would spread her errors. Let it be quite clear that conversion is only possible with entire acceptance of the teaching of the True Church of Christ, of the authority of the Pope, and putting it all into practice unconditionally.”

We should never forget the prophetic promise of Our Lady: “In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me and she will be converted and the world be granted a time of peace.” The seer said: “What Our Lady wants is that the Pope and all the Bishops of the world consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart on a special day. If they do this, She will convert Russia and there will be peace. If this is not done Russia’s errors will spread to all the countries of the world.” And unfortunately this consecration has not been done, and those errors have indeed spread.

The Message of Fatima impels us to pray for the Consecration of Russia in such a way that this triumph come soon and the destruction of nations be avoided. Our Lord told us: “It is never too late to turn to Jesus and Mary.”

In Palmar, on the 11^th of September 1970, the Most Holy Virgin Mary complained because Her desires were carried out “in an incomplete way, as happened with the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart; that is why Russia spreads her errors, though in the end she will be converted.”

On the 22^nd of August 1978, at the end of his Fourth Pontifical Document, Pope Saint Gregory XVII wrote the phrase: “As Supreme Shepherd, in the name of the entire Church, We avail Ourself of this day to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” Neither is this a solemn consecration celebrated by the Pope in union with all the Bishops of the world.

The Lord said: “The number of those who serve Me by making sacrifices is very limited; I need souls and Priests to serve Me by sacrificing themselves for Me and for souls.” In another communication, the Good God complained, with great bitterness, of the sinful, lukewarm and indolent life of a great number of Priests, Friars and Nuns; souls from whom He hoped for reparation and who instead moved Him to indignation and to chastising; and said that if His justice were not appeased by the means He requested, it would be by the blood of martyrs. Consequently we deserve the worst, for God has allowed the delay in consecrating Russia (and therefore the promised conversion), so as later to purify us ever more of our sins.

In the Holy Bible, when the People of Israel was encamped in Cadesbarne, where the Land of Canaan began, Moses transmitted to his People the following mandate from God: “See, O children of Israel, the land the Lord God gives you, as He promised to your fathers. Arise therefore, and occupy it. Have no fear at all, for Almighty God will deliver it into your hands.” But many of the people, hearing Moses’ words, instead of trusting in divine strength, were terror-stricken at the thought of having to face up to the enemies inhabiting the mountains and the different regions of Canaan. Moreover, many of the People of Israel, greatly inclined to despondency and disbelief, doubted that the Promised Land was so rich and fertile as the Lord and Moses had so often said. Moses was angered, as they gave signs of insolent mistrust in the God’s word and favour. It was God’s desire, communicated to Moses, that Israel, with valour and trust in Divine Power, enter without further ado into the Promised Land. This divine decision was not accepted by many Israelites, for they said: “By no means can we face up to the inhabitants of Canaan because they are stronger than us.” Some said that the cities of Canaan were absolutely impregnable; and even said that they were unable to conquer the land even with God’s help, which implied a blasphemous mistrust and scorn for the Lord’s paternal providence towards them. The Lord said to Moses: “Until when must this people blaspheme against Me? Till when will they not believe Me, after so many miracles I have performed before them?” The Lord then imposed punishments: “All the children of Israel will wander through the desert until forty years have passed since the departure from Egypt, for until then they will not enter the Promised Land. In that way you will pay the penalty for your sins of unfaithfulness and disobedience.”

History repeats itself. In Fatima the Most Holy Virgin Mary performed great prodigies in the sight of the people; and then indicated the easy and simple way of conquering, with Her omnipotent help, a new promised land: Russia. Once more the Heavenly command was not obeyed, and the result is the loss of countless souls; and that the Church, the people of God, is once more exiled for over forty years in the desert.