Apparitions of Mary, Part II, Fatima
Mary appeared during a time of political and social upheaval. It was in 1917, during the Great War (WWI), which was not great at all but truly horrendous, taking so many lives and turning cities to rubble. It was shortly before the Spanish flu epidemic, which killed millions of people. Women were fighting hard for suffrage (the right to vote). It was the era of the Model T automobile, and humans were building the first flying machines. Controversial Pentecostal denominations, with their miraculous manifestations, were spreading around the world. For the first time in many years, Christians were prophesying and laying hands on the sick.
Most notable was the return of Lenin to the post-Tsarist chaos in Russia. The Germans sent him there in a sealed train in April, 1917, about a month before Mary appeared in Portugal. Throughout the year, Russia teetered between western ideas of democracy and socialism. Lenin and Marx were the catalysts introducing a new, secular, ideologically-driven oppression. In 1917, you could almost hear the wheels of history groaning and turning.
In 1916, three shepherd children in Portugal had a visitation from an angel who encouraged them to pray often, reciting the Rosary. Francisco was 8, his sister Jacinta was 6, and Lucia was 9. A year later, in May, 5 1917, Pope Benedict XV was heart broken over the destruction of the war and invoked the Mother of God with a pastoral letter, "We wish the petitions of her most afflicted children to be directed with lively confidence, more than ever in this awful hour, to the Great Mother of God." Perhaps that is why 8 days later on May 13, the children had their first encounter with the Lady at a place called Cova de Iria. They were told to meet her there each month on the 13th at noon, and in October they would be told who she was and what she wanted. They were informed that they would all go to heaven and that they would all "suffer much." When Lucy queried about deceased friends, she was told that one boy was in heaven, one in Purgatory, and their friend Amelia, who was 18 at the time of her death, would be in Purgatory until the end of the world.
In June, the children were told to learn to read. Lucia was told that her friends would be taken away soon, but Lucia had to remain. "God wishes to use you to make me known and loved, to establish throughout the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart." (Woman, 189) When Lucia protested, Mary assured her, "I will never leave you. If this thought causes you sadness (the death of her friends), remember that my Immaculate Heart will ever be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God." (Woman, 190)
My purpose in this post is not to simply retell the story of Fatima with its famous spinning sun and the miracle of thousands of rain-soaked onlookers being suddenly dry. I want to point out the possibility that Mary's emphasis on devotion to her Immaculate Heart is a demonic distraction, a Christian idol, a lure to make her Queen of the World, the sweet, gentle path to salvation. The angel that met with the 3 children in 1916 spoke about what the hearts of Jesus and Mary wanted of them. What does that even mean? Mary's IH suggests that she, like Jesus, was born without original sin? Where would that put her in the divine hierarchy? A divine heart is something you can portray in a sacred picture, something you can hang on your wall and revere. You can light a candle to it, you can ask it to protect you in dangerous times. daily obedience to the will of God is much harder to portray. As for God's constant presence, the Evangelical message points to Psalm 91 in which God is our refuge, or Matthew 28:19-20, the promise of Jesus to always be with His disciples.
The July message was that everyone should continue praying the Rosary because only Mary could stop the war. Does that mean she has power to start wars? The children were shown the First Secret, a vision of Hell. Only devotion to Mary's IH could save them. She continued:
"You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI. When you see a night illumined 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 persecutions 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 shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Secrets_of_F%C3%A1tima)
No pressure, kids. Just pass on the message to all the people who don't want to believe it. In September Mary promised a great sign and to affirm to the world who she was (actually a new title to add to other titles shown to previous visionaries). She would appear with St. Joseph and the Child Jesus and promised to heal some of the sick.
Her October surprise was to announce that she was Our Lady of the Rosary. She was 3 minutes late, which must have felt like 3 hours to the children because a storm had soaked the entire crowd of thousands who had come from all over. After her announcement, Mary gave one last warning about hell waiting for sinners. When she left, the sun began to dance and spin, terrifying the crowd, and suddenly everyone was dry.
"When Sister Lucy asked Our Lord as to why He would not convert Russia without the solemn public consecration of that nation specifically, Jesus answered, ‘Because I want my whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so that it may extend its homage later on, and put the devotion to This Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.’” (https://sspx.org/en/fatima_consecration_invalid_pope_bishops_russia)
So reading carefully what is stated above, while Marx and Lenin were ambitious to spread the message of Communism throughout the world, Mary wanted devotion to her Immaculate Heart to spread throughout the world. And Jesus is setting her Immaculate Heart right next to his as receptor of devotion and a dispenser of protection and grace. Mary then becomes a doorway to God equal to Jesus.
A good Catholic explanation of the Immaculate Heart can be found here. It supposedly commemorates her perfect nature, her sorrows, and her love of God. But it seems to me to celebrate her love of herself. Of course, it was imperative to establish that it was the will of Jesus to create this devotion. The word "Immaculate" suggests a sinless nature, which would be associated with her Immaculate Conception. So while other humans are born sinful and separated from God, Mary was never in that state, or was only there for a split second.
Now, if God wanted to do that miracle with Mary, fine. He is God, He can do anything He wants. If Jesus wants us to love His mother, I say why not? She must have been pretty special. However, there are two troublesome aspects to that dogma. One is that it is Catholic Tradition; it is not in the Bible. One of the major divisions between Catholics and Protestants is that Catholicism has no objection to establishing major theological streams that come from visions, revelations, papal proclamations, and extra-biblical documents. If the Pope finalizes it with a special encyclical, it becomes firm Catholic belief. Protestants fought back with the concept of sola scriptura. If it aint in the Bible, it aint so.
The other worrisome problem is that it sets Mary up to be a goddess. Catholics deny that, but if you stop and think what Mary became in the 20th century, (and I will elaborate on that in another post), she is truly like the fourth member of the Godhead. The doctrine of the Immaculate Heart was dividing even Catholics at one point. It had no chance of being accepted by Protestants. Why would God fight communism, one of the most pernicious ideologies of the 20th century, with a doctrine that isolates the battle only to Roman Catholics, and that has nothing to do with the Person of Jesus Christ, our true Messiah?
Our Lady of Fatima is one ambitious entity! The whole idea was so shocking that the Catholic Hierarchy waffled for decades. They were commanded to open a letter from Mary in 1960, and they couldn’t even bring themselves to do that. In 1942, Pop Pius XII dedicated the whole world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The whole dedication can be found here. It doesn’t mention Russia and it didn't include the bishops. Below are a couple of the verses:
"Queen of the Holy Rosary, Help of the Christians, Refuge of the human race, Conqueress of God’s battlefields, To You and Your Immaculate Heart In this tragic hour of human history We entrust and consecrate ourselves, And the Holy Church.
"She [the Church] is the mystical Body of Your Jesus, Suffering and bleeding in so many parts And tormented in so many ways, We consecrate to You the whole world torn by bitter strife And consumed by the fire of hatred, The victim of its own wickedness . . .
". . . All of humanity were once consecrated to the heart of Your Son. All our hopes rest in Him, Who is in all times Sign and pledge of victory and salvation. Forever we consecrate ourselves to You And to Your Immaculate Heart, O Mary, Queen of the World."
How is that not a goddess? I don’t want to bash Catholicism in this blog, because Catholics worship Jesus. I was raised Catholic. It kept me out of all kinds of trouble when I was young. But Mother Mary makes me really nervous. In Part III, I want to turn to a particular document from ancient Sumer that reminds me of what is happening with Marian apparitions in the 20th century.
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