Going on pilgrimage to Fatima from this Wednesday to next Wednesday with the Ecumenical Friends of Fatima Association is my way of marking this anniversary. We shall be 3 bishops, 24 priests, 2 religious and 72 laity (almost all Anglicans). There will be one lay person from Scarborough and one priest besides myself from the York diocese.
The message of Fatima concerns the call to prayer and the value of our prayers, especially for peace and the saving of souls. The most important point of the pilgrimage is our response to God's appeal to us for penance and prayer.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared six times to three shepherd children ("the Three Seers") near the town of Fatima, Portugal between May 13 and October 13, 1917. Appearing to the children, the Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in our century. Coming at a time when civilization was torn asunder by war and bloody violence, She promised that Heaven would grant peace to all the world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed.
"If My requests are granted ... there will be peace"
Our Lady of Fatima explained to the children that war is a punishment for sin and warned that God would further castigate the world for its disobedience to His Will by means of war, hunger and the persecution of the Church, the Holy Father and the Catholic Faithful. God's Mother prophesied that Russia would be God's chosen "instrument of chastisement," spreading the "errors" of atheism and materialism across the earth, fomenting wars, annihilating nations and persecuting the Faithful everywhere.
"If My requests are not granted, Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martryed, the Holy Father will suffer much and various nations will be annihilated."
In all Her appearances at Fatima, the Blessed Mother repeatedly emphasized the necessity of praying the Rosary daily, of wearing the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel and of performing acts of reparation and sacrifice. To prevent the terrible chastisement at the hands of Russia and to convert "that poor nation", Our Lady requested the solemn public Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all the Catholic bishops of the world. She also asked that the Faithful practice a new devotion of reparation on the first Saturday of five consecutive months ("the Five First Saturdays")
The heart of Our Lady's Message to the world is contained in what has come to be called the "Secret" which She confided to the three child seers in July 1917. The Secret actually consists of three parts, the first two of which have been publicly revealed. The first part of the Secret was a horrifying vision of hell "where the souls of poor sinners go" and contained an urgent plea from Our Lady for acts of prayer and sacrifice to save souls. The second part of the Secret specifically prophesied the outbreak of World War II and contained the Mother of God's solemn request for the Consecration of Russia as a condition for world peace. It also predicted the inevitable triumph of Her Immaculate Heart following Russia's consecration and the conversion "of that poor nation" to the Catholic Faith.
The last part of the Secret (often called the "Third Secret") has not yet been made public, but was written down by Lucy Dos Santos, the last living Fatima seer, in 1944 and has been in the possession of the Holy See since 1957. Most informed sources speculate that this portion of the Secret concerns chaos in the Catholic Church, predicting widespread apostasy and a loss of faith beginning in the seventh decade of the 20th Century.
The Ecumenical Friends of Fátima Association (EFFA)
‘Father, may they all be one, just as you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.’ John 17: 21
The Ecumenical Friends of Fátima Association was inaugurated and consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on Tuesday, 15th May 2001 by the Right Reverend Edwin Barnes, Bishop of Richborough and first Episcopal President of The Association, in the presence of His Excellency Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva, Bishop of Leiria- Fátima.
EFFA
promotes the worship of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through encouraging devotion to the Most Holy Virgin especially under her title of Our Lady of Fátima.
works for the re-union of all Christians under the patronage of Mary, Mother of the Church.
organises pilgrimages to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal.
supports local festivals in dioceses and parishes in honour of Our Lady of Fátima.
encourages personal prayer amongst its members to Our Lady of Fátima, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Belonging to EFFA Membership is open to all those who accept the traditional catholic understanding of the three-fold ministry and the seven sacraments.Members form a Living Rosary At present there are 77 members (2 bishops, 33 priests and 42 Laity).
EFFA AND THE VIDA E PAZ COMMUNITY
The Comunidade Vida e Paz (the Community of Life and Peace) runs a centre just outside Fátima for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.From its outset, the founding members of EFFA did not want it just to be a pious club but wanted a serious social and practical commitment as well. This was discussed with Bishop Seraphim, and he suggested we could support this charity which is one of his own favourite charities in Fátima. After an exploratory visit, the members on pilgrimage that year (2002) were really impressed by the work that was being done by the Community, and decided to adopt it as the practical expression of EFFA’s apostolate.Each year we make a practical contribution to the life of the community, and support it with our prayers. So far donations have totalled just under £8,000. Sometimes this has been spent simply to help with the day-to-day running costs of the community, sometimes it has gone towards special projects.
In 2004 our gift went towards the Community’s Apartment of Reinsertion, (a Half-Way House) in the city of Leiria (about 25 kms from Fatima). It gives them the opportunity to experience “real life” once again, but having the Centre totally supportive in the background.Last year we were told that the Community intended to apply our donation towards a new sculpture – a massive figure of Our Lady which would stand on the porch of the chapel and dominate the main piazza and entrance to the Centre. Every pilgrimage enjoys the privilege of saying mass in the Centre’s chapel, which lies at the heart of the community.The Centre is concerned with the body, soul and spirit of its residents. At the entrance to the Chapel there is large ceramic roundel which highlights the three aspects of the community’s life: “compassion”, “adoration” and “evangelisation”• Compassion is seen within the community as people are weaned off drug dependency.• Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is becoming a real part of the day to day life in the community chapel.• Evangelism takes the form of teaching the faith, simply because that is part of that wholeness of life meant for everyone.
In such a spirit of prayer with and for each other lies our strength and the depth of our commitment to the call of Our Lady to make sacrifices for the sake of others. It is in this spirit that the Ecumenical Friends of Fátima Association is both honoured and humbled to be able to support the work of the Comunidade Vida e Paz at Fátima.
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