Our Lady of Fatima
Today we honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Our Lady of the Rosary when we honor Our Lady of Fatima. How good a Mother in Heaven do we have! Pray the Rosary and wear the Scapular! When honoring Our Lady under this title we aren’t merely recalling an event (and certainly we don’t turn from honoring Mary by instead succumbing to doomsday and false political interpretations of Her prophecies) but instead we celebrate that Mary came down from Heaven to remind us how much She loves us as our Mother and that She is the Queen of Peace. The secrets of Fatima are a means to show us that when we reject God and His love we allow hate to grow which creates violence and destruction which is shown in these secrets. The secrets are only a portion of the message and should not overshadow the tender compassion of Mary’s Immaculate Heart/ Mary is not coming to instill fear or anxiety but to show us that in all the areas of life, we have Her as our most compassionate and immaculate Mother and by means of the devotions introduced or re introduced by Fatima, we can grow closer to Her and thus Jesus Christ Her Divine Son. Even now in a war torn world, especially in Palestine and Ukraine, we turn to Mary as Queen of Peace.
For visiting a Church on it's titular feast while praying the Creed and Our Father for the Pope's intentions, a plenary indulgence can be gained under the usual conditions of Confession, Communion and detachment from sin. The Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima in Lewiston is such a church.
The Vatican’s Explanation of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima Chapel Live Stream
Our Lady of Fatima (Kids Book)
About the Rosary and the Scapular
Prayers further revealed to Servant of God Sister Lucia
“By your pure and Immaculate Conception, oh Mary, obtain the conversion of Russia, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the entire world.”
“Sweet Heart of Mary, be the salvation of Russia, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the entire world.”
See also: Fatima (2020), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, The 13th Day and The Day the Sun Danced for movies about Our Lady of Fatima.
Fun Fact, May 13th used to be All Saints Day.
This is a note for LGBTQ+ people, their allies and scrupulous devotees of Our Lady of Fatima:
Our Lady loves ALL of Her Children. The first and foremost element of Fatima that as a private revelation just like feasts days of devotions and apparitions it’s not honoring simply a supernatural event that Catholics aren’t bound to believe but instead but instead those elements that are rooted in Catholic Tradition. This includes the Immaculate Heart, Mary’s intercession, penance, prayer and interceding for others, as an expression of the commandment of love. This here is the key, being in a committed gay relationship is not a sin because it is not a rejection of God or His love but an embracing of who we are created to be, messengers of love. Just as we have our own educated interpretation on Church teaching about sexuality we do the same for private (and approved) revelations. A visionary is not infallible and private revelations are still able to be politically influenced if even the Bible has been. It is the trust in Mary and the assistance She shows us in this apparition that inspires us. It is not the visionaries beliefs or interpretations that matter, visionaries are not flawless, infinite sources of wisdom or absolute facts nor are they fortune tellers that can interpret the messages they are given with perfect clarity and free from bias. Those devotees of Fatima that are gay shouldn't fear loving Our Lady as Mother since being gay is not a sin and nothing will change that authentic love is never sinful. Sister Lucia also remarks how hell is for those who chose it and being gay is not a choice not to mention hell in the Fatima story is for those who offend Our Lady by those 5 ways for which she commands reparation by means of the Five First Saturdays. The existence of hell doesn't also negate the possibility for all to be saved, especially as we remember the "O my Jesus" prayer, as notes a popular modern theologian. The visionaries comments about marriage are personal opinions as well as not coming from her but ascribed to her. References to prophecies about marriage and sins of the flesh could mean many things, rooted in hate and selfishness as all sin is and not the loving marriage of gay couples. Also comments of sins of the flesh and purity are from a time in the church when those were the premier focus of the Church as expressions of control and they also have a broad interpretation. In a similar way there are revelations regarding Vatican II that can be interpreted as traditionalist but proper interpretation makes them reconcilable with acceptance of Vatican II. Even Our Lady of Good Success which has uncertain approval mentions that which can be concerning for gay Catholics with scrupulosity. But the interpretation also vague can be reflective of heterosexual couples and not homosexual. La Salette is also evidence of an approved apparition that holds its own controversyand is proof of the need fordeciphering fact vs fiction in an apparition event . Also I think it’s clear that because of alienation from the Church it’s easy to see a differentiation between sexual immorality, faithful gay Catholics and people who are gay and open minded. Just as parts of Scripture are translated to be homophobic and treat gay couples (very much in love and reflective of God’s love) as sinners, the same will happen with private revelation but to paraphrase scripture, “Mary did not come to condemn the world, but through Her Son, to save it. Finally, Fatima has many conspiracy theories and controversies attached to it which are means of detracting from the importance of the basic simplicity of the message meant to reiterate the Gospel not replace it or phrase it in a political light. It takes work at not being consumed by guilt or obsession of interpretations at odds with our faith and relationship with our Mother Mary but we must know that apparition that fills the heart with fear and alienates us from trusting Jesus and Mary isn’t of God. In summary it is not a choice (especially evidenced by the anxiety of the scrupulous) to be gay and even if we are bound by private revelation and the aforementioned came from Our Lady’s lips, faithful gay relationships are never mentioned and by embracing a theology of love, which Mary is the Mother of Love and love is love there is no reason to fear. See even the story of Pope Francis while at Fatima even noted that “This is the Mother’s house and a mother always has an open heart for all of her children, for everyone, everyone, everyone without exclusion.” See another example of Mary’s love here.
Source Consulted: https://www.thecompassnews.org/2017/05/prayers-given-fatima/
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