Our Lady of Fatima and
Pope John Paul II
Today, May 13, is the Feast of Our
Lady of Fatima. In Fatima, Portugal, on
May 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared for the first time to three shepherd
children. Over the next six months she
appeared to the children with messages for the world. She asked for prayer and fasting for
reparation for sin, among other requests, and the apparitions received Heavenly
confirmation with the famous “Miracle of the Sun” on October 13.
There was one curious part of the apparitions
which I would like to focus on in this article.
Our Lady asked that the pope consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart,
or it would “spread its errors throughout the world.” This seemed a strange request since Russia
was a relatively poor and pious country.
But it wasn’t long before the Bolshevik Revolution brought the
Communists to power in the newly organized Soviet Union and Russia did in fact
spread her errors throughout the world.
It would be many years before the consecration would occur.
Another famous aspect of the
apparitions is the “three secrets.” The
first two came true within only a few years of the apparitions, but the third
remained a secret until June, 2000. It
was then revealed that the third secret contained a vision of the pope, shot
and apparently killed.
This prophecy was fulfilled when, in
1981, Pope John Paul II was shot by a would-be assassin, hired by the Soviet
Union, on May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fatima for
saving his life. Shortly after the
assassination attempt, he read the third secret, and on May 13, 1982, one year
after the attack, he placed the bullet in the crown of the statue of Our Lady
of Fatima.
Then, on March 25, 1984, Pope John Paul
II consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in response to
the request made at Fatima. There has
been speculation about both the Third Secret and the Consecration, but the
Vatican as well as Sister Lucia, the longest living of the three visionaries,
confirmed that the secret was accurately released and that the 1984
consecration fulfilled Our Lady’s request.
Why did Pope John Paul consecrate the
world, which includes Russia, rather than just Russia as was requested? Because in 1917 the plan was to stop Russia
from spreading her errors throughout the world.
By 1984, she had already spread those errors throughout the world;
therefore the whole world needed to be consecrated.
As if to confirm that, as Mary said at
Fatima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph,” the Soviet Union
finally fell. The agreement was reached
to formally dissolve the Soviet Union with the signing of the Belavezha
Accords, which were signed on December 8, 1991.
December 8 – the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is
important for many reasons. One is that
the call of Our Lady to prayer, penance and holiness of life remains central to
the Church and the future of the world.
Also, the history of the events surrounding Fatima and Pope John Paul II
remind us that even when the world seems totally out of control, God will
triumph in the end. Nothing is beyond
the reach of His power.
For more information about this topic,
see the talk The Second Greatest Story
Ever Told, by Father Michael Gaitley, author of 33 Days to Morning Glory, both available by Lighthouse Catholic Media.
