アヴェ・マリア・インマクラータ！
愛する兄弟姉妹の皆様、
ファチマの第三の秘密について、私たちができること、それは祈りと犠牲です。ロザリオの祈りと汚れなき御心への信心です。
トマス小野田神父
I would argue that perhaps the most important thing for us to take away from all of this is not the discovery of what we do not know, but what has already been revealed. There is, strangely enough, a common thread, a clear message that shines through all of the competing versions and stories above — even though we know that they cannot all be authentic. The message is this: Not just the world, but the Catholic Church is in grave danger. Apostasy and defection from divine truth will rise through the ranks by the Devil’s own machinations, and persecution of the faithful — up to and including the martyrdom of the pope — is to be expected. Heaven demands penance, consecration (of Russia specifically), and conversion, which are the only things that can forestall God’s justifiable wrath. And it is the rosary in particular — and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary — that are our best defenses against what is to come.
Whatever we may believe about the acceptance of the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, you and I cannot accomplish it. Whatever we may believe about apostasy in the Church that goes to the very top, you and I cannot change it. Whatever we believe about chastisements and wars and calamities to come, you and I cannot avert them. Whatever the fullness of the Fatima message might be that has not yet been revealed, you and I cannot know it.
But we can make the five First Saturdays devotion. We can offer prayer and penance. And we can embrace the answer Pope John Paul II gave us in 1980:
The Pope grasped a Rosary and said: “Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray, and ask for nothing more. Leave everything else to the Mother of God.”
When all is said and done, we may never know the totality of the secrets of Fatima. But we know what we can do — right here, right now — so what are we waiting for?
Our Lady of Fatima – ora pro nobis!
