HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA...

BLESSED JACINTA AND BLESSED FRANCISCO OF FATIMA - WHY WE SHOULD TEACH THEIR LIVES TO TODAY'S CHILDREN. By Fr. Robert J. Fox...

FATIMA FAMILY APOSTOLATE IN POLAND...

MARY'S WHITE LEAGUE IN POLAND...

THE SANCTUARY OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Zakopane - Krzeptówki

The Pallotines and the "Message of Fatima".
The Pallotines have been propagators and missionaries of the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima in Poland since 1946. In 1951 Krzeptówki became the Center of the Cult of Our Lady of Fatima in the Society of Catholic Apostolate. In 1961 a group of Pallotine missionaries began "The Rosary in Families" retreat which included a visitation of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The program spread all over Poland.

The Chapel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
It was built in 1951 and consecrated by the late Archbishop Baziak on 11 October, 1959. There is the historical statue of Our Lady given by the Bishop of Fatima in 1961 to Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and subsequently turned over to the chapel.
On October 15, 1961 the statue and the chapel in the park were consecrated by Karol Wojtyła, the Bishop of Cracow.
On 21 October, 1987 the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was crowned in Rome by Holy Father John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. It has been in the presbyteri of the Shrine since then.

The Church of Our Lady of Fatima - voting offering for saving John Paul II's life on 13 May 1981.
In July 1987 the building site was blessed.
On 13 May 1992 the church was blessed by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, the Metropolitan of Cracow.

On 7 June, 1997, the first Saturday of the month and the liturgical memory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, John Paul II arrived at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Krzeptówki. At first Holy Father visited the Chapel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After that John Paul II celebrated a Holy Mass in the Sanctuary Church consecrated the church and gave His homily.

Today the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Zakopane - is the centre of the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima extending all over Poland and Europe, and a place of unceasing prayer for the intention of Holy Father.

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER
CONSECRATION OF THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA

Zakopane - Krzeptówki - 7 June 1997

1. Today on the liturgical memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we gather in Krzeptówki, in this parish church, in order to bless it, that is, to consecrate it. It is not enough for a church merely to be built; it needs to be dedicated, by a liturgical act, to the Most High. I give thanks to God for being able to consecrate your church today. I have been warmly invited to do so, and on several occasions. I thank Divine Providence that I am able to come among you today and accept your invitation. I greet you with a father's love. I greet all who live in Skalne Podhale.

What does it mean to dedicate or consecrate a Church? The best answer to this question is provided by the liturgical readings. The first reading, taken from the book of the Prophet Nehemiah, recalls the well-known event in the Old Testament when the Israelites, after returning from slavery in Babylon, set about rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. First built in the time of the great kings, it had shared in the Chosen People's periods of splendour and decadence; it had witnessed the deportation and enslavement of the sons and daughters of Israel; afterwards it had been destroyed and now needed to be rebuilt. The Chosen People experienced this moment intensely. With cries of lamentation they began the great work. And behold, their sadness was turned into joy (cf. Neh 8:2-11).

Against the background of this description we can understand even better the words of the second reading, taken from the First Letter of Saint Peter, and the words of the Gospel which has just been proclaimed. "On you I will build my Church", Christ says to Peter, when the Apostle confesses his faith in the Son of God. "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is
in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:17-18).

The Church is not only a sacred building. The Lord Jesus says that the Church is built on rock, and the rock is the faith of Peter. The Church is a community of believers who profess their faith in the living God and bear witness - like Peter - to the fact that Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. You, dear brothers and sisters, are a small part of this great community of the Church built on the faith of Peter. Together with your Bishop, together with the Pope, you proclaim and profess faith in the Son of God and on this faith you base your whole personal, family and professional life. In this way you share in the Kingdom of Heaven. For Christ said to Peter: "I will give you the
keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19).

This shrine of yours, which today is being consecrated to God, must serve the Church - the community, living men and women. This is even more profoundly expressed in the passage from the Letter of Peter which we have heard. In it the Apostle speaks of the Church as a house built of living stones. We ourselves are this house, we ourselves are these living stones which make up the whole spiritual temple. Its cornerstone is Christ: Christ Crucified and Risen. He himself became the cornerstone of the Church, as the great community of the People of God in the New Covenant. That community, as the Apostle Peter writes, is a holy priesthood (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). United to Christ, it is "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people whom God has made his own, to
declare the wonderful deeds of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light" (cf. 1 Pet 2:9). Your beautiful church, which you have built along with your pastors, is to serve the community of the Church, and therefore needs to be blessed, consecrated, devoted to God himself, as a space in which the People of God gather and pray. Not only God's People in Krzeptówki and Zakopane, but also those who come here
from different places in Poland for a restful stay in the mountains. To all the tourists and summer residents I offer good wishes that your closer contact with nature will lead you to an encounter with God in prayer.

2. Looking at your church, so beautifully decorated, I have before my eyes those wooden churches - increasingly rare nowadays - which used to rise throughout Poland, but above all in Podhale and Podkarpacie: authentic treasures of popular architecture. All of them, like your own, were built with the cooperation of the pastors and faithful of the
individual parishes. They were built by a common effort, so that the Holy Sacrifice could be celebrated there, so that Christ in the Eucharist would be together with his people day and night, at times of great joy and elation, and at times of trial, suffering and humiliation, and even on plain grey days. To the International Eucharistic Congress of Wroclaw we need to add this whole great chapter of the sacramental presence of Christ which every church in Poland hides in itself.

Churches are also places where solemn celebrations are held: the Nativity of the Lord, Easter, Pentecost, Corpus Domini, the Marian feasts. Here the faithful gather for the devotions of May and June, for the rosary. Finally, churches are places where the memory of the dead is preserved. Just as the beginning of the religious life of each believer is linked to the baptismal font, so too its end, death and the funeral, take place in its shadow. Often parish cemeteries are themselves right next to the church. These churches, then, are monuments to the history of the whole nation, of individual communities, parishes, families and individual men and women.

The Church is a place of memory and yet of hope: it faithfully preserves the past while constantly pointing people towards the future, not only the future of time but also that of the afterlife. In churches we profess our belief in the forgiveness of sins, in the resurrection of the body and in life eternal. Here we experience daily the mystery of the communion of saints: indeed, each church has its patron saint, and very many are dedicated to Our Lady. I rejoice that in Zakopane and Podhale new churches have risen, magnificent monuments to the living faith of the people of this area. Their beauty matches the beauty of the Tatra Mountains and is the reflection of the same beauty spoken of in the inscription on the Cross by Wincenty Pol in Kolcieliska Valley: "Nothing is greater than God".

3. Dear brothers and sisters! Your shrine in Krzeptówki is particularly near and dear to me. In it you honour the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The history of this shrine is also linked with the event which took place in Saint Peter's Square on 13 May 1981. At that time I experienced mortal danger and suffering, but also the great mercy of God. By the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima my life was given back to me. During my stay in hospital I was the object of a great outpouring of human kindness from all parts of the world: it was expressed above all in prayer. At that time I had in my mind's eye a picture of the life of the first Christians who "raised prayers to God unceasingly" (cf. Acts 12:5) when the life of Peter was in grave danger.

I know that Zakopane too took part in the prayer of the Church throughout the world for my return to health and to the ministry of Peter. I know that you gathered in your parish churches and in the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in Krzeptówki to recite the rosary to obtain for me a recovery of health and strength. At that time plans were first made to build here, at the foot of Mount Giewont, a shrine to Our Lady of Fatima as a votive offering of thanksgiving for my life having been spared. I know that this shrine, which today I am able to consecrate, was built by many hands and many hearts united by hard work, sacrifice and love for the Pope. It is hard for me to speak of this without being moved.

Dear brothers and sisters! I have come among you to thank you for your goodness, your thoughts and your continuing prayer. I was your Pastor for twenty years; today I come among you as the Successor of Saint Peter. You have always helped me. You were with me and you understood my concerns. I felt this. It was a great support for me. Today I thank you from my heart for this attitude of faith and devotion to the Church. Here, in this land of Podhale, the Bishop always found support in you. Here too our homeland found support in you, especially in thyour Pastor for twenty years; today I come among you as the Successor of Saint Peter. You have always helped me. You were with me and you understood my concerns. I felt this. It was a great support for me. Today I thank you
from my heart for this attitude of faith and dTotus tuus... I thank you all for this church. It is filled with your love for the Church and for the Pope. In some sense it is the continuation of my gratitude to God and to his Mother. Together with you I rejoice greatly in this gift.

With words of profound gratitude I also address all my fellow countrymen and the faithful of the Church, especially the sick and suffering who pray for the Pope and offer their daily crosses for him. Suffering experienced together with Christ is a very great gift and a most effective help in the apostolate. "In the Body of Christ, which is ceaselessly born of the Cross of the Redeemer, it is precisely suffering permeated by the spirit of Christ's sacrifice that is the irreplaceable mediator and author of the good things which are indispensable for the world's salvation. It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption" (Salvifici Doloris, 27).

With gratitude for the gift of prayer and sacrifice, and from my heart, I ask all of you once more, as I did on the day of the inauguration of my pontificate: "Pray for me. Help me to serve you". I too pray for you daily.

4. This shrine in Krzeptówki is linked by close spiritual bonds with Fatima in Portugal. From there too came the statue of Our Lady which you venerate. The message of Fatima, which Mary gave to the world through three poor children, consists in an exhortation to conversion, prayer, especially the rosary, and reparation for one's own sins and for those of all mankind. This message flows from the Gospel, from the words which Christ spoke at the very beginning of his public ministry: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel!" (Mk 1:15). It aims at man's interior transformation, at the defeat of sin within him and the strengthening of goodness, and at the attainment of holiness. This message is addressed in particular to the people of our century, a century which has been marked by war, hatred, the violation of fundamental human rights, the immense suffering of individuals and nations, and finally by the struggle against God, carried even to the denial of his existence. The message of Fatima is an outpouring of the love of the Heart of the Mother, who is always open to her child, never loses sight of him, thinks of him always, even when he leaves the straight path and becomes a "prodigal son" (cf. Lk 15:11-32).

The Immaculate Heart of Mary, which we commemorate today in the Church's Liturgy, was opened to us on Calvary by the words of the dying Jesus: "Woman, behold your son!'. Then he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home" (Jn 19:26-27). At the foot of the Cross Mary became the mother of all those redeemed by Christ. Under her maternal protection she took John and she takes every human being. From that time on, the greatest concern of her Immaculate Heart is the eternal salvation of all men and women.

From the beginning your shrine has proclaimed the message of Fatima and draws its life from it. You have a particular devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary; you make the Family Rosary Crusade; in prayer you embrace the important problems of the Church, the Pope, the world, the homeland, the souls in purgatory and those who have abandoned God's love, breaking the covenant made with him at Holy Baptism. Pray perseveringly for the grace of their conversion. Turn with confidence to Mary, "Refuge of Sinners", that she may defend them from becoming hardened in sin and from the slavery of Satan. Pray with faith, that people may know and acknowledge "the one true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent" (cf. Jn 17:3). This prayer expresses your love for mankind, a prayer which desires the greatest good for everyone.

"At no time and in no historical period - especially at a moment as critical as our own - can the Church forget the prayer that is a cry for the mercy of God amid the many forms of evil which weigh upon humanity and threaten it" (Dives in Misericordia, 15).

Mother, plead for us! Mother, pray for us!
O Mary, Mother of God,
Intercede for us!

BLESSED JACINTA AND BLESSED FRANCISCO OF FATIMA - WHY WE SHOULD TEACH THEIR LIVES TO TODAY'S CHILDREN.
By Fr. Robert J. Fox

The two younger children of the Fatima apparitions, Jacinta and Francisco, beatified May 13, 2000, right at Fatima, are the youngest non - martyred children ever to be officially declared by the Church to be in heaven. We may easily imagine that baptised children who die before adolescence go to heaven but for the process of the Church to so declare is another matter involving certain heroic Christian virtues and miracles worked through their intercession. Now, for the firs time in 2000 years, pre - teen children, who were not martyrs, but who had childhood weaknesses like other children, have been officially beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.
Children now have their own special models as heavenly intercessors. Strikingly, there is one model for boys and one for girls. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who died at 9 and 11 years of age respectively, were brother and sister.

CHILDREN HAD "HEROIC VIRTUES"

I recall clearly how some in the Catholic press reported on the declaration of their "heroic virtue" in 1989.It was questioned that such young children could be capable of "heroic virtue". It was asked, "Is it wise to so declare such young children heroic in virtue just because they had seen the Mother of God in the innocence of childhood?"
The Church has made it clear that their beatification will not be because they saw the Mother of God near Fatima, Portugal in 1917 in the six famous approved apparitions with world wide significance.
When they were declared "Venerable" on May 13, 1989 a clarification was given by Edouard Cardinal Gagnon, of the Pontifical Council for the Family, when he came to the annual national Fatima Family Congress in 1989 at the Shrine in Alexandria, South Dakota: "When they are beatified - or - canonised, it will not be because they saw Our Lady. It will be because of their heroic virtue, their personal holiness." The children at that time had just been declared venerable and it was Cardinal Gagnon who presented the final results of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to the Pope with recommendation for this first step of recognition by the universal Church. Pope John Paul II then declared that the children had practised the theological, cardinal and other virtues to an heroic degree. It gave them the title "Venerable".
The path leading to the beatification was not an easy one. The first step required for the process to be accepted was the decision of the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that is was possible for such small children, even though they had not suffered martyrdom, to have practised virtue to a heroic degree and so be fitting subjects for canonisation. After prolonged study and discussion, it was decided on April 2, 1981, that it is possible for children at such a young age to be capable of heroic virtue. It had to be proven that such heroism is possible for children psychologically and every other way.
This decision was important for the Church in modern times of catechetical crisis in the education and formation of children in the fullness of true faith and Christian virtue. Many had claimed that Christianity was only an adult religion and thus profound and even basic education and formation of children was being delayed until later in life in many cases. "Since Christianity," - they said, "is an adult religion we will not teach them much about the faith until they are at least adolescents." And little was taught millions of our children who thus are deprived as adults of the fullness of true faith. Without early foundation, they fail to attain the fullness of true faith.
Pope John Paul II approved of the decision that heroic virtue in children is possible. He conferred on the two little shepherds the title of "Venerable" While the miracle that opened the way for their beatification took place in 1987, not until 1999 was tit finally accepted by the Vatican's Causes for the Saints as miraculous.

MIRACLE NEEDED FOR BEATIFICATION

On June 28,1999 the decree issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints concerning the scientifically attested miracle obtained through the intercession of the Venerable Servants of God, Francisco and Jacintaq Marto, was promulgated in the presence of the Holy Father in the Sala Clementina in the Vatica.
The case of the miracle declared scientifically or medically inexplicable was a miraculous cure of a Portuguese lady, Maria Emilia Santos, who in 1946, when she was 16 years old , began to sufferer rheumatic pains with slight difficulty in walking. Two years later, she had more severe pains in her legs, with impaired movement. She then was unable to walk on account of the intense pains in her lower limbs. She underwent two spine operations and her condition deteriorated considerably with complete immobilisation of the lower limbs. Maria Emilia was forced to lie flat on a hard bed, and was able to do no more than move her head and her hands.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints in issuing the Decree Concerning the Miracle after describing the case of Maria Emilia as given above added "Given the inability of science to do anything to help her after 22 years of immobility, the patient placed all her trust in divine help, through the intercession of the Servants of God, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. On March 25, 1987 she suddenly felt heat in her feet and managed to sit up, which she had been quite unable to do for a long time. On February 20,1989 she was able to stand up and walk for the first time without pain thereafter she was able to walk normally."
Pope John Paul II in accordance with the wishes of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, ordained that the decree concerning the miracle should be promulgated. The Pope declared: "It is clear that we are dealing with a miracle performed by God through the intercession of the Servants of God Francisco Marto, boy and Jacint Marto, girl, namely the rapid, complete and lasting cure of Maria Emilia Santos of a paraplegia probably due to a transverse myelitis which had lasted 22 years, there being no sigh of psychic pathology."
According to International Vice-Postulator for the Cause during the past 40 years, Fr. Luis Kondor,, S.D.V. - the announcement from the Vatican to beatify, the first step toward sainthood, Jacinta and Francisco was received by Sr. Lucia with "great rejoicing."
According to Fr. Kondor, postulator, the account of the miracle is as follows: Maria Emila Santos, paralysed for 22 years had no feeling whatsoever form her waist downwards, but suffered great pain in the upper part of her spine and could only barely move her hands and head. During retreat for the sick in Fatima, she began to have great devotion to the little shepherds and to make continuous novenas to them. On the night of March 25, 1987 she heard a child's voice saying: "Sit up because you can." She sat up at once, without feeling any pain.
She began to use a wheel chair and continued with her novenas. Some months, later on the anniversary of the death of Jacinta , February 20, Maria Emilia Santos stood up and began to walk.
The Curia of Leiria, Portugal, conducted a diocesan investigation in 1997 concerning the cure, which was deemed to be miraculous. It then had to pass to the Roman Congregation which issued its final decree concerning the miracle on June 28, 1999.

BEATIFICATION TO BE IN FATIMA

It was first announced by Vatican that the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto would take place April 9, 2000 at Rome. Later on November 28. 1999 it was announced that the date and place had been changed to May 13, 2000, at Fatima. There is great significance in these acts and change. The Pope's first decision to beatify at Rome indicated the universal significance he sees in the message of Fatima and the role models of Jacinta and Francisco for children of the entire world. The image of Our Lady of Fatima, as described by Lucia always shows her with a golden ball at her waist, representative that the Fatima message is for the world. The sanctuary of Fatima has been called by popes " the altar of the world". So, in finally beautifying the children in the Jubilee Year at Fatima, the children of the world would have these models for intercessors.
Pope John Paul II regarded the Jubilee Year 2000 as ideal for pilgrimages. It was first determined that for the Jubilee the Pope would travel only to site s significant in Biblical salvation history. It was said that the Holy Father would not undertake the normal international pastoral trips that have characterised his pontificate. He is scheduled for four "Biblical" pilgrimages outside of Rome: Iraq, where he will visit Ur of the Chaldeans, Braham's birthplace; Egypt, to go to Sinai, scene of the dialogue between God and Moses; Holy Land, including Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem. Also Syria, to visit Damascus and follow in St. Paul's foot steps. (He finally went to Damascus in May 2001 where emphasis for Christian Unity was given. You may read this in the book on Soufanieh, Light form the East)
Since the Pope's trips outside of Italy for the Great Jubilee 2000 were scheduled to be limited only to places of biblical revelation, it came as a surprise, a November 28, 1999 announcement making an exception. The Pope announced he would go also to Fatima, where Our Lady appeared to three young shepherds in 1917. Each pope since 1930 had said, "Fatiam is a reaffirmation of the Gospels" . Now Fatima would be the only Jubilee pilgrimage outside of Rome not traced back to ancient Biblical sites.
BULLET FROM THE POPE NOW IN FATIMA'S CROWN.

Sister Lucia, a Carmelite nun, now over 95 years of age, residing in Sr. Theresa's Monastery in Leiria near Fatima was present at the beatification. The date chosen for the beatification was May 13,2000, the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and the 19th anniversary of the 1981 attempt against the Pop's life in St. Peter's Square by Turk Ali Agca.
Pope John Paul II has attributed the sparing of his life after the attack to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. He said: "One hand fired, and another guided the bullet"
The bullet form the attack is now incrusted into the Cova da Iria's crown of the miraculous statue of the Virgin of Fatima at the Holy Father's request. That special crown is placed on the statue only for the solemn anniversaries of May 12 - 13 , May through October each year. The crown was made of the wedding rings of Portuguese women and melted down to form the corwn. Even family life, marriage, is thus represented in the Crown of the Queen of the world at Fatima.
The extraordinary tie that unites Pope John Paul II to the Virgin of Fatima is seen in a further event which His Holiness had scheduled for the Jubilee Year 2000. For October 7 and 8 Feast of the Holy Rosary, the miraculous Fatima statue was brought form the Cova da Iria at Fatima to Rome. On that occasion the Pope recited the Rosary with his brothers bishops and solemnly consecrated the Church and the world to Our Lady for the Third Millennium. Vatican spokespersons made clear that it was not the same as the Consecration of the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That had been accomplished on March 25, 1984.

CHILDREN WILLING TO FACE MARTYRDOM

The children of Fatima proved their heroic virtue when on July 13, 1017 the administrator took them to jail, threatening them with death in boiling oil if they did not tell the secret received from Our Lady. Each refused while thinking they would thus be killed, even that the others had already been killed. Their penance regarding food, drink, and various physical afflictions - all for the conversion of sinners - and in reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary , manifest their heroic virtues.
The long hours at prayer, heads to the ground, adoring the Most Holy Trinity, to whom they offered the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world and in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which God is offended, was another testimony of their heroic virtues. Their sense of Eucharistic Reparation was profound and each longed to be near their Eucharistic Lord. Their souls were overwhelmed with sorrows at souls falling into hell with no one to pray or make sacrifices for them. Thus the children sacrificed to save souls as many as possible.
Our Lady has said that Francisco must pray many Rosaries before entering heaven. His reply was "I will say as many Rosaries as Our Lady desires" . Thereafter he was seen almost constantly with the rosary.
Francisco was given especially to contemplation of God who was so sorrowful for the sins of mankind. Jacinta was specially drawn to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and according to Lucia, was given a special depth of insight into what is meant by devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the salvation of souls. Given a choice by Our Blessed Mother to die now or stay longer to suffer for the salvation of more souls, Jacinta chose to spend more day upon earth suffering loner in order to save more souls.
Bishop Albert Amaral of Leiria - Fatima in a homily on February 20, 1986 anniversary of her death, once said: "The child is for us a tremendous challenge. Faced with the heroicity of this child, I feel uneasy about my mediocrity, my cowardice and conveniences, my lack of generosity ... Let us ask her to intercede for us with God with Our Lady, that we may be faithful to our vocation of holiness in Christ, in the Church and in the world. ..."
Bishop Amaral quoted the doctor who operated on Jacinta in the D. Estefania Hospital in Lisbon shortly before her death. The doctor spoke of the seriously painful operation as "Jacinta had already passed through great suffering with this illness before coming ot the hospital and also during the days before the operation. Then she did not have a general anaesthetic a local anaesthetic in inflamed tissue causes much greater suffering. The operation was a slow process ... I got the impression that this child had great courage ... The only words which I heard her saying during the operation were: "Oh my Jesus! Oh my God! " The doctor spoke of Jacinta's patience as "absolutely heroic. "

FRANCISCO FOCUSED ON THE EUCHARIST

Francisco did not bother going to school when the other children did, since Our Lady had said he would be taken to heaven soon. Instead, when Lucia left for school Francisco would go to the Church where he spent the day before the Most Blessed Sacrament, drawing as close to the tabernacle as he could Then, when Lucia returned from school at the day's close she would find him before the Most Blessed Sacrament. He was a good natured boy who loved nature itself with its animals, never asserted his rights but was willing to gently give the others.

TRANSFORMATION AFTER VISION OF HELL

The great transformation of Jacinta and Francisco began to take place especially after they were shown the terrible vision of hell "where the souls of poor sinners go" . Lucia in her memoirs makes careful note of this saying that still some decline teaching little children about hell when heaven did not decline to show this vision to three children one hardly more than six years of age at the time. The vision of hell was so terrible that Lucia felt they would have died of fright on the spot had they not each been promised heaven.
The little shepherds who had our Lady as a Catechist learned well that without the Cross there is no redemption. To suffer to save souls from the fires of hell to suffer in order to console God who is so offended, was the ideal in the lives of Jacinta and Francisco.
To the heresy of modern times that would say "Jesus Christ yes, the Church no" the little shepherds can teach modern children well. Francisco understood deeply that without the Church there could be no "Hidden Jesus " as the children called Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the Blessed Sacrament of the tabernacle. Jacinta's sacrifices and prayers were offered for the Holy Father. She added three Hail Mays to each Rosary for the Pope. When Pope John Paul beatified the children On May 13, 2000 before hundreds of thousands of people and television cameras, he thanked Blessed Jacinta publicly for her prayers and sacrifices for the Pope.
The modern tendency to put emphasis on activity while forgetting to learn how to pray or take time to pray finds an answer in the little shepherds of Fatima. They took to heart the message: "Pray the Rosary every day!" Our Lady herself within the Fatima Church taught Jacinta to pray the rosary properly while meditating on the mysteries. She was shown images for each of the mysteries. Their first petition to the beautiful Lady from heaven was; "We want to ask you to take us to heaven".
In the Church in the modern world where many have forgotten penance and reparation, today's children can learn form Jacinta and Francisco what reparation and sacrifice are, and how to pray. The Church would cease to be the true Church as Jesus founded it if all reparation and penance ceased among Catholic people.
It is significant that it was at Fatima, on the occasion of the beatification of Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco on May 13, 2000, that His Holiness Pope John Paul II chose to reveal the general contents of the Fatima secret which had been sealed form public eyes since 1917. The following month June 26, 2000 the third part of the Fatima Secrete was published and explained by the Congregation for the Doctrine for the Faith for the entire world. Readers may obtain the explanation of the Fatima secret in the booklet, Martyrs of the 20th Century Shrine. (see web store or catalogue to order)
Hopefully many Catholic homes will display an enlarged icon of Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco as shown with this article. Also obtain holy cards with icon with prayers to these two heavenly children, either for children or adults. (see web store or catalogue to order)
May these youngest of children to be raised to the altars inspire the young children o the world to deep faith, love, reparation, union with God and yearning for heaven.

FATIMA FAMILY APOSTOLATE IN POLAND

The headquarters for the Fatima Family Apostolate in Poland is at the Zakopane, Poland's Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima which exists for prayers and sacrifices for the Pole. Featured here are pictures taken when Fr. Robert J. Fox assisted at a Fatima Family Congress in Poland. In November 2003 the Fatima Family Apostolate Pilgrimage will pray at this shrine.

Monika Olszewska serves as translator as Fr. Fox addresses the Fatima Family Apostolate Congress at Poland's Fatima Shrine.







 

Fr. Mirosław Drozdek SAC, director of the parish and Fatima shrine, receives the Fatima Family Promises signed by couples of all ages.






The man who was the main artist sculptor for Poland Fatima Sanctuary with wife and children present roses to the director of Fatima Family Apostolate.





 

After presenting their signed Fatima Family Promise to their pastor, each family receives a statue of Our Lady of Fatima for their home.






Right: Director of the International Fatima Family Apostolate presents an image of our Lady of Kazan to the Fatima Shrine in Poland while Fr. Drozdek accepts.






A young couple with their first baby present their signed Fatima Family Promise and kiss the Virgin's image.

MARY'S WHITE LEAGUE IN POLAND

The youngest division of the Fatima Family Apostolate , ages 4 to 12 is known as Mary's White League. It exists in Poland as well as the United States, Australia, ect. The children learn the basics of the faith identifying with the Persons of the Blessed Trinity, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They learn to pray the Rosary while meditating the mysteries.
Featured here are pictures of Mary's White League taken during the Fatima Family Apostolate Congers in Poland, September 2002.

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