アヴェ・マリア・インマクラータ！
愛する兄弟姉妹の皆様、
聖霊降臨の大祝日おめでとうございます！
シュテーリン神父様の著、『ファチマ2017へ向けて（第2巻）』 の英語原文をご紹介します。
天主様の祝福が豊かにありますように！
トマス小野田圭志神父（聖ピオ十世会司祭）
“Towards Fatima 2017” (XV) — by Fr. Stehlin
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Fatima is the overwhelming revelation of the greatness of God’s infinite love and mercy towards us poor sinners, illuminated in the mystery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, His masterpiece. Her HEART reveals and gives to us all that God wants to give to the world, every grace of conversion and sanctification, all virtues, gifts, and inspirations of the Holy Ghost. But Her HEART also becomes the “refuge and the way that leads us to God.” Fatima is the spiritual vessel in which we can return to God and become saints by the faithful practice of devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.
Through the heavenly confirmation and “signature” of the miracle of the sun on October 13, 1917, the essential message of Our Lady was revealed to the world with such overwhelming proof that every man of good will could believe without hesitation. But the history of Fatima is not finished with October 13, 1917. Firstly, Our Lady herself announced the continuation of Her revelations on two essential matters: to explain what precisely is devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, and to demonstrate the importance of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. Secondly, Our Lady would give Lucy indications of when, how, and to whom each part of the Great Secret of July 13, 1917 should be revealed. Our Lady’s intention to direct the timing and circumstances of the disclosure of the Great Secret must have a very special meaning and spiritual background.
In this second volume we present for your meditation first of all an essential part of the message of Fatima: the life and spirituality of the three children who had the privilege to see Our Lady. Afterwards we will thoroughly analyze the last two great apparitions following July 13th, in which Our Lady taught practices of devotion to Her Immaculate Heart: observance of the five first Saturdays and the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. These events together with the spiritual experiences of the three seers will give us lessons of the utmost importance about the great mystery revealed at Fatima: Her Immaculate Heart!
As in the first volume, here also neither footnotes nor references to the sources are provided, but all quotations and information about the events are taken from volumes II and III of Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité “The Whole Truth about Fatima: Science and Facts.”
Fr. Karl Stehlin
Singapore, October 7, 2016, Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
PART I: The children — a living commentary of Fatima
The life that the three children led after Our Lady’s appeared to them is an indirect lesson from heaven for us, but a very practical one. It teaches us that when heaven appears on earth, what is of earth is transformed by heaven’s light. When Our Lady appears to a human being, that person becomes a vessel to whom the light and graces of Our Lady are entrusted. The human vessel becomes an instrument for HER to continue to pour Her grace and mercy into the world. We cannot have a full understanding of Guadalupe without Juan Diego or of Lourdes without Saint Bernadette.
Not only is the eye witness testimony of the visionaries important, but also their words and especially their lives. They are the reflection as of a mirror of HER presence on earth!
These living testimonies of HER and HER message are very important for us, because while we cannot see Our Lady Herself, we are able to see the visionaries as reflections of Her. Since the children perfectly applied and realized the requests of Our Lady of Fatima, we can use their example and understanding of Her message as a key to true understanding of the spirituality of Fatima and the deepest intentions of the Immaculate Heart.
We can see how Our Lady chooses very different and even contrasting characters as Her privileged children, and She uses them in different capacities to illustrate various aspects of Her message. Jacinta was a very active little girl, a whirlwind of energy, the liveliest of the three children, one who could captivate and lead the other two. Francisco, on the contrary, was very calm, one could say phlegmatic, loving solitude and reflection. Lucy had all the qualities of a faithful witness: thorough circumspection, excellent memory, a sense for detail and especially a deep sense of honesty.
Let us consider the spirituality of these three children, beloved of Heaven, in turn. We will start, in chronological order of their death, with Francisco, then reflect upon Jacinta, and finally Lucy.
Chapter 1: “to console God” — Bl. Francisco
It is highly significant that Francisco could see Our Lady when she appeared in Fatima, but could not hear Her speak. After each apparition, Lucy and Jacinta had to tell him what Our Lady had said. In this way, Our Lady made Francisco a different kind of witness. Accustomed to contemplation in solitude, he was able to consider in a very deep manner what he had seen, undistracted by the conversation which the other two children heard. He could concentrate entirely on contemplation of the apparition itself. And this was precisely the purpose of Divine Providence. Thanks to this divine plan, Francisco had the deepest possible understanding of the vision itself.
And what impressed him most during the apparitions?
“I loved seeing the angel, but I love still more seeing Our Lady. What I loved most of all was to see Our Lord in that light from Our Lady which penetrated our hearts. I love God so much! But He is so sad because of so many sins! We must never commit any sins again.
“…What is God? We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express! But what a pity it is that He is so sad! If only I could console Him!”
The theme of “consoling God” is so predominant in his short life that it became somehow his whole spirituality, the center of his thoughts, words, and actions.
“Francisco, which do you like better: to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners, so that no more souls go to hell?” — “I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month when She said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended? I would like to console Our Lord, and after that, convert sinners, so that they won’t offend Him anymore!
How did Francisco see himself consoling God?
Lucy writes: “He spoke little, and whenever he prayed or offered sacrifices, he preferred to go apart and hide, even from Jacinta and myself. Quite often, we surprised him hidden behind a wall or a clump of blackberry bushes, whither he had ingeniously slipped away to kneel and pray, or, as he used to say, ‘to think of Our Lord, who is so sad on account of so many sins.’
“If I asked him: ‘Francisco, why don’t you ask me to pray with you, and Jacinta too?’ — ‘I prefer praying by myself, so I can think and console Our Lord, who is so sad!’”
But prayer is only one aspect. We can do even more if we try to console God in our sufferings.
From time to time, Francisco used to say: “Our Lady told us, that we would have much to suffer, but I don’t mind. I’ll suffer all that She wishes! What I want is to go to Heaven!”
And Lucy said, “One day, when I showed how unhappy I was over the persecution now beginning both in my family and outside, Francisco tried to encourage me with these words: ‘Never mind! Didn’t Our Lady say that we have much to suffer, to make reparation to Our Lord and to Her own Immaculate Heart for all the sins by which They are offended? They are so sad! If we can console Them with these sacrifices, how happy shall we be.’”
Francisco had personal experience of the things he told Lucy and Jacinta, especially during his long sickness which ended in his death.
“I asked him sometimes: ‘Are you suffering a lot, Francisco?’ — ‘Quite a lot, but never mind! I am suffering to console Our Lord, and afterwards, within a short time, I am going to heaven!’”
He could not imagine heaven as anything other than a place where he could “console God forever.”
“It won’t be long now till I go to heaven. When I’m there, I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much.”
And his last words: “Yes, I’ll pray. But look, you’d better ask Jacinta to pray for these things instead, because I’m afraid I’ll forget when I see Our Lord. And then, more than anything else, I want to console him.”
When Francisco died on April 4, 1919, his parents declared: “He died smiling!”
Commentary:
1. God — our One and all
It is already evident from the apparitions of the Angel and of Our Lady that the very center of Fatima’s message is God Himself: His glory and the worship due to Him from His creation. The world of today has completely lost the sense of God’s infinite dignity and overwhelming majesty. In reality, every creature is “nothing” before Him, not even like a little drop in an ocean without limits. The history of the world, its existence from the beginning of creation until the end of time, is before His eternity less than a second compared to millions of years. All the saints teach us to be aware that we are like dust before Him and hence they humble themselves as much as they can. This was exactly the most striking mystical experience of Francisco during the apparitions: “What is God? We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express!”
He was so absorbed in God’s overwhelming majesty, that in going “to see Him” after his death, he feared to forget the requests of Lucy and the people. We should ask Our Lady for a similar grace, necessary for any true spiritual life and true relationship with God Himself: to be full of admiration for His tremendous glory — propter magnam gloriam tuam — as we sing in the Gloria at Holy Mass, and like the Angels trembling in holy awe before His majesty (Preface of the Mass). The immensity of God makes us understand the total nothingness of all creation and how ridiculous it is when man puffs himself up with his little personality and insignificant history, to consider himself and his affairs the center of the world. This infinite majesty of God is not only a truth of Faith to be considered, but it is also an invitation to participate in God’s greatness, to “be filled with the fullness of God”, as Saint Paul says. Francisco only knew this goal for his life. When asked once what he would become, he always repeated: “I don’t want to be anything! I want to die and go to heaven!” But for him heaven was firstly “to see Our Lord” and to love Him forever. Little Francisco realized to the letter the motto of his holy patron, the great Saint Francis: “Deus meus et omnia — My God and my all!”
2. The only true evil — sin
Seeing God as infinite majesty and endless Love, Francisco understood the real dimensions of sin. Fatima is the catechism of Our Lady, teaching us what sin really is and what are its consequences. Sin is first of all the worst possible insult and the negation of God’s very essence — His bounty, mercy, love. If it were possible, sin would destroy His royal dignity. Sin is a most horrible negligence and ingratitude of creatures perpetrated against their Creator. If we were to receive a very precious gift from a benefactor, it is unimaginable that we would be indifferent or thankless. But it is all the more impossible to imagine that in return for a precious gift we would insult the benefactor, spit in his face, throw him out of our home or even try to kill him. But this is precisely what we do when we sin: at every moment God gives us all that we are and what we have, and we are not only often indifferent towards such an immense love, but we spit in His face and cast Him out of our souls, which are His property. Francisco could not but have the greatest horror when he realized how much we despise this infinite Love, and he exclaimed: “We must never commit sin again.”
3. The “sadness of God”
What is the reaction of God towards sin? Indignation? Annihilation of the world? This would only be just. But on the contrary we stand before an unfathomable mystery of love and mercy! The almighty Lord of Lords lives in eternal happiness, before Whom the whole cosmos is nothing, and yet God’s incomprehensible love for His creatures is like that of a kind-hearted Father who feels a pain of sadness brought on by our ingratitude. This Father goes so far as to deliver His only and beloved Son to death in an expressive act of love greater than fraternal or spousal love, and this Son sheds every drop of Blood from His Sacred Heart for us. His is the love of a sweet friend, a defender and consoler who wishes to remain in our souls forever. It is because our rebellion causes Him sorrow, that Saint Paul exhorts us “not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”
The great mystics show us one of the deepest aspects of the mystery of God, the very essence of what it means to say that “God is Love.” To enter into the most intimate depths of HIS MOST SACRED HEART we must consider His sadness and suffering because of our sins, our hardness of heart, and our infamous pride. Already in the Old Testament God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah: “But if you do not heed this warning, My soul shall weep, and My eyes shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.” (Jer. 13:17)
Reparation for this grieved and despised ETERNAL LOVE is the motivating cause of the militant Church until the end of the world, because until then this mystery of iniquity continues to increase from day to day: the satanic effort to dethrone the Eternal King, to reject God as principle and last end of the entire created order. It was not the 33 years of Our Lord’s life on earth alone that was a drama of infinite sadness—“My soul is sorrowful, even unto death”—but even after the Resurrection and triumphant Ascension into heaven, sinners “crucify again for themselves the Son of God and make Him a mockery” (Hebrews 6:6). Until the end of the world, the Crucified Lord will be the symbol of Christianity, especially that Lord in His Eucharistic presence; the renewal and continuation of His Sacrifice on the Cross present on Catholic altars will be the highest and most precious act of the Church; and pious meditation on the abandonment of Jesus and His sorrowful Mother will constitute the very center of the Christian spiritual life.
4. Perfect love of God — to console Him
Our Lady comes to remind the world, that the unum necessarium, the “one thing necessary,” consists in seeking first and above all the kingdom of God and His justice. What is meant by His justice? That we render to God what is due to Him — all honor and glory. That if His majesty is offended by man’s sinful pride, then justice consists in a perfect reparation made to His grieved majesty, in penance, in atonement, and in all acts which re-establish order and truth.
What then is the most perfect response from us poor sinners when confronted with the agony of Our Lord and His cruel Passion? What could be the perfect act of love which God requires of us in His first and greatest commandment? Our Lord himself gives the answer: “I looked for compassion, but in vain, and for someone to console me, and I found none.” The devotion to His Most Sacred Heart is an act of reparation and atonement, having consolation as its very purpose. The loving heart says to Our Lord: “If everywhere You knock at the doors of souls and nobody opens to You, if You are thrown out of society, of institutions, of families and even from Your own churches, if You are lonesome and despised, You the Creator and Master of all: then I wish to open wide my heart, to give You comfort and shelter, to find a poor but heartfelt welcome, where You can lay Your head and find a home. The more they reject You, I want to receive You; the more they forget You, I want to remember You; the more they refuse You, I want to welcome You; the more they turn from You, the more I want to turn towards You; the more they despise Your love, the more I want to honor You; the more they fill Your soul with sadness and tears, the more I want to CONSOLE YOU!”
There is no more perfect form of love from a poor sinner than this act of consolation! It addresses the horror of sin with a supernatural remedy: love for God Who is offended by sin. It is an act of authentic love. If I were to repent of an insult to a friend, my return to love cannot be as simple as “I love you,” as though there had been no injury. The first act of love repairing for an insult must be sorrow for inflicting sadness on one’s friend, and this sorrow implies a burning desire to restore one’s friendship and offers consolation to the offended affection.
Our Lady chose the little children in Fatima to help us understand that, while the exterior acts of a person are important, the desires of one’s heart are more so. Little Francisco was not able to live the life of a heroic missionary or of a contemplative monk; he could only offer his simple prayers and sacrifices, as Saint Veronica could only present a wet cloth to Our Lord in His torture. Exteriorly these things are nothing, but interiorly there is a supreme gesture of love which merited for Veronica to become a saint and to have the Holy Face of the Suffering Christ impressed not only on the linen cloth, but more importantly within her very soul. And who among us is unable to imitate the simple acts of a little child in order to console Our Lord and Our Lady in their sadness at seeing so many souls go astray?
Francisco was not a contemplative religious, but his life and example were a deep and simple guide for all contemplative souls who want to live exclusively for the glory of God. Moreover, because the world denies God His due honor and glory, there is a need to make reparation. The contemplative life is a life of Love, and the first act of love is to be with the beloved, to contemplate him and live always in his presence. The second act of love is to repair the offense by a movement in a direction opposite to that of the offense, a movement of consolation.
When will this devotion to consoling Our Lord be complete? Never! Francisco made a thought-provoking statement: “When I’m there (in Heaven), I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much.” The reality is that in Heaven GOD will be our infinite consolation, our eternal light and perpetual peace, and at the same time His almighty and ineffable mercy will allow us to console Him and to give Him a special joy for all eternity. Even if the sadness of sin will not remain in eternity, the essence of the love of consolation on the part of the creature retains its meaning: the thankful heart of a child who wants to give joy to his Father and Mother and “consoles” THEM with his smile and a burning flame of love.
Conclusion
Through Francisco’s example in his life and death, Our Lady reminds us of the greatest commandment and gives us a means adapted to this sinful age to LOVE GOD again with all our heart. The devotion of CONSOLING GOD can inflame in an incalculable number of Catholics a burning love of God in our time of widespread religious indifference and hatred of supernatural truth. The ability to give consolation is a great encouragement for us poor sinners, that in spite of our misery we can really love God more and more, and our love can be active, not empty words.
Is not the Immaculate teaching us through Francisco the most profound manner of prayer, namely Her own? Indeed, in Her boundless compassion under the Cross, Her prayer was directed to consoling Her Son. So we too must find a few moments in which to be alone with Christ exclusively to console Him, by the simple act of standing with Our Lady under the Cross. While contemporary man no longer has time for the God Who created him, and is so indifferent that he finds it boring to spend an hour with Christ, we at least should show our love for Our Lord by having a little time for Him to console Him with a loving presence and compassion. But what is the outcome of such an effort? This too is demonstrated by the example of little Francisco: in a very short time his love for God had reached a high degree of perfection, and a few months later he was already allowed to see the Immaculata forever in heaven.
愛する兄弟姉妹の皆様、
聖霊降臨の大祝日おめでとうございます！
シュテーリン神父様の著、『ファチマ2017へ向けて（第2巻）』 の英語原文をご紹介します。
天主様の祝福が豊かにありますように！
トマス小野田圭志神父（聖ピオ十世会司祭）
“Towards Fatima 2017” (XV) — by Fr. Stehlin
Fatima is the overwhelming revelation of the greatness of God’s infinite love and mercy towards us poor sinners, illuminated in the mystery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, His masterpiece. Her HEART reveals and gives to us all that God wants to give to the world, every grace of conversion and sanctification, all virtues, gifts, and inspirations of the Holy Ghost. But Her HEART also becomes the “refuge and the way that leads us to God.” Fatima is the spiritual vessel in which we can return to God and become saints by the faithful practice of devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.
Through the heavenly confirmation and “signature” of the miracle of the sun on October 13, 1917, the essential message of Our Lady was revealed to the world with such overwhelming proof that every man of good will could believe without hesitation. But the history of Fatima is not finished with October 13, 1917. Firstly, Our Lady herself announced the continuation of Her revelations on two essential matters: to explain what precisely is devotion to Her Immaculate Heart, and to demonstrate the importance of consecration to Her Immaculate Heart. Secondly, Our Lady would give Lucy indications of when, how, and to whom each part of the Great Secret of July 13, 1917 should be revealed. Our Lady’s intention to direct the timing and circumstances of the disclosure of the Great Secret must have a very special meaning and spiritual background.
In this second volume we present for your meditation first of all an essential part of the message of Fatima: the life and spirituality of the three children who had the privilege to see Our Lady. Afterwards we will thoroughly analyze the last two great apparitions following July 13th, in which Our Lady taught practices of devotion to Her Immaculate Heart: observance of the five first Saturdays and the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. These events together with the spiritual experiences of the three seers will give us lessons of the utmost importance about the great mystery revealed at Fatima: Her Immaculate Heart!
As in the first volume, here also neither footnotes nor references to the sources are provided, but all quotations and information about the events are taken from volumes II and III of Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité “The Whole Truth about Fatima: Science and Facts.”
Fr. Karl Stehlin
Singapore, October 7, 2016, Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
PART I: The children — a living commentary of Fatima
The life that the three children led after Our Lady’s appeared to them is an indirect lesson from heaven for us, but a very practical one. It teaches us that when heaven appears on earth, what is of earth is transformed by heaven’s light. When Our Lady appears to a human being, that person becomes a vessel to whom the light and graces of Our Lady are entrusted. The human vessel becomes an instrument for HER to continue to pour Her grace and mercy into the world. We cannot have a full understanding of Guadalupe without Juan Diego or of Lourdes without Saint Bernadette.
Not only is the eye witness testimony of the visionaries important, but also their words and especially their lives. They are the reflection as of a mirror of HER presence on earth!
These living testimonies of HER and HER message are very important for us, because while we cannot see Our Lady Herself, we are able to see the visionaries as reflections of Her. Since the children perfectly applied and realized the requests of Our Lady of Fatima, we can use their example and understanding of Her message as a key to true understanding of the spirituality of Fatima and the deepest intentions of the Immaculate Heart.
We can see how Our Lady chooses very different and even contrasting characters as Her privileged children, and She uses them in different capacities to illustrate various aspects of Her message. Jacinta was a very active little girl, a whirlwind of energy, the liveliest of the three children, one who could captivate and lead the other two. Francisco, on the contrary, was very calm, one could say phlegmatic, loving solitude and reflection. Lucy had all the qualities of a faithful witness: thorough circumspection, excellent memory, a sense for detail and especially a deep sense of honesty.
Let us consider the spirituality of these three children, beloved of Heaven, in turn. We will start, in chronological order of their death, with Francisco, then reflect upon Jacinta, and finally Lucy.
Chapter 1: “to console God” — Bl. Francisco
It is highly significant that Francisco could see Our Lady when she appeared in Fatima, but could not hear Her speak. After each apparition, Lucy and Jacinta had to tell him what Our Lady had said. In this way, Our Lady made Francisco a different kind of witness. Accustomed to contemplation in solitude, he was able to consider in a very deep manner what he had seen, undistracted by the conversation which the other two children heard. He could concentrate entirely on contemplation of the apparition itself. And this was precisely the purpose of Divine Providence. Thanks to this divine plan, Francisco had the deepest possible understanding of the vision itself.
And what impressed him most during the apparitions?
“I loved seeing the angel, but I love still more seeing Our Lady. What I loved most of all was to see Our Lord in that light from Our Lady which penetrated our hearts. I love God so much! But He is so sad because of so many sins! We must never commit any sins again.
“…What is God? We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express! But what a pity it is that He is so sad! If only I could console Him!”
The theme of “consoling God” is so predominant in his short life that it became somehow his whole spirituality, the center of his thoughts, words, and actions.
“Francisco, which do you like better: to console Our Lord, or to convert sinners, so that no more souls go to hell?” — “I would rather console Our Lord. Didn’t you notice how sad Our Lady was that last month when She said that people must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended? I would like to console Our Lord, and after that, convert sinners, so that they won’t offend Him anymore!
How did Francisco see himself consoling God?
Lucy writes: “He spoke little, and whenever he prayed or offered sacrifices, he preferred to go apart and hide, even from Jacinta and myself. Quite often, we surprised him hidden behind a wall or a clump of blackberry bushes, whither he had ingeniously slipped away to kneel and pray, or, as he used to say, ‘to think of Our Lord, who is so sad on account of so many sins.’
“If I asked him: ‘Francisco, why don’t you ask me to pray with you, and Jacinta too?’ — ‘I prefer praying by myself, so I can think and console Our Lord, who is so sad!’”
But prayer is only one aspect. We can do even more if we try to console God in our sufferings.
From time to time, Francisco used to say: “Our Lady told us, that we would have much to suffer, but I don’t mind. I’ll suffer all that She wishes! What I want is to go to Heaven!”
And Lucy said, “One day, when I showed how unhappy I was over the persecution now beginning both in my family and outside, Francisco tried to encourage me with these words: ‘Never mind! Didn’t Our Lady say that we have much to suffer, to make reparation to Our Lord and to Her own Immaculate Heart for all the sins by which They are offended? They are so sad! If we can console Them with these sacrifices, how happy shall we be.’”
Francisco had personal experience of the things he told Lucy and Jacinta, especially during his long sickness which ended in his death.
“I asked him sometimes: ‘Are you suffering a lot, Francisco?’ — ‘Quite a lot, but never mind! I am suffering to console Our Lord, and afterwards, within a short time, I am going to heaven!’”
He could not imagine heaven as anything other than a place where he could “console God forever.”
“It won’t be long now till I go to heaven. When I’m there, I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much.”
And his last words: “Yes, I’ll pray. But look, you’d better ask Jacinta to pray for these things instead, because I’m afraid I’ll forget when I see Our Lord. And then, more than anything else, I want to console him.”
When Francisco died on April 4, 1919, his parents declared: “He died smiling!”
Commentary:
1. God — our One and all
It is already evident from the apparitions of the Angel and of Our Lady that the very center of Fatima’s message is God Himself: His glory and the worship due to Him from His creation. The world of today has completely lost the sense of God’s infinite dignity and overwhelming majesty. In reality, every creature is “nothing” before Him, not even like a little drop in an ocean without limits. The history of the world, its existence from the beginning of creation until the end of time, is before His eternity less than a second compared to millions of years. All the saints teach us to be aware that we are like dust before Him and hence they humble themselves as much as they can. This was exactly the most striking mystical experience of Francisco during the apparitions: “What is God? We could never put it into words. Yes, that is something indeed which we could never express!”
He was so absorbed in God’s overwhelming majesty, that in going “to see Him” after his death, he feared to forget the requests of Lucy and the people. We should ask Our Lady for a similar grace, necessary for any true spiritual life and true relationship with God Himself: to be full of admiration for His tremendous glory — propter magnam gloriam tuam — as we sing in the Gloria at Holy Mass, and like the Angels trembling in holy awe before His majesty (Preface of the Mass). The immensity of God makes us understand the total nothingness of all creation and how ridiculous it is when man puffs himself up with his little personality and insignificant history, to consider himself and his affairs the center of the world. This infinite majesty of God is not only a truth of Faith to be considered, but it is also an invitation to participate in God’s greatness, to “be filled with the fullness of God”, as Saint Paul says. Francisco only knew this goal for his life. When asked once what he would become, he always repeated: “I don’t want to be anything! I want to die and go to heaven!” But for him heaven was firstly “to see Our Lord” and to love Him forever. Little Francisco realized to the letter the motto of his holy patron, the great Saint Francis: “Deus meus et omnia — My God and my all!”
2. The only true evil — sin
Seeing God as infinite majesty and endless Love, Francisco understood the real dimensions of sin. Fatima is the catechism of Our Lady, teaching us what sin really is and what are its consequences. Sin is first of all the worst possible insult and the negation of God’s very essence — His bounty, mercy, love. If it were possible, sin would destroy His royal dignity. Sin is a most horrible negligence and ingratitude of creatures perpetrated against their Creator. If we were to receive a very precious gift from a benefactor, it is unimaginable that we would be indifferent or thankless. But it is all the more impossible to imagine that in return for a precious gift we would insult the benefactor, spit in his face, throw him out of our home or even try to kill him. But this is precisely what we do when we sin: at every moment God gives us all that we are and what we have, and we are not only often indifferent towards such an immense love, but we spit in His face and cast Him out of our souls, which are His property. Francisco could not but have the greatest horror when he realized how much we despise this infinite Love, and he exclaimed: “We must never commit sin again.”
3. The “sadness of God”
What is the reaction of God towards sin? Indignation? Annihilation of the world? This would only be just. But on the contrary we stand before an unfathomable mystery of love and mercy! The almighty Lord of Lords lives in eternal happiness, before Whom the whole cosmos is nothing, and yet God’s incomprehensible love for His creatures is like that of a kind-hearted Father who feels a pain of sadness brought on by our ingratitude. This Father goes so far as to deliver His only and beloved Son to death in an expressive act of love greater than fraternal or spousal love, and this Son sheds every drop of Blood from His Sacred Heart for us. His is the love of a sweet friend, a defender and consoler who wishes to remain in our souls forever. It is because our rebellion causes Him sorrow, that Saint Paul exhorts us “not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God.”
The great mystics show us one of the deepest aspects of the mystery of God, the very essence of what it means to say that “God is Love.” To enter into the most intimate depths of HIS MOST SACRED HEART we must consider His sadness and suffering because of our sins, our hardness of heart, and our infamous pride. Already in the Old Testament God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah: “But if you do not heed this warning, My soul shall weep, and My eyes shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.” (Jer. 13:17)
Reparation for this grieved and despised ETERNAL LOVE is the motivating cause of the militant Church until the end of the world, because until then this mystery of iniquity continues to increase from day to day: the satanic effort to dethrone the Eternal King, to reject God as principle and last end of the entire created order. It was not the 33 years of Our Lord’s life on earth alone that was a drama of infinite sadness—“My soul is sorrowful, even unto death”—but even after the Resurrection and triumphant Ascension into heaven, sinners “crucify again for themselves the Son of God and make Him a mockery” (Hebrews 6:6). Until the end of the world, the Crucified Lord will be the symbol of Christianity, especially that Lord in His Eucharistic presence; the renewal and continuation of His Sacrifice on the Cross present on Catholic altars will be the highest and most precious act of the Church; and pious meditation on the abandonment of Jesus and His sorrowful Mother will constitute the very center of the Christian spiritual life.
4. Perfect love of God — to console Him
Our Lady comes to remind the world, that the unum necessarium, the “one thing necessary,” consists in seeking first and above all the kingdom of God and His justice. What is meant by His justice? That we render to God what is due to Him — all honor and glory. That if His majesty is offended by man’s sinful pride, then justice consists in a perfect reparation made to His grieved majesty, in penance, in atonement, and in all acts which re-establish order and truth.
What then is the most perfect response from us poor sinners when confronted with the agony of Our Lord and His cruel Passion? What could be the perfect act of love which God requires of us in His first and greatest commandment? Our Lord himself gives the answer: “I looked for compassion, but in vain, and for someone to console me, and I found none.” The devotion to His Most Sacred Heart is an act of reparation and atonement, having consolation as its very purpose. The loving heart says to Our Lord: “If everywhere You knock at the doors of souls and nobody opens to You, if You are thrown out of society, of institutions, of families and even from Your own churches, if You are lonesome and despised, You the Creator and Master of all: then I wish to open wide my heart, to give You comfort and shelter, to find a poor but heartfelt welcome, where You can lay Your head and find a home. The more they reject You, I want to receive You; the more they forget You, I want to remember You; the more they refuse You, I want to welcome You; the more they turn from You, the more I want to turn towards You; the more they despise Your love, the more I want to honor You; the more they fill Your soul with sadness and tears, the more I want to CONSOLE YOU!”
There is no more perfect form of love from a poor sinner than this act of consolation! It addresses the horror of sin with a supernatural remedy: love for God Who is offended by sin. It is an act of authentic love. If I were to repent of an insult to a friend, my return to love cannot be as simple as “I love you,” as though there had been no injury. The first act of love repairing for an insult must be sorrow for inflicting sadness on one’s friend, and this sorrow implies a burning desire to restore one’s friendship and offers consolation to the offended affection.
Our Lady chose the little children in Fatima to help us understand that, while the exterior acts of a person are important, the desires of one’s heart are more so. Little Francisco was not able to live the life of a heroic missionary or of a contemplative monk; he could only offer his simple prayers and sacrifices, as Saint Veronica could only present a wet cloth to Our Lord in His torture. Exteriorly these things are nothing, but interiorly there is a supreme gesture of love which merited for Veronica to become a saint and to have the Holy Face of the Suffering Christ impressed not only on the linen cloth, but more importantly within her very soul. And who among us is unable to imitate the simple acts of a little child in order to console Our Lord and Our Lady in their sadness at seeing so many souls go astray?
Francisco was not a contemplative religious, but his life and example were a deep and simple guide for all contemplative souls who want to live exclusively for the glory of God. Moreover, because the world denies God His due honor and glory, there is a need to make reparation. The contemplative life is a life of Love, and the first act of love is to be with the beloved, to contemplate him and live always in his presence. The second act of love is to repair the offense by a movement in a direction opposite to that of the offense, a movement of consolation.
When will this devotion to consoling Our Lord be complete? Never! Francisco made a thought-provoking statement: “When I’m there (in Heaven), I’m going to console Our Lord and Our Lady very much.” The reality is that in Heaven GOD will be our infinite consolation, our eternal light and perpetual peace, and at the same time His almighty and ineffable mercy will allow us to console Him and to give Him a special joy for all eternity. Even if the sadness of sin will not remain in eternity, the essence of the love of consolation on the part of the creature retains its meaning: the thankful heart of a child who wants to give joy to his Father and Mother and “consoles” THEM with his smile and a burning flame of love.
Conclusion
Through Francisco’s example in his life and death, Our Lady reminds us of the greatest commandment and gives us a means adapted to this sinful age to LOVE GOD again with all our heart. The devotion of CONSOLING GOD can inflame in an incalculable number of Catholics a burning love of God in our time of widespread religious indifference and hatred of supernatural truth. The ability to give consolation is a great encouragement for us poor sinners, that in spite of our misery we can really love God more and more, and our love can be active, not empty words.
Is not the Immaculate teaching us through Francisco the most profound manner of prayer, namely Her own? Indeed, in Her boundless compassion under the Cross, Her prayer was directed to consoling Her Son. So we too must find a few moments in which to be alone with Christ exclusively to console Him, by the simple act of standing with Our Lady under the Cross. While contemporary man no longer has time for the God Who created him, and is so indifferent that he finds it boring to spend an hour with Christ, we at least should show our love for Our Lord by having a little time for Him to console Him with a loving presence and compassion. But what is the outcome of such an effort? This too is demonstrated by the example of little Francisco: in a very short time his love for God had reached a high degree of perfection, and a few months later he was already allowed to see the Immaculata forever in heaven.