Lent,
that time of the liturgical year when Holy Mother Church calls on
Catholics to fast and abstain from meat in the spirit of penance and
self-denial, also encourages the faithful to meditate on the dolorous
Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In this penitential exercise, Our Lord Jesus Christ serves as our
supreme model- He led the way of mortification by denying Himself
sustenance for forty days and forty nights in preparation for the
commencement of His public ministry. He, who has most tender compassion
for humble and repentant sinners, assures us, “I came not to call the
just, but sinners to penance.” Luke 5:32. And in a supreme act of
immolation, Our Lord offered Himself in sacrifice for our salvation and
accepted His suffering humanity for the redemption of the world.
In light of the above, how are we to model our Lenten practices in the spirit of the Fatima message?
1. During Lent, Fatima’s constant theme of prayer, penance
and amendment of life becomes ever more relevant in our daily lives.
Nowadays, many are accustomed to the conveniences that technological
progress provides. Fast food, TV dinners, cell phones, ATM’s, express
delivery, Internet, email, on-line shopping, etc – modern inventions
that fuel that frenetic desire to get things done quickly and easily.
Everything comes at one’s fingertips at one’s beckoning. And voila! The
recurring mantra jumps out, “I want it and I want it NOW.” In short, no
fuss, no delay; period!
• The appeal of the Seven Capital Sins
In a fast paced world as such, instant
gratification is the rule. Sadly, it also opens the door wide to sin
and vice. The myriad of ads that one watches or reads these days appeal
in more ways than one to the seven capital sins. A new facial
anti-wrinkle cream flatters a 50-year-old’s vanity; a luscious and
tantalizing food product feeds one’s gluttonous tendencies; the Jones’
new car spur’s one envy; an exotic perfume wakes up ones passion and
lust; a sales pitch for faster delivery service mitigates one’s anger
over a previously botched job; and so it goes down the line.
• Our Ruling Passions
From another vantage view, each
individual suffers from a ruling passion or vice that dominates all
others and, frequently causes one to fall from grace. Be it pride or
sensuality, intemperance, a loose tongue or what not, we know, more or
less, our own weaknesses. Thankfully by the grace of God, Lent offers
the opportunity for one to tackle this or that defect through serious
reflection, prayer and the practice of mortification.
Would it burden us much if we cease to be
creatures of comfort starting this Lenten season and mortify our senses
for the good of our souls? Let us turn to the children of Fatima for
inspiration and courage.
2. Exemplary models of penance and sacrifice
The Angel of Portugal taught the children the virtue of asking pardon
for evildoers through prayer and offering sacrifices. He impressed upon
them the compelling need to make reparation for the insults, sacrileges
and indifference committed against the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Our Lady of Fatima consistently asked the children for prayers of
reparation and sacrifice for poor sinners which culminated in the vision
of hell that had a profound and lasting effect on them. Having seen
the horrors and torments of everlasting infernal fire, the seers were
transformed into heroes of mortification and penance.
• A belt of rope as self torment
The children devised innovative ways as
they see them fit to observe mortified lives. Lucia found a rope one day
and suggested it to be cut into three pieces so each of the seers could
wear them continuously around their waists. This they practiced with
such zeal that it bothered them in their sleep. Pleasing at it was to
God, Our Lady had to intervene later and asked them to remove them at
night.
• Suffering Hunger
Francisco thought it a good sacrifice to
give their lunches to the sheep and in later days to poor children they
met along the way. Thus they fasted much like in the spirit of austere
monks. They thrived admirably on acorns from holm oak and oak trees,
pine nuts, roots, berries, mushrooms and other things harvested from the
roots of pine trees.
• Suffering Thirst
On one occasion, Lucia and the other two
children, while suffering from severe thirst, decided to forego drinking
from a jar of water that Lucia fetched from a nearby house and poured
it instead into a hollow in a stone for the sheep to drink.
• Self-Inflicted pain
On other occasions, they would hit their own legs with nettles, "so as to offer to God yet another sacrifice."
Such were the edifying examples of mortification the child seers
practiced because of their deep understanding of the urgent necessity of
acts of reparation and sacrifices to appease Divine Justice and to
mitigate the injuries perpetrated against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Let us take all these to heart and apply them to our own situation
keeping in mind the widespread decadence corroding the moral well-being
of our contemporary times. It is undeniable that much penance and
prayers are needed to atone for all these transgressions. One needs just
to open the newspaper or watch the nightly news to find proofs.
3. Adopting realistic resolutions appropriate for our condition and times
The messages revealed in the apparitions to the three Portuguese
children by the Angel of Portugal and the Queen of Heaven and Earth all
speak of the gravity of the sins and crimes of mankind - a tragedy that
begs for serious and resolute atonement and conversion to appease the
wrath of God. To avert a terrible chastisement, Our Lady asks men to
pray ardently for the conversion of sinners and to offer many expiatory
sacrifices.
• A sense of urgency and a call to action
We must take this warning with utmost seriousness and immediacy. It is a standing message for our times directed to all men.
The seers of Fatima responded to this
call by making heroic acts of penance and reparation for they fully
grasped the meaning of appeasing Divine wrath. Let us follow their lead
and reconcile the Fatima message with the real moral crisis staring at
us blankly.
• No easy way out
What has been written here so far would
be put to waste if our intellect fails to change our mentality and move
our will to make steadfast resolutions. If the service of God consisted
only in fulfilling certain obligations, devotional practices and
prescribed prayers compatible to a life of ease and comfort, then the
Church would be flooded with new-found saints.
But such is not the case. Sadly, it is
our human nature to shun sufferings, to avoid pain and to be
self-satisfied with whatever little progress we gain in the spiritual
life. Let us shed our false optimism. Let us cast our tepidity and
lukewarm spirit. With a changed mentality, let us replace our
misconceptions with a sincere abiding sorrow for our sins.
• Carrying the Cross
Take heart in the Divine counsel, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.
The cross is the embodiment of the Gospel
and the glorious standard of a true Christian. And by carrying our
cross, we must humble ourselves and look at ourselves as our greatest
enemy; with whom we ought to wage a continual war for the rest of our
lives.
The current situation and the message of Fatima place the above
reflections in a different perspective. Whatever self denial or
sacrifice we choose to practice, we must perform with humility and
prudence. Lent or otherwise, we must imbue ourselves with a lasting
penitential spirit in face of the unabated moral chaos besetting mankind
for, indeed, we are in extraordinary times!
And lastly, let us turn Our Lady for inspiration, strength and fortitude, always hoping in Her promise at Fatima,
“Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Romanus
was just 35 years old when he dedicated his life to that of a hermit,
living humbly in prayer in the Jura Mountains between Switzerland and
France. At first, Romanus lived under the protection of a large tree,
and survived on the seed he had brought with him. Before long, however,
he was joined by his brother, sister and a number of other followers.
The brothers’ built two monasteries and a nunnery for their sister and
each sibling governed their respective establishments.
I
was more than happy to take the statue to visit her at Rex Hospital in
Raleigh, North Carolina. It was painfully clear, when we arrived in the
Intensive Care Unit, that this poor soul was reaching the end.
Anne
was the daughter of William Heigham of Dunmow, Essex, a gentleman of
means and an ardent Calvinist. When Anne and her brother converted to
Catholicism, they were disowned and disinherited by their family. In
1583, Anne married Roger Line, a convert like herself. But shortly after
their marriage Roger was arrested for attending Mass and exiled to
Flanders in Belgium, where he died in 1594.
Alexander
was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and in 313, the gentle mannered man was
made Patriarch of Alexandria because of his kindness, fervent
religiousness and great love of God.
Tarasius
was born around the middle of the eighth century. Raised in a patrician
family, Tarasius was surrounded by earthly wealth and possessions, but
lived a most austere and holy life. His virtue gained the esteem of the
empire, and Tarasius was made Patriarch of Constantinople.
Among
the players of this political drama was Fredegund, mistress of King
Chilperic, a murderous woman responsible for several deaths in the royal
family. Fredegund despised Praetextatus and opposed his return from
exile, but a council in Rouen overruled her interference and reinstated
the holy bishop to his see.
Polycarp,
a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, was part of the group of early
bishops. When heresy arose in Asia, violence toward Catholics arose with
it, and Polycarp was persuaded by his friends to go into hiding.
Margaret
ran away with a rich young man. For nine years she lived in sin, and
during that time bore him a son. Her immoral relationship caused great
scandal, and Margaret strove to convince him of marriage, but to no
avail. One day, the man took his dog and went riding. When he did not
return, Margaret became anxious. After some time, his dog returned and
led her to a forest. There Margaret found the broken body of her lover,
dead for some days, and took it as a sign from God to amend her life.
Peter
Damian was born in Ravenna, Italy. His parents died when he was still
very young, and he was adopted by his older brother who sent him to
school, where he excelled in his studies and eventually worked as a
professor.
Can
I say that the transformation in the souls of Jacinta and Francisco are
the beginning of Our Lady’s reign? Is this not her triumph over the
souls of Jacinta and Francisco, heralds of Our Lady’s message, who
helped others accept the Fatima message through their prayers and
sacrifices? And who still help us today through their prayers in Heaven?
She
also asked the children if they were willing to pray and sacrifice to
help save the souls of poor sinners. She assured Francisco and Jacinta
that she would take them soon to heaven but that Lucia would stay on
earth longer.
Francisco
spent hours on end in prayer, and contemplation even giving up his
games and play time. Jacinta embarked on a life of prayer and penance,
offering many small sacrifices for the salvation of sinners.
In
1125, desiring to live as an anchorite, Wulfric withdrew to a cell
adjacent to the Church of St. Michael and All the Angels in Haselbury
Plunett, Somerset. He had failed to obtain his bishop’s permission to do
so, but was supported by the Cluniac monks at Montacute and others, who
shared a great respect for his holiness.
Boniface
was born in Belgium in 1205, and when he was just 17, was sent to study
at a university in Paris. Once he completed his education, he remained
at the university as a teacher, and over the course of seven years,
became a very popular lecturer.
We
are well aware Our Lady is constantly working and spreading her graces
as we travel to homes with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. On a recent
visit in south Texas, we were surprised to see Our Lady’s visit to one
household as the culmination of a beautiful story of grace, nine months
in the making. 
Born
in 1082 into a wealthy and pious family in northern Portugal,
Theotonius was a nephew to the Bishop of Coimbra and studied with him
from a young age to prepare for the priesthood.
Prayer
is when we talk to God. Help a child do this by setting up the
resolution to pray with him/her every day. It can be as simple as a Hail
Mary, one decade of the Holy Rosary, or a whole Rosary depending on the
child’s age and attention capacity.
After
some time, as they prayed on the feast of the Assumption, the Virgin
Mary appeared to them, urging them to devote themselves to her service.
Upon making arrangements for their families (two of the seven were
married, and two others were widowers), the men withdrew to Monte
Senario and established a simple and austere community there.
Among
his parishioners were seven devout young women who lived under his
direction. Hoping to establish a religious community for them, he built a
modest house and developed an order based upon the rule of St.
Benedict. Soon, he admitted lay sisters to their community, and later,
as the order gradually spread, lay brothers to provide manual labor.
Lastly, Gilbert included chaplains for the nuns. Thus the Gilbertines,
the only medieval religious order of English origin, developed, with
Gilbert himself eventually becoming head of the order.
Over
the years, Sigfrid made his home at Växjö, and invited his three
nephews to be his assistants. His nephews, who were all religious,
eventually took over the direction of his diocese as he traveled on
missions to other areas. During his absence, a violent group of heretics
came to Växjö and looted the church, killing the three nephews by
severing their heads from their bodies. When he heard the news, Sigfrid
returned to Växjö and enshrined his nephew’s heads, on which occasion,
it is said, the three heads spoke. The king wished to put the murderers
to death, but the holy man interceded in their behalf, and instead the
king fined them heavily. The large sum was offered to Sigfrid, but in
spite of his great poverty, he refused. After missionary work in
Denmark, he died sometime in 1045.
Cyril
and Methodius were born in Thessalonika, Greece. The area was inhabited
by many Slavic people, and the brothers learned their language. They
eventually became priests and were sent to Moravia, a Slav-speaking
nation, to preach to people in their own language upon the request of
Prince Rostislav.
Saint Valentine, priest and martyr, lived nearly 1,700 years ago in pagan Rome.
Catherine’s
father, Pier Francesco dei Ricci, was of an old and respected family of
Florence. Her mother died when she was a small child, and Catherine was
brought up by a devoted stepmother, Fiammetta da Diacceto. Her
stepmother soon observed the child's unusual tendency to holiness, and
did her utmost to foster and develop it.
