A "slam-dunk" beatification for the last of the Fatima visionaries

In most cases, processes for beatification involve some degree of uncertainty, since one never knows quite how it will go. Every now and then, however, there's a slam-dunk candidate for whom it's only a matter of time. Such was the case with Mother Teresa when she died in 1997, and such is the case again this week with Carmelite Sr. Maria Lucia of Jesus and of the Sacred Heart, better known as Lucia dos Santos, the last of the three visionaries of Fatima, who died last Sunday.

Lucia passed away on the 13th of the month, the same day in May 1917 that, according to the Fatima tradition, the Virgin Mary began appearing to three small children in this remote site in Portugal. It's a spot named after the wife of Ali, the cousin of the prophet Muhammed, and hence a reminder of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian peninsula. (In some Koranic schools, especially in Shi'ite circles where devotion to Fatima is strong, it's long been believed that Mary, who is also venerated in the Koran, didn't come to Fatima for Christians at all, but for the Muslims).

The other two seers of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, died in 1919 and 1920, respectively, and were beatified by John Paul II in 2000. Lucia, however, entered a Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1948, where she lived ever since. From there, she handed over to Vatican officials the "Third Secret" of Fatima, a vision of a bishop in white and a hail of gunfire which John Paul II interpreted as a reference to the assassination attempt against him on May 13, 1981, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The pope's delegate for Sr. Lucia's funeral, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone of Genoa, who had long meetings with Lucia when he was the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that there are no more major revelations waiting in her monastic cell to be disclosed.

There's no question that John Paul II feels a special connection with the Fatima devotion, and with Lucia. It was Fatima where Mary referred to "the errors that Russia will spread in the world," taken by most Catholics as a reference to Soviet Communism. In keeping with Mary's request at Fatima that Russia be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, the pope performed a consecration of the whole world at Fatima in 1982, on the anniversary of the assassination attempt. There followed concern that the pope did not do this in concert with the rest of the bishops, as Mary had asked. Hence on March 25, 1984, John Paul repeated the consecration in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, after having sent letters to all the world's Catholic and Orthodox bishops asking them to join him. The statue of the Virgin from Fatima was brought to Rome for the occasion. Though the pope's text did not specifically mention Russia, at least one observer, the bishop of Leiria-Fatima, Alberto Cosme do Amaral, said the pope paused at one point and quietly added "Russia" under his breath. Afterwards, Sr. Lucia apparently told the apostolic nuncio in Portugal that Mary had accepted the consecration, a fact that, in the pope's mind, is not without significance in explaining subsequent events, including the collapse of the Berlin Wall and eventually the Soviet system.

John Paul also credits the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life on May 13, 1981, believing that the flight path of a bullet launched from Mehmet Ali Agca's gun was altered in order to preserve him in office. Without descending into too much pop psychology, this undoubtedly helps to explain why resignation is essentially unthinkable for John Paul -- he believes that his pontificate is part of a much larger cosmic drama, and God and the Virgin are watching. It's up to them, not him, to decide when the time has come.

Of course, to believe that Mary saved the pope's life on May 13, 1981, logically raises the question of why she allowed him to be shot in the first place. His closest aide, personal secretary Archishop Stanislaw Dsizwsz, in a rare public lecture in Poland in 2002 supplied the answer. The pope's blood had to be spilled, Dsizwsz argued, in order to augment his witness against bloodshed in the world, above all with respect to abortion. It has always impressed John Paul and Dsizwsz that the Italian left had scheduled a major abortion rights rally in Rome the evening of May 13, 1981, which was cancelled out of respect for the fallen pope.

If time and health permit, there's no doubt John Paul would like to be the pope who beatifies Sr. Lucia.

Incidentally, Portugal is presently in the middle of national elections, and the center-right government, which most polls project to lose, has declared a "stop" to campaigning out of respect for her funeral. That has triggered charges of political opportunism not only from the center-left opposition, but also from church spokespersons in Lisbon, who say they doubt the "sincerity" of the gesture.

Don't waste your breath, my friend.....he and his colleagues do not believe in Akita either, even though it is an approved apparition. Even though the essense of the Third Secret of Fatima is expounded in it, for one to discern.

What the modernists will not believe is that the Mother of God would bring messages of urgent warning to man in general - and the church (and to churchmen) in particular - via the simplest of people: peasant children. Any messages of Mary thus received are waved away as "private matters".

God will surely judge those who ignored the most Blessed of all women, who brought his messages to men. These messages contained no new dogma/doctrine, and if anything reinforced faith and belief which are Catholic.

Remember what the good modernists teach you: "private revelations do not belong to the deposit of faith", and should be viewed with raised eyebrows.

But, then they forget that all scriptural propecies are based upon "private revelation".....Amos, Isaiah, St. John......all of them. And none of these changes anything basic to the faith which Catholics should believe. What they did was to fortell the future....to serve as a warning to men who would listen.

And of course, we are asked to believe that some old dude with a beard named Moses stayed up atop Mt. Sinai for 40 days, conversing with God.......alone, with no witnesses, and returned to his people bearing hand written tablets of "the Law", which we are supposed to believe were written by the hand of God. And that we are to follow this "law", which has eternal consequences for our souls?

Maybe Moses was doing magic mushrooms? Or he made it all up?

Faith..........that is what it is all about. If you will believe Moses, and the prophets of the Old & New Testaments, you can also believe that God has not ceased in sending his words to us through prophets in every age. Aad thus warning us now.

All one needs to do is to look into what is actually happening to the Russian people as a result, to know you are wrong.

And in addition to see what the "fall of communism has done for the peoples of central and eastern Europe. They have become Weternized......Americanized........following MTV culture. in doing some, they are losing their faith - just as the rest of Europe has, and the US is currently experiencing.

To look at reality with an unclouded eye, one sees easily that there has been NO conversion of Russia......or anybody else.

It is interesting to note here that this article makes no mention of her being blind and deaf for the past 3 years.

This is the first I have heard, do you have a link to that news story?

That's odd considering Mel Gibson met with Sr. Lucia during Lent of 2004, when he was invited to give a private showing of the Passion of the Christ at the Carmelite Convent.

"He (Gibson) is very outspoken and a person easily to be liked, and he answered all of our questions about the movie,” Mother Celina said, according to the Bulletin. “Some questions were asked by Sr. Lucia, who attended the meeting which lasted for about an hour, was always very alert following the conversation."

Fatima visionary views ‘The Passion’ with Mel Gibson

In fact, this thread ran on FreeRepublic, last month!

Mel Gibson's Secret Meetings with Fatima Visionary

"It is interesting to note here that this article makes no mention of her being blind and deaf for the past 3 years.

This would make communication rather difficult, even in a much younger person."

----

Difficult to watch a movie too, much less know it is being made.

Source:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1342459/posts

"Named Lucia de Jesus dos Santos when she was born on March 22, 1907, in recent years she suffered from blindness and deafness."

All one needs to do is to look into what is actually happening to the Russian people as a result, to know you are wrong.

So you are arguing that Russians were better off under communism?

And in addition to see what the "fall of communism has done for the peoples of central and eastern Europe. They have become Weternized......Americanized........

They are free, and they can reject the "MTV culture" just as surely as you can. Or perhaps you, like some political liberals, think freedom ain't all that great for some people.

There can be no conversion of Russia if the people are not free to embrace Christ's message. So, the Berlin wall had to fall first.

I've got a feeling all this freedom in the world is giving you some major diaper rash.

Religion flourished behind the Iron Curtain, both overtly and covertly. Those who wanted it, and were brave enought to practice it (openly or secretly) did so.

Your support of MTV culture is gratifying, and confirms all of my ideological suppostitions about you.

Everybody is always free to embrace Christ - even in the Gulag. For - since you are ignorant of this - to embrace Him totally means risk, sacrifice, and the scorn of the world.

In terms of food supply, job availability, medical care......yes, the general populace were in fact better off under Communism. I am quoting Ukranians, POles, Czechs, Hungarians, Bulgarians, and Russians whom I have met. They all will tell you this......whether they supported Communism or not.

Since I have spent much time in the company of Eastern Europeans from these and other ethnic groups, I have heard their varied stories. About their lands before and after the "fall" of Communism.

They will all tell you of the moral decadance which has gripped Russia in particular, and is spilling over in the other Slavic lands since the "fall" of Communism.

And most of them would tell you that you are a fool to believe that Communism has literally "fallen". It merely transmogrified.....mutated into another form......and they would tell you this also.

Thanks you for showing your ignorance on this subject.

Your support of MTV culture is gratifying, and confirms all of my ideological suppostitions about you.

I, of course, never said I support the MTV culture. What I said was that the Russians are free to reject it.

In terms of food supply, job availability, medical care......yes, the general populace were in fact better off under Communism.

This is provably not true, but it doesn't surprise me that you'd believe it was. Are you a Democrat socialist?

They will all tell you of the moral decadance which has gripped Russia in particular, and is spilling over in the other Slavic lands since the "fall" of Communism.

And communism, of course, kept all the moral decadence out of the countries. Yeah, right.

And most of them would tell you that you are a fool to believe that Communism has literally "fallen". It merely transmogrified.....mutated into another form......and they would tell you this also.

Make up your mind. Either communism is gone, and "moral decadence" from the west is now gripping the Slavic nations, or it hasn't gone anywhere, in which case it appears that communism is responsible for the moral decadence.

Thanks you for showing your ignorance on this subject.

It appears that you can't decide whether or not communism is actually gone, nor can you decide what has brought on the moral decadence of Russia.

Oh, and could you give us the names or locations of a couple of these Eastern Europeans you've talked to? Just so we'll know that you're not just making stuff up.

It's definitely foolish to think that Soviet Communism "fell" when it withdrew according to the Gramscian model in order to blend itself with Capitalism.

As Fr. Martin explained so well, we've moved from a situation of a "balance of power" into a "community of power" and no one is free to not join it.

The idea that Democracy equals Freedom and no other form of government can be superior is a myth. Freedom according to the modern world is not Freedom according to the Catholic Definition. Freedom to the modern world is simply License.

The body count among democracies has quietly mounted through abortion and abortive contraceptions to swamp the overt slaughters and contentions in the Middle East.

Democracy and "Freedom" make no promise that the body count will decline in the Middle East. More likely it will increase but it will be neat and clean.

God will not be mocked. And this insincere invocation of his name will bring about nothing but desolation.

By the way, this isn't a "trad" opinion alone. This is shared by Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand. Except they took it a step further and predicted military defeat for the U.S.A. eventually.

Don't waste your breath, my friend.....he and his colleagues do not believe in Akita either,

When did I hire you as my lawyer?

I find it odd that you believe an apparition, but I post the black and white words of Sr. Lucia, Servant of God, and you all dismiss them and continue to claim the Consecration is invalid. She said the Blessed Mother will accept that, and boom the wall came tumbling down, and a lot more is in the works.

I think one final error, the isolation of the East and West will end sometime soon, and we have John-Paul and Our Lady by the Grace of God to thank.

I don't know what to make of some of you when the good Sister Lucia, who worked with the Vatican, is said to have been deceived, when she published her statement. She lived an obedient life to God, and to the Holy See, she certainly didn't join a schismatic sect, who claim they know better about the Church than the Pope. Perhaps it has been proved the most blind are those who will not to see.

The idea that Democracy equals Freedom and no other form of government can be superior is a myth. Freedom according to the modern world is not Freedom according to the Catholic Definition. Freedom to the modern world is simply License.

By the way, this isn't a "trad" opinion alone. This is shared by Fr. Benedict Groeschel and Dr. Alice Von Hildebrand. Except they took it a step further and predicted military defeat for the U.S.A. eventually.

I'm sorry. Why are you here?

I am sure that like all great nations the US will fade away. I am positive we all make mistakes in the world, but, they are mistakes made, and discussed, and we are free to criticize them. People screw up. They do all the time. No Earthly government can be perfect like our Kingdom in Heaven. I think that is the actual Catholic position.

Having said that, I think I can say you have lost your mind, if you think Freedom is possible without Self-government. Are you a conservative or did you lose your way to DU? Seriously, we all agree way back, that a man is responsible for his actions, and any license he takes is at his own peril.

What are you claiming here, we need a big brother to watch over our actions, to ensure our freedom is not "license"? No, we need our freedom, and the consequences of our actions form the hand that presses us to live above our fallen nature, and live out God's Holy Law. We know the consequences of Mass murder. We fight against it, and are free to do so; remember in many European nations you are not free to protest abortion, but you can strike for more pay and less work.

My tag has words I like a lot. We have the freedom, to do as we ought to do, not just act like savages.

Sr. Lucia who stayed in the Church, who was under and lived by a vow of obedience. Yes thats the Nun I mean. When she was a child she with two other children saw Heaven and Hell, and had other visions throughout her life.

Thats the one. She said the Consecration of Russia took place. Do you think she can be trusted?

Did you hear she is going to be beatified pretty quickly?

All that without bashing the Pope, or screaming about conspiracies against the Mass in Latin.

"Five years after the Pope "consecrated" Russia, the Berlin wall falls, and communism collapses in the Soviet Union and all of Eastern Europe."

Hmmm. So that the worst excesses of capitalism can prevail? And I can't see much scope for Catholicism in Wojtyla's "consecrated" Russia when he is so keen to yield to the Orthodox church there. No doubt this is a clumsy attempt to draw a line under the whole Fatima affair which really has no place in modern Rome which prefers the Assisi model. Out with the old, in with the new!!

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