I have been thinking in recent weeks that this prophecy could be referring specifically to the role of Fatima as a light in the midst of the darkness of the crisis of faith that the church is experiencing. People are losing their trust in the apostolic see of Rome amidst the diabolical disorientation occurring at this time; however, there is a firm hope that in the end, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph as promised by Our Lady of Fatima.
I think that way too, Luan. In fact, as I already told someone here, this was one of the main reasons that brought me back to this forum, to be able to share or confirm the sources of any possible information related to this prophecy of Our Lady of Fátima, since Portugal is not very represented in this digital community. Because of that half sentence from the Secret of Fátima, I believe that many people around the world are waiting for some light to shine in Portugal that will serve as guidance in this unprecedented crisis. Unfortunately, there is still nothing very relevant to share.
I think that way too, Luan. In fact, as I already told someone here, this was one of the main reasons that brought me back to this forum, to be able to share or confirm the sources of any possible information related to this prophecy of Our Lady of Fátima, since Portugal is not much represented in this digital community. Because of that half sentence from the Secret of Fátima, I believe that many people around the world are waiting for some light to shine in Portugal that will serve as guidance in this unprecedented crisis. Unfortunately, there is still nothing very relevant to share.
Worse than that, just yesterday, the Portuguese Episcopal Conference issued a statement, in which point 3 states the following: 3. Following the recent Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” on the pastoral meaning of blessings, from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which does not alter the Church's doctrine on marriage, the Permanent Council recognizes the welcome of all in the Church and expresses the full communion of the Portuguese bishops with the Holy Father. Source: https://www.conferenciaepiscopal.pt/v1/comunicado-do-conselho-permanente-09-01-2024/ All of us here understand what these pious words mean in the present context of the Church. God help us!
Thanks! It is very gratifying to have you here on the forum again. I see that the heart of Catholic spirituality is beating strongly in Portugal at this moment, solely because of the apparitions of Fátima. The promises that Our Lady of Fátima made through the three little shepherds are the necessary strength for the faithful in the midst of the serious pastoral and doctrinal negligence of their pastors. I feel as if we are in a new Babylonian captivity in which the promises of Our Lady of Fatima are a kind of timeless spiritual force that is at the same time a center of the Catholic Faith for the entire world. Something that not even the advance of secularism in Portuguese society can prevent.
The bishops of Mozambique, Angola and São Tomé formally rejected gay blessings approved by the Vatican. I suppose you could say that these three countries were part of Portugal when the Fatima apparitions took place in 1917 or even later when Sr. Lúcia wrote her memoirs... However, I think this prophecy clearly refers to Portugal and Portugal is today a small European nation. Interestingly, if we look at the geography of the European Continent (excluding islands and overseas departments), Portugal is the most distant nation from the other nation referred to in the same message from the Mother of God in Fátima.
I love this priest. He’s a Priest of Mercy and is often brutally honest about the faith. I was looking for a priest to give a parish mission and God led me to this religious order. I’d only recently moved to a coastal town and thought I could contribute by helping my new parish find a dynamic and rousing speaker for a five day mission. The priest God chose for us was a fervent lover of the Catholic Church and didn’t hold back on sin and the truth. I loved him and appreciated the huge effort he made to come to us as he was going through some serious health issues. On Monday, after the mission, our parish priest chose to give a homily on the incredible brashness of the preaching style of John the Baptist. “You brood of vipers” and such. I did not think it wise to point out how much God loved John and how Jesus wept over his death. It took about a year before the parish forgave me for introducing such a plain speaking priest to a mostly lukewarm congregation. A wonderful group of women did seek me out for friendship which I cherished.
There's nothing as hard as speaking the plain honest truth and nothing as likely to get folks looking for nails and wood to put you up on a Cross for. Little wonder hardly anyone ever tries it. The best you can hope for is one or two good people standing beneath the Cross looking up at you and feeling sorry for you. But at least the rest of us can have a good try at at least telling a little bit of the truth now and again. Most especially at this particular dark moment in the History of the Church.
Wow. Yes Father Casey is a true shepherd. How wonderful you had him for 5 days. But I am not surprised at the reactions you got. I am sad to say we are 2 churches coexisting side by side. We don't speak the same language. We don't value the same things. I have run into this in at least two parishes I was in--i no longer try to do anything. I go to Mass and I go to adoration and I pray for all of them and all of us. And if the Holy Spirit gives me leave to speak then I do. But those nudges lately come few and far between. So many Catholics have been brainwashed out of the real Catholic faith. And a priest who challenges them on the realities of the spiritual life and the very real danger of ending up in the wrong place--well he will be castigated for fear mongering and negativity. I think of Jesus's warning that there will come a time when we will be thrown out of our churches and brought before magistrates and they will believe that they are doing the will of God.
I've taken the same position in the church. I'm one of the old ladies who sits in Adoration and goes to Mass without any parish ministry except to offer reparation for my sins and anyone Our Lord places before me. Father Casey sent a stand-in from his community for our parish mission. It was a young firecracker by the name of Father Frank Fusare. He had the same piercing gaze and seemed compelled by heaven to speak the truth.
After the Triumph and during the era of peace, all the errors of Protestantism, secular humanism, socialism / communism and the blatant demonic evils of our day will be gone, annihilated. Only Christ’s Church will remain. Why? EENS - extra Ecclesiam nulla salus: "outside the Church [there is] no salvation" or "no salvation outside the Church" This was the key to the evangelical missionary zeal of the Catholic Church prior to VII, the belief that salvation was only through the Church Christ founded on Peter. The (false) ecumenism of VII and the universal salvation beliefs that sprang directly from that in the past 60 years have destroyed the missionary spirit and zeal of the Catholic Faith. She has lost her sense of Mission, the Great Commission, to Baptize all in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Only by returning to an orthodox understanding of this truth of EENS will the Church be restored. For this reason I think EENS is central to Portugal preserving the Doctrine of the Faith. In a worldly sense, Portugal is so far gone now, the same as the rest of the world, that I just don’t understand why or how this will actually happen.
I have an intriguing question that I've been asking myself for several years and I can't find an answer anywhere. Taking into account that the text of the Secret of Fátima was mean to be read by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon or the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, is it possible that any of the Popes who read it returned the text or a copy to its supposed original recipients? I mean like a plan B in case some of the things described there could happen or with any other instruction... It seems prudent to me that Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI could do this on one of their trips to Portugal , or leave the document in the custody of a religious institution. They are human and you may criticize some of their actions, but I am sure that they are in the glory of God! Great saints in very difficult times for the Church.
There is no possible comparison with Pope Francis! That would be insulting our intelligence and disrespecting the memory of the saints who preceded him.
Join the club... I don't know either and that intrigues me enough. I think Portugal can even be worse than other countries in some things. But as I saw written once somewhere, Our Lady said that the dogma of faith will always be preserved in Portugal by "the Portuguese or in spite of them". Let's wait. It is a promise from Our Lady and is not conditional.
Some testimonies say that the third secret would be the continuation of these words in such a way that the dogma of faith would not be preserved in Rome, as if there were a contrast between Rome and Portugal in the message. Considering that both Italy and Portugal absorbed the errors of communism and secularism, I think about the thesis of the spiritual refuge in Fátima that makes Portugal relevant to global faith. In a way, at least temporarily, many people place their faith in Fátima as a kind of “life jacket” against schism. It is as if the city (in the spiritual sense) has become a new Avignon, a temporary global center for our faith.
This is a short version of our legend about the founding of Portugal: In 1139, Christ appears before a battle in Ourique against the Muslims to anoint Afonso Henriques as the first King of Portugal, ordering the foundation of a kingdom that will take Christianity to distant lands. Afonso Henriques then decided that the Portuguese flag would now have five shields, or corners, in the form of a cross, representing the five defeated kings and the five wounds of Christ. This remains to this day.
