Cardinal Burke corrects Church Militant on Consecration

AED, thank you for your kind words.
I have given the wrong impression. It is not that there are no morning masses on Saturdays; it is that the masses are not dedicated to our Blessed Mother in response to her request at Fatima. There are close to 30 churches offering Saturday morning mass in the tiny city state of Singapore https://www.catholic.sg/directory/singapore_catholic_church/singapore-mass-schedule-services/
We are spoilt for choice as there are masses at different times in the morning, making it easy for anyone to go for mass at a time suitable for him/her. This is also true for all weekday and Sunday masses.

As for the priest I mentioned, he is a good, holy priest - but I presume that he believes that the message of Fatima was for the past, as Cardinal Sodano said at the year 2000 revelation of the 3rd secret.

 

Oh dear, I did not mean to make myself and other converts look good and cradle Catholics look bad. Not at all. Please forgive me for that.

The other thing that is confusing for me (as a convert who doesn't know any better) is that in many different apparitions of Mother Mary, the emphasis has been mainly on praying the rosary and making sacrifices/penances. The 5 first Saturdays were mentioned only at Fatima. So, I'm confused and a little puzzled about whether this message is only for the people in Portugal/Europe etc.

 

SG, the Mass you go to for First Saturday doesn't need to be a special Mass. Any Catholic Mass is fine as long as you have been to confession and are in a state of grace In fact I don't even think you technically need to go to Mass. You just need to receive the Holy Eucharist in a state of grace and fulfill the other requirements (say the Rosary, keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, and go to confession.)

Here are more exact details:
http://www.rosary-center.org/firstsat.htm

The messages of Our Lady of Fatima are for all people of the whole world
I think the repetition of warnings to us in Akita Japan may be to show us this.
Akita Japan is almost exactly on the other side of the world from Fatima.
And the fact that Sister Sasagawa of Akita was deaf may be pointing out to us the fact that we are not hearing Our Lady's pleas.
The Virgin Mary has appeared all over the globe to warn us.

We all need to do penance, make sacrifices, pray for the Pope, fulfill our station in life, do the First Saturdays, and live the message of Fatima.

 

Bishop Schneider: Consecration will bring Russia ‘to the fullness of conversion’
Catholic , Consecration Of Russia , Our Lady Of Fatima , Rome Life Forum , Rome Life Forum 2017

Join Cardinal Burke's call for the Consecration of Russia. Sign the petition!

ROME, May 30, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – As Cardinal Raymond Burke made his historic call for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the Rome Life Forum last week, one of his most enthusiastic supporters was Bishop Athanasius Schneider who was also present at the Forum.

Bishop Schneider was one of the first signatories to the appeal for the consecration, and explained to LifeSite his thoughts on the matter.

Bishop Schneider says he considers Cardinal Burke’s initiative to ask the Holy Father to “explicitly” consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary “very important.” It will, he said, “fulfill more completely and perfectly the desire of Our Lady of Fatima.”

The notion of the consecration comes from the most famous and accepted apparition of the Mother of Jesus, one which has been declared authentic by the Catholic Church and been cited by numerous Popes over the last 100 years. It was authenticated as well by the most stupendous and documented miracle of all time – the “dance of the sun” witnessed by 70,000 people and recorded by the secular media.

At Fatima, Our Lady said Christ wished the Pope in union with the world’s bishops to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. She promised that after it was done Russia would be converted and a period of peace would be given to the world. If not, Our Lady of Fatima warned, Russia “will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.” She added, “The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”

Pope St. John Paul II entrusted the world to the Immaculate Heart in 1984, but chose not to mention Russia under advice even though he wanted to do so. His counselors said it would be too offensive to the Russian Orthodox, and he gave in to their demands, according to the recently revealed testimony of Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes.

Join Cardinal Burke's call for the Consecration of Russia. Sign the petition!

Bishop Schneider said he believes that an explicit consecration of Russia by the Pope in union with the bishops “will bring us abundant graces to the Church” and also to “Russia and the Russian church.”

“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph,” Our Lady of Fatima promised. “The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”

Bishop Schneider explained that Russia has yet to arrive “at the fullness of conversion, that is to be Catholics united with the Holy See.” This, he said, “will bring a lot of graces” which “Our Lady promised to our time for the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.”

Watch Bishop Schneider's interview with LifeSiteNews:

Conversion of Russia and peace remain elusive to date. There has been more war, massacres, martyrs, and abortions in the last half-century than ever before in recorded history. Russia, where abortion was first legalized in 1920, still has the highest abortion rate in the world per capita. With a population of 143 million, there are 1.2 million abortions per year.

Sr. Lucia, the eldest and longest surviving seer at Fatima, wrote Cardinal Carlo Caffarra over thirty years ago, telling him that “a time will come when the decisive battle between the kingdom of Christ and Satan will be over marriage and the family.” At his talk at the Rome Life Forum, Cardinal Caffarra said that the time she foretold to him has come.

 

There are some who wrongly claim Russia has been or is "converting."

The lack of evidence for what is in bold above puts the lie to that claim.

 

John Salza from 5 to 10 min.....

 

Bishop Schneider explained that Russia has yet to arrive “at the fullness of conversion, that is to be Catholics united with the Holy See.”

Even Bishop Schneider thinks Russia is on the path already.

For the rest of us, the thread at http://motheofgod.com/threads/russia.10523/ has plenty of evidence for those with eyes to see.

 

Thanks Praetorian.
What I was trying to say is that at other apparitions - Akita, Lourdes, and at other lesser known church approved Marian apparitions , as well as at yet to be approved apparitions like Medjugorge and Garabandal, Our Lady exhorts everyone to pray the rosary. But it is only at Fatima that the 5 first Saturdays are mentioned. I wonder why that is so. Especially at Akita, where the message is "essentially the same as at Fatima" - why was there no mention of the 5 First Saturdays?

Also, there are many devotions that Catholics have, including devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the 9 First Fridays, and to the Divine Mercy, etc. It becomes quite confusing to a convert like me - how do we choose which to follow? Especially since there is no 'official' guide from the Church.

 

Oops, in going back a few pages to look for an earlier post, I just realised that BrianK had already posted this article on page 4 of this thread. Don't know how I missed it.
My apologies for posting it again.

 

Actually SG, the First 5 Saturdays precede Fatima!
Many people don't know this. They were instituted by Pope St. Pius X several years before the apparitions began at Fatima.
When Our Lady did first speak of the First 5 Saturdays, she didn't actually speak about them from the Fatima apparitions, but almost a decade later in 1925 in a vision Sister Lucy had at Pontevedra.

Here is the info:
http://www.fatima.org/essentials/facts/pontevedra.asp

Also as far as devotions there is no spiritual guide, you are right.
But in our time some hold specific importance and we have been told to practice them in particular.
These would be:
#1 The Rosary
#2 Devotion to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. This would include doing the First 9 Fridays and First 5 Saturdays as well as other ways of honoring them.

Other than that you are free to choose whatever devotions you feel led to in prayer.
You can also switch to different ones from time to time, you don't need to keep doing the same ones all of the time
That is the beautiful thing about them, we are free to choose whatever we would like from the many approved devotions

 

Julia,
What you said above reminded me of an incident which occured about 30 years ago!

My husband was baptised into the Anglican faith as an infant, like his 3 siblings [my husband converted to Catholicism [for me] before we got married]

Anyway he and his brother and sisters did not know their own faith apparently!
We were invited to our nephews christening and we went to the lovely Anglican Cathedral in our city, for this special occasion.

The baptism ritual was very similar to our Catholic baptism ritual [which really surprised me] but the greater shock came when the Anglican Minister said we are now to recite the creed.....

The Angilcan minister started with....... I believe in God etc ......and I was the only one of the entire party who responded and said the creed with the Anglican minister!


I was the only person who new the Catholic creed and so I thought I'll just say it! as I want the truth spoken here!

And like some crusader of faith I was going to wing it alone for God!

But when the Anglican minister and I got to the part of I believe in the one Holy Cathoilc faith......I continued my creed thinking the minister would deviate...... but low and behold the Anglican minister said the same thing as me?! [shock and horror]

My Husbands brother [the father of the infant] just stared at me through the whole recitation of the creed and after the ceremony, he questioned me about this strange belief that he apparently believed [that of believing in the one holy catholic faith, which was my faith and not his?] which he never knew previously!

I think deep down it got him and the whole outlaw family wondering about what they believed... for a short while....

But of course this questioning didn't last long, as they don't attend their Anglican church services, as they are only Anglican in name.

And like most protestants today they have no idea about their faith! But sadly the same can be said for those that claim they are Catholics.

 

Praetorian, I am not doubting what you said, but asking in all sincerity - how did you come to know that the devotions you have mentioned hold specific importance in our time? Was it through a Pope's exhortation?

 

We know from Our Lady's many appearances that she stresses the Rosary in these times. Sister Lucy also mentioned in one of her interviews that the Rosary has been given a special effect in these times to combat evil.
Also if you remember Padre Pio calling it "The Weapon!"
Pope St. John Paul II in an interview was asked about the Third Secret and at the end of it:
...the Pope grasped a Rosary and said: "Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray, and ask for nothing more. Leave everything else to the Mother of God."

Here is the whole interview:
http://www.fatima.org/thirdsecret/fulda.asp

We know about the Immaculate and Sacred Hearts because of Fatima.
One major point of the apparitions is because God wishes to establish in this time, especially Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He wants it placed beside His own.

Our Lady said:
“Yes, I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer. Jesus wishes to make use of you to make Me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. To whoever embraces this devotion I promise salvation; these souls shall be dear to God, as flowers placed by Me to adorn His throne.”

http://www.fatima.org/essentials/whatucando/sac&immhrts/fatima.asp

If this is something God wished so much that He would send His mother to us in such a grand apparition like the one at Fatima then I think we should especially make an effort in this area.

I hope this was helpful SG.

 

You didn't, so there's nothing to forgive. Not all cradle Catholics are lukewarm and not all converts are walking saints.

Praetorian has answered this far better than I could. Praying the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet are not mandatory. All heartfelt prayer draws us closer to God and increases His grace in us as does prayerfully reading Sacred Scripture.
The Rosary is special because it includes just about everything: meditation on the life of Christ and the role of the Blessed Mother, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, paying tribute to the glory of all three persons of the Blessed Trinity, greeting the Blessed Mother as did the angel sent by God and asking her, the Mother of God the Son to pray for us mere sinners. When we include the Fatima prayer after each Gloria, we ask Jesus to have mercy on us and all sinners.

 

I agree with what Praetorian and Dolours have said. I would like to add that when I think of the vast number of different pious devotions in the Church, I think of the many different charisms and personalities of Her members. 1 Cor 12 is about the many parts of the body and how we all have different gifts of the spirit. Even the saints did not all have the exact same devotions - our temperaments and personalities are varied, evidence that God creates us specifically unique. Some people feel drawn to devotions of the Precious Blood, the Shoulder Wound of Christ, the Holy Face, Divine Mercy, different saints, specific apparitions of the Blessed Mother, the Poor Souls in Purgatory, just to name a few. Through prayer, I believe we find what God is calling us to meditate on.

 

A timely article about the 5 first Saturdays:

http://voiceofthefamily.com/why-we-must-fulfil-our-ladys-request-for-reparation-on-first-saturdays/
WHY WE MUST FULFIL OUR LADY’S REQUEST FOR REPARATION ON FIRST SATURDAYS
June 2, 2017
39Share



Tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month and therefore it is fitting to provide a brief explanation of this devotion, which is of central importance to the life of the Church today.

On July 13, 1917, during the third apparition at Fatima, Our Lady warned that if mankind did not repent God was “going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father.”

She continued:

“To forestall this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

“If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and some time of peace will be given to the world.”

In 1925 the promise that Our Lady would come to request the Communion of Reparation on First Saturdays was fulfilled. Sr Lucy gave the following account, speaking of herself in the third person:

“On December 10, 1925, the Most Holy Virgin appeared to her, and by Her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was the Child Jesus. The Most Holy Virgin rested Her hand on her shoulder, and as She did so, She showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which She was holding in Her other hand. At the same time, the Child said:

‘Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.’

“Then the Most Holy Virgin said:

‘Look My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me, and announce in My Name that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep Me company for fifteen minutes meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to Me.’”

In 1939 Sr Lucy further explained the importance of this devotion:

“Whether the world has war or peace depends on the practice of this devotion, along with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is why I desire its propagation so ardently, especially because this is also the will of our dear Mother in Heaven.”

Tragically, as Cardinal Burke reminded us recently:

“In fact, the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary did not take place, as she requested, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays did not become the practice of the universal Church.”

Amongst the many terrible consequences of the failure of Catholics to adopt the practice of the First Saturdays, and of the popes to consecrate Russia as Our Lady requested, is the spiritual crisis that is shaking the Church to her foundations and the onslaught against the family, especially the mass killing of unborn children and the systematic corruption of children.

Cardinal Burke further explained:

“As horrible as are the physical chastisements associated with man’s disobedient rebellion before God, infinitely more horrible are the spiritual chastisements for they have to do with the fruit of grievous sin: eternal death. As is clear, only the Faith, which places man in the relationship of unity of heart with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the mediation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, can save man from the spiritual chastisements which rebellion against God necessarily brings upon its perpetrators and upon the whole of both society and the Church.

“The teaching of the Faith in its integrity and with courage is the heart of the office of the Church’s pastors: the Roman Pontiff, the Bishops in communion with the See of Peter, and their principal co-workers, the priests. For that reason, the Third Secret is directed, with particular force, to those who exercise the pastoral office in the Church. Their failure to teach the faith, in fidelity to the Church’s constant teaching and practice, whether through a superficial, confused or even worldly approach, and their silence endangers mortally, in the deepest spiritual sense, the very souls for whom they have been consecrated to care spiritually. The poisonous fruits of the failure of the Church’s pastors is seen in a manner of worship, of teaching and of moral discipline which is not in accord with Divine Law.”



In order to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart which, as Cardinal Burke stated, “will first be the victory of the Faith, which will put an end to the time of apostasy, and the great shortcomings of the Church’s pastors” we must fulfil Our Lady’s requests as best we can in our own lives. This means observing the five First Saturdays by:

• Going to confession
• Receiving Holy Communion
• Praying the rosary
• Meditating for fifteen minutes on one or more mysteries of the rosary

All of the above must be done with the intention of making reparation for offences against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“In the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph.”