Fatima and Divine Mercy

CLICK HERE for article on Fatima and Divine Mercy by Prof Americo Pablo Lopez Ortiz, WAF International President

================================================================

Fatima, Divine Mercy and the Theological Virtue of Hope

by Donal Anthony Foley

There are important links between the message of Fatima, the Divine Mercy devotion, and the theological virtue of hope. The first point to note is that the essence of the mission of Sr. Lucia was to encourage devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And since this mission was given before the Divine Mercy devotion was revealed to St. Faustina, we can say that, in some sense, Our Lady was preparing the way at Fatima for the Divine Mercy devotion, which is linked especially to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The two devotions together honor the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and Jesus revealed this desire to Sister Lucia in 1932, that his whole Church “place devotion to the Immaculate Heart alongside devotion to my Sacred Heart.”

The Catholic Catechism says the theological virtue of hope is the means “by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.” (CCC 1817).

Certainly the three Fatima children developed this theological virtue, trusting in Our Lady who promised them heaven, but also ardently desiring eternal happiness for poor souls and sinners. Francisco would say as “many rosaries as the beautiful Lady wanted,” and spend many hours in Eucharistic reparation with the hope of heaven for himself and others. Jacinta would give everything she could, even the smallest sacrifice, for the salvation of souls, relying on grace to help her carry out her ultimate sacrifice – to die alone in a hospital without family or friends.

And Lucia throughout her whole life never wavered in hope, trusting in the promises of Jesus and Mary that Russia would be converted and the Immaculate Heart would triumph.  

Thus, they lived the Divine Mercy message as well, which asks us place all our trust in Christ – and in praying for that intention – we are implicitly asking that the virtue of hope acts as fully as possible in our souls, as we resolutely trust and hope in the infinite mercy of God.

Two Devotions – Two Hearts – One Mission

Lucia’s famous vision of the Holy Trinity on June 13, 1929, which features Christ crucified, and under the left arm of the cross, large letters of crystal clear water forming the words, “Grace and Mercy,” seems to set the stage for the Mercy message, which would come just two years later.

In 1931, Jesus began to appear to Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated nun in a convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. From this time to 1938 He revealed to her the Message of Divine Mercy and asked for the Feast of Divine Mercy, which was not only directed toward her personal growth, but for the good of mankind.

On Friday, September 13, 1935, the anniversary of the fifth Fatima apparition, Jesus revealed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to St. Faustina as a way of obtaining God’s mercy for the world. She described how she saw a powerful Angel who was the “executor of divine wrath,” and who was about to strike the world for its sins; she felt helpless before this threat, but was taken up before the throne of God and found herself pleading with Him for the world with words she heard interiorly—that is the Divine Mercy chaplet. As she prayed, the Angel became unable to carry out his just punishment of mankind.

There is quite an interesting parallel between the above vision and part of the contents of the third secret of Fatima, as Sr. Lucia revealed: “... at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’”

The Fatima seers and St. Faustina also had visions of hell that are uncannily similar – a place so frightening they would have died at the sight of it without Divine support. Indeed, 7-year-old Jacinta was so impacted by this vision, she lamented to Lucia, “Why doesn’t Our Lady show hell to sinners. If they saw it they would not sin.”  And St. Faustina noted, “I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.” (Diary 741)

In both devotions, the seers were taught similar prayers in reparation for sins and for the salvation of souls. The Angel of Peace taught at Fatima:  “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages….”  In the Divine Mercy Chaplet, we pray:  “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your Divine Son Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world.”

The Promise of Peace

In late September 1936, Jesus spoke about the Feast of Mercy to St. Faustina, that He desired such a Feast to be celebrated in the Church on the first Sunday after Easter, saying, “Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My mercy.” In fact He told her, “I am giving them the last hope of salvation, that is, the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity.”

Mary promised at Fatima, “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”  Where does she lead us?  To the Fount of Divine Mercy—the Heart of Jesus. When her Immaculate Heart triumphs, when mankind turns to the Fount of Divine Mercy, mankind will know peace.

Thus, we can see a clear link between the Divine Mercy revelations given to St. Faustina and the message of Fatima, and we can also understand how important the virtue of hope is; our task is to do all we can to make as many people as possible aware of how crucial all this is for the future of the Church and the world.