Written by Kathy Clubb
The Pope’s recent consecration of Russia, Ukraine and the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has led many to revisit the messages of Sr Lucia, the longest-surviving visionary of Fatima. In addition to the visions experienced by the three children of Fatima, Sr Lucia had other visitations from Our Lady and Our Lord, which she wrote about in her letters.
On one occasion, in 1929, Our Lady appeared to Sr Lucia in Tuy, presenting to her the famous vision of the Holy Trinity, and asking for the Consecration of Russia with these words, “The moment has come when God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.”
In May 1930, Our Lady again appeared to Sr Lucia and listed the five offences against the Immaculate Heart for which reparation was to be made on the First Saturdays. Unfortunately, the devotion was not promoted widely enough and those offences – blasphemies against Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception; blasphemies against Her Perpetual Virginity; blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity; public blasphemies which lead to scorn of the Immaculate Mother and offences against Her holy images – have steadily increased since that time. The blasphemies appear to have reached their peak in this age of trashy movies, mass-produced digital art, and social media’s capacity to amplify voices of error with as much force as voices speaking truth.
Our Lord Himself repeated the request for the Consecration twice during 1930, specifically promising that a solemn Consecration of Russia by Pope Pius XI to the Two Hearts would end the Bolshevik assault against the Church. When the Pope did not carry out the request, Our Lord appeared to Sr Lucia again with the stern admonition for His prelates: “ … given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My request, they will follow him into misfortune. Like the King of France, they will repent and will do as I have requested, but it will be very late: Russia will already have spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions against the Church.”
In the following year, 1931, Our Lord repeated the warning with its reference to the King of France, “Make it known to My ministers, given that they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My requests, they will follow him into misfortune…”
The “King of France” was in reality a succession of French kings who failed to obey a request from Our Lord to consecrate their nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St Margaret Mary Alacoque was given the request by Our Lord on June 17, 1689, and was asked to pass it on to the King, Louis XIV. Louis ignored the request, as did his grandson, Louis XV. When the grandson of Louis XV, Louis XVI, became King in 1774, he, like his forebears, initially ignored the request of Our Lord (there is evidence[1] to suggest that Louis performed the Consecration in 1791).
Only a few years later, Louis XVI was forced by the Third Estate to install a constitutional monarchy, thereby eliminating his authority over his kingdom. The date of that terrible upheaval was exactly one hundred years after St Margaret Mary received the request: June 17, 1789. Less than four years later, in January 1793, Louis was executed by Madame Guillotine. This may be seen as the very serious consequence of failing to obey a request that came directly from Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fr Richard Heilman[2] points out that the punishment inflicted on France affected the entire world: the period known as The Enlightenment, really the genesis of Modernism, stretched roughly over the same one hundred year period mentioned above. According to the promises of Heaven, if the requests to consecrate first France, and then Russia had been heeded, the world and the Church would have spared the bloody French Revolution, the spiritual ravages of Modernism and the scourge of Communism.
Pope Francis’ Consecration has led some Catholic commentators to speculate that its validity or otherwise will be proven by a forthcoming Era of Peace but it is hard to see how this is the case. Given the stern words of Our Lord, it does not seem reasonable to expect that the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, the long-awaited period of peace, should follow immediately after a valid Consecration of Russia. In fact, given the fate of the King of France, it is far more reasonable to expect that the world would quickly become a much darker place.
Certainly, if the Consecration was not accepted by heaven, or not entirely accepted, then there is no doubt that the world is about to experience a disaster of unprecedented proportions – something even worse than the last two years of the COVID madness which we are still living through.
Admittedly, it is not very fashionable to speak of the possibility of the world taking a turn for the worse: modern man, including the modern Church, has been programmed to put an upbeat spin on practically anything that comes his way. But it is not Catholic to be unrealistic and unreasonable. Rather, it is the Catholic way to issue warnings and calls to prayer – as the prophets have done since Old Testament times.
When Catholics faced discrimination and job-loss due to vaccine mandates, many took to the streets to protest. In Melbourne alone, there were more than 700 Catholics who walked behind a statue of Our Lady among the 300,000 Victorians who marched from Parliament to Flagstaff Gardens in the biggest rally of its kind ever held in the nation. When the pain was real, Catholics gathered together to pray and intercede for their state. But that sense of urgency has disappeared, perhaps due to life returning to some semblance of normality, perhaps from fatigue, perhaps from tepidity.
Some seem to believe that the upcoming Federal election will turn things around, but where exactly are those politicians who have something different, something really Christian to offer their electorates? Is it realistic to expect that there are enough politicians of the moral calibre necessary to enact real change in our nation?
It was not so long ago that pro-life Christians were allowed to pray outside abortion mills and offer help to women. Most who identified as pro-life Christians chose not to take advantage of that freedom, chose not to fight when the threat of new legislation loomed, and consequently, there is now no state where that life-saving activity is legal.
Similarly, there are very few Catholics who now take advantage of their legal right to pray publicly, asking Our Lady’s intercession, and giving witness to the truth.
We have had it too easy for too long, and this is unlikely to continue. Only last month, legislation to limit public witness that causes interference in public places was passed in New South Wales. The Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022[3] had bipartisan support and while most of us would welcome its application in the case of disruptive climate protesters, it is not too much of a stretch to see how a law like this could be modified to exclude Catholics from praying in public. In fact, it would be more surprising if an extension like that did not happen in this current anti-Christian milieu.
Therefore, it is more likely than not, that a terrible persecution is on its way, and that we are soon to suffer greatly for our adherence to the truth. But, imagine our shame if, like the Kings of France, we had to one day admit that we could have done more.
The Rosary rallies that are being held in parts of Europe may provide us with poignant and shareable images, but they will not help our particular nation. What is needed for our country is Rosary rallies held here, on our own soil. In Australia, apart from some pro-life witnesses, there are currently only four regular public Rosaries for peace on the entire continent, with none of those drawing anything near the numbers of Catholics seen at Freedom rallies.
So do Catholics have more faith in political solutions than in the intercession of Our Lady? Like the King of France, have we ignored Our Lord’s request and accommodated the revolutionaries of the day?
Or is there instead a spark of hope among us, a smouldering flame of fervour waiting to be fanned into a fire that leaps from home to home, from parish to parish, from diocese to diocese, as Catholics openly proclaim the totus Tuus – our “totally Thine” faith in the intercession of Our Lady, leading to regular public Rosaries in every town and city around Australia? Time may be short, but as Sr Lucia told us, it is never too late to turn to Our Lord and Our Lady.
To register a Rosary in your area or to make enquiries, please visit the Pax Orbis website: https://paxorbis.org/
