Today I am going to talk about these three things because I believe the peace of the world and the salvation of souls depend on them. At Fatima Our Lady said, “Only I can help you”…and she also said, “If My requests are heard, there will be peace and many souls will be saved.” So Father Nicholas Gruner told us, “If we do not listen to Our Lady of Fatima, then God himself will not help us, because God has entrusted the peace of the world to her.” Father also went on to explain that Fatima was not a private revelation but a public one. He quoted Pope John Paul II who said, “The message of Fatima is addressed to every human being.” Fr. Gruner explained how the Scripture tells us to heed approved prophetic revelation. In the 1st Letter to the Thessalonians it says, “Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecy. Prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good.“ 1 Thess. 5:19-21. Fr. Gruner said, “Fatima is an approved prophetic revelation and found to be good. It’s a prophetic revelation and scripture tells us to hold fast to it. Therefore we must pay attention to the message of Fatima. If we ignore it, we are despising prophecy and scripture tells us not to do that.” And essentially Mary said we must stop offending God, who is already too much offended; pray the rosary every day and make sacrifices for sinners, because many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.” And of course you know that includes the first five Saturdays and the proper consecration of Russia.
In the story, CRY OF A LOST SOUL, she emphasized prayer and especially to the Blessed Mother, saying devotion to her rescues numberless souls from the devil. “Once you warned me, ‘Anne, if you do not pray, you go to perdition.’ I used to pray very little indeed, and even this unwillingly. You were then only too right. All those who burn in hell did not pray or did not pray enough. Prayer is the first step towards God. And it is the decisive step. Especially prayer to her who is the Mother of Christ, whose name we never pronounce. Devotion to her rescues from the devil numberless souls whom sin would infallibly give to him. I continue my story, consumed with rage and only because I have to. To pray is the easiest thing man can do on earth. And God has tied up the salvation of each one exactly to this very easy thing.”
This brings me to my second topic, devotion to Mary. St. Alphonsus de Liguori, in his magnificent book, THE GLORIES OF MARY, has a chapter where he explains the necessity of devotion to Mary for salvation. He says it’s a moral necessity, quoting many scriptures and saints. One of the things he said was that Mary is the channel of grace which God uses to bring grace into the world. Here is what he said: ““The devil, like Holofernes, who in order to gain possession of the city of Bethulia, ordered the aqueducts to be destroyed, exerts himself to the utmost to destroy devotion to the Mother of God in souls; for if this channel of grace is closed, he easily gains possession of them.” Fr. Hugh Thwaites noted that when families no longer prayed the rosary, the faith soon collapses. – From THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY ROSARY, AVAILABLE FROM OLRL.ORG. One of the promises of the rosary is that it will overcome heresies, but if the rosary is given up, then oftentimes heresy overcomes them. How many Catholics who were devoted to Mary and gave it up, have apostatized, and are now in protestant heretical churches. Mary is the channel of grace through which Jesus came into the world, and she is the channel through which He wishes to continue to give us other graces. All graces come from the Father, through Jesus Christ, and through Mary. “All good things came to me, together with her.” Wisdom 7:14.
Fr. Patrick Peyton, the rosary priest, once said, “What happens when you take the mother out of the home? It soon begins to get untidy. The reason the world is in such a mess is because we have taken Mary out of our homes.” When we give up devotion to Mary, we close up the channel of grace. St. Louis de Montfort said, “He who wishes to have the fruit of life, which is Jesus Christ, must have the tree of life, which is Mary. He who wishes to have the operation of the Holy Ghost, must have the divine Mary, who makes him fertile and fruit-bearing.” Sister Marie Paule, founder of the Army of Mary said, “If you cut down the tree, you cut down the fruit.” Proverbs 3:18 says, “She is a tree of life to them who take hold on her, and he that shall retain her is blessed.”
Regarding the rosary, all of us know how important it is, but many of our friends and family members do not, and many know little or anything about it. “However, St. Louis de Montfort said, “The rosary is a priceless treasure inspired by God.” I think it was Blessed Pope Pius IX who said, Give me an army praying the rosary and I will conquer the world.” St. Padre Pio said, “The rosary is the weapon with which to conquer the evils in the world today.” Also, Fr. Albert J. Hebert in one of his books on prophecy, maybe the THREE DAYS OF DARKNESS, quoted Padre Pio saying, “Pray, and get others to pray, for the world is at the threshold of its perdition.”
Regarding the importance of the Brown Scapular, Mr. Joe Bell said it’s the best life insurance you can have, because if you die with it on, you will save your soul. It has been known for countless miracles and conversions. Mary’s spiritual presence is with us when we wear it, but like a soldier’s uniform, it must be worn properly over the shoulders or one runs the risk of losing the promise. I do not want to run too long, but one last thing I would like to point out is, you can’t gain the Sabbatine Privilege without wearing it. It’s one of the conditions, and St. Alphonsus said the Sabbatne Privilege was revealed to Pope John 22nd. In order to gain this privilege, you have to wear the scapular, number one; you must observe chastity according to one’s state in life, number two; and number three, recitation of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Those who cannot do so must be exact in keeping the fast days of the Church, and abstain from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, with a priest’s permission, the Little Office can be mitigated to five decades of the rosary. Those who fulfill these conditions will be delivered on the first Saturday after their death. This is an incredibly great blessing because, a soul from purgatory revealed, from Father Shouppe’s book, that the average stay in purgatory was 30-40 years! And one man who was given a choice of two more years on the sickbed or 3 days in purgatory, St. Alphonsus related, chose the 3 days and had barely died and gone to purgatory, started complaining about already being in purgatory for years, and his angel said to him. “What’s this you say? Your body is still warm from your deathbed!” So in ending I will just say, Mary held out the Brown Scapular to the world in her last vision, and Sr. Lucia said, “She wants everyone to wear it…The rosary and the scapular are inseparable.”
If you have benefited from this article, please consider sharing it with others. Many people do not know these things, and how can they fulfill the requests from our Blessed Mother at Fatima if they don’t know them?
Kindle E-book: Ten Books About the Faith & Salvation : Ten of the Most Important Books to Help You Save Your Soul by Larry Wethington