Two weeks ago, October 13, 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s appearance at Fatima and the Miracle of the Dancing of the Sun witnessed by a crowd of 70,000 in 1917. Our Lady had asked for prayer for the reparation of sin around the world, predicting a greater war than World War I, which was going on at that time. Unfortunately, not enough listened to her and prayed, and so World War II broke out and claimed the lives of 60 million men. Sin still abounds in the world and seems to be growing and growing. There is still a need for prayer for the reparation of sin. The prayer Mary called for was the Rosary. Even though October, the month of the Rosary, is almost over, Pope Francis urges us to keep praying. “Never put the Rosary aside, but continue to recite it as she asked” (Vatican Radio October 13, 2017).
At Fatima, Mary asked for the daily praying of the Rosary and made the following promise: “I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making preparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the of the beads, and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditation on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary.”
Pope Francis ended his remarks encouraging us to “Go forward in your journey without losing sight of the Mother, like a child who feels safe when close to his mother, we too are safe when we are close to our Lady.”
Fr. Carl
“Do we take as much care of our soul as of our body?”
~Thoughts of the Cure D’Ars
