The Grace of God Shall Be Your Consolation
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Director: Fr. Luciano Guerra * Proprietor: Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima (Portugal) * Quarterly publication * Year IV * Nr. 13 * 2007/05/13 May 13, 1917 The grace of God shall be your consolation “The grace of God shall be your con- “(…) – Do you wish to offer your- solation”. These words, uttered by the selves to God to endure all the sufferings Mother of God and addressed to the Little He may choose to send to you, in repara- tion for the sins with which He is offended Shepherds of Fátima precisely 90 years and in supplication for the conversion of ago, show the great love for the Three sinners? Seers of Fátima, which is later refl ected - Yes, we do. in the immense love of God, the Merci- - You are going, then, to suffer much, but the grace of God shall be your conso- ful Love of the Lord for all mankind. lation. The light which radiated from the When She pronounced these words hands of Mary towards the whole world (the grace of God, etc.) it was then that make us feel – all of us here at the Shrine She fi rst opened Her hands, thus transmit- of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, ting to us a light so intense (sort of a refl ex of light emanating from them) that pen- Portugal – in heart and soul, this con- etrated our chests and the innermost part nection with all the places of devotion to of our souls and made us see ourselves in Our Lady. A union in faith, in the Risen God, Who actually was that light, more Lord and in His Blessed Mother. clearly than we see ourselves in a mirror. Then, moved by an inner impulse also It is with great joy that, on this so spe- communicated to us, we fell on our knees cial day, 90 years after the fi rst appari- and repeated interiorly: tion of Our Lady in this blessed land, we -Most Holy Trinity, I adore You. My send a special salutation to all places and God, My God, I love You in the Blessed all devout friends of Our Lady of Fátima Sacrament. After these fi rst moments, Our Lady in all the four corners of the world. May added: - Pray the Rosary every day, in or- the grace of God be always your conso- der to obtain peace for the world and the lation. end of the war. (…)” GOD IS MERCIFUL LOVE His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Sodano in Fátima as Pontifi cal Legate Welcome, Your Eminence, for yourself and for whom you tifi cal Legate to the solemn celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the represent! In this international anniversary pilgrimage, in which we Apparitions of Our Lady in Fátima, on the coming 13th of May”. celebrate God’s Merciful Love, Which, 90 years ago, sent to Fátima This news was welcomed with much joy in the Diocese and in the His and our Mother in order to transmit to the world a message of Shrine. “It is a gesture of particular meaning, signaling that the Pope peace, we have the pleasure of having with us His Eminence Angelo wants to impart solemnity to the celebrations, wants to somehow be Cardinal Sodano, who presides over the celebrations as Pontifi cal part of the 13th of May”, Bishop António Marto, of Leiria-Fátima, Legate, that is, he is in Fátima said to the journalists. representing Holy Father Bene- Cardinal Sodano, Secretary of State Emeritus of the Vatican, is dict XVI. currently connected with three Congregations of the Roman Cu- On March 30, the Bishop of ria: for the Doctrine of Faith, for the Eastern Churches and for the the Diocese of Leiria-Fátima re- Bishops. He will be in Fátima for the second time, the fi rst being in ceived from the Apostolic Nuncio 2000, when he accompanied Pope John Paul II in his third and last in Portugal, Msgr. Alfi o Rapisar- visit to Fátima on May 13th of that year, still as acting Secretary of da, a fax message, informing him State of the Vatican. At that time, at the end of Mass on the 13th, after that “on behalf of the Secretariat the beatifi cation of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Cardinal Sodano of State of His Holiness”, he was announced, in a summary way, at the behest of John Paul II, the “honored and pleased to inform meaning of what was contained in ‘the third part’ of the Secret of Your Excellency that Holy Fa- Fátima. ther Benedict XVI thought it ap- In that same fax of March 30, Msgr. Alfi o Rapisarda also passes propriate to name His Eminence on the information that the “Holy Father also intends to name a Pon- Angelo Cardinal Sodano, dean of tifi cal Legate to the celebrations planned for the coming 12/13th of the College of Cardinals, as Pon- October in Fátima”. 2 2007/05/13 Catholic University renews consecration to Virgin Mary Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) its price”, he said, emphasizing that for the brought to the Shrine of Fátima, on March Christian “the meaning of his life is decid- 23, approximately two thousand people. ed in God” and that, therefore, “Christians Represented were professors, students and are different in the judgment they make of alumni and also the staff personnel of the life and history”. institution which commemorates this year At the end of Mass, all present, at one 40 years of existence. voice and facing the image of Our Lady, “The fi rst purpose of this pilgrimage is consecrated themselves to Our Lady of to come and thank the Virgin Mary for all Fátima, on their own personal behalf and the help received from Her throughout our on behalf of Portuguese Catholic Univer- existence and to ask Her for continued as- sity. sistance in this project”, stated, after Mass, “Help us to consider intelligence a ser- the Rector of UCP, Prof. Manuel Braga da vice, both humble and precious, to Truth, Cruz, who also underlined “the hope and and science as a permanent willingness to enormous faith in Our Lady of Fátima refl ect it on others and to approach it, see- shown in this pilgrimage”. ing in it the ultimate measure of every thing. His Eminence José da Cruz Cardinal said, after the initial greeting, that “the best (…) Lady of Fátima, we wish to place be- Policarpo, Patriarch of Lisbon and Chan- way to please God and Mary is to prepare fore You our prayer of thanks for all the cellor of UCP, presided at Mass, celebrated ourselves for Easter through conversion”. gifts received during these forty years of in the Little Chapel of Apparitions and con- During the homily, the Patriarch of Lisbon, existence of the Catholic University”, reads celebrated by twenty-fi ve priests, most of refl ecting on the readings, explained what somewhere the text of the prayer, where them connected with the Catholic Univer- is the difference between being Christian the gratitude to Our Lady and the hope of sity. The hymns were sung by the choir of and being impious. being able to keep on counting on divine the Seminaries of Lisbon. “The impious doesn’t understand that help, specially to reach human excellence, Since it was Lent, Cardinal Policarpo God protects the just and that holiness has are emphasized. New Bishop of São Tomé and Príncipe ordained in Fátima On the morning of February 17, Fr. Pastoral Center, in the Shrine of Fátima, Manuel António Mendes dos Santos, was witnessed by more than two thousand named for São Tomé and Príncipe, people. was ordained bishop. The bishop pre- During the homily, Cardinal Saraiva siding at the ordination was His Emi- Martins explained the three functions of the nence José Cardinal Saraiva Martins. bishop – to teach, govern and sanctify – and Msgr. Giovanni Angelo Becciu, asked Bishop Manuel António dos Santos Apostolic Nuncio in Luanda (An- to work “for the good of the Church, spe- gola), and Msgr. Damião António cially of the Church of São Tomé and Prín- Franklin, Archbishop of Luanda and cipe, where the Missionaries of the Heart of president of the Bishops Conference Mary have dedicated themselves, already for of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe, eight decades, to the evangelization of this were the other two ordaining bishops. people”. At the ordination there were present Another characteristic “extremely impor- almost all the Portuguese bishops, in- tant in the work of the bishop”, underlined cluding the president of the Bishops by Cardinal Saraiva Martins, is the mission- Conference of Portugal, and dozens ary aspect. “A church which didn’t feel mis- of priests. The ordination of the new sionary, apostolic and evangelizer wouldn’t Bishop of São Tomé, held in Paul VI be the Church of Christ”, he said. Solidarity of Portuguese Children Children’s National Pilgrimage, one of the most expressive were also invited to gather used print- pilgrimages held in the Shrine of Fátima, will take place, as er inkstands and radiographs to turn usual, on June 9/10, with a peculiarity this year: it makes part them into money that will be donated of the commemorative activities of the 90th anniversary of the to poor children, thus showing soli- Apparitions of Our Lady in Fátima. darity with them. In letter sent to catechists and parish priests of Portugal, “We are convinced that, with this children were invited to say the Rosary or part of it daily, spe- proposal, we are promoting the edu- cially during the month of May, in groups if possible, for the cation of children not only in what intentions presented to the three little shepherds by Our Lady.