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"I AM THE LADY OF THE ROSARY… - Our Lady of Fatima, October 13, 1917 The Church says Fatima is worthy of belief.
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DO YOU WANT PEACE IN YOUR SCHOOL?
Do you want peace in your school? The Blessed Mother said at Fatima that until a sufficient number of people give their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary we will not have peace!
How do we give our hearts to Jesus and Mary? Before school each day, say a small prayer to the Holy Spirit, the small consecration prayers to Jesus and Mary, and the morning offering (all available from Shepherds of Christ at no cost). Each time the children enter a classroom, say the consecration and Holy Spirit prayers. This binds the children in one heart with Jesus and Mary and there is less disharmony.1
We live by Mary's Peace Plan given at Fatima. It is as follows:
- Until a sufficient number of people have consecrated their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, we will not have peace in the world.
- Mary has requested all to pray the daily rosary.
- We must observe the Five First Saturdays devotion:
- Communion, confession (within 8 days before or after the Saturday), recital of the rosary, meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the rosary. All this is to be done in a spirit of reparation. - We must make reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.2
MESSAGE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA, OCTOBER 13, 1917
I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day.3
MESSAGE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA, JULY 13, 1917
During this same July apparition, Mary showed the three children a vision of Hell. She told them:
You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish, in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.4
Some seem to think the message of Fatima is no longer relevant to today's world. The words of Pope John Paul II tell us how wrong they are. Referring to a pilgrimage he made in 1982, he says:
"Last week, I myself went on pilgrimage to Portugal, especially to Fatima, in order to give thanks that the mercy of God and the protection of the Mother of Christ had saved my life last year. The message of Fatima is a call to conversion and penance, the first and most basic call of the Gospel. Today, it is more urgent than ever, when evil is threatening us through errors based on denial of God. The message of Fatima puts us on our guard. It also invites us to approach anew the Fountain of Mercy by an act of consecration. Mary wishes us to draw near it: each one of us, each nation, and the whole world. " 5 6
THE ROSARY
In praying the rosary with the bead by bead meditation students learn to love meditating on the lives of Jesus and Mary. The Rosary is a most powerful tool Mary gave to us at Fatima. She said we must pray the rosary. She is the Queen of Peace. Praying the rosary helps the children fight off the evil one. In this age we need to tell our children about what Our Lady said at Fatima about praying the rosary. Mary wants her children to pray it every day for peace in their hearts, in their families, in schools, in churches, and in the world. Mary is the Queen of Peace; she is our Mother. If we want to help our children to find peace we will hear the words of our heavenly Mother.
Even little children enjoy praying the rosary with the Rosary Aves (the bead by bead meditations). One little boy reported how he wanted to be a server because he knew Jesus was really in the Eucharist and he loved Him. Children will love to go to the Eucharist. It is God, truly present. If we want to love, we will be more loving when we receive God in the Eucharist. There is a whole book of rosary meditations that tell children about Jesus and Mary's love for them, the Eucharist, the Mysteries of the Rosary and Mary's message of Fatima. It is available and we wish all to have it to more fully love the rosary and to pray it. There are Stations of the Cross, Seven Sorrows, and beautiful songs including the Rosary Song. Tapes are available of the songs to help children to learn them. They are love songs to Jesus. They are very simple.
We wish to circulate the Rosary Aves and consecration cards to schoolchildren. We wish to give this book and rosaries to schools that children will pray the rosary as Mary requested at Fatima.
Listen to the words of Mary, October 13, 1917:
I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day.7
Rosary meditations and consecration cards are provided free. All materials have the Imprimatur. They are also available on our Internet site: www.SofC.org.
ROSARY-MAKING CLUBS
Making rosaries out of sparkling, colorful plastic beads is a fun year-round activity for all ages. Even five-year-olds can create beautiful ones easily without getting frustrated!
This is wonderful as an in-school, after-school, or at-home project to be coordinated by an adult. When organized as a "club," children spend time at their meetings making rosaries, saying the Rosary, sharing a snack, and enjoying each other socially. Completed rosaries can be donated to fellow students, their families, nursing home residents, and many other individuals. Rosary-making kits (include plastic beads in your choice of colors) are available FREE from the School Rosary Program
Rosaries are given free of charge to schools and churches and people requesting them from Shepherds of Christ Ministries. We would circulate to others rosaries you donate.CONSECRATION CARDS
Mary wants all to give their hearts to Jesus and Mary in consecration. In a message Mary gave to Jacinta before Jacinta died, she said:
Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her.8
If the children pray the consecration prayers from their hearts they are in one mind and one heart in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. They are united to Jesus and Mary and to each other in their hearts. Instead of 30 or 40 different ideas and wills operating in the classroom, the children seriously consecrating their hearts will be united in one mind and one heart, it will help bring peace and harmony to the school and the children's lives. Teachers have reported the best results. Every time children come into the room they can unite with one another using this short prayer with the Imprimatur.
The School Rosary program provides FREE consecration cards for pupils. These prayers are printed on bright index-sized cards, and are written in simple yet beautiful words to help children understand their meaning.
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
Before receiving the six apparitions of Our Lady, May through October of 1917, the three Fatima visionaries were visited by an angel on three different occasions during the preceding year.
In the fall of the same year, the angel visited the visionaries a final time:
The angel came…bearing a golden chalice in one hand and a Host above it in the other. The amazed children noticed that drops of blood were falling from the Host into the chalice. Presently, the angel left both suspended in mid-air and prostrated himself on the ground saying this beautiful prayer: "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 tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and [the intercession of] the Immaculate Hear of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners" 9
It is immensely powerful to pray before the Blessed Sacrament.
It is hoped that by making time for Eucharistic Adoration early in life, many of these children will continue to worship God this way when they become adults. This grade school program can be easily adapted for high school use.
BROWN SCAPULAR PROGRAM
A great sign of our consecration to the Immaculate Heart is the wearing of the Brown Scapular. Sister Lucia has said that all Catholics should wear the Brown Scapular as part of the Fatima message. She said, The Rosary and the Scapular are inseparable…In 1251, when she [Mary] gave the Scapular to St. Simon Stock and thereby to the world, the Queen of Heaven stated: Whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire. Wearing the Scapular serves as a constant reminder of one's personal consecration to Mary and of the necessity of imitating her virtues and heeding her requests." Only priests properly authorized can validly enroll one in the Brown Scapular.10
JUNIOR SHEPHERDS OF CHRIST
In this popular program young people in grades 6 through 12 come together to pray for priests and the renewal of the Church and the world and to consecrate their hearts to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Through weekly meetings, they help each other grow in their faith and love of God. They realize they’re not alone in their struggles, as God is always by their side guiding and loving them.
Typically Junior Shepherds of Christ meetings start out with a visit to a chapel or church where the students pray the Rosary and the Shepherds of Christ Prayers together. Afterwards, they continue socializing by going to a participant’s home or another fun yet appropriate place for youth.
A parent or teacher should help; a priest can help sometimes.
OUR LADY OF FATIMA PILGRIM VIRGIN STATUE PROGRAM
Statues of Our Lady of Fatima can be purchased from the Shepherds of Christ Movement at reasonable prices. Likewise, the video The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima. All materials distributed for school children should have the Imprimatur. The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima video was produced by Warner Brothers and can be ordered from most religious bookstores.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Children will be better prepared during Lent praying the Stations of the Cross. Materials to help in this are available from Shepherds of Christ Ministries. In meditating on Jesus' passion they will know more His great love for us. A separate sheet concerning the First Saturday Devotion is also available.
For more information about the School Rosary Program and obtaining FREE materials, contact:
Shepherds of Christ Ministries
P.O. Box 193
Morrow, OH 45152
Telephone: (513) 932-4451
Toll Free: (888) 211-3041
FAX: (513) 932-6791
Internet: www.SofC.org
Notes:
- Apostle's Manual, Shepherds of Christ Publications, 1997, p. 265.
- Rita Ring, Mass Book, Shepherds of Christ Publications, 1997, p. 41.
- Rev. Edward Carter, S.J., The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, Shepherds of Christ Publications, Morrow OH, 1994, p. 16.
- Ibid., p. 14.
- Pope John Paul II, as quoted in Arthur Collin, Totus Tuus: John Paul's Program of Marian Consecration and Entrustment (Libertyville: Academy of the Immaculate, 1992), p. 177.
- The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, op. cit., pp. 18-19.
- The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, op. cit., p. 16.
- The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, op. cit., p. 18.
- The Spirituality of Fatima and Medjugorje, op. cit., pp. 8-9.
- Rev. Edward Carter, S.J., Mother At Our Side, Shepherds of Christ Publications, Morrow OH, 1993, pp. 21-22.