From a certain point of view, the contemporary era is one of mysteries. The Second World War, for example, was a war of mysteries. No war has been so shrouded in mysteries than WWII. To cite only two examples:
How can the fall of France to Germany be explained? France had built the supposedly impregnable Maginot Line, which was a kind of Chinese Wall to protect itself from any German invasion. Why didn’t the French people, one of the most intelligent and courageous peoples in the world, protect their borders with Belgium? But they did not, and the Germans invaded France from there. It is even more difficult to explain given that the Germans had already invaded France in WWI in exactly the same way, through Belgium.
Another mystery surrounds the capture of Rudolph Hess on his way to Scotland. Hess was a Deputy Führer and considered the heir to Hitler. At a certain moment, the news reported that he was in a small plane flying over England and Scotland, the plane crashed, he parachuted out, and broke his leg on landing. Since he could not walk, he was captured. What was a man of the importance of Hess doing on such a dangerous flight, unprotected, at a time when England and Germany were at war? A mystery.
Another mystery of our era regards the Fatima message. At Fatima in 1917 Our Lady confided a secret message to Sister Lucy to be revealed to the world at a certain prescribed time. This secret message was linked to a public one, which she gave the three young seers. She confided the secret to Lucy, who was supposed to reveal it or give to others to reveal at a certain moment. It is a prodigiously important mission, to have a message from Our Lady. Our Lady wanted to warn mankind about some very important things. This was the reason for the secret.
Our Lady left one of the seers on earth to be in charge of this secret and either speak out at the proper moment and make it known, or tell someone in authority that the moment to reveal it had arrived. I have never heard of anything like this in the 20 centuries of the History of the Church. A person received a message from Our Lady in 1917, and until today, 1977, 60 years later, the secret has not been revealed.
During these 60 years, the decadence in customs predicted by Our Lady in Fatima has risen to an unimaginable degree. The Communism foreseen by Our Lady took power in Russia and spread throughout the world. And this enigmatic messenger has remained quiet. On one occasion, she did have some words to say. It was when a remarkable display of aureole borealis was visible across Europe in 1938, a year before World War II began. When this occurred, Sister Lucy from her cloister in Spain spoke out and said that this was the sign given by God that a chastisement of mankind was imminent. Then, afterwards, again she was quiet. Time is passing, world events have reached a crucial stage, but she remains silent. It is a mystery hanging over the secret.
What we can realize is that a message with these special conditions must be a very important one, a key-revelation of human history.
Can one at least conjecture the content of this message? Nothing forbids one from doing so. There are certain indications that lead one to conclude that this secret is an addendum to the revelations of Fatima that are already known. Both messages were given on the same occasion, by the same person to the same person. Also, several parts of the known message of Fatima are not entirely clear and seem to require further explanation. Now then, a confidential addendum to a known message normally addresses the same topic. Someone who writes a letter and adds a post-scriptum usually touches on some aspect of the letter’s topic. The unity of the revelation of Our Lady induces one to suppose that this would be the case with regard to the message she gave.
These are the topics addressed in the known message: an enormous sin committed by mankind that becomes increasingly worse; a chastisement being prepared for that sin. She foretold that if mankind would convert, then “Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, Russia shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecution of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”
We can see that Russia plays a decisive role in the message. It brings either the reward or the chastisement for mankind. Therefore, this part leads one to think that the secret also relates in some way to Russia and its errors, that is, Communism. You can see that there is a mystery about Russia. One could suppose the secret would give a word of clarification on it.
The progressivists and revolutionaries do not like to speak about Fatima. Almost no progressivist priest gives a sermon on Fatima. There is a kind of tacit prohibition to speak about it. It seems they suspect that something in the secret would oppose their movement. Do they know the secret?
It is currently said that the secret is given to each new Pope to read. So, the Pope knows it, and also has the right to reveal it to anyone he chooses. To whom would Paul VI possibly have given the secret to read? We can easily conjecture that it would not be to anyone on the right. He probably revealed it to elements of the left. So, one can suppose that Progressivism knows about it and does not want to speak about it.
What we have, then, is this situation: Our Lady wants the secret to be revealed; her enemies want to keep it hidden. Why does Our Lady permit her adversaries to contradict her will? A mere glance from her would suffice, and all the devils would flee in terror. An Angel could appear to Sister Lucy and open the door of her convent like the Angel that opened the door of the prison of St. Peter, and order her: “Leave this place and announce the secret.” Why doesn't Our Lady exercise her power over the Devil? Why doesn’t God send an Angel to liberate Sister Lucy? Here we have another mystery. There is a mysterious design of God whereby He allows the Devil to obscure the light of Fatima.
It is an invitation for the sons and daughters of Our Lady to try to understand the secret by a reasonable analysis. This is what we are doing here.
Let me go a step further. The reason for a secret to be held back with this extraordinary care must be that it is extraordinarily harmful to the enemy. What secret could be so damaging to the enemy? What things, if said in 1917, could be harmful for the Church, and if said today, could cause the defeat of the enemies of the Church? The answer to this question can shed light on the secret’s content.
In 1917 Our Lady could have told Lucy to reveal the secret at that time. But she did not, because this would have damaged the Church. So, in the secret is something that was harmful to the good then, and is harmful to the evil today. What would that be?
A probable answer to this question could be the decadence that has entered the Catholic Hierarchy today as a chastisement of mankind. If this situation would have been revealed in 1917, it would have caused scandal and countless apostasies. But if it were revealed now, it could certainly damage Progressivism.
Imagine if this were the secret:
“My children, in the near future a time will come when a weakened and disoriented Communism will lose its influence over public opinion, but it will be supported and re-installed by the Pope, Cardinals, countless Bishops, priests, and religious men and women. You must resist them! To fight for the Papacy and the Hierarchy is to fight against the bad orientation they are giving the Church.”
This could be the secret.
Isn’t it true that this could produce an extremely healthy reaction among Catholics and in Russia that could change the situation? I certainly think so.
How will the secret be revealed? Will Sister Lucy be the necessary messenger to reveal the secret? These are other mysteries. Our Lady told Jacinta that Sister Lucy would go to Heaven. I do not know if she has to reveal the secret, or if the secret could be revealed by another source. At any rate, her existence is extremely valuable to prevent a false secret from being presented as the true one. I think the enemies could very well invent a false secret. The only guarantee we have for this not to happen is her witness.
Some time ago during Paul VI’s pontificate, a news item reported that a thief entered the Vatican and stole, among other things, the sealed envelope that contained the secret of Fatima from the special room where it was kept. As far as I know, the report was never denied. So it can be that the secret is no longer with Sister Lucy but somewhere else, with this thief. If this is true, then Our Lady can find a way for this envelope to be found and opened. This could be the atomic bomb of Our Lady. She would be reserving it to drop on the public at a certain moment. We should ask her to use this weapon she has held in reserve for so long.
In one of his famous dreams, St. John Bosco saw the enemy entering the Vatican; the Pope, followed by a multitude of Bishops, priests, religious men and women were leaving the Vatican, immersed in a cloud of smoke that became increasingly dense. The Pope was acting like a mad man in the dense fog of smoke. Then, an Angel appeared and spoke to the Pope, advising him to fight against the invading enemy. The Pope followed the counsel and returned to the Vatican. The smoke disappeared, and the enemy was defeated.
One is induced to ask if this dream has a symbolic sense. Does it represent a Pope who abandons the Catholic cause, and the Church that enters a period of confusion and obscurity?
The question is: Is the secret of Fatima related to such a situation? If it is, then instead of a policy of flight and conciliation, shouldn’t the Vatican adopt a strategy of a strong fight against the enemies of the Church who are within?
You can see how the dream of St. John Bosco and the secret of Fatima may be harmoniously linked.
I end these comments on the mystery of Fatima by suggesting that you pray to Our Lady to find a way to reveal her secret.
Isidore has become the patron of farmers and rural communities. In particular, he is the patron of Madrid, Spain, and of the United States National Rural Life Conference.
When he was barely old enough to wield a hoe, Isidore entered the service of John de Vergas, a wealthy landowner from Madrid, and worked faithfully on his estate outside the city for the rest of his life. He married a young woman as simple and upright as himself who also became a saint—Maria de la Cabeza. They had one son, who died as a child.
Isidore had deep religious instincts. He rose early in the morning to go to church and spent many a holiday devoutly visiting the churches of Madrid and surrounding areas. All day long, as he walked behind the plow, he communed with God. His devotion, one might say, became a problem, for his fellow workers sometimes complained that he often showed up late because of lingering in church too long.
He was known for his love of the poor, and there are accounts of Isidore’s supplying them miraculously with food. He had a great concern for the proper treatment of animals.
He died May 15, 1130, and was declared a saint in 1622, with Saints Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, and Philip Neri. Together, the group is known in Spain as “the five saints.”
Antonio was born at Florence in 1389 to noble parents of high standing. The name Antoninus, Little Anthony, was the affectionate nickname given him by his fellow citizens because of his short stature.
From early childhood, he applied himself to learning and study, and was known for his keen intelligence and piety. Influenced by the sermons of Blessed John Dominic, a great Italian religious reformer of the period, Antoninus applied for admission to the Dominican Order at age 15, and was accepted a year later. With Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolommeo, the one to become famous as a painter, the other as a miniaturist, he was sent to Cortona to make his novitiate under Blessed Lawrence of Ripafratta.
Later he was elected the Dominican Superior of Tuscany and Naples, where he zealously applied the reforms of his mentor. In 1445, when Pope Eugene IV was seeking an Archbishop for Florence, Fra Angelico, who was a friend of the Pope, suggested St. Antoninus. The Pope named him Archbishop of Florence and he entered the city in great pomp, as was the custom.
He strove energetically to wipe out public scandals and remedy the many abuses in his Diocese. Prince Cosimo de Medici used to say that everything good that the city had was due to the prayers of its holy Archbishop. He was called by Eugene IV to assist him in his dying hours. He was also frequently consulted by Pope Nicholas V on questions of Church and State.
James, Son of Alphaeus: We know nothing of this man except his name, and, of course, the fact that Jesus chose him to be one of the 12 pillars of the New Israel, his Church. He is not the James of Acts, son of Clopas, “brother” of Jesus and later bishop of Jerusalem and the traditional author of the Letter of James. James, son of Alphaeus, is also known as James the Lesser to avoid confusing him with James the son of Zebedee, also an apostle and known as James the Greater.
Philip: Philip came from the same town as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida in Galilee. Jesus called him directly, whereupon he sought out Nathanael and told him of the “one about whom Moses wrote” (Jn 1:45).
Like the other apostles, Philip took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was. On one occasion, when Jesus saw the great multitude following him and wanted to give them food, he asked Philip where they should buy bread for the people to eat. Saint John comments, “[Jesus] said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do” (Jn 6:6). Philip answered, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit]” (Jn 6:7).
John’s story is not a put-down of Philip. It was simply necessary for these men who were to be the foundation stones of the Church to see the clear distinction between humanity’s total helplessness apart from God and the human ability to be a bearer of divine power by God’s gift.
On another occasion, we can almost hear the exasperation in Jesus’s voice. After Thomas had complained that they did not know where Jesus was going, Jesus said, “I am the way … If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him” (Jn 14:6a, 7). Then Philip said, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (Jn 14:8). Enough! Jesus answered, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9a).
Possibly because Philip bore a Greek name or because he was thought to be close to Jesus, some gentile proselytes came to him and asked him to introduce them to Jesus. Philip went to Andrew, and Andrew went to Jesus. Jesus’s reply in John’s Gospel is indirect; Jesus says that now his “hour” has come, that in a short time he will give his life for Jew and gentile alike.
