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Our Lady of Fatima - Portugal - Part II

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Published: 16Jan2010
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During this time Lucia and her cousins tended sheep in back of Lucy's house, near the well. It was here that the Angel came to them a second time. It was the lunch hour. All the sheep had been put away to protect them from the hot sun. The children were sitting under some trees near the well. The angel did not make an entrance the way he had the first time. One moment, they were alone; the next, he was there. His manner was one of impatience.

"What are you doing?" he said. "Pray! Pray! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. Offer your prayers and sacrifices to the Most High."

Lucy asked him "How are we to make sacrifices?"

The Angel responded "In every way you can, offer a sacrifice to the Lord, in reparation for the sins by which He is offended and in supplication for sinners. Thus you will bring peace to our country. I am its Guardian Angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with patience the sufferings which the Lord will send you."

The Lord gave the children very important messages through the Angel. For one thing, it was determined that they would be sacrificial lambs. They were required to suffer and do penance for the sins of many others. When the Angel asked them to "above all, accept and bear with patience the sufferings which the Lord will send you", the message was reminiscent of that given to Bernadette at Lourdes, when Our Lady told her "I cannot promise you happiness in this world, but in the next".

In another part of his message to the children, he told them "In every way you can, offer a sacrifice to the Lord.... in supplication for sinners." We can't help thinking of "The Little Way" of St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower. She never did anything spectacular in the world. When she died, nuns in her own community didn't know who she was. But in her life story, "Autobiography of a Soul", she tells us that everything she did, every little thing, she offered as a sacrifice to Jesus for the conversion of sinners.

It was after this second apparition by the Angel that we learn that Francisco had never heard the words of the Heavenly visitor. As in the previous vision, the children were completely stunned by what had happened. They couldn't talk about it. Francisco had a burning desire to know what had been said. First he asked Lucia. She was not able to talk. She told him to wait until the next day, or ask his sister, Jacinta. Francisco went to his sister. She, too, was unable to put into words how the Lord had touched her in the deep recesses of her soul. She told him to wait until the next day.

The next day, Lucia told him what the Angel had said in both apparitions. He didn't understand all the big words that were used. Lucia explained their meaning as best she could. His tiny heart was filled with love of Jesus and the Angel. He thought of nothing but the Angel and his visit.

From that time on, the children prayed all the time. They found themselves shying away from the other children of the village. They had been just like the others before the Angel's apparition. Now, their entire beings were taken up with matters of the spirit.

In the Autumn of 1916, the Angel of Peace, Blessed Michael the Archangel, visited the children once more, in a most dramatic way. They were at the Loca de Cabeco again, caring for their sheep. Suddenly, he appeared above them, holding a Host in one hand, and a Chalice in the other. Drops of Blood fell from the Host into the Chalice. He looked at them with an expression that was gentle, yet serious. This was a very important visit.

The Angel prostrated himself on the ground, leaving the Host and Chalice suspended in mid-air. He began to pray.

"MOST HOLY TRINITY, FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST, I ADORE YOU PROFOUNDLY AND I OFFER YOU THE MOST PRECIOUS BODY, BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY OF JESUS CHRIST, PRESENT IN ALL THE TABERNACLES OF THE WORLD, IN REPARATION FOR THE OUTRAGES, SACRILEGES AND INDIFFERENCE BY WHICH HE IS OFFENDED. AND BY THE INFINITE MERITS OF HIS MOST SACRED HEART AND THROUGH THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, I BEG THE CONVERSION OF POOR SINNERS"

He remained in the prostrate position for a time; then rising, he took the Host and Chalice into his hands. He gave the Host to the older of the three, Lucia, and the Blood of Our Lord Jesus to Francisco and Jacinta. As they drank from the Chalice, he said "Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God."

After this, the Angel prostrated himself on the ground once more, and repeated the prayer he had said to the Trinity at the beginning of the Apparition. The children prostrated themselves, and prayed with him. Then the Angel rose, and looked at the children. They could feel a tingling inside of them. They were not sure if it was be-cause of the unwavering stare of the Angel, or the burning of the Eucharist they had received inside their bodies.

After what seemed an eternity, but was actually a matter of seconds, the Angel slowly disappeared. The wind whistled through the Loca de Cabeco. It was beginning to get cold, but the children could not feel it. They were flushed by the Eucharist inside them and the Angel's presence. They stared for a long time into space. They could not speak.

We have to stop here again to try to understand the full impact of what the Angel was saying in his prayer, and what was really happening. We mentioned that in his first two apparitions, he prayed regarding "those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love You." In this apparition, He used words such as "outrages, sacrileges and indifference". The Lord was angry. Mankind was on the verge of The Lord's Wrath. He had reached the proverbial "Last Straw" with us. Tribulation was on its way.

Bob and Penny Lord are renowned Catholic authors and television hosts on EWTN, Global Catholic television. They are prolific writers about the Catholic faith, especially the Saints for which they have been dubbed "experts on the Saints." For more information about Our Lady of Fatima go to http://www.bobandpennylord.com/yg52.htm

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