The apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, between May 13 and October 13, 1917 were a time and place chosen by God.  That very same year, 1917, the Russian Revolution began on March 8, triggered by Karl Marx’s ideas on communism. It was the first communist revolution in history and led to killing on a scale never seen before—over 9 million.

However, God responded at the other end of Europe. The Fatima apparitions began on May 13, 1917, during World War I (1914-1918). At the Cova de Iria — an isolated place of rocks and olive trees, near the village of Fatima in Portugal — a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant then the sun, appeared to three children watching over their sheep: Francesco and Jacinta Marto and their older cousin Lucia dos Santos. The Lady revealed herself as the Mother of God, entrusted with a message for mankind.

Our Lady of Fatima told the children that she would see them on the 13th of every month until October. The last apparition ended with a miraculous spinning of the sun witnessed by tens of thousands.

 

The Morphing of Communism

At Fatima, the Blessed Mother gave us the choice of the fulfillment of her requests or a terrible chastisement if we remained obstinate in our sinful ways. Russia would be the instrument of chastisement.

She warned that Russia “will scatter her errors throughout the world” but “in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” From that moment on, Fatima and Russia have been intertwined.

During a recent talk at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC reported on by Rorate Caeli, Catholic historian and author Roberto de Mattei explained that today’s relativism is a continuation of the evils of communism.  

“The term ‘errors’ is precise: the error is the denial of the truth which is preserved and taught by the Catholic Church,” he said. “Russia’s errors are those of an ideology which opposes the natural and Christian order by denying God, religion, the family and private property. This complex of errors has a name: communism…”

According to Mattei, those in the light nourish themselves on the spirit of Fatima, while the spirit of darkness is manifested under communism, which has morphed into relativism. 

“What is certain is that in the 20th century, there are no other crimes comparable to communism for the temporal space in which it spread, for the territories it embraced, for the quality of hate that it was able to secrete,” he said. “But these crimes are consequences of errors. After the collapse of the Soviet Union these errors were as if released from the wrapping that contained them, to propagate like ideological miasma over the entire West, under the form of cultural and moral relativism.”

Today’s relativism is rooted in the theories of materialism and Marxist evolutionism, Mattei explained, and it denies any spiritual reality. The Fatima prophecy, in which Russia would scatter her errors throughout the world, has been fulfilled, he claimed.  “Nowadays, one feels almost embarrassed to say they are anti-communist,” he said. “This is communism’s great victory: that it is has gone down without shedding a drop of blood, without being put on trial, without an ideological indictment, which would condemn its memory.”

 

Our Lady’s “Peace Plan”  

Our Lady of Fatima asked us for a public and solemn act of the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, done by the Pope, in union with all the bishops of the world, to pray the rosary daily, and the practice of reparatory Communion on the first Saturdays of the month. Lucia, who became a cloistered nun, confirmed that after several attempts that did not follow Our Lady’s instructions, Russia, along with the world, was properly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart on March 25, 1984 by Pope Saint John Paul II.

The Fatima message told us explicitly that the alternative to penance is a terrifying punishment.  The path to salvation was put before us. And if we do what Our Lady asks, she will fulfill her promise that: “In the end my Immaculate Heart would triumph.” 

 

First Five Saturdays 

Our Lady told Sr. Lucia that she promised to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and received Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep her company for a quarter of an hour while mediating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation for sins.”  Everything is to be offered to make reparation for sin.

Fulfilling Our Lady’s requests for the five First Saturdays includes:

1. Receive our Lord in Holy Communion while in the state of grace.
2. Recite five decades of the Rosary.
3. Keep Mary company for at least 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
4. Go to Confession within the month.

Given the accuracy of her predictions, it would be foolhardy not to follow Our Lady of Fatima’s plan for peace.