Fatima and Hell
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
November is not just the month of the Holy Souls, it is also the end of the Liturgical Year, reminding us each year of our last ends. “In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin” (Ecclus 7:40). Isn’t it what we hear at Fatima? Our Lady’s most pressing message is to ensure that as many souls as possible will make it to heaven, will save their soul and thus avoid hell.
Just as the reality of hell was Our Lord’s second most common topic after that of the Kingdom of Heaven (Our Lord makes reference to hell directly or indirectly about 72 times in the Gospels), in the story of Fatima, it also holds a prominent place. Let us look at it carefully.
Firstly, we have the vision of hell, of July 13. “Our Lady explained: ‘You have seen hell — where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wants to establish throughout the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart.’ ”
Secondly, at the end of this same third apparition, Our Lady taught the children to add at the end of each decade of the Rosary: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need.”
Thirdly, by asking for the Five First Saturday Devotion, Our Lady promises her help with all the graces needed to get to heaven and thus to avoid hell: “You, at least, try to console Me, and announce in My Name that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep Me company for fifteen minutes meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to Me.’”
Fourthly, we know that for Lucia, the aspect of the apparitions that struck her most and prompted her to the heroic practice of virtue was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for Francisco it was the sadness of God and for the little Jacinta it was the vision of hell and of all the souls falling into it. During her last illness, she made many confidences, especially to Mother Godinho, evoking many aspects of the Secret: prophecies of war and chastisements, obsessive thought of hell, the need for reparation…
All these elements of the mystery of Fatima which came into light especially with the Memoirs of Sr. Lucy in the early 1940's were a providential preparation for the growing apostasy that would follow Vatican II in the 1960's. What a contrast between that aspect of Fatima on the gravity of salvation and the risk of eternal damnation – which are basic Christian doctrines -- and the tragedy of the pernicious doctrine of universal salvation which has permeated the Church in the last fifty years in so many ways?
When one reads Pope John Paul II, in his book “Crossing the Threshold of Hope”, asking the journalist how can someone be damned forever when we hear St Paul speaking of God’s will to save all men, one wonders if that pope did himself believe in hell. When one hears the present pope giving atheists a chance to go to heaven, and justifying the sin of adultery, one asks if they have ever read St Paul who excludes from the kingdom of God those who commit such sins…
At every holy mass, just before the consecration, there is a mention of hell. We find this in the Hanc Igitur: “command that we be rescued from eternal damnation and numbered in the flock of Thine elect”. That is truly the principle and foundation of all our faith: we have one soul, and must strive with all our might to save it, otherwise we will lose it for all eternity. “What a man shall sow, that he shall reap.” (Gal. 6:7)
This is where our heavenly Mother, Our Lady of Fatima, comes to our help. With a reminder of what is at stake – our eternity -- ; with the means to obtain it – the rosary, the Five First Saturdays, devotion to Her Immaculate Heart -- ; she shows us the goal and the way to reach that goal.
News from the District:
- September 28, 2016: Alexander Kubishesky from St Catharines, Ontario, received the habit of the brothers of SSPX in Flavigny, France.
- October 8-9 Journées Québécoises du Christ-Roi, at Sandman Hotel, Longueuil, near Montréal, QC. This was our second Congress in honour of Christ the King. This was a beautiful success, with about 100 people in attendance
- Month of All Souls: Do not forget to hand in to your priests your list of departed which we will put on the altar during the whole month of November. You may add an alms for the holy souls with the list.
- November 7-11 Annual Priests’ Meeting in Saint Cesaire, QC. We recommend this meeting to your prayers
- Nov. 18-26 Confirmation circuit across Canada by Bishop de Galarreta
- February 15-20, 2017 : XIth Rosa Mystica Medical Mission in the Philippines. They are in need of doctors and nurses for this wonderful week of charity (3,000 patients in one week!) You can read various previous reports on the Mission’s blog www.rosamysticamission.blogspot.com . Those interested should write to me with their C.V.at [email protected]
- August 15-27, 2017 Canadian District Fatima Pilgrimage. Contact District office for details.
All for the glory of God and for the triumph of His Immaculate Mother.
Fr. Daniel Couture
District Superior
