Our lady of the rosary, Fatima, and the aparitions

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I have been curious about this for awhile and i read about it how Mary appeared to some kids and told them about Russia and war and that God was so offended by us and that so many people were going to hell unless people prayed the rosary. Now please don’t get me wrong but when I read all this It tends to be very intense and the way God is portrayed to me is as a merciful and loving God not a furious and merciless God as the apparition of Mary seems to depict him. If Jesus died on the cross for our sins why would we need to do anymore. How is praying the rosary any better than what Jesus did. is his work of salvation not complete? If I am doing my best to turn from sin because no one is perfect and we all fight with the flesh is this not enough for our merciful God? I don’t know what to think Im getting such mixed messages from this. when I read it I begin to lose hope that I could ever make it to heaven, Like I already have screwed up my chances. do these stories kinda scare anyone else. I feel like it should send me hope but it feels like its doing the opposite for me. Now I can’t speak for everyone but from what I learn about the past we as the human race have come a long way when it comes to being good and loving at least in most places far from perfect yet at least we are not stoned for our mistakes and failings anymore or at least as widely im sure in primitive places people may do that but for the most part we as a group are intolerant of cruelty and horrible punishment and are much more open, caring, and understanding does that not say we are getting better?

what do you think? please help it all make sense to me.

please God speak to me, tell me what I must do? I don’t much like free will 😦

p.s
I mean this with most sincerity and not to offend anyone I purely am asking for help in understanding it. Please do not take any of what is said to heart or offensively because it is not meant to be and especially to God it is truly just a questions I have. I pray that i am not under sin for this.

God bless.
 
If the apparitions trouble you, you don’t have to accecpt them. Or ever even think about them. You don’t have to say the rosary, either. (Although maybe if you knew more about it/had more experience praying it you’d understand its beauty and probable benefit to your faith?)

Some people may be a bad example of true orthodoxy to you…Have you read what the catechism says about these things?
 
I am certainly not offended. 🙂 All Marian Apparitions are private revelations, and all private revelations are just that. The Church teaches that no one at any time must hold that they are true apparitions of Mary or that the contents of the messages are true or necessary for the faith. Even the apparitions which are approved and generally though to be authentic. So if it bothers you, certainly feel free to ignore them. I have to say I share some of your sentiments. My attitude towards all of them, is when I get to heaven (God willing and me too 😉 ), I’ll know what was real and what wasn’t, if it even matters at that point.

The Rosary itself is a private devotion originally developed when many people were illiterate and it provided a way for them to meditate on the gospels. There used to be over 100 mysteries I think. Yes, it can be a great help in you spiritual life, but you are under no obligation to pray it for any reason - even a private revelation - unless it is your desire to pray it. 😛

God Bless,
Rosemary
 
newone said:
furious and merciless God as the apparition of Mary seems to depict him.
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Can you help us better understand why you think these apparitions demonstrate a “furious and merciless” God?

I have never once thought if it that way myself… I would like to better understand why you feel it to be the case.
 
Isn’t it the case in the fatima apparitions that the Theotokos by her prayers is “holding back the hand” of her Son, who is seemingly quite angry and ready to smite? I could be wrong about which specific apparition, but at least one of the approved apparitions speak of her holding back the heavy hand of her Son or some such thing… my guess is that is the sort of image that frightens the OP… 🤷
 
I think that today’s world has tried to do away with the God of the Old Testament. So many people feel that it is ok to sin because they believe that God in His mercy could not possibly condemn them. They refuse to believe in a God who will sadly watch as his children are swept into hell by their own choices. Unfortunately, refusing to believe in Him, does not make Him cease to exist.

In saying that God is all loving and forgiving, it seems that we are giving ourselves license to offend Him, because we presume that He will forgive us.

We have forgotten how He has acted in the past. Read the story of Noah. God destroyed most of what He had made because it offended Him so much. Look at our world today. Tell me how it is different from the days of Noah. I don’t see the same as you - that as a group, humans have ceased intolerable cruelty or inhuman punishments. On the contrary, cruelty and hatred, inhuman and immoral practices have proliferated. People are still stoned to death, hung, beheaded, shot, stabbed, dismembered, eaten, raped and murdered, eviscerated, beaten to death, tortured, they cheat on their spouses, engage in promiscuous and deviant sex practices, they steal, murder, assault, rape, abuse children, on and on; in North America, in Europe, in Africa, in Asia, in South America, in the Middle East.

The God of the New Testament is the same God as the God of the Old Testament. He is eternal and unchanging.

While we may repent and be forgiven, that does not preclude the fact that many still offend him grievously. These offenses anger Him and retribution is inevitable. The apparitions at Fatima and Akita (Akita link 2) tell us that we need to do reparations for sins, that Mary is staying His hand but will not be able to hold back His righteous anger much longer. These may not be our own sins for which we make reparation, but for the sins of others who do not repent, do not try to amend their lives and continue to offend God. Like Abraham who interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, we intercede for them.

Do not lose hope or faith. Even if retribution comes in our lifetime, we should not fear but stand firm in our faith. Even if we die in what is to come, believe in Christ for He is the Way to eternal life. Remain faithful. Read about the martyrs, the early Christians who were killed for their faith for inspiration to persevere even to death, if it is asked of us. Remember, it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. For the Christian, death is not something to be feared.

Praying the Rosary is a way to become Christ-centered, which is why it is promoted. There are other ways but the Rosary is probably the easiest for the most number of people.
 
well I like to pray the rosary and all, I guess what bothers me is just how hearing how Good God is and then hearing something like Mary having to hold him back from punishing us I just get this mixed sense. I do Believe people have gotten better in many ways and yes I am very aware that much wrong is still around and it will never cease because that is part of the balance there can be no good without evil. I guess it just makes me scared to think what God really thinks of me while everyone is saying oh God loves you and all yet hes willing to send you to hell… eternal punishment! um that just seems really cruel. I can’t see how anything we can do is worth eternal punishment except for if we after realizing it decide we would rather take eternal punishment instead of God… so therfore its more of our choice… bu then the question is how harsh is God in his judgment on us. what does it take for us to return to him?
 
newone said:
I have been curious about this for awhile and i read about it how Mary appeared to some kids and told them about Russia and war and that God was so offended by us and that so many people were going to hell unless people prayed the rosary. Now please don’t get me wrong but when I read all this It tends to be very intense and the way God is portrayed to me is as a merciful and loving God not a furious and merciless God as the apparition of Mary seems to depict him. If Jesus died on the cross for our sins why would we need to do anymore. How is praying the rosary any better than what Jesus did. is his work of salvation not complete? If I am doing my best to turn from sin because no one is perfect and we all fight with the flesh is this not enough for our merciful God? I don’t know what to think Im getting such mixed messages from this. when I read it I begin to lose hope that I could ever make it to heaven, Like I already have screwed up my chances. do these stories kinda scare anyone else. I feel like it should send me hope but it feels like its doing the opposite for me. Now I can’t speak for everyone but from what I learn about the past we as the human race have come a long way when it comes to being good and loving at least in most places far from perfect yet at least we are not stoned for our mistakes and failings anymore or at least as widely im sure in primitive places people may do that but for the most part we as a group are intolerant of cruelty and horrible punishment and are much more open, caring, and understanding does that not say we are getting better?

what do you think? please help it all make sense to me.

please God speak to me, tell me what I must do? I don’t much like free will 😦

p.s
I mean this with most sincerity and not to offend anyone I purely am asking for help in understanding it. Please do not take any of what is said to heart or offensively because it is not meant to be and especially to God it is truly just a questions I have. I pray that i am not under sin for this.

God bless.
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**It’s funny that you started this thread. The subject of your post is one of the main reasons why I joined. I wanted to see how other Catholics feel about the Fatima Apparitions? I wasn’t sure how to ask and glad that I saw your post. I actually stumbled upon this website from another website(911 twin towers) which linked this website.

Anyway, back when I was about eight years old, I watched a movie…I believe was called Our Lady Of Fatima or The Miracle of The Sun. I can’t remember the title, but this movie moved me so much that I cried and at that moment of watching the movie I knew and believed that it was true. I never thought about it again until my twenties.

Around in my twenties, on a daily basis to and from work, I would drive by this Catholic church…named “Our Lady Of Faima”. As a result of the movie and remembering, everyday I would drive by this church, I would think to myself, I want to belong to this church. I ended up joining the church, went to RCIA classes and became Catholic. You see I converted. I was raised in the Church of God In Christ.

For the past twenty years, I have been reading and learning about Fatima and the three seers, Lucia, Jacinta and Francesca. I truly believe the message that was bought to Fatima via the Virgin Mary and Jesus. In the past twenty years, I have seen everything that was stated in the apparition messages come true. How can one not believe the Miracle of the Sun? 70,000 witnesses were there to see it and witnessed it.

It is true, the Pope must Consecrate Russia in order for Peace to come to the entire world here on earth. On several occasions, the Pope has consecrated the world, but he fails to say the word “Russia”. The message that was bought to the three seers is that Russia has been chosen by God for the chastisment of sins. Russia is spreading it’s errors thoughout the entire world. War is a punishment for sin. If the Pope, along with the Bishops, Priests etc. do not Consecrate Russia to the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate Heart, many nations are going to be annilihated.

Yes, we must pray the Rosary everyday so that the Pope along with the Vatican etc. may change their heart and come to believe the messages of Fatima and do what Jesus (God), and Mary asks.

**
 
OK, here’s my two cents worth. I don’t post to the Forums often but in this case, Fatima is very dear to my heart. I’ve been there three times and hope to go back this July, taking my husband with me.

One suggestion is to go to a Catholic bookstore and get the memoirs and other writings of Sister Lucia, one of the original seers who died just a couple of years ago. This will help you to put these events into perspective.

When Our Lady comes in an apparition, or a series of apparitions as at Fatima, she does so at God’s request. She does His will in ALL things. When she asks that we pray the Rosary (a truly Christ & Scripture-centered prayer), she does so because she is obeying the will of the Father. He is the one who asks her to come to us at various times.

Yes, she did warn that many people go to hell. However, God doesn’t send them there. If a person feels the smallest iota of sorrow for sin, he accepts the mercy of God and God’s forgiveness. He may go to Purgatory for a time but Heaven is definitely in his future.

If a person is so steeped in sin that he has a real hatred for God and does not have sorrow for sin, he does not want God and what God has to offer. He therefore rejects God and chooses hell.

(Please note that when I say “he,” I do so in the old-fashioned UNIVERSAL sense of the word meaning all of us, regardless of sex.)

When I stand before God in judgment, I will see my life as God sees it, and I will make that ultimate choice - Heaven or hell - myself.

We can pray Rosary after Rosary, but if we do not change our hearts, those Rosaries make no difference. THAT is what Mary was trying to tell us.

In the case of World War II, she told the children that if people didn’t change their ways, an even great war (than World War I) would break out.

She recommended praying the Rosary to obtain peace in the world because how can you pray the Rosary, seriously meditating on those 20 special moments in the life of Christ and Our Lady and NOT be moved to conversion.

If more people had accepted THAT truth - the truth of conversion - the horrors of WWII would have been avoided.

Words, even when prayed, mean nothing if they don’t come from the heart, if they are not sincere.

I am very fortunate to have friends who live in Cova da Iria, just a block from the Shrine and apparition site. They know the locals, those who grew up with the children or knew their families. They have spoken to them, at length, about what happened.

Our Lady came as a gentle mother. And Jesus, Himself, came as a child to Sr. Lucia and asked her to make it her life’s work to promote the message of Fatima, one of prayer, penance and reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of His mother. And what exactly are those particular sins?

ANY SIN.

WHY?

Any sin offends the Son, and the Mother of that Son feels those offences just as we parents experience our own children’s sufferings.

Our Lady spoke about holding back the arm of her Son. God can prevent wars and calamities, if He chooses, but this imperfect world is of man’s own making, not His.

We chose to turn against Him after He created the perfect world. Therefore, as a parent, He allows us to be responsible for the consequences of our actions.

He is not, however, beyond reminding us, encouraging us, even begging us to change our ways and become the holy people He calls us to be. In that sense, He allows His mother to intercede for us.

Read the papers or watch the news. Imagine what horrendous calamities could take place if God punished the world as it truly deserved.

Oh, yes, Our Lady does hold back His arm. Yet, all it takes is one sincere “I’m sorry” to temper His Justice with His Divine Mercy.

Think about it: the fact that Our Lady came to three young children in Portugal in 1917 with a message concerning God’s Justice.

Approximately 15 years later, Jesus came to a simple, uneducated nun in Poland, proclaiming His Mercy. That’s not coincidence, my friends. That is God’s Providence and Design.
 
The Marian Rosary itself is grounded highly in biblical prayers, but, as frequently used, often leads to marian idolatry and/or divine worship of mary as part of the Godhead, both heresy.

Fatima is approved, but not required; if Fatima is dogmatized, I suspect it would send a large number of EC’s (and some RC’s) over to the Eastern Orthodox.

Not that I’m saying the visions were false; no, I believe the visions occurred. I suspect, however, that they may have been mispresented, and definitely are often misinterpreted.

My salvation lies with God, my Savior. Not in the praises of his mother, tho she be praiseworthy.
 
Aramis said:
The Marian Rosary itself is grounded highly in biblical prayers, but, as frequently used, often leads to marian idolatry and/or divine worship of mary as part of the Godhead, both heresy.

Fatima is approved, but not required; if Fatima is dogmatized, I suspect it would send a large number of EC’s (and some RC’s) over to the Eastern Orthodox.

Not that I’m saying the visions were false; no, I believe the visions occurred. I suspect, however, that they may have been mispresented, and definitely are often misinterpreted.

My salvation lies with God, my Savior. Not in the praises of his mother, tho she be praiseworthy.
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This is what I find so very sad. If only people would realize that the messages of Fatima and all true marian apparitions are NOT about the mother, but are meant to bring us and our attention to her Son.

No apparition will ever be “dogmatized.”

A Dogmas is the defining of a truth that has existed since the first centuries of Christianity.

Apparitions are part of private revelation. God allows them to take place to help us understand the truth of Public Revelation (Scripture & Tradition). We are required to accept Public Revelation. We are not required to accept Private Revelation.
 
Aramis said:
The Marian Rosary itself is grounded highly in biblical prayers, but, as frequently used, often leads to marian idolatry and/or divine worship of mary as part of the Godhead, both heresy.

Fatima is approved, but not required; if Fatima is dogmatized, I suspect it would send a large number of EC’s (and some RC’s) over to the Eastern Orthodox.

Not that I’m saying the visions were false; no, I believe the visions occurred. I suspect, however, that they may have been mispresented, and definitely are often misinterpreted.

My salvation lies with God, my Savior. Not in the praises of his mother, tho she be praiseworthy.
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Frankly, no, as frequently used the Rosary leads nowhere to any kind of Mary worship. It’s about as Christocentric a prayer while still venerating Our Lady, as one could imagine, and almost all Latins are nowhere close to that perspective.

Honestly, the veneration of Our Lady in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostum I think could be misrepresented by less theologically profound Christians to trend toward Mariolatry far more than the Rosary could. The Rosary is much less flowery in its praise than the Divine Liturgy.
 
lagin said:
OK, here’s my two cents worth. I don’t post to the Forums often but in this case, Fatima is very dear to my heart. I’ve been there three times and hope to go back this July, taking my husband with me.

One suggestion is to go to a Catholic bookstore and get the memoirs and other writings of Sister Lucia, one of the original seers who died just a couple of years ago. This will help you to put these events into perspective.

When Our Lady comes in an apparition, or a series of apparitions as at Fatima, she does so at God’s request. She does His will in ALL things. When she asks that we pray the Rosary (a truly Christ & Scripture-centered prayer), she does so because she is obeying the will of the Father. He is the one who asks her to come to us at various times.

Yes, she did warn that many people go to hell. However, God doesn’t send them there. If a person feels the smallest iota of sorrow for sin, he accepts the mercy of God and God’s forgiveness. He may go to Purgatory for a time but Heaven is definitely in his future.

If a person is so steeped in sin that he has a real hatred for God and does not have sorrow for sin, he does not want God and what God has to offer. He therefore rejects God and chooses hell.

(Please note that when I say “he,” I do so in the old-fashioned UNIVERSAL sense of the word meaning all of us, regardless of sex.)

When I stand before God in judgment, I will see my life as God sees it, and I will make that ultimate choice - Heaven or hell - myself.

We can pray Rosary after Rosary, but if we do not change our hearts, those Rosaries make no difference. THAT is what Mary was trying to tell us.

In the case of World War II, she told the children that if people didn’t change their ways, an even great war (than World War I) would break out.

She recommended praying the Rosary to obtain peace in the world because how can you pray the Rosary, seriously meditating on those 20 special moments in the life of Christ and Our Lady and NOT be moved to conversion.

If more people had accepted THAT truth - the truth of conversion - the horrors of WWII would have been avoided.

Words, even when prayed, mean nothing if they don’t come from the heart, if they are not sincere.

I am very fortunate to have friends who live in Cova da Iria, just a block from the Shrine and apparition site. They know the locals, those who grew up with the children or knew their families. They have spoken to them, at length, about what happened.

Our Lady came as a gentle mother. And Jesus, Himself, came as a child to Sr. Lucia and asked her to make it her life’s work to promote the message of Fatima, one of prayer, penance and reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of His mother. And what exactly are those particular sins?

ANY SIN.

WHY?

Any sin offends the Son, and the Mother of that Son feels those offences just as we parents experience our own children’s sufferings.

Our Lady spoke about holding back the arm of her Son. God can prevent wars and calamities, if He chooses, but this imperfect world is of man’s own making, not His.

We chose to turn against Him after He created the perfect world. Therefore, as a parent, He allows us to be responsible for the consequences of our actions.

He is not, however, beyond reminding us, encouraging us, even begging us to change our ways and become the holy people He calls us to be. In that sense, He allows His mother to intercede for us.

Read the papers or watch the news. Imagine what horrendous calamities could take place if God punished the world as it truly deserved.

Oh, yes, Our Lady does hold back His arm. Yet, all it takes is one sincere “I’m sorry” to temper His Justice with His Divine Mercy.

Think about it: the fact that Our Lady came to three young children in Portugal in 1917 with a message concerning God’s Justice.

Approximately 15 years later, Jesus came to a simple, uneducated nun in Poland, proclaiming His Mercy. That’s not coincidence, my friends. That is God’s Providence and Design.
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Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for this post lagin…it has cured my terror of the Fatima apparitions. 😃
 
Without treating Fatima specifically, I once heard a very good rule of thumb for evaluating Marian apparitions - “if the vision sounds like the visionary’s father-confessor, it probably is”.

In other words, some of the extremely specific ones (to invent an example: ‘pray a hail mary five times on the third Saturday of the month and afterwards make a confession and communion and I will take you straight to Heaven on the third Saturday after you die.’) probably do not read as the original vision, if it is a legitimate apparition at all, did.

I think this rule is largely a good one. It allows one to draw the line quite aptly between private devotion and eternal truth.
 
Newone:

I think that is a good thing to remember that the measure the Church uses in evaluating private revelation is whether they are an affirmation of the Gospels.

So keep in mind, the message of Fatima is the message of the Gospels.

Yes, there are those that are committing grievous sins. We should arduously pray for their conversion. We should also pray that we will not succumb to temptation-- one of the point’s of the Lord’s prayer.

The point is, the message of Fatima is about praying for those in sin, faith in the Lord, prayer, and sacrifice. The Rosary is a wonderful form of prayer, but one would be foolish to elevate it to the detriment of these central ideas. That would be an attempt to use it in some sort of magical fashion.

The beauty of the Rosary, besides containing the words of Our Lord, the Angel Gabriel. and the Apostles, is that it is a very simple way to contemplate the key events of the Gospels and apply them to our lives. But it has no power outside of a sincere desire to turn away from sin and to grow closer to God.

Scott
 
Hi Newone. I love “Our Lady of Fatima” very much. And I’m going to try to address your questions, as best I can. I am using the booklet “Message of Fatima - Lucia Speaks”, as a guide. Your questions are in no way offensive. I can see that your concern is troubling you, and I would like to attempt to help. If I can’t fit this all, in one response… I will post it in parts.

I.

First, a little bit of history on the Apparitions. The Apparitions at Fatima, began in 1916. The Apparitions of “The Lady of the Rosary” (the name which Our Lady gave to Lucia, at the 6th and final Apparition), were preceded by 3 Apparitions of The Angel of Peace. He also revealed himself, as the Guardian Angel of Portugal. The Apparitions of the Angel, were apparently a preparation for the children, who would later be visited 6 times in the Cova da Iria (where the sheep were grazed) by “The Lady of the Rosary”, in 1917.

The 3 children were Lucia Dos Santos (age 10) and her 2 cousins Francisco (age 9) and Jacinta (age 7) Marto. Francisco and Jacinta, who both died in childhood… have been declared “Blessed” by the Catholic Church; Lucia’s “cause” (for eventual canonization) has just been opened. She died, a Carmelite nun… in 2005, at a very advanced age.

I’m going to refer to certain passages from the booklet I mentioned above.

Your first concern seems to be: “about Russia and war and that God was so offended by us… “

The mention of Russia, occurred July 13, 1917 at the Third Apparition. The Lady had shown the children a vision of hell (…”where the souls of poor sinners go…”) and told them that God wished to establish in the world, devotion the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She said that if this was done, many souls would be saved and there would be peace. World War I was raging, at that time. Our Lady foretold that the war would soon end (as it did); But that if people did not cease offending God… another and worse war, (suggestive of World War II) would break out. She also said that God would punish the world, for its crimes. Her words, in regards to Russia…

“To prevent this, (God punishing the world) I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace… “

I think that this link… will be helpful to you, at this point.

ewtn.com/expert/answers/FatimaConsecration.htm
 
II.

Your next concern… “and that so many people were going to hell unless people prayed the rosary”.

Our Blessed Lady never said people would go to hell, unless they prayed the Rosary. What she did say was this:

“Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war”. (I bet we could end all wars… with faithful recitation of the Rosary). Praying the Rosary is so beautiful, and it takes so little of our time. We can surely give 15-20 minutes a day, to Our Blessed Mother… in exchange for her precious intercession.

Your next concern: “God is portrayed to me is as a merciful and loving God not a furious and merciless God as the apparition of Mary seems to depict him”.

God is certainly merciful and loving. Were He not, we would cease to exist. However, I can’t find anything in the words of Our Lady at Fatima… which portrays God as “furious and merciless”. In fact, quite the opposite. At the final Apparition, which took place on October 13, 1917… the children not only saw Our Blessed Mother (under several different “Titles”). They also saw two visions of Our Lord Jesus, along with St. Joseph. In Lucia’s own words:

“After Our Lady (of Fatima) had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for They traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When a little later this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Dolors. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done…”

If God were “furious and merciless”, would He so tenderly and lovingly have blessed the world? He loves us!

But Our Lord Jesus is also the “Just Judge”. And at the end of time, He will judge us all, sinners and saints. I think the message here, is that while God IS merciful and loving… that doesn’t mean that people can continue living lives of sin. We must repent, and amend our lives.
 
III.

This sort of leads right into your next concern: “If Jesus died on the cross for our sins why would we need to do anymore. How is praying the rosary any better than what Jesus did. is his work of salvation not complete?”

It might be well to remember here, the words of Jesus…

“And He said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

And the words of St. Paul…

“I rejoice now in the sufferings I bear for your sake; and what is lacking of the sufferings of Christ I fill up in my flesh for His body, which is the Church;” (Colossians 1:24)

I think it’s pretty clear, from many places in Sacred Scripture that we must PARTICIPATE in our Salvation (remember, God gave us the gift of Free Will! We can either say “yes” to God… or “no”; Please use it wisely!). Jesus opened the Gates of Heaven for us with His suffering, Death and Resurrection, indeed He did. But that’s not a free ticket IN. We must choose Him. And to do that, we must imitate Him. Our Blessed Mother is the perfect and first Christian Disciple. Personally, I am very grateful to God that the Rosary was given to us… as a “tool” to help us on our way to Heaven. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) used to hold his rosary beads aloft… and proclaim them and the prayers, “his weapon”.

Next, you say… “If I am doing my best to turn from sin because no one is perfect and we all fight with the flesh is this not enough for our merciful God? I don’t know what to think Im getting such mixed messages from this. when I read it I begin to lose hope that I could ever make it to heaven, Like I already have screwed up my chances”

If you’re doing your level best to live a good life, and adhere to God’s commands… I would say you’re not alone. There are many of us, trying to follow that same narrow path. It requires constant effort. But we have so much help (the Rosary, included). I’m just curious. Are you Catholic? Because, if you are… then certainly… you know that we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation for those times when we do “screw up”. God is SO Merciful. Try to get to Confession, as often as possible. And then, receive the Holy Eucharist. If you’re not a Catholic, perhaps you’d be interested in finding out more about the Catholic Church… the Sacraments, etc. You will be SO WELCOME!

members.cox.net/rss1910/blessing.html
 
IIV.

The last thing that you said… “Now I can’t speak for everyone but from what I learn about the past we as the human race have come a long way when it comes to being good and loving at least in most places far from perfect yet at least we are not stoned for our mistakes and failings anymore or at least as widely im sure in primitive places people may do that but for the most part we as a group are intolerant of cruelty and horrible punishment and are much more open, caring, and understanding does that not say we are getting better?”

I think that the human race has made progress, sure. But we still have a very, very long way to go. There is so much evil in the world. Abortion, Euthanasia… just two examples. We are living in the “Culture of Death”, as John Paul II put it. This is why the Rosary and the message of Fatima is so important. Don’t let it frighten you. Instead, take it to heart! Embrace it. Learn to pray the Rosary (you don’t have to be Catholic to pray this prayer… but I would have a Catholic priest, first bless your Rosary beads).

I hope that something I have said, has in some small way… been of help to you. Fatima is a private revelation which has been declared “worthy of belief” by the Church. That doesn’t mean that you MUST believe it, though. Personally… I DO believe that our Merciful God… sent His own dear Mother to us… long ago, in the tiny village of Fatima, Portugal… with a message. To me, it was a message of hope… not one of fear. God bless you. And HAPPY EASTER!
 
The Pope has never mentioned the word “Russia” in any of the Consecration’s to the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate heart. Russia is still spreading it’s errors throughout the entire world. There is no peace in Russia nor in any country to this very day. Once the Pope along with the Bishops, Priests etc. consecrate Russia to the Virgin Mary’s Immaculate heart there will be TRUE peace throughout the entire world. Jesus and the Virgin Mary were very specific in their message to Sister Lucia and the three seers. The Pope must mention the word Russia in the Consecration.
 
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