January 2026 - Newsletter Live
World Apostolate of Fatima England and Wales
January 2025 Newsletter
Featured this month: 33 days of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear Readers,
Welcome to Our First Newsletter of 2026
As we step together into a new year filled with promise, hope, and renewed purpose, we give thanks to God for the blessings of the past year and the grace that leads us forward into 2026. The turning of the calendar invites us not only to reflect, but also to recommit ourselves to living the Gospel with joy and courage.
In this first edition of the year, we celebrate the light of Christ that continues to shine in our communities, as we consecrate our families to the Holy Family. May this newsletter be a companion on your journey, offering inspiration, spiritual nourishment, and stories of faith that remind us that God is always at work in our midst. ๏ปฟ
JANUARY - THE HOLY FAMILY & CONSECRATION
The Consecration to the Holy Family is a devotion in which we entrust our homes to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, asking for their protection and guidance. It invites our families to grow in holiness and unity by following the example of the Holy Family
For this coming new year, find out more on how to make this consecration as a family... Read the article
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
MESSAGE FROM OUR NATIONAL PRESIDENT
LIST OF 2026 CATHEDRAL VISITS
NEW / RECOMMENDED RESOURCES: 33 Days of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary
FIRST FIVE SATURDAY DEVOTION
VOLUNTEERS
MESSAGE FROM OUR NATIONAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
FATIMA NOTICE BOARD
PLEDGE MEMBER FEEDBACK
THE FINAL BATTLE: THE PROPHECY OF THE FINAL BATTLE
FATIMA GLOBAL NEWS FEATURE: VATICAN GRANTS PONTEVEDRA JUBILEE YEAR ๏ปฟ
EVENTS / VISITATION
News updates from Patrick Cunningham
Dear Members
As we step into the New Year, we are filled with anticipation as we continue the celebration of the Centenary Year of Our Lady's request for the First Five Saturdays at Pontevedra (1925-2025).
Our 2026 Pilgrimage: The 12 Cathedral Visits
Our pilgrimage of hope will continue with 12 further Cathedral Visits planned throughout England and Wales this year. Read more about our 2026 visitations here.
We sincerely hope you will be able to join us in making this profound series of visits a spiritual success.
The Message of Fatima: Our Call to Holiness
The mission of the World Apostolate of Fatima is to participate in the "New Evangelisation" advocated by St. John Paul II, through living and spreading the message of Fatima.
Our Lady's urgent request is our blueprint for holiness:
- Prayer and Penance in reparation for sins.
- A more generous devotion to the Eucharist.
- Devotion to the Rosary (daily).
- Consecration to Her Immaculate Heart.
- Conversion of Sinners, leading to amendment of life.
Your Call to Action
I encourage all members to reach out within your family and friends, as well as within your parishes and the diocese, to make known and lived the message of Fatima, which is fundamentally our call to Holiness.
Specifically, please help us by:
- Sharing the details of the 12 Cathedral Visits, as well as parish visits this year.
- Encouraging participation from your local parish groups.
On behalf of all the Trustees and Leads, I wish you all a truly blessed and peaceful New Year
Patrick Cunningham
National President WAF-E&W
NEW / RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
33 Day Consecration to The Blessed Virgin Mary
There are exactly 33 days between 01 January 2026 to 02 February 2026 (Solemnity of Mother of God to Feast of the Presentation). Through her Fiat to God, which originated in her Immaculate Conception, Our Lady teaches us how to
devoutly prepare our hearts so that we can consecrate our whole being and lives to be sanctified in Her Beloved Son, Christ Our God, and all our works are sanctified along with becoming sharers and participants in the fullness of Her Grace for the salvation of Mankind, transfiguring life around us, to become a New Creation in the Holy Spirit as beheld in the Book of Revelation.โฏ Find out more on the
33 days consecration to Our Blessed Virgin Mary here...
Our website
We have updated new content on our website. Please visit and explore.
www.worldfatima-englandwales.org.uk/
Insights from Archbishop O'Toole
Our Patron Bishop Archbishop Mark O'Toole reflects on the Fatima message and the First Saturday devotion in a
short video.
WAF Introductory Video
This video emphasises the importance of the Fatima message for our times and how we can best respond.
View the video here.
FOCUS ON FIRST SATURDAYS
We hope you were able to participate in the Fatima Five First Saturdays devotion recently. Here are some useful resources to help you understand better this important devotion.
WAF AGM & VOLUNTEERS - URGENT APPEAL
We are always looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please get in touch with the apostolate secretary at admin@waf-ew.org.uk
FROM OUR NATIONAL SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Spiritual reflections from Canon Jason ๏ปฟ
Dear WAF family,
Happy New Year
Although the Liturgical and Ecclesiastical New Year started on the 1st Sunday of Advent, many of us wait the start of the Civic Year to make resolutions.
As Catholics, we are used to making resolutions each time we go to monthly confession as part of our observance of the First Saturday Devotion. We recall for a confession to be valid there must be a firm purpose of amendment. In other words, we make the resolution not to sin again.
This year of the centennial celebrations of the First Saturday devotion is the ideal opportunity to fix this resolution firmly in our diary. Mark the 5 consecutive Saturdays you will undertake the devotion, set your alarm and observe it.
โฏThe question we must ask ourselves is why do we make and need resolutions
Our lives are busy, so having a plan of action of daily norms, or weekly or monthly resolutions and practices, enables us to undertake and pinpoint a specific virtue we seek to acquire, a sin we wish to eradicate, a habit to cultivate thus enabling spiritual growth and the deepening of our relationship with the Lord and His blessed mother.
Each passing year is not only an opportunity to give thanks for another year of life but is also is a sobering reminder that we are one year closer to meeting the Lord in death and we should desire to be ready to meet him whenever that may be and has been allotted to us.
This year may be the year we will make the conscious effort to overcome that particular sin we have been complacent with 2026 may be the year we decide to join the WAF National Pilgrimage. This New Yearโฏmay be the occasion to encourage a lapsed family member or friend to return to the Church.
As we start the Civil New Year and observe the First Saturday of the month, let us present our resolutions to the Lord with the forthcoming feast of the Epiphany.
The resolutions we make will be our personal gift
What can I give Him poor as I am …. I can give my heart.
May our heart- filled resolutions be united to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady to be an acceptable gift this New Year of 2026 to the Lord
Canon Jason Jones
National Spiritual Director
WAF England and Wales ๏ปฟ
FATIMA NOTICE BOARD
Click on the section below for more about our important events or activities
PLEDGE MEMBER FEEDBACK
Reflections, thoughts and insights from members
Do you have something to share? A story or an experience which helped with your journey of faith ... please let us know.
FATIMA ARTICLES
An article on the Modern Family for the month of January 2026 by Patrick Cunningham
THE FINAL BATTLE:
Why the Message of Fatima is a Survival Guide for the Modern Family?
FATIMA, Portugal — For over a century, the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima have been scrutinized by theologians, historians, and the faithful. The 1917 events are famous for their prophetic warnings, calling humanity back to God and Holiness by following heavens peace plan. However, buried within the memoirs of Sister Lucia dos Santos—the longest-living seer of Fatima—lies a less publicized theme for the 21st century: a divine battle plan for the preservation of the family.
From the terrifying climax of the Miracle of the Sun to the intimate details of Sister Lucia’s childhood home found in her second volume of memoirs, the message of Fatima suggests that the "final battle" between good and evil will not be fought on a battlefield, but in the living room.
The Prophecy of the Final Battle
Decades after the apparitions, Sister Lucia’s warnings about the family turned from reflective to prophetic. In the early 1980s, she corresponded with Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, who had been tasked by Pope John Paul II with establishing the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. When the Cardinal wrote to the nun asking for prayers, he received a handwritten reply that contained a chilling prophecy:
"The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don't be afraid, because anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue."
She added a note of triumph: "However, Our Lady has already crushed his head." ...Read the full article here.
FATIMA GLOBAL NEWS
Fatima News highlights from around the World
Vatican Grants Pontevedra Jubilee Year
Vatican Grants Pontevedra Jubilee Year
Vatican grants a Jubilee Year to the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pontevedra for the centenary of Our Lady’s Apparition to Sister Lucia.
The Vatican has granted the Convent-Shrine of Pontevedra, in Spain, the privilege of celebrating a Marian Jubilee Year from December 10, 2025 to December 10, 2026, on the occasion of the centenary of the apparition of Our Lady and the Child Jesus to Sister Lucia. It was during this apparition, on December 10, 1925, that the devotion of the First Five Saturdays of the month was requested by Our Lady. Read more.
The World Apostolate of Fatima, in collaboration with the Shrine of Fatima, is organising an international theological-pastoral congress on “The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary” in Fátima, Portugal, followed by a Pilgrimage to Pontevedra and Santiago of Compostela, Spain, to participate in the centennial anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady and the Child Jesus to Sister Lucia, this December 10, 2025.
EVENTS / VISITATIONS
Monthly Online Rosary
WAF-E&W online Rosary continues to be held on the first Sunday of each month. We warmly invite all members to join us in prayer and fellowship on Sunday, December 7th at 7:00 PM. Join the meeting By Zoom:(click the link below)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86088111745?pwd=iOTEmEzqYnm2YjFnK93E4vdI2J8lYB.1
Messages from our Bishops and Archbishops
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