World Apostolate of Fatima England and Wales

January 2025 Newsletter

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 

The Consecration to the Holy Family is a meaningful devotion through which we, as Catholics, entrust our homes to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Though love for the Holy Family has been part of the Church’s life from the earliest centuries, the more formal practice of consecrating families to them grew significantly in recent times. In 2018, the Knights of Columbus began widely promoting this devotion to strengthen Catholic family life and help households embrace their identity as “domestic churches.” This modern initiative builds on a long tradition encouraged by Popes Leo XIII, Benedict XV, and others, who urged Catholics to look to the Holy Family as the model of unity, virtue, and holiness. 

How do we make the Consecration to the Holy Family? 

Families are encouraged to prepare spiritually by attending Mass, praying together, reflecting on the virtues of the Holy Family, and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation when possible. On the day of consecration, the family gathers—either at home or during a parish celebration—and prays the official Prayer of Consecration to the Holy Family. This prayer entrusts the family to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, asking for their protection, guidance, and help in living out the Gospel within the home. Many families also place an image of the Holy Family in a prominent place as a reminder of their commitment. 

Which consecration prayer formula do we use? 

Most parishes today use the prayer provided by the Knights of Columbus, which is the standard and widely recognized Prayer of Consecration to the Holy Family. Because it is copyrighted, it is usually not printed in full without permission—but it is commonly available in parish bulletins, on Knights of Columbus materials, and on their official website. The prayer includes elements such as: 

• dedicating the family to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; 
• asking for protection from spiritual and worldly dangers; 
• a commitment to imitate the virtues of the Holy Family; 
• and a pledge to strengthen faith, prayer, and unity within the home. 

Your parish may also provide an approved version of the prayer, and any formula officially recommended by the parish or diocese is entirely appropriate to use. 

By making the Consecration to the Holy Family, we unite ourselves to the perfect example of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. In a world where family life often faces many challenges, this devotion gives us a spiritual foundation rooted in faith, love, and mutual sacrifice. May the Holy Family watch over our homes and guide us ever closer to Christ. 

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 

EVENTS / VISITATION 

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. See further details below 

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 

33 Day Consecration to The Blessed Virgin Mary  

01 January 2026 to 02 February 2026 

(Solemnity of Mother of God to Feast of the Presentation) 

During these days of evil in which we live, Our Dear Mother, The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared at Fatima requesting the daily recitation of the Rosary and Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. By way of extension Our Lady has also provided a way for us personally to Consecrate Our Heart and Our whole life to Her Immaculate Heart. These include all our daily duties and all we do according to our state of life, our daily prayers, the Masses we attend and thus allow Our Life to fall under the Mantle of Her Immaculate Heart, where by our whole lives are thus Sanctified and made Holy by Her holy operations within us.  

When we enter into the 33-day consecration to Holy Mary’s Immaculate Heart we devoutly prepare our hearts through a growing deeper self-knowledge of our sins and weaknesses leading to a deeper repentance and dependance on the Holy Spirit, of which Blessed Mary is His Spouse.  

Through her Fiat to God, which originated in her Immaculate Conception in which She was preserved from all stain of original sin, and throughout Her earthly childhood, grew within Her Fiat to the Divine Will in which she constantly co-operated with in Grace filled Union. Thus, at the Annunciation, nothing in her resisted and her Fiat to the Angle Gabrielle became her harmonious soul filled embrace of Her Spousal betrothal to God, the Holy Trinity, in and through the Incarnation of the only Begotten Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He Who truly became the perfect God-Man within Her Blessed Virginal Womb, whilst never being separated from God the Father, from Whom He is Eternally Begotten in The Holy Spirit. Mary, thus, truly became the Most Holy Tabernacle of God the Incarnate Word in The Holy Spirit to the Glory of God the Father.  

In and through His incarnation, Jesus Christ Our Lord, united Himself with the whole of humanity from the first Adam to the last created soul, inaugurating the Divine Promise to mankind of God’s Infinite Redeeming Love for Sanctification as a new creation in the Holy Spirit until Love’s Consummation on the Cross.  

In the Orthodox icon we see Christ the newborn child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the Cross of the Manger, in a dark cave as the light of the world, just as he was wrapped in burial cloth whilst laying in the tomb. 
 
This Consecration to Our Lady enables us to fuse and unite our soul in the Divine Will with that of Our Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Heart. The deepest centre of Our Being united with Her’s, particularly in the highest faculty of our Soul, the understanding, memory and will through the Supernatural Gifts of Faith, Hope and Charity in which we pray. Our Blessed Lady, ever Virgin, yet truly Mother of the Son of God and the human race Conceived The Son of God, Eternally Begotten from God The Father in the Holy Spirit and in Him we too are conceived in Her Immaculate Womb and depths of our soul, in and through The Blessed Sacrament, Jesus Christ Our Lord. His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, united with our fallen human nature to be purified in the Holy Spirit through His Death and Resurrection on the Cross, and raised up with Him in to Heaven, sitting with Him, in Him, at the Right Hand of God the Father, in the Holy Spirit, to be fully deified, Christified, into His Divine Image and Likeness as was ever intended in the first Adam and Eve.  

By preparing our hearts through consecration to Our Lady, we consecrate our whole being and lives to be sanctified in her 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.  

It then becomes no longer I who live in me but Christ in me, in Union with His Blessed Mother to whom He is eternally united. Mary living her life in me in Her Beloved Son in the Bosom of the Holy Trinity for bringing the Kingdom of God to reign on earth as it is in Heaven in the Divine Will, recreating and co-redeeming by participation, all creation to be made new through the Cross of Christ Crucified. This Union of Hearts is perfectly seen in the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus surrounded with thorns and whose hearts were pierced by the lance both mystically and spiritually. Our hearts too, are to be pierced with the Sword of the Spirit in sanctifying Grace and opened up for the new life of Christ and Blessed Mary to Reign in us in the heart of Mankind for salvation and eternal Sanctification.  

Fiat, so may it be for you in participating in this 33 Day Consecration of St Maximillian Kolbe. He who was gifted with the crowns of mystical martyrdom of purity and the martyrdom of blood. May we also become true martyrs, true witnesses, and beloved saints of God in our own day consecrated, by laying down our lives in Divine Love, as a fragrant sacrificial offering to Our Blessed Mother Mary and Our Dear Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Lord, Faithful King!  

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.

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.

Locations | Leaflets | Meditations| Enquiries 

 We are always looking for volunteers. If you are interested, please get in touch with the apostolate secretary at admin@waf-ew.org.uk 

World Apostolate E&W Pilgrimage -2026 

Poster Cathedral Visitations 

Poster - Promoters Meeting 

Poster - Volunteers poster 

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 Forgotten Vision of October 13 

Most accounts of October 13, 1917, focus on the "Miracle of the Sun," where 70,000 people witnessed the sun dancing and plunging toward the earth. This terrifying display was a public validation of the children's claims. However, while the crowd looked on in fear, the three shepherd children—Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco—were granted a private, beatific vision that serves as the theological key to the entire message. 

As the sun resumed its place in the sky, the heavens opened. In her Memoirs, Sister Lucia describes the scene: 

"We saw Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands." 

The appearance of the Holy Family at the climax of the apparitions was not merely decorative. Theologically, it was a declaration. By presenting St. Joseph holding the Christ Child and blessing the world together, Heaven was emphasizing the father's crucial role in the spiritual protection of the family. 

In a world that would soon see the disintegration of family structures through war and secularization, God presented the Holy Family of Nazareth as the ultimate remedy. The vision suggests that peace—symbolized by the calming of the sun—will only return to the world when Christ reigns within the "domestic church." 

Roots of Sanctity: Inside the Santos Home 

To understand the type of family God desires, one need not look further than the family He chose to receive the message. In Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, Volume II, Sister Lucia pulls back the veil on her parents, Antonio and Maria Rosa dos Santos, offering a masterclass in parenting. 

Contrary to some historical caricatures that paint her father as merely a sceptic or a drinker, Lucia’s fifth and sixth memoirs reveal a home rooted in deep, imperfect, human love. She recounts touching anecdotes of her father, Antonio, whom she describes with great affection. In one instance, seeing his wife overwhelmed with work, Antonio clumsily attempted to help her spin wool. Though he failed at the task, Lucia recalls her mother’s tender reaction, embracing him and saying, "What a good man you are!" 

Lucia paints her mother, Maria Rosa, as the spiritual anchor of the parish—a woman who refused to let her children merely parrot prayers. She insisted on a "lived faith," creating an atmosphere where the supernatural was a natural part of daily conversation. 

However, Volume II also serves as a reality check: holiness does not grant immunity from suffering. Lucia heartbreakingly details how the apparitions shattered the peace of their home. Under the pressure of constant interrogations and accusing neighbours, her mother once lamented, "My God, where has all the joy of our home gone?" 

This inclusion in the memoirs is vital. It demonstrates that the "Fatima family" is not one of plastic perfection, but one that perseveres in faith even when the joy seems to have vanished. 

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 f3amily. D4on'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." 

This statement, which has gained immense traction in recent years, frames the current cultural confusion regarding marriage, gender, and parenting not as sociological shifts, but as spiritual warfare. Sister Lucia viewed the family as the "primary cell" of the Church; if the cell is corrupted, the body dies. 

The Weapon for the Home: The Rosary 

In her book Calls from the Message of Fatima, Sister Lucia provides the practical strategy for winning this battle. She argues that God, foreseeing the busyness and "materialization" of the modern family, provided a prayer accessible to all: the Rosary. 

She writes that the Rosary is the "spiritual bread" that must be broken daily in the home. It is the means by which the family learns from the School of Mary. 

"There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary," Lucia famously stated. 

She cautioned that a home without prayer is like a garden without water—eventually, it ceases to produce the "rosebuds" of virtue. The daily recitation of the Rosary creates a protective buffer against what she termed the "diabolical disorientation" of the world. 

A Call to Action 

The message of Fatima, spanning from the humble kitchen of the Santos family to the solar miracle of 1917, is a coherent plea for the restoration of the family. 

The vision of St. Joseph blessing the world remains a standing invitation: for fathers to bless their children, for mothers to catechize with love, and for families to kneel together against the encroaching darkness. As Sister Lucia’s writings make clear, the victory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will not be achieved by international treaties, but by the quiet, faithful witness of families praying in their living rooms. 

Patrick Cunningham 

Some video highlights of recent Fatima events and media. 

Highlights on the WAF E&W AGM 2025 gathering at St. Catherine of Siena parish  Chessington. 

Procession of the Fatima Pilgrim Virgin Statue opened event at St Chad's Cathedral

On Saturday 28 June, St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham hosted the Visitation of the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and the Relics of Saints Jacinta and Francisco. You can see more details about this event, including a photo gallery and video, here...

Archbishop Mark O'Toole

Archbishop John Wilson

Cardiff-Menevia Visitation