5 May/5 October - Day 1

In Fatima… Just as Mary herself was prepared for her great mission to be the Mother of God’s own Son by the appearance of an angel, so the three shepherd children at Fatima were first awoken to the great graces which awaited them by the coming of an angel. In spring 1916 Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco were grazing their sheep on a favourite hillside near their homes. They had eaten their simple lunch and prayed the rosary, and were just starting to play together when suddenly astrong wind shook the tree tops around them. Looking up, they sawfloating in the air above the trees, in Lucia’s words, “a young man, about 14 or 15 years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it and of great beauty.” He came closer to the children and said:

“Do not be afraid, I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” 

And, kneeling down until his forehead touched the ground, he taught them to pray: 

“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.” 

He repeated the prayer three times, and then said: 

“Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.” 

Then the angel disappeared. 

After this visitation, the children were held in such a state of awe and wonder that they could hardly speak about it. As Lucia wrote years later: “The supernatural atmosphere which enveloped us was so intense, that 

we were for a long time scarcely aware of our own existence, remaining in the same posture in which he had left us, and continually repeating the same prayer. The presence of God made itself felt so intimately and so intensely that we did not even venture to speak to one another. Next day, we were still immersed in this spiritual atmosphere, which only gradually began to disappear.” 

Reflection…  It is very striking that Our Lady’s response to Pope Benedict XV’s plea for peace came far away from the trenches and blood-soaked battlefields of the Western Front, or from the boardrooms and Parliament chambers of the world’s great capital cities. Just as the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the seemingly insignificant backwater town of Nazareth, so the Angel of Peace is sent to a remote, unknown village on the edge of Europe, far away from the heat of battle. For God, there is nowhere which is beyond his loving, merciful gaze - no place and no person are ‘out of sight and out of mind’ for Him. Indeed, it is often away from the bright lights and thundering noise of power and prestige that God’s voice can be most clearly heard. The place where we are now is holy ground. God is with us.

Like World War One, the present situation of humanity is a consequence of human selfishness and greed, of our human pride fooling ourselves that we can be in control of the world around us. God does not cause suffering, and yet he can bring healing and light out of suffering. We need to simplify our lives, and rediscover the gift of a deeper silence around us. We need to be re-awoken, like the three children, to the sudden swaying of the trees heralding the Angels appearance, to the movements and breath of nature around us, to the problems and needs of people around us. And this involves a struggle in which we are all involved — the front line of this conflict is not in the trenches of a distant land but in our neighbourhood, place of work, local hospital, care home, food bank, bus-queue... anywhere where people need help.

God is calling us all, just as the Angel of Peace invited the three children, to let go of our fear (Do not be afraid), open our hearts to Him (Pray with me), enter into a deeper relationship with Him (I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you) and also to recognise the urgent need to pray for the conversion and healing of our broken human family (I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you). 

Christ prepared the Church to proclaim his saving love to the ends of the world. In her role as Mother of the Church, Our Lady has appeared time and time again at critical moments in human history to ask for prayer and repentance so that the most terrible disasters could be avoided. As the spiritual Mother of the human family, she cannot stand idly by and watch humanity destroy itself through sin and rejection of God. So, in these difficult times in which we live, let us join our prayers with those of Jesus and Mary for the healing of our world (The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications). May we find the time to immerse ourselves in this vital act of prayer.