Mary and the New Times of Noah *
* First, this is a longer than normal post (although I admit, my posts are on the longer side), but this message is so important that it warrants an extra few minutes of your time and hours of your reflection!
Every October 13, the world is reminded of the great Marian revolution that has been taking place in the world since 1917. Now we are approaching the 100 year anniversary of Our Blessed Mother’s visitations to the three Fatima children. Actually, we are already celebrating the centenary in that the Angel of Peace, the guardian Angel of Portugal, appeared to the three children in 1916 to prepare them for the coming of Mary and the seriousness of her messages.
In all of her messages to the children she revealed the importance of saying the holy Rosary daily. She even revealed herself as Our Lady of the Rosary so that the world would not mistake how important the Rosary is to her and the fate of the world:
Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and the end of the war (June 13, 1917).
I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, [August] to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you (July 13, 1917).
I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end (October 13, 1917).
Our Blessed Mother makes it perfectly clear and simple that the Rosary is the remedy to every war that threatens us and, in my last blog post on the Feast of the Rosary, I provided some important reasons why that is the case. However, in her July 13 message (which has been referred to as the “secret of Fatima”) Mary spoke of the Holy Rosary in connection to something even greater, which she revealed as the very heart of her message at Fatima right after she showed the children a vision of hell and countless souls falling into it:
You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. . . .
To prevent this, 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; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.
Our Blessed Mother revealed that the real secret and underlying power that will change the world is devotion to her Immaculate Heart – a devotion most perfectly lived out by one’s consecration to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. The word “consecration” is significant because it speaks of a total setting apart of one’s entire life, possessions, death and eternity to Mary. This is exactly what the Father did when He entrusted His only begotten Son to Mary, from whose Immaculate Heart the Son of God received and formed His Sacred and Pierced Heart, through which we now have access to the Father. Do we see what this means? When we imitate the wisdom of the Father and the Son and entrust ourselves completely to Mary, placing ourselves, our families and futures within her loving, merciful and sinless heart, we are doing the greatest possible act as a Christian. St. Louis de Montfort summarized total consecration to Mary as the most perfect way to live one’s baptismal promises of rejecting Satan and all his works, and living for God alone. It reflects the perfect wisdom of God Who gave us everything in the order of Mercy, including His own Son, through Mary. It is, therefore, no mere coincidence that this Jubilee Year of Mercy leads into the centenary of Fatima as we are being prepared to enter the final confrontation with Mary by being renewed, strengthened and reoriented by this extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.
No other saint, in my humble opinion, better illustrates this connection and mission than St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, who was inspired to form the Militia Immaculatae (Knights of the Immaculate — “MI” for short) on October 16, 1917 — just days after the “miracle of the sun” at Fatima, of which he was unaware. The MI had as its purpose the conquering of the whole world for Mary by bringing consecration to her Immaculate Heart into the home and heart of every family. His beautiful prayer of consecration expresses this in a beautifully concise and theologically rich manner. I quote here the second part of his prayer:
If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world.” Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter, you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
That’s the power and purpose of consecration to Mary, both concerning one’s family and the mission that comes with it. And we need to work hard to increase Mary’s spiritual army on earth as the world continues its tailspin into the abyss.
THE NEW TIMES OF NOAH
For those with eyes to see and ears to hear, we are living in the times of Noah.
Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. (Genesis 6:12-13)
The world has abandoned God and become morally bankrupt and Our Lady has made it clear at Fatima and Akita, Japan (1973), that God will not let this continue forever. As Scripture reminds us:
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him.
For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. (Hebrews 12:5-6)
God offers mercy first in order that we repent and convert — the time we are in now. But, if mankind does not avail itself of this extraordinary time of mercy, it will have to face God’s justice — as Jesus told St. Faustina:
Tell souls about this great mercy of Mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near. (Diary 965).
I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation. (Diary 1160)
Before the Day of Justice, I am sending the Day of Mercy. (Diary 1588)
He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. (Diary 1146).
If we are in times of Noah, what is the ark into which families must enter to be saved? Mary gave us the answer at Fatima:
To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion [i.e. consecration] to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. . . .
And she was more explicit when she appeared as Our Lady of the Rosary at the approved apparition place of San Nicolás, Argentina (click to see the National Catholic Register article here) when she said:
My daughter, in this time, I am the Ark for all our brethren! I am the Ark of peace, the Ark of Salvation, the Ark where my children must enter, if they wish to live in the Kingdom of God. (February 6, 1987)
And to drive home this truth even more, Our Blessed Lord said at San Nicolás on December 20, 1989:
I want a renovation of the spirit, a loosening from death and an attachment to life. The Heart of My Mother is the chosen one so that what I request becomes reality. The souls will find Me through Her Immaculate Heart.
Previously the world was saved with Noah’s Ark. Today the Ark is My Mother. By means of Her, the souls will be saved because it will bring them towards Me. Whoever rejects My Mother, rejects Me.
All the above being said, I ask you: Are you worried for your marriage? Your children? Your family? Does all seem lost in any or all of these relationships? Are you concerned about the economic, political and social collapse taking place in America? Are you concerned about the effects of the growing evil in the world which is attacking the family like never before? If so, do you really want to know the remedy? Are you willing to conform your whole life and that of your family to this remedy? Husbands and fathers, are you going to be the Noahs of our times and disregard the ridicule of the world and build that ark for your family — the ark of a true devotion to Mary lived by total consecration to Mary and reciting daily her prayer of choice, the Rosary? Are you ready to lead your family to embrace this way of life no matter the cost? Christians, do you want real power to change the world?
The secret is out. The secret is simple. Are we small enough and humble enough to receive it? The secret to the restoration of the family and civilization is this: a dynamically lived consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There is no message more important that we should be giving the world right now than returning to Jesus through consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is the Marian revolution. On October 13, 2013, Pope Francis reminded the Church of this revolution, and how we will triumph, when he consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart. He stated the truth plainly: “Mother, together we will fight . . . together we will win!” Will you fight with her for her triumph like St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. John Paul II and Pope Francis?
Time is short, get on board the new ark of salvation and do everything in your power to lead as many families as possible to do the same. This is when Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph. Thank you, dearest Mother, for calling us! Thank you!
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
This message of consecration of families to Mary’s Immaculate Heart is so important that I am offering parishes a special opportunity to bring this message to their communities. All they need to do is pay for my traveling costs (flight + lodging + transportation) and facilitate a free will offering to support my family apostolate Heroic Families. Parishes would need to agree to provide strong promotion for the event to increase attendance. The event would consist of one 60 minute presentation with Questions and Answers (Q&A). Contact me today at HeroicFamilies.com and let’s get this critical message to your parish!
***For those wanting a more intensive immersion on the special centenary of Fatima beginning in 2017, Dr. Howard is now offering a special speaking series titled: “Fatima: 100 Years Later — Family Consecration at the Heart of the Triumph”. Dr. Howard is an expert in this topic and is very passionate in sharing how important it is for families today. He is currently booking speaking events for 2017. Visit HeroicFamilies.com today to learn more on how to bring this soul-awakening event to your parish or conference.
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Art: Partial restoration of Virgin and Child, Bernard van Orley, circa 1515, PD-US author’s life plus 100 years or less; Detail of Stained Glass Window Immaculate Heart of Mary at Bad Leonfelden (Upper Austria), Maria Schutz am Bründl church, Penner und Schürer, 1906, photographed by Wolfgang Sauber, 17 May 2014, CCA-SA 3.0 Austria; Divine Mercy, Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, 1934 [Painting in Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Vilnius], PD-US copyright expired; Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de San Nicolás, en la ciudad de San Nicolás (Sanctuary of our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás, in the city of San Nicolas), photographed by Thialfi, 1/02/2008 own work, PD-Worldwide; detail of Noah’s Ark, Edward Hicks, 1846, PD-US; all Wikimedia Commons. Photograph of St. Maximilian Kolbe and Heroic Families logo courtesy of Dr. Peter Howard, used with permission.
About Peter Howard
Dr. Peter Howard presently lives in Illinois with his wife, Chantal, and five children. Dr. Howard is a professor of Theology at the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation (avila-institute.com). In 2015, Peter and Chantal founded HeroicFamilies.com dedicated to the mission of “awakening Catholic families to their critical call to live their faith with courage, passion and purpose.” He is also a Catholic videographer (MEDIAtrix.tv), author and national Catholic speaker who has spoken at the 2015 American Chesterton Society Conference, 2012 Midwest Catholic Family Conference in Wichita, Kansas; the United States Air Force Academy; parish retreats and on Catholic radio programs such as Radio Maria. Peter earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas [Angelicum] in Rome, Italy. Dr. Howard’s theological expertise lies predominantly in Mariology and the teachings of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen. He is the author of the 2014 book: The Woman: The Mystery of Mary as Mediatrix in the Teaching of Fulton J. Sheen. Like his spiritual mentor, +Fulton Sheen, Dr. Howard is passionate about evangelizing families by communicating the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith as the answer to the challenges and errors of the world.
If you would like to invite Dr. Howard to speak at your parish or event, contact him at invite@heroicfamilies.com