Before beginning the presentation of the Holy Father's rich teaching on the Holy Eucharist, I cannot fail, this week, to reflect on the death, this past Sunday (Feb. 13) of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, the last living witness of the apparitions of the Mother of God at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. Since the time when our Blessed Mother appeared to her, Lucia dos Santos has never failed to be the herald of the messages which she received from our Lady. In a message which was read at the Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, our Holy Father stated:
“For Lucia, the visit by the Virgin to her and to her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, at Fatima in 1917, was the beginning of a special mission to which she remained faithful to the end of her days. Sister Lucia leaves us an example of great faithfulness to the Lord, and of joyous obedience to His divine will” (May God Reward Sister Lucia for Her Service to the Church, Vatican Information Service, Feb. 16, 2005).
It is important for us, on the historic occasion of her death, to reflect on the messages which our Lord confided to her for the sake of our salvation. It is my hope, then, to take up the reflections on the Holy Father's teaching on the Holy Eucharist in the March 4th issue.
Sister Lucia of Fatima
On Sunday, Feb. 13, Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart died of complications due to her advanced years. She died in the Carmelite Convent at Coimbra in Portugal, of which she had been a member since March 25, 1948. At the age of 18, she had entered the Sisters of St. Dorothy and remained a member, until her desire of a religious life of greater seclusion and solitude led her to request a transfer to the Discalced Carmelite Sisters. On March 22 she would have been 98 years of age. At her dying, she was blessed to be surrounded by her Sisters in religion, the Bishop of Coimbra, her doctors and nurse.
When our Holy Father learned that Sister Lucia's health was rapidly failing, he sent a message to her which she received on the Sunday she died. The bishop of Coimbra has confirmed that the message was read to her on Sunday, Feb. 13, and that she personally held and examined the text. After she had heard and examined the text, she was greatly comforted in her suffering. In the message, the Holy Father assured Sister Lucia of his prayers for her that she might accept her pain and suffering with the “paschal spirit,” that is with strong faith in the Resurrection and trust in God's all-merciful love.
Our Holy Father had met with Sister Lucia on the occasion of his three visits, as pope, to the Shrine of Our Lady at Fatima, which all have taken place on May 13, the day on which our Blessed Mother first appeared at Fatima in 1917. In 1982, he traveled to Fatima to thank Our Lady for interceding that his life be spared on May 13, 1981, when he was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca.
On the occasion of his visit of thanksgiving to the shrine, he placed the bullet with which Mehmet Ali Agca attempted to kill him in the crown of the image of Our Lady of Fatima. Our Holy Father visited with Sister Lucia again in 1991, and finally on May 13, 2000, when he beatified her two cousins, the brother and sister Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who, with her, received the visions of Our Lady of Fatima. In his message for the Mass of Christian Burial of Sister Lucia, Pope John Paul II referred to “the bonds of spiritual friendship which strengthened over time,” and declared: “I felt myself supported by the daily gift of her prayers, especially during difficult moments of trial and suffering. May the Lord give her ample reward for the great and hidden service she offered the Church” (Vatican Information Service, Feb. 16, 2005).
Message of Our Lady of Fatima
On April 27, 2000, just 16 days before the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta, our Holy Father sent Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, then secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now cardinal archbishop of Genoa, and Bishop Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva, bishop of Leiria-Fatima, to visit with Sister Lucia at the Carmelite Convent in Coimbra. The purpose of the visit was to show Sister Lucia the text of the third part of the “secret” or message of Our Lady at Fatima, which she had written on Jan. 3, 1944, and which had been kept in the Secret Archive of the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) since April 4, 1957.
During the meeting, Sister Lucia verified the manuscript as her own and confirmed that the third part of the “secret” or message is prophetic and refers to the attacks on the Church by atheistic communism. It describes the sufferings of those who remain true to the Catholic faith during the time of assault on the Church by those who deny the existence of God.
The first two parts of the “secret”, or message of Our Lady of Fatima, are a terrifying vision of hell, and Our Lady's urging of devotion to her Immaculate Heart as the way to peace. The two parts are related to one another. The little children " Maria dos Santos (Sister Lucia) and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto " are given a frightening vision of hell, in order that they might understand the importance of their work to save souls through the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means that we strive for her purity of heart, placing our hearts completely, that is, without exclusion or reservation, in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and, thereby disposing ourselves to do God's will in all things, as Mary did.
