SAINTS FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO
Deuteronomy, Chapter 10, Verse 20
The LORD, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; to him hold fast and by his name
shall you swear.
Have you fallen? Get up! Be resolute!
Have your dreams been crushed? Have your expectations
been dulled? Have the five fears overtaken your mind? Has the fear of
isolation, demons, darkness, suffering and death kept you from holding fast to
our Lord?
Rejoice for today is your salvation!
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes
in him may have eternal life.” For God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three
children, Portuguese shepherds from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady
at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time,
Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in
political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government
disbanded religious organizations soon after. At the first appearance, Mary
asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for
the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray
the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to
pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown
Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people
gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917. Less than two years
later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the
parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died
of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners,
peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima
basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and
was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister
Lucia died five years later. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up
to 20 million people a year.
This prayer was given by the Angel of
Fatima to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta.
Prayer:
Oh Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity
of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen.
For the
Church, there is no distinction between defending human life and promoting the
dignity of the human person. Pope Benedict XVI writes in Caritas in
Veritate. . . that "The Church
forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully
aware that 'a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts
values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the
other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety
of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is
weak or marginalized.'" (no. 15).
·
As a gift from God, every human life is sacred
from conception to natural death.
·
The life and dignity of every person must be
respected and protected at every stage and in every condition. The right to
life is the first and most fundamental principle of human rights that leads
Catholics to actively work for a world of greater respect for human life and
greater commitment to justice and peace.
There are many and varied ways in which sin
and evil are presented to us in an attractive way.
Curing
Sickness by Superstition ("Curanderos" And "Santeros")
·
It
doesn't matter if there are statues, holy water, crucifixes, prayers to Jesus,
Mary and the saints, if there is any superstitious practice it is evil. These
are some examples:
o
using
charms or a tomato to wash one's body, putting the remainder under the bed,
o
cleaning
one's body with eggs or lemons and burning the materials with charcoal,
o
Using
rose water and alcohol for healing. (In one case this was prepared by placing a
skeleton in the water for six hours, followed by singing and praying over the
water.)
·
Sometimes
a "curandero" gives a special vitamin to take or even prescribes
"Catholic" prayers to be said. None of these "prayers"
should be said in these circumstances because they were prepared uner the
influence of evil. Other examples include:
o
Taking
a special bath prepared with wine, flowers, bread, cinnamon, black sugar, and
water from a river.
o
Wrapping
a person in a special bandage, cutting off piece by piece, and burying it in a
recent grave in the cemetery.
·
Sometimes
people pray to God and to the saints and then go off seeking relief through the
kingdom of darkness. Many times, God does not heal through prayer or doctors
because He wants the soul to be healed first of hatred, jealousy, or some other
sin. God knows what He is doing. We have to choose either the power of God or
the power of evil. If you have any objects used in these false cures, destroy
them. Renounce Satan, renounce this sin, ask God's forgiveness and confess your
sin to a priest.
Daily Devotions
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