J.M.J.
V
FORMATION PROGRAM #10
The Great Promise of the Heart of Mary - December 10, 1925
Lucia
Speaks: Accompanying Commentary:
[On
appeared to her, and by her side, elevated on a and
Mary aren’t distanced and detached from us as we so often imagine. As Our Lady
is close
luminous cloud, was a Child.
The Most Holy to
our sorrows and as She makes it Her mission to console and relieve us in the
difficult call-
Virgin rested Her hand on her shoulder, and as ing
of carrying our cross, so here She draws close to us, as a friend would, and
shows Her
She did so, She showed her a Heart encircled by own
Heart encircled with the thorns of pain that are directly aimed at Her as a
person.
thorns, which She was holding in Her other hand.
[Jesus]: “Have compassion on the
Heart of your In the
preceding messages, we see that the Heart of our holy Mother is preoccupied
with, and
Most Holy Mother, covered with
thorns, with pained
deeply by, the sins of humanity against Her Beloved Son. It is in these visions
Our
which ungrateful men pierce it at
every moment, Lord,
with the pleading of a Child, calls us to consider that which preoccupies Him
and
and there is no one to make an
act of reparation wounds
Him deeply.
to remove them.”
[Our Lady]: “Look, my daughter,
at my Heart, Ingratitude?
In what way are we ungrateful? Pierced at every moment? How? By blasphemies
surrounded with thorns with which
ungrateful too? What can this mean? Let us look at any human mother and we can
begin to make some
men pierce me at every moment by
their blas- sense
of the ingratitude Our Lady speaks of.
One of the most, if not the most, thankless jobs
phemies
and ingratitude.” there
is, is to be a mother. Begin to consider
this; then consider the sacrifices that Our Lady makes
and
suffers for us, Her children, in doing all She does, at every moment, to get us
to heaven.
Remember,
the Holy Spirit works through Her in granting and working the graces we receive
in
our
souls. Think of how She is often forgotten or ignored-- no credit is given
where credit is due.
No
thought, nor thanks. There is nothing so painful as to untiringly and
selflessly give ourselves
in
the service of another and have them totally ignore you or never offer a word
of thanks—worse
yet,
to be treated badly, to be taken for granted, used, or even spoken ill of.
Blasphemies are offenses against God
Himself. How is it that they can be referenced in any way
to
Mary? Our Lady’s privileges are the work of God Himself, His personal acts,
which He wrought
in
Mary alone, in a miraculous way. Because of Mary’s intimate relationship with
God, these five
attacks
against Our Lady have been referred by Our Lord to Sr. Lucia as:
1.
Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Conception.
2.
Blasphemies against Her Perpetual Virginity.
3.
Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity and as the Mother of mankind.
4.
Efforts made to implant in children indifference, contempt, & even hatred
toward Our Lady.
5.
Direct insults hurled at Her sacred images.
“You at least try to console me
and say that She
asks for consolation from you who DO love Her.
She makes a great promise to those
I promise to assist at the hour
of death, with who
practice this devotion. They will
receive help from Her at the most critical moment of their
the graces necessary for
salvation, all those entire
life: At the brink of entering into
eternity.
who, on the first Saturday of
five consecutive She
is very specific in what She asks for as a remedy:
months, shall confess, receive
Holy Communion 1.Confession
(may be done 8 days before or after)
recite five decades of the
Rosary, and keep 2.
Holy Communion
me company for fifteen minutes
while meditating 3.
Recitation of the Holy Rosary
on the fifteen Mysteries of the
Rosary, with the 4.
Additional 15 minute meditation on one or more of the Mysteries...
intention of making reparation to
This form of reparation involves you by
participation in Mary’s partnership with Christ in the
plan
of salvation. Think of Her part in each
of those areas.
[On
appeared to her again. He
asked her if she
Though, as God,
He already knows the answer which He asks of Lucia, Jesus speaks to her
had already spread the devotion
to His Most (as He does with us) on
a human level of partnership in communication and to move her not
Holy Mother. She told Him of
the confessor’s to give up.
difficulties, and said that Mother Superior
was prepared to propagate it, but that the
confessor had said that she, alone, could do
nothing.]
[Jesus]: “It is true that your
do nothing, but with my grace,
she can do all.” move
us forward in faith, remembering that His partnership with us is on a divine level. There
are NO obstacles except
the ones we accept in our mind. We must remember these obstacles
are only mirages. Practice prayer
and perseverance.
[Sr. Lucia placed before Jesus the difficulty that Jesus
removes all obstacles. He makes it so
easy; there is no reason why we cannot console
some people had about confessing on Saturday, His
good Mother and ours. The intention is primary to Him, along with the necessity
of being in
and asked that it might be valid to go to Confession the
state of grace.
within eight days.]
[Jesus]: Yes, and it could be
longer still, provided
that, when they receive Me, they
are in the
state of grace and have the
intention of making
reparation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
[Lucia]: My Jesus, what about those who forget
to make his intention?
[Jesus]: They can do so at their
next Confession,
taking advantage of the first
opportunity to go to
Confession.
NOTE: Though they are not recorded in Lucia
Speaks, there were other important messages revealed in reference to the
First Saturdays.
They are given below without
comment for your own reflection. One can
see just how seriously important these devotions are to Our Lord (emphasis
added):
Sr. Lucia wrote: “God promises to put an end to the persecution in
to also make a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration
of
devotion of reparation.” [1] [NOTE: This Consecration was done
Sr. Lucia asked Our Lord why He would not convert
“Because (Our Lord said) I
want My entire Church to recognize this consecration as a triumph of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary so that this devotion will then
be extended and to place the devotion to this Immaculate Heart
beside the devotion to My Divine Heart.” [2] [
To Sr.
Lucia, in March of 1939, Jesus said: “Ask, ask again insistently for the
promulgation of the Communion of Reparation in honor of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary on the
First Saturdays.
The time is coming when the rigor of My Justice will punish the crimes
of diverse nations.
Some of them will be
annihilated. At last the severity of My
Justice will fall severely on those who want to destroy My Reign in souls.”
(Documentos, pg.
465) [3]
Sr. Lucia: “Our Lady
promised to put off the scourge of war if this devotion was propagated and
practiced. We see that She
will obtain REMISSION
of this chastisement to the extent that efforts are made to propagate
this devotion...” [
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: By the practice of the First Saturdays, we learn not to take anyone
for granted, least of all Our Lady. We
learn to appreciate
and acknowledge the gifts
everyone gives to us: God, Our Lady, parents...everyone around us. As you fulfill the First Saturday requests,
see this as an
opportunity to renew your
commitment to begin again to follow after the way the Blessed Mother has taught
us at
everyone you can, those whom you
may have forgotten during your life, or those whom you have not shown gratitude
to. Return and give thanks.
Be generous; not only to them,
but also to those whom you feel have done you harm. Forgive them as an act of
reparation. Give a gift of kindness to them too,
remembering what Jesus and Mary
have done for you.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief: Fulfill the request of Jesus and Mary
for First Saturdays in reparation for the sins which wound Their Hearts.
Extend a spirit
of gratitude to Them and others.
Act of Consecration