J.M.J.
V
FORMATION PROGRAM #12
A Simple Interpretation in Mystical Language
[NOTE: In
offering this personal interpretation of the Third Secret, we do not wish to go
before the Church in presuming this as an exact explanation.
It is but a humble submission of a possible
interpretation offered in the light of the
meditations found in the
preceding lessons.]
Read the Third Secret in its entirety first (found
on the bottom of this page) and then return to accompanying commentary.
“After
the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a
little above...” - Our left is usually seen as the side ‘against us’, even as the
right is
‘for us’. The Angel is at Our Lady’s
left because She doesn’t wish us to suffer the chastisement, but is a little
above because God’s justice demands it.
“we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand;” - This Angel, a minister of God’s
justice, symbolically stands before the
Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24),
a mystical garden, which encloses the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil and the Tree of Life. The Tree of
Knowledge could be said to house WHAT
God is (i.e. His attributes of knowledge of good and evil), while
the Tree of Life houses WHO God is (i.e. the Holy Eucharist).
Let us look at each ‘tree’ in the light of today’s events:
The Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes knowledge that is not only known to us,
but also knowledge that is forbidden to us
—knowledge of future events (good or evil), or of peering into
areas that are dealing with the world of spirits. This information is often sought after
through
vain curiosity, such as “apparition hopping” or through forbidden
means, such as disobedience to the voice of the local Church. We fall away from our
daily duty when we have “itching ears” to seek after another
gospel. This Tree also houses what God
is NOT, such as self- seeking and sin of all kinds.
The Tree of
Life symbolizes Mary[1],
who brings forth the Fruit that gives everlasting Life. It can also be said to be the Cross. This tree bears within
it the mystery of Christ’s love. Through self-denial, Jesus gives
the self-sacrificial gift of Himself: His Body and His Blood. Jesus shows us
the body is for
crucifixion, i.e. penance, self-denial; and the blood (our life) is
to be poured out in acts of self-giving mercy in the service of others.
From this we
see that the Tree of Life is Christ and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
is anti-Christ.[2]
“flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set
the world on fire;” - This mystical garden has been crossed, or rather the Tree of Life
has
been violated, not so much by the world (for it will always partake
of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), but by the members of the
Church that
partake of the Tree of Knowledge AND the Tree of Life. It is the Church that has the mission to save
the world by partaking of the Tree of Life and of living
Christ’s life — a life of penance and of self-giving through
service to God and our fellow men. How
is the world to be saved when its ‘savior’ has become
anti-Christ; slayers of Christ and of society??
“but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady
radiated towards him from her right hand:” - Our Lady has obtained mercy for us
(this, of course, was obtained together with the merits of Christ,
with all those who have been obedient to Her message, and those who have
suffered patiently)
...but it is only a Temporary
Grace. We have reached the
“fullness of times”; in other words, the cup has been filled by the sufferings
and obedience of
those who have said, “Yes”.
The world has been temporarily saved by Our Lady through the merits of
Jesus Christ, together with the few.
Those who have
partaken of the Tree of Knowledge have been deceived; they have
chosen an apparent good. Our Lady
manifests the prayer of Christ, “Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do.”
Now there comes the second stage:
“pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in
a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’ - Now is the time for all of
us to respond,
and it is URGENT! All need to receive the
Message and all of us have need to respond because the time of grace and mercy
is temporary ! [3]
“And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to
how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it’ ” - [This calls to mind
when the three shepherd children saw themselves in this light and
exclaimed, “O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee!
My God, my God, I love Thee in the
Most Blessed Sacrament!] This can be said to be the soul’s
revelation or unveiling and its likeness to God. Just as He is veiled under the appearance of
bread,
so He is veiled by our appearance in human form.
“a Bishop dressed in White ‘we had the impression that it was the
Holy Father’. - They
see the hidden Christ on earth crucified in the Pope, and how his life
compares with Our Lord’s.
“Other
Bishops, Priests, men and women religious going up a steep mountain, at the top
of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree
with
the bark;” - This
symbolizes the mystical climb of their spiritual life. The rough-hewn trunks of a cork tree call to
mind the basic raw, some-times harsh, difficulty
of the
performance of one’s daily duty. This is the call of the Gospel expressed at
required
of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of
My law. This is the penance that I now
seek and require.”
“before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half
in ruins...” - This
is the Church. The First Greatest
Commandment has fallen into ruins,
while the Second Greatest Commandment stands as though for its own
sake.
“and half trembling with halting step,...” - The Holy Father seems to stop, as
though to look again at the situation in the Church and the world. He cannot reach
them by the means which has been traditionally been traveled. No one is listening. He begins new steps with his focus on
addressing that which is basic
to everyone: respect for the
common dignity of every human person. In
this way the whole person can be addressed, and an attitude of understanding
must
be formed to know the reasons why people think as they
do. Through listening and dialogue, and
by focusing on that which we have in common as a
brotherhood in Christ, we are called to make our pilgrimage as
Catholics who know our Faith and then share it in true concern for our
fellowman instead of focusing
on our differences and accusing one another. We must forgive and be forgiven. We must go forward in faith.
“afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the
corpses he met on his way;” - The Holy Father prays for
those dead through mortal sin.
He wants to reach them too.
“having reached the top of the mountain,...” - spiritual maturity; the fullness
of Christ in suffering...
“on his knees at the foot of the big Cross...” - Here he makes the offering of his
life...
“he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows
at him...,” - It
is finished. He can give no more. Spending himself completely for the life of
the
Church, his enemies had totally succeeded in crushing his life to
the ground. He died a mystical death...a complete death to self. His enemies had desired to kill
any knowledge or remembrance of Christ from the face of the earth
by directing it at his person. Bullets are the intent to kill the life of
Christ and arrows are words
of hatred and criticism. The
physical attempt on the Pope’s life was merely the open manifestation of what
lay hidden.
“and in the same way there died one after another the other
Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different
ranks and positions.”-
These too suffer mystical death
(white martyrdom). These deaths and the
death of the Pope (i.e. death to self), all together fill up the measure which
the splendor of
Our Lady’s right hand used to cause the fire to die out, which was
to strike the world principally due to the fault of sins and disobedience
within the Church.
“Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with
a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the
Martyrs and
with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.” - The two arms of the Cross can be
said to be love of God and neighbor. The
blood of those who
have physically died as Martyrs is mystically sprinkled on those
who made this mystic journey and were responding to the call of prayer and
penance.
Red and white martyrdom call to mind the Blood and Water gushing
from the side of Christ Who offers us His Mercy.
REFLECTION AND
RESPONSE: It can be seen in this, the Third Secret of
Fatima, the action of the Holy Spirit in the Mystical Body of Christ in
redeeming souls and
the role of the Blessed Mother in gathering us all in Her, so as to
obtain mercy and forgiveness for all humanity from Christ, Who set the pattern
in His suffering and
death to save us all. This
work is not yet done. We are still in
danger unless enough people today respond to the message of
upon ourselves our own destruction.
The Gospel is the timeless message of prayer and penance. The message of
application in our lives and for the times in which we live. Its urgency and importance bids us no longer
be distracted, or preoccupied, with the joys of this world, but
to be generous in our response for the sake of saving both body and
soul of ourselves and of others.
If you have
not yet done so, please make the commitment to do what Our Lady asks of each of
us: for love of God, for your own good, and for the good
of others. Pray the Rosary;
meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary- our Pattern of living. Wear the Brown Scapular; consecrate your life
to Their Two Hearts
live in Their Presence and under Their protection. Do your daily duty, accept and live your
responsibilities to God and to others- your part of the cross. Make the
First Saturdays; repair for those who are bringing the world to its
destruction by their crimes so that they too may receive forgiveness and healing- this is the hope
of the world. Say
“Yes”. Sign the black Army Pledge- the
outward sign of your commitment to be a part of the Church militant in bringing
God’s Kingdom to this world so there will be peace.
“In
the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph and there will be peace.”
Will
you join Her ranks?
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion Examination
of last month’s resolutions Apostolic
resolution
Resolution in brief: Sign the black Army
Pledge…and live it. If you have already done so, renew your commitment and get
others to join.
Act of Consecration
Text of The Third
Secret of
COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF ORIGINAL TEXT:
Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of
at Cova da Iria-Fatima on
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through
his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and
through your Most Holy Mother and mine. "After the two parts which I
have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an
Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that
looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact
with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand:
pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice:
'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God:
'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of
it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy
Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep
mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of
a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through
a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with
pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having
reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he
was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in
the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and
women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.
Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal
aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and
with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
[1]
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by St. Louis de Montfort #44 -
45. It must be understood that #45 makes reference to both
trees only in a positive, or sinless, sense; i.e. for those who live a life
fully redeemed. The symbolism spoken of
in this interpretation refers to those redeemed who go beyond what is
permissible, and leave the kind of life they are called to live.
[2] Pope John Paul II: speaking in September 1976, then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, said: "We
are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity
has gone through. I do not think the wide circles of the American society, or
wide circles of the Christian community, realize this fully. We are now facing
the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the
Gospel versus the anti-Gospel, between Christ and anti-Christ. This
confrontation lies within the plans of divine
[3]
Sr. Lucia:
writing to the Holy Father on