J.M.J.
V
FORMATION PROGRAM #9
Sixth Apparition of Our Lady - October 13, 1917
Lucia
Speaks: Accompanying Commentary:
[Lucia begins her account to
describe the What is Our Lady
teaching here through Lucia? Go against your natural inclinations. Re-
scene leading up to the final
apparition. nounce
yourselves whenever you see the occasion.
Do the opposite your feelings desire until
She says, “Once there, moved by an interior your
feelings no longer dictate to you what you should or shouldn’t do.
impulse, I asked the people to shut their
umbrellas and say the Rosary”...]
“What do you want of me?” Now
Lucia is ready; stripped of her feelings, supple and ready to be used in the
hands of God,
Lucia
places herself once more at the service of Our Lady ready to carry out the task
which Our
Lady
has been preparing her for.
“I want to tell you that a chapel
is to be built Our
Lady makes Her simple request— a chapel in Her honor— not the great Basilica
seen today
here
in my honor.” in
the heart of
chapel”.
It is here, in this little place where our humble Mother appeared. She Herself is little
‘chapel’
of God.
“I am the Lady of the Rosary.” What
is the Rosary but a depiction of the intertwined lives of Jesus and Mary? Is
this not why She
insists
we pray it, so by way of comparison, we can see our own lives intertwined
therein in the
Joyful,
Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries? She has set the pattern of our own lives
before our very
eyes! Through this prayer and by living lives of
self-denial, we can begin to see it take shape!
With
the eyes of faith, we will be able to look beyond the present circumstances and
see the
resurrection
beyond the suffering of carrying the cross of our daily duties, beyond the
crucifixion
when
all seems lost. We will be able to hold
on. We are in the Heart of Our Lady of the Rosary!
“The war is going to end, and the soldiers It is finished. Lucia has reached the
resurrection of a promise about to be fulfilled. The quota
will soon return to
their homes.” of
Rosaries and sacrifices were met to obtain the end of the war, combined with
Our Lady’s
treasury
of merits as Co-Redemptrix in union with Christ.
[Lucia]: “I have
many things to ask you: the Everyone
is on this spiritual pilgrimage. Notice
the conversion of sinners has now been added
cure of some sick
persons, the conversion of --
the people are learning. Here Our Lady specifically reveals the reason why She
says ‘no’ to
sinners, and other
things...” some.
[Our Lady]: “Some yes, but not others. They
must amend their lives and ask forgiveness
for their sins.”
“Do not offend the Lord our God any more, Here is the
heartfelt cry of Our Lady, pleading as She is from Her Immaculate Heart,
and
because He is already so much offended.” wounded
deeply by the sins of humanity against God, Whom She loves more than Herself.
[With that, She opens
Her hands so that the light from them reflect on the sun- a symbol and figure
of the Son of God- revealing a mystery.
As Christ
reflects and projects His eternal light in the life of Our Lady, so
also Our Lady, as She ascends, reflects and projects this very light on His
symbol found
in nature, displaying the various manifestations of its beauty and
power to change the course of history, as Christ can and does in our life to
the degree in
which we cooperate.
[Lucia, moved by an
interior impulse for the second time, directs the people to look at the sun,
though she is unaware of their presence.
See how Our Lady makes us
docile instruments of the Holy Spirit once we are dead to our feelings and to
the awareness of things and people around us.
In the new life, everything
and everyone is only seen and addressed in a new way. Life is not ended but changed.
[The children see the Holy Family which can
be said to illustrate the joyful mysteries of life and the need for the
sanctification of the family.
The
Holy Family is a model of the life of the Blessed Trinity and a pattern of
living set before us. In the blessing of
St. Joseph, and the Child Jesus on the world,
we see in that act God’s blessing upon our
humanity which we must work to divinize through a life of prayer, self-denial,
and self-giving by service to God and
each
other amidst our daily family duties.
[The second vision of Our
Lord and Our Lady of Dolors seems to illustrate the sorrowful mysteries of
life; not so much the sorrowful mysteries of Christ,
but rather the sorrows of
Our Lady. It is usually the women of the
world who carry the suffering of the sorrowful mysteries in their heart due to
the sins
and injustice in the world.
Jesus blesses the world again, as though through these prayers and
sufferings they bear. How many women
today, however,
have been the causes of
these very sufferings because they have refused to bear the cross and be Jesus
to the world?!
[The last apparition of
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel can be said to illustrate the glorious mysteries of our
lives. The Brown Scapular, which She
silently
holds out for us to wear, is a devotion of the heart: a devotion of
a higher love. It is a silent hidden
devotion of “presence”— living presence.
It is the living
presence of the love of Jesus and Mary for us. By our wearing it, it becomes a sign of our
living presence to Them. We live in the company of each other.
In the new life, you are
constantly aware of Their presence, even if you are not thinking of Them, just
as you are aware of someone being in the same room
with you.. On the way to
this new life, you may not be aware of Their presence, but you still stand
before Them. This is your sign to them that you wish
to get to heaven, or at very
least to avoid hellfire. The good news
is, we can begin to live this new life, Our Lord’s resurrected and glorious
life, dead to the
world and alive for God, even before we come to the end of our
mortal life, simply through perseverance by living the way of life described in
these lessons.]
REFLECTION & RESOLUTION: When you pray the Rosary, you may notice how your
mind wanders through events that have happened throughout the day.
When you find this happening to you, gently draw its connection to
the Mysteries you are meditating on.
Reflect on the pattern of living that Jesus and Mary
show you in Their lives.
Your distractions then become a means to your desired end. We are enlightened in the Divine Mysteries,
however, not by
intellectual efforts alone.
It is only through the help of the Holy Spirit. Without sacrifice, you
may find this to be a laborious task.
For others, the Rosary may
cause your mind to go blank.
In this case, speak mentally to Jesus and Mary during your prayer or
just rest in Their presence, until you find your mind has
taken you somewhere else.
Through practice and experimenting with different ways of praying, the
Rosary will be a means of working out your salvation
through amendment of life, asking forgiveness for sins, and
avoiding evil.
[Brief period of silent reflection]
Discussion
Examination of last month’s resolutions
Apostolic resolution
Resolution in brief:
Pray and live the Rosary by using it as a means to amend your life,
ask forgiveness for your sins, and avoid offending God.
Act of Consecration