Do This in Memory of Me: Go to Your Mother, Your Teacher

By: Laura Catherine Worhacz

“The refinement of friendship. Suffering is often God’s secret for keeping the soul under the mystery of obedience and in the entire immolation of its reason.”  (Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Eymard Library Vol. 6, pg. 321) 

Dearest Eucharistic Family,
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Our Blessed Mother appeared and shared with the three children of Fatima, Portugal, a vision on July 13, 1917. She revealed a powerful message that day, with a vision of hell before the eyes of Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. In the Secret of Fatima, we are reminded of the importance of intercessory prayer. Pope Benedict XVI interpreted the message of Fatima best with Saint Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Angelo Sodano. Thus, they were granted the right to examine and give the faithful concise announcement of what God was telling us through Mary in the apparitions of Fatima.
 
God rest his soul; Pope Benedict Emeritus said this regarding the July 13 apparition at Fatima:  

“What remains was already evident when we began our reflections on the text of the «secret»‌: the exhortation to prayer as the path of «salvation for souls»‌ and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.”    

Pope Benedict XVI continues: 

“The purpose of the vision is not to show a film of an irrevocably fixed future. Its meaning is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction.”   

Fatima has been a significant part of my faith journey. Our Lady seems to have called me and all of you who know her, in this message, by name from our hearts to God’s altar. We are drawn to pray for Our Lady’s intentions. The evil of our time fuels our prayer to fight by our intercession to bring forth the presence of Christ. We are called to set fire to Christ’s mercy and reveal Heaven through the witness of our lives so God’s reign of LOVE is manifested. In the Eucharist, we live this Incarnation of God’s love.
 
In the above message from Saint Peter Julian, we find wisdom to be in obedience, “suffering is often God’s secret for keeping the soul under the mystery of obedience.” 
 
Obtaining a strong prayer life is essential; centering our lives around the Liturgy is our strength for the journey.
 
A beautiful thought is to be in a mystery of obedience. God has blessed us by giving us a mother; she is our teacher. Mary leads her children by example. 

“Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour, the disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:27)
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Friendship in Mary and in one another is a gift from Our Father. When we think of finding our relationship with our Mother, we can think of Our Blessed Mother teaching us to pray. Mary appeared to us so many times asking for our intercession, faithfulness, and love.  

“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” (July 13th apparition at Fatima) 

We remember and believe our mother saved Saint Pope John Paul II; faith and prayer are more powerful than hatred. 

“In the vision, the Pope and the martyrs are also killed. When, after the attempted assassination on May 13, 1981, the Holy Father had the text of the third part of the «secret»‌ brought to him, was it not inevitable that he should see in it his own fate? He had been very close to death, and he himself explained his survival in the following words: «... it was a mother’s hand that guided the bullet’s path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death»‌”   (May 13 1994).

“That here «a mother’s hand»‌ had deflected the fateful bullet only shows once more that there is no immutable destiny, that faith and prayer are forces that can influence history, and that in the end, prayer is more powerful than bullets and faith more powerful than armies.”

A Vision of Hell and Prophecies

As she spoke these words, Mary opened her hands, and rays of light from them seemed to penetrate the earth, revealing to the children a terrifying vision of hell full of demons and lost souls amid indescribable horrors. The children looked up to the sad face of the Blessed Virgin, who spoke to them kindly:

“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”
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(WAF/World Apostolate of Fatima July 13, 1917)  

Important from Pope Benedict XVI, in conclusion: 

I would like finally to mention another key expression of the «secret»‌ which has become justly famous: «My Immaculate Heart will triumph.» What does this mean? 

The Heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of the world because it brought the Saviour into the world - because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time forth, the word that prevails is this: «In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world»‌ (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima invites us to trust in this promise.  

Joseph Card. Ratzinger
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith  

Laura Catherine Worhacz

​Laura Catherine Worhacz is a Lay Associate of the Blessed Sacrament and author of Consecration to Jesus Through Our Lady of The Blessed Sacrament. She is also the Director of Mothers of The Blessed Sacrament. She lives in Trinity, FL with her husband and their two daughters.