Bob Lord - Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima

Bob and Penny Lord

Published by Bob and Penny Lord atSmashwords

Copyright 2010 Bob and Penny Lord

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Our Lady ofFatima

Portugal is a very special place in thehearts of Our Dear Lord Jesus and His Mother Mary. It has beenconsecrated to Mary for as long as anyone can remember. The Historyof Portugal is filled with kings making petitions to Our Lady whichwere always answered, and promises which were always kept.

The area in and surrounding Fatima has beenparticularly blessed by Our Lord Jesus through our loving Mary. InBathala, about 20 miles from Fatima, a promise was made to Marythat a great Church would be built in her honor if she would helpthe Portugese people win a battle against Spain, which took placeon the day before the Feast of the Assumption in 1385. The splendidBasilica rises majestically towards her in Heaven as a tribute toand in thanksgiving for, the victory granted. The Church is calledappropriately, OUR LADY OF THE VICTORIES.

In Alcobaca, closely connected geographicallyand spiritually with Fatima, a beautiful monastery was built inhonor of and in thanksgiving to Mary for enabling the Portugese torecapture the important city of Santarem from the Moors in 1152.Santarem is situated about halfway between Fatima and Lisbon. It isthe site of a great Eucharistic Miracle which took place in theearly 13th Century. The miracle is ongoing in that the Sacred Bloodof Our Lord Jesus is still in liquid form for the faithful tovenerate and marvel.

In our research and study about the variousshrines throughout the world, we use the term cluster. In the senseto which we apply the term, we mean groupings of places, villages,cities, all in the same geographical area, where the Lord has givengreat gifts or special favors to the people. Look at a map ofPortugal, particularly at the area around these small towns wevementioned. Look at their proximity to one another. Each of thesetowns has become very important to us as Catholics.

Let us go back in time to the Spring of 1916.The world was in turmoil. A World War was devastating Europe.Bodies were strewn all over the farmlands of France and Germany.The winter had been hellish, slowing troop movement to a virtualstandstill. Because of the terrible weather, soldiers of both sideswere pinned down in foxholes for months at a time; all in feebleattempts to control small patches of land. Mustard Gas, the AgentOrange of the early 20th Century, was ripping out the lungs ofthose who breathed it in. Humanity had absolutely no regard for hisbrother and sister.

In Russia, a monster was being created whichwould cast its hideous, godless shadow over the entire world. TheBolsheviks were not involved in the World War. They were too busydestroying their own brothers and sisters, in purges that wouldparallel the outrages of Adolph Hitler and his gang of pervertssome 20 years later.

The tiny country of Portugal was having itsown problems, mostly financial. They had only established arepublic some 6 years before, which had not quite worked. In thehundred years prior to the creation of the republic, Portugal hadlost most of its colonies in South America. No one knew how to runthe government wisely, and so the country fell into chaos anddisorder. In a very brave, but very unwise move in 1916, theydeclared war on Germany, and sent troops into France to fight theHuns. The effect of this on the homefront was disastrous.

We mentioned that the history of the countrywas filled with tales of kings making pledges and committments toOur Lord Jesus and Our Lady. The attitude of the new leaders ofPortugal was just the opposite, not unlike those of other newlyformed republics. They equated the Church with the Monarchy.Portugal had thrown the Monarchy out in 1910, and was nowpersecuting the church, in an attempt to throw it out of thecountry.

The one power they had not taken intoconsideration in their harassment of the Church was its head, JESUSCHRIST, a faithful God to a sometimes unfaithful people. They hadforgotten about the strength of His love, His patience, Hisadeptness at changing peoples hearts, and His Mother, my Mary.They were so sure they could succeed without God, they ignored theSource of their well-being. They were children playing in the adultworld, without knowing what they were doing. Fortunately, Jesuscannot resist caring for wayward children.

We cant help but wonder why Our HeavenlyFamily bothers with us. We continue to make the same mistakes,commit the same outrages that began with the murder of Abel byCain. Thank Jesus for His Mother Mary. She is so touchable. Itsthat one teardrop she sees falling from the eyes of a mother whosebaby has been killed, whose husband has been dragged off, screaminginto the night, never to be seen again. It must be these outragesagainst humanity, which have gone on since the dawn of creation,that propels her into action. We had great need of Our Ladys helpin 1916. There were no kings left in Portugal to plead the cause ofthe people. So, it was up to the mothers to pray to Our Lady forpeace. She heard these prayers, and answered them, as only shecould.

A great plan was conceived in Heaven. Itbegan to make itself known in a very small way to three littleshepherds in the remote little farming village of Aljustrel, in theSpringof 1916. It was still early in the season, the rainy time,before the weather warmed up. That morning, Lucia dos Santos, andher cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, had led the sheep to theCabeco to graze. The ground and the grass were wet from the morningrain. They could feel the moisture on their feet, through theirlittle sandals. Drizzle began to fall gently from the sky. Thechildren ran up a hill to a cave where they could shelterthemselves and their sheep until the rain stopped. They ate theirlunch in the cave; and although the rain stopped, and the skiescleared, they stayed there, playing a game with pebbles.

The early afternoon was very calm, verystill. The children became mesmerized by the game they wereplaying. Suddenly, a powerful blast of wind ripped through thetrees, bending the branches as it whipped around the little cabeco,breaking the still of the day. The children snapped out of theirlethargy. They jumped up like a shot, looking around frantically tofind out what was causing the abrupt change in weather. All atonce, their eyes zeroed in on a bright light off in the distance,approaching them. It drew closer to their little cave. As it movedcloser, it became larger. They could make out the transparentfigure of a person. Their hearts pounded. They were too frightenedto speak. Closer and closer the vision came, until it was almost ontop of them.

It was a beautiful young man. His long maneof blonde hair blew in the breeze. There was a sensitivity abouthim, almost contradicted by a forceful strength. His eyes werecobalt blue. When he looked at the children, they could feel hisstare to the depths of their souls. While they were frightened ofthis majestic figure before them, they couldnt take their eyes offhim. He spoke to them.