Rosaries
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Self Denials
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Litanies
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Novenas
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Other Devotions
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1st Secret of Fatima
“Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.”
(3rd Memoir of Sister Lucia, 1941)
If you believe in Fatima, then why keep sinning?
Many of us remain complacent and unable to grasp the peril we face. Despite our protestations of ‘belief in God’ we appear unable to demonstrate our corresponding belief in Hell. We continue to walk ‘the cliff edge’ of temptation refusing to admit the frailty of our position. Our faith leaves us in no doubt what the price of a fall is to our soul. Our Lady of Fatima came to leave us in no doubt that the Fires of Hell are real and do claim sinners. When will we listen?
An excerpt from The Mystical City of God, Volume IV, by Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602 – 1665)
“Let no one, even though he has been neglectful and a sinner, an infidel or a pagan, approach the Mother of mercy with diffidence. She who deprived Herself of the glory of her right hand of her Son in order to assist us, cannot shut the portals of kindness to anyone who seeks relief with an humble heart. Whether he arrives in the night of sinfulness or in the day of grace, at any hour of his life, he shall be admitted and assisted. If he who calls in the middle of the night at the door of a true friend, will force him, either through his necessity or importunity, to rise and help him with the desired bread, what will She do, who is so loving a Mother, who calls us and earnestly invites us to the remedy? …. We have no excuse or pretext for not going to Her with humble acknowledgement, since She, being pure and spotless Herself, will purify and cleanse also us. She holds the keys to the fountains, from which, as Isaias says, we may draw the waters of the redeemer …”
Your Prayer Offerings
I plead for you all to use the ‘denial of self’ offering daily. This has merit if you actively deny yourself to save others. Keep a record of the times you say ‘NO’ and remember to donate those to Men of Hope – providing number of denials in the text area.
Any other devotional activity can be recorded as free text and could include such things as: fasting, abstinence or even a pilgrimage 🙂
