So many people had grown so far away from God that eternal peril existed (and still exists) for countless souls while earthly peril existed (and still exists) for the world at large.
God’s plan remains the same,
In May, Our Lady also gave the children an amazing guarantee, as she promised that they would each go to heaven, telling them that Francesco and Jacinta would go soon, but that Lucia would follow a little later.
Lots of work lay ahead, however, and most of it would include applying their receptivity and faith through their own suffering for the souls of others.
When Our
Lady asked if they were willing to do these things, they immediately
said “yes”. She helped to “team build” by strengthening their
resolve when (the Holy Spirit poured forth from her hands as
From that first apparition in May, 1917, Our Lady continued to ask the children to do two things daily:
pray the Rosary . In so doing, they were strengthened through Our Lord and Our Lady to do other things that God would ask of them.- endure sufferings as God permitted them, and then - for the conversion of sinners - unite those sufferings with those of Christ in His Passion and Death.
And so, out of love for this “beautiful Lady from heaven” and with a greater knowledge of God’s love imparted through her hands, the children began the “Fatima project”.
We, too, are to 1) pray the rosary daily for the same reasons – to grow in love for Our Lady and Our Lord as we contemplate the Gospels and 2) offer our daily lives and suffering to the Lord to unite with His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
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