Since 1917, because we ve

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1 In This Time of World Crisis WHAT CAN WE DO? Pray the Fatima Prayers The following is an edited transcript of a speech given by Father Nicholas Gruner at our Fatima: The Last Chance for World Peace conference in October His words are timeless as truth always is. Here, Father Gruner encourages us to be alert and attentive to the Message Our Lady sends to each and every one of us for our salvation. He tells us it is time to stand up and be counted. by Father Nicholas Gruner, S.T.L., S.T.D. (Cand.) Since 1917, because we ve ignored Our Lady of Fatima, there have been One Billion, 686 Million violent deaths from war, not counting the wounded. The United States alone has spent over One Trillion, 564 Billion dollars on warfare. Yet I hear laypeople saying, I can do nothing. I hear priests saying that, I hear bishops saying that and I hear Cardinals saying that. If we can do nothing, if all we have to do is sit back and wait for the inevitable antichrist to come then, indeed, we are in a very sorry and sad state. I don t believe that God left us in this way. But it seems that everyone is afraid. They don t want to be laughed at. They don t want to be considered singular they think that there s strength in numbers. Our first fear is of ourselves. We don t want to look like we re strange or stand out. But, unfortunately, we are being asked to stand out; we are being asked to do something unlike our contemporaries; we are asked, first of all, to think for ourselves. The Blessed Virgin tells us: Only I can help you. She told Lucy to tell the Pope, I am still awaiting the consecration of Russia; without that consecration, Russia cannot convert. It s quite absolute without the Consecration of Russia the world cannot have peace. We ve had all sorts of plans for peace. If we start from more recent times, we had George Bush waging a war on terrorism to bring peace. But so far, we 2 The Fatima Crusader Spring 2016

2 2016 is the 100th Anniversary of the three appearances of the Angel Precursor, who appeared to the seers at Fatima to prepare the children for Our Lady s apparitions in The Angel taught the children efficacious prayers and reverence for Our Lady and the Blessed Sacrament. Read more about this on page 12.

3 don t have any more peace we have a lot more dead people. We don t have more peace. We had General David Petraeus on location in the war zone, who told us that this war will go on for the next two generations. This is the best they have to offer us for world peace war for the next two generations. Why do we have to wait for someone else to speak up? Why do we have to wait, when we, ourselves, have a tongue; when we, ourselves, know the truth; when we, ourselves, can talk to those around us? We are not without resources. We must remember that when Our Lady appeared on May 13 to the three children, Jacinta told her mother and the word spread. Fifty people came in June; 5,000 people came in July; 15,000 came in August; 30,000 came in September and 70,000 came in October just by word of mouth. 70,000 people is not a small number and that happened because people did what they could. All of us can do something. All of us can tell our friends, and if some of our friends laugh at us, let us not let that worry us. If they re not worthy to hear the Message, then go to others. You ll be surprised that some people you expected to listen don t listen. You ll be surprised that some people you don t expect to listen will be very much touched by this message. God has not yet given the grace to the Pope to do the Consecration but He has given us the knowledge of the Message of Fatima and the knowledge of the requests of Our Lady and He expects us do something with that. We have to overcome this lie that we tell ourselves this excuse we make to ourselves that we can do nothing. The first thing we can do is, we can pray. That s the most important thing to pray and make sacrifices. Our Lady spoke by teaching the children prayer. But first, the Angel taught them the prayer: My God, I believe in Thee, I adore Thee, I hope in Thee and I love Thee. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe, who do not adore, who do not hope and do not love Thee. The Angel taught them how to pray it when they were by themselves to prostrate themselves with their forehead touching the ground, and to repeat this prayer over and over again, hour after hour. In fact, the first day the Angel came to them, they prayed from around 11:00 a.m. in the morning to about 8:00 p.m. at night. 4 The Fatima Crusader Spring 2016

4 The Angel also taught them a second prayer of adoration: O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee most profoundly and I offer up to Thee the Most Precious Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the blasphemies, the outrages and the indifferences by which He, Himself, is offended. And I draw upon the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary that Thou might convert poor sinners. So the Angel taught them to pray in adoration and hope and faith and charity and love, and to ask pardon for all the sinners who do not pray, who do not adore, who do not hope, who do not love God. He also taught them to offer the merits of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and to offer the most precious Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and to make this prayer in reparation because Our Lord is offended by these sins and also to pray for the conversion of sinners. Again, reparation and prayer and sacrifices. We should learn these prayers (copies are available from The Fatima Center). When Our Lady opened Her hands on May 13, and light fell from Her hands into the hearts of the children, the children actually prayed this prayer together at the same time, without having heard it before: O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee. My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Here again, we go from talking about belief in God, then belief in the Most Holy Trinity, then belief in the Blessed Sacrament. All of these things are taught by prayer and taught by the example of the children. On July 13, the Blessed Virgin taught them another prayer to say at the end of every decade of the Rosary: O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need. We ask God, first of all, to forgive us our sins and then we pray for all those who need God s mercy to save them from hell. The Blessed Virgin, on the same day, also taught the children to pray and make sacrifices for sinners: O My Jesus, it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins The Fatima Crusader Spring

5 against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer this sacrifice to Thee. One day, when Lucy and Francisco were speaking to some pilgrims, the children were asked: Did Our Lady ask you to pray for sinners? Lucy surprisingly said: No. When Francisco was alone with Lucy, he said: But She did tell us to pray for sinners. Lucy corrected him: No, She asked us to pray and make sacrifices for sinners. I m reminded of the story of the Curé of Ars, who was asked by a nearby parish priest: Why does God not hear my prayers for the conversion of the parish sinner? I ve been praying a long time and God doesn t hear my prayers. The Curé of Ars replied: Have you offered sacrifices as well? If you offer sacrifices, God will hear your prayer. And so the parish priest did some fasting for the sinner and a few weeks later the parish priest came to tell the Curé of Ars: My sinner is now converted. Lucy tells us we should not only pray, but pray and make sacrifices for sinners. Our Lord, Himself, taught two prayers and these prayers are the ones that are not spoken about by almost any other group that promotes Fatima. They were taught to Lucy in August Lucy had been praying for the conversion of Russia and Spain, Portugal and Europe, and for the whole world. Our Lord spoke to her and said: You please Me very much when you pray for the conversion of those poor people. I would like to first point out that Our Lord knows it s not just Russia that needs conversion; it s Spain, it s Portugal, it s Europe, it s the whole world. So it s not about Russia being bad and the rest of us all being good. The fact is, God knows we all need conversion and He is very pleased by Lucy s prayers for conversion of all these countries and for the whole world. Our Lord said: I am pleased with your prayers, ask this also of My Mother. Then Jesus taught two prayers for Lucy and for us to say often. The first prayer is: Sweet Heart of Mary, be the salvation of Russia, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the whole world. Sweet Heart of Mary. Here we have Jesus referring to His Mother as Sweet Heart of Mary. When I offer these prayers, depending on where I am, I also add in those other countries: Sweet Heart of Mary, be the salvation of Russia, Spain, 6 The Fatima Crusader Spring 2016

6 Father Gruner in Ireland, giving one of his last speeches on the necessity of living the Fatima Message. Portugal, Europe, Canada, United States, Italy, and the whole world. You may add in your own country, of course. Lucy was praying for her two countries: her adopted country of Spain and her native country of Portugal. The second prayer that Our Lord taught us to pray for our countries is: By Thy pure and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, obtain for me the conversion of Russia, Spain, Portugal, Europe and the whole world. There are seven prayers taught at Fatima and we should use all seven prayers, but Our Lady especially insisted that we pray the Rosary. On May 13, She said: Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world. Every time She came at Fatima, She carried the Rosary in Her hand and every time She came at Fatima, She spoke about the Rosary. When Our Lady came in 1925 for the Communions of Reparation, She explained that Her Heart was pierced by thorns. It was the Child Jesus Who first explained this to Lucy, when He said: Have compassion on the Heart of your Most Holy Mother, The Fatima Crusader Spring

7 covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce It at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them. Our Lady then said: Look, My daughter, at My Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console Me and announce in My name that I promise to assist at the moment of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall receive the sacrament of Confession, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart. So we should pray the Rosary in reparation. Especially on the First Saturdays, pray the Rosary and meditate on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. Again, it is well for us to reflect that we have this power of the Rosary; that we can change the course of mankind by praying the Rosary and by praying for the Consecration of Russia. In the summer of 1916, the Angel told the children to make sacrifices, and Lucy asked: How are we to make a sacrifice? He answered: Think of everything you can sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. Then in 1917, on July 13, the Blessed Virgin said: Sacrifice yourself for sinners and pray many times, especially when you make a sacrifice, O Jesus it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is time for us to think and listen to think for ourselves by listening to what Our Lady tells us when She says: Only I can help you, and Without that consecration, the world cannot have peace; without that consecration, Russia cannot convert. I could discourse and say why I believe that to be the case and some will say that it s very interesting, but the fact is, this is what Our Lady of Fatima said. Let us resolve to imitate and put into practice what the seers of Fatima were taught. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us. 8 The Fatima Crusader Spring 2016