Unfortunately, it is a sad fact of history that the consecration of Russia to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart was not done in time. She had appeared in 1929 to Sr. Lúcia, telling her that the “time had come” for the consecration. As it was not done, the errors of Russia spread, and the prophesied wars, persecutions, and untold sufferings and martyrdoms took place; beginning, of course, in Russia, and then moving to Spain and Mexico. Pope St. John Paul II performed a consecration on March 25, 1984, that, according to Sr. Lúcia, avoided a nuclear war. More recently, Pope Francis performed a consecration again on March 25, 2022.
In the meantime, the revolt against God had many and deep effects both within and outside of the Church. Societies were disrupted, and church communities became infected with error after error. Division within the Church was on full display, weakening her witness to the world, and choking the anticipated renewal expected from the Second Vatican Council. A terrible chaos and upheaval arose that was, in reality, a rebellion against God, His Revelation and His Law.
In the midst of this period, the Popes recognized that there was a great need for evangelization. Pope Ven. Pius XII, the “Pope of Fátima,” made evangelization a priority and was careful to give guidelines given the situation created by Communism. The Second Vatican Council, under Sts. John XIII and Paul VI, also devoted much time and energy on the work of evangelization. Subsequent Popes worked tirelessly to this end as well. The effort has subsequently become known as the “New Evangelization.” Today, various apostolates like St. Paul Street Evangelization devote themselves to this effort.
What, then, about Fátima and the New Evangelization? What does Fátima tell us about this new impetus for evangelization? Let us keep in mind a key component of Church teaching on private revelations like Fátima: they can inspire a deepening sense of faith and a renewal of devotional practices, both reviving old ones and establishing new ones. Insofar as this teaching applies to Fátima, there are four observations that I’d like to make, connecting Fátima to the work of evangelization in the Church today:
1. Fátima presents us with notable evidence for the existence of God. The miracle of the sun and the subsequent drying of the earth and people’s clothes cannot be explained by known laws of physics. Such an event, witnessed by some 70,000 people (atheists included), cannot be attributed to mass psychosis or hallucination. Moreover, consider the fact that the three visionaries accurately predicted three months beforehand that a miracle would take place. This should be used as a tool for apologetics and evangelization.
2. Fátima highlights for us the main danger of our time. The loss of faith and the kingdom of God in the hearts of men is widespread. We find ourselves in an ever more increasingly post-Christian world that owes its existence, in large part, to the spreading of the errors of Russia. Since we know from Our Lady what those errors are (atheism and materialism), we have a “leg-up” to know where and how we need to focus our evangelization efforts.
3. Fátima is a safeguard for the spiritual life. The spiritual life is of the utmost importance for any evangelist. By living the message of Our Lady at Fátima, and practicing the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the evangelist has a sure path to God. The evangelist will always have God as the center of his or her life through this powerful means of developing the interior life of virtue and union with God.
4. Fátima helps us remain firmly united to the Church. Jesus Christ established His Church upon the earth. She is His Bride. The message of Our Lady at Fátima is deeply rooted in these doctrines of our holy Faith, and, as such, serves as a reminder for us to remain in communion with the Church. The message is, in short, an exhortation to love and to promote the Church and her Magisterium. This, too, is important for the evangelist.
The event and message of Fátima calls us to a deep foundation and union in God. The evangelist who possesses such a foundation and union, will have God shining through him or her. The evangelist will then radiate the love of God to people living in a world much in need of Him. It is the perfect answer to the prevailing atheism and materialism of today. Being a part of Our Lady’s “school of holiness” enables people to be more effective evangelists and catechists. The best part about it is that it’s really nothing more than simply being Catholic!
How does all of this work? According to Church teaching, authentic private revelations — like Fátima — lead people closer to Christ by a deepening of the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. In other words, God always calls us to live His Gospel, and Fátima is one way He does this in these very difficult times.
Cardinal Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) helped us to understand the connection between the Gospel and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart proposed by Our Lady at Fátima. Rooting himself in the Scriptures, he wrote:
In biblical language, the “heart” indicates the centre of human life, the point where reason, will, temperament and sensitivity converge, where the person finds his unity and his interior orientation. According to Matthew 5:8, the “immaculate heart” is a heart which, with God’s grace, has come to perfect interior unity and therefore “sees God.” To be “devoted” to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means therefore to embrace this attitude of heart, which makes the fiat—“your will be done”—the defining centre of one’s whole life. It might be objected that we should not place a human being between ourselves and Christ. But then we remember that Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: “imitate me” (1 Cor 4:16; Phil 3:17; 1 Th 1:6; 2 Th 3:7, 9). In the Apostle they could see concretely what it meant to follow Christ. But from whom might we better learn in every age than from the Mother of the Lord?
Later, at the end of his remarks on Fátima, Ratzinger developed further what it means for Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart to triumph:
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.
If these things sound too much like “pie in the sky” holiness, consider the witness of the life of the last surviving visionary of Fátima, Lúcia dos Santos (†2005).
Lúcia was known to be very simple, yet full of the wisdom of God. Every so often, when she had an opportunity to evangelize or catechize, she had a special way of edifying her audience. They would encounter not Lúcia per se, but God working in and through her. After her entry to religious life, Lúcia’s mission of prayer, sacrifice and love intensified. She led a hidden life of much suffering for the world and the Church, and the fact that she knew very well the ills plaguing them contributed to this suffering. She kept the flame of true supernatural faith alive in her heart and rejected (as we say in the rite of Baptism) the pomps and works of satan. She is a model for the spiritual life of the evangelist.
One last note: the “elderly nun” in the opening story to this lesson was none other than Sr. Lúcia. It is based upon actual events of her life. This particular event of Sr. Lúcia’s life shows well her witness to the Gospel, so let’s see how it ended.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary standing there. Tears in her eyes and with a joy beyond all comprehension, the nun prostrated herself before the Mother of God. “My daughter,” said the Virgin:
God has heard your prayer and sent me to tell you that it is necessary to intensify your prayer and your work for the unity of the Church, of the bishops with the Holy Father and of the priests with the bishops, to lead the people of God on the paths of truth, faith, hope and love, united in Christ their Savior. God is your comfort and I am here to help you. It is to serve Him that you are still here.
Her desire to serve God thus strengthened, and her love burning intensely, Sr. Lúcia felt the weight of her mission pressed upon her with a renewed sense of joy and urgency. Difficult days were yet ahead of her, she knew. Confident, though, that she was supported by heaven, the nun picked up her cross to follow where her Master beckoned … (Matthew 16:24).