| The Third Secret of Fatima
On May 13, 2000, as you well know, the Holy Father announced that he was releasing the third part of the Secret of Fatima. It was deemed appropriate by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that the text of the secret be accompanied by a commentary since the 3rd secret was given in the form of a vision. The official text of the vision and the commentary were released on Monday, June 26, 2000, the first day of our retreat with Fr. Gobbi in Collevalenza. In the evening, we had the privilege of watching a recording of the televised press conference with Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Bertone on the secret and the commentary. Since the third secret is in the form of a vision, it is difficult to draw forth and interpret all of the symbolism that it contains. A prophetic vision, such as this one, always refers to future events which can ultimately be changed by prayer and penance on the part of humanity. For this reason, it is virtually impossible to interpret such visions thoroughly and accurately. Any interpretation can give rise to misconceptions and oversights, thus leaving many aspects of the vision undeciphered. The prophetic visions, therefore, can better be interpreted and understood once they are lived out. Of particular significance is what Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi in 1990, "My third secret…will be made manifest to all by the very occurrence of the events." (425g) And these events will be very trying ones.
We know that there are difficult times ahead - we need only read what Our
Blessed Mother has revealed to us in her messages to Fr. Gobbi as recorded
in the book, "To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons." (see message references
below). But remember that Our Lady, always and above all, stresses the
need to be spiritually prepared. We are not to read these messages
purely for their apocalyptic content because what will it gain us to know
all that is going to happen if we are not living holy lives, and striving
to remain in the state of grace and to not offend God? In her messages,
Our Blessed Mother emphasizes that which is most important and which she
has been repeating time and again for the past twenty-five years – the
need to be spiritually prepared to correspond to the grace needed
to go through the imminent trials. In a motherly way, she gently yet firmly
admonishes us to reform our lives – to pray, repent and convert.
Following are very important messages referring to the third secret which I invite you to read carefully and in their entirety, but I encourage you to read them with a heart open to grace and conversion, not simply with curiosity to know what lies ahead. #362h "Why Am I Still Weeping"
#425e-j "I Am Coming Down from Heaven"
#489 d-k "I Have Wanted You Here"
#495 (see "h") "The Bloody Years of the Battle"
#539g-m "My Secret"
And in other messages to Fr. Gobbi, Our Lady does indeed confirm that Pope John Paul II is the "pope of her secret." "The Pope of My Secret" - #449 (May 13, 1991)
–
"Pray for the Pope" - #545 (May 13, 1995) –
I believe that the Holy Father has decided to reveal the third part of the Fatima secret at this time for a two-fold reason. On the one hand, he wants to impress upon us the seriousness of the time in which we live. The Holy Father is a serious voice crying out in the wilderness. Message #545d mentions that the secret refers not only to the person, but also to the mission of Pope John Paul II. For years, he has been preparing the Church by his teachings and his apostolic pilgrimages. The Gospel of Jesus has been announced by him throughout the entire world, yet very few people are listening. Many will be caught unprepared; many will fall victim to great seductions; many will be led astray and will abandon the faith. For these reasons, I see the release of this third secret as a desperate wake-up call. On the other hand, the release of the secret is also a serious call to conversion. Our prayer and penance still can give power to Our Blessed Mother to mitigate the chastisement that can no longer be completely eliminated. It is needed for our purification – the more serious the conversion, the less severe the purification. God, in his merciful love, allows this test and purification to prepare humanity and the world to receive Jesus when He comes, and to enter into the kingdom – the new heavens and the new earth – which God has prepared for those who will have remained faithful to the end. For a time, however, it will seem that Satan has the upper hand and controls the world. There will be much suffering and confusion, much of which we are already experiencing. Satan will reign as victor for a while, but his victory will be short-lived. In her messages, Our Lady says, "In fact at the very moment when Satan will be enthroned as lord of the world and will think himself now the sure victor, I myself will snatch the prey from his hands. In a trice he will find himself empty-handed, and in the end the victory will be exclusively my Son’s and mine. This will be the triumph of my Immaculate Heart in the world." (29g) God will remain in the "control tower," and Satan will only be able to do that which God allows. When he has played out his final act, God will say, "Enough!" But first, God will use Satan to achieve the purification which is needed before we can be admitted into the fullness of his kingdom here on earth. As the world began with the Garden of Eden, a paradise on earth, so will it end with a renewed paradise – a new garden of Eden. The fruits of Redemption will finally be fully operative. The mystical body of Jesus will have finally achieved and completed its portion of the great redemptive plan of God. It will be the seventh day – the day on which the Lord will finally rest after having created and recreated (redeemed) humanity and the world, and will delight in and enjoy his creation as He meant it to be. The entire universe will sing his praises and give Him the glory which is due Him. The night is almost over; the sun will soon shine more brilliantly than ever! The Text of the 3rd Secret For practical purposes, I am reproducing the official text of the third part of the secret here below: "J.M.J. The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fatima, on 13 July 1917. I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. After the two parts which I have already
explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel
with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that
looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in
contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her
right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried
out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’
And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people
appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White
‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests,
men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which
there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark;
before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in
ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow,
he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached
the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was
killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and
in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests,
men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and
positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each
with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood
of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way
to God. (Tuy-3-1-1944)"
Should you be interested in reading the commentary, you can view it on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va). |