At Valinhos August 19th

[Dawn Marie]

At Valinhos

On the following Sunday afternoon of August 19th, Lucia, Francisco and his brother John had brought their flocks to a family pasture in Valinhos, which was less than a quarter of a mile from their homes in Aljustrel. Jacinta was not with them, because she was being treated for the lice she had picked up while being held captive in jail. Lúcia began to get a premonition that Our Lady was about to appear, and since Jacinta was not with them, she sent the older brother, John, to fetch her. It is an especially touching detail that Our Lady patiently waited until Jacinta arrived before making her appearance.

In this visit, Our Lady once again told the children that she wanted them to continue coming to the Cova da Iria on the 13th of next month. She stressed the importance of obedience to her requests, the ramifications of offending her, and the great importance of praying and making sacrifices for sinners, as well as demonstrating a tender and motherly love:

“In the last month, I will work a miracle so that all may believe. If you had not been taken away to the city, the miracle would have been even greater. Saint Joseph will come with the Child Jesus, to give peace to the world. Our Lord will come to bless the people. Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows will also come.”

Then Our Lady said very sadly:

“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.”

The Mother of God Offended

“If you had not been taken away to the city, the miracle would have been even greater.”

As Frère Michel tells us in his seminal work:

“By this public act, acting in the name of the authority he held over a tiny part of the nation, he had affronted and outraged the Mother of God. Thus, he contributed to drawing down upon his country a just divine punishment. Without this odious act, shamelessly committed by the competent public authority, would the great miracle of October 13th have been seen in all of Portugal? It is quite possible. What a lesson! What terrible responsibility for the unworthy authorities who deprive their people of the choice graces with which God wishes to fill them!”

What a lesson indeed! What terrible responsibility for secular authorities – and even more so for ecclesiastical authorities! It is most appropriate to apply Frère Michel’s line of reasoning to those Church authorities of today, who woefully lead astray their confused and unwitting flock, who continue to outrage God and ignore His Blessed Mother. How should we think God will repay this insult?

However, just as scandal and the abuse of graces can affect so many souls, in converse, our faithful prayers and sacrifices can affect many souls as well. This is nothing but Church teaching on the Communion of Saints we so profess in every Credo. As Frère Michel notes:

“It is an unfathomable but also an admirable mystery, that such a close communion associates all the members of the human family with one another, for their salvation or for their loss.”