Crusaders of the Immaculate Heart

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What we have lost with the passing of John Vennari and Fr. Gruner is immeasurable. 

Leaving aside, for the moment, the issue of whether or not the consecration of Russia has actually been done, I recently read an article stating that, if it has been done, the reason we have not yet seen the consecration of Russia is that the rest of us have not done our part.  Our Lady, in addition to the consecration, requested that we ALL pray the Rosary daily, and make the five First Saturdays.  I have no doubt that everyone participating in this site in any way, from those running it to those of us simply reading it, are doing this, but it's simply not enough.  Given the lukewarmness of so many Catholics today, and the poor catechesis of the past fifty years, I posit that most Catholics either don't know about Fatima, or have bought into the lie we were told in 2000 that Fatima belongs to the past and has no significance to us today.  

I honestly am uncertain if the consecration has been done properly or not.  Instead of commanding all the bishops of the world to participate, Pope Francis merely invited them.  Some bishops did, but many did not, and that throws the whole thing into question.  If the attempt was sincere, I have no doubt that it will be a source of grace for the world, as were the world consecrations JPII did in 1982 and 1984 (the latter actually averted a nuclear catastrophe!).  Clearly, again leaving aside the issue of whether or not the consecration has been done, something is still lacking.  In addition to praying the Rosary and doing the Five First Saturdays, we need to do everything in our own capabilities to spread the word that more people need to take up these practices.  

Ninety-nine percent of all prophecy is conditional, and Fatima certainly is.  Our Lady herself told us this, when she told us what would happen if her requests were heeded, and if they were not.  The coming chastisements cannot be completely averted, but they can still be mitigated.  

Jake are you familiar with what happened after Portugal was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart?  To your statement let me respond with this, it is extraordinarily easy to know if it was done or not.  Consider the following:

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When the Pope, along with all of the world’s bishops, consecrates Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, what will we see? What will the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary look like? Many people are not aware that Our Lady already gave the world a glimpse, a prelude, of what the Triumph of Her Immaculate Heart will be like. She did this in Portugal after the Portuguese bishops consecrated that nation – by name – to the Immaculate Heart, on May 13, 1931.

It seems that Our Lady used Portugal to demonstrate on a national level what She will do worldwide when the Pope, in union with the world’s bishops, consecrates Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. Perhaps Our Lady also gave us this preview so that an insipid pan-religious “civilization of love” could never masquerade successfully as the Triumph of Heaven’s Queen.

The Consecration of Portugal (1931)

On May 13, 1931, in the presence of the 300,000 faithful who had come to Fatima for the event, the bishops of Portugal solemnly consecrated their nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These good bishops placed Portugal under the protection of Our Lady to preserve that nation from the Communist contagion that was sweeping through Europe, and especially Spain. As a result of this Consecration, Portugal experienced a three-fold miracle. Here, we will outline this miracle.

1) There was a magnificent Catholic Renaissance, a great rebirth of Catholic life, so striking that those who lived through it attributed it unquestionably to the work of God. During this period, Portugal enjoyed a drastic upsurge in priestly vocations. The number of religious almost quadrupled in 10 years. Religious communities arose likewise. There was a vast renewal of Christian life, which showed itself in many areas, including the development of a Catholic press, Catholic radio, pilgrimages, spiritual retreats, and a robust movement of Catholic Action that was integrated into the framework of diocesan and parish life.

This Catholic Renaissance was of such a magnitude that in 1942 the bishops of Portugal declared in a collective Pastoral Letter: “Anybody who would have closed his eyes twenty-five years ago and opened them now would no longer recognize Portugal, so vast is the transformation worked by the modest and invisible factor of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima. Really, Our Lady wishes to save Portugal.”1

2) There was a miracle of political and social reform, in accordance with Catholic social principles. Shortly after the 1931 Consecration, a Catholic leader in Portugal ascended to power, Antonio Salazar, who inaugurated a Catholic, counter-revolutionary program. He strove to create, as much as possible, a Catholic social order wherein the laws of government and social institutions harmonize with the law of Christ, His Gospel and His Church.2 A fierce adversary of socialism and liberalism, he was opposed to “everything which diminishes or dissolves the family.”3

President Salazar did not simply talk a good line: he enacted legislation to protect the family, including laws that frowned upon divorce. One such law read, “In harmony with the essential properties of Catholic marriages: It is understood that by the very fact of the celebration of a canonical marriage, the spouses renounce the legal right to ask for a divorce.”4 The effect of this law was that Catholic marriages did not diminish in number, but increased, so that by 1960, nearly 91 percent of all marriages in the country were canonical marriages.

That is a civilization of love, and it is nowhere in sight as we progress into the Third Millennium.

3) There was the twofold miracle of peace as a result of the Consecration. Portugal was preserved from the Communist terror, especially from the Spanish Civil War, which was raging next door. Portugal was also preserved from the devastations of World War II.

The Consecration of Portugal (1938)

Regarding the Spanish Civil War, the Portuguese bishops had vowed in 1936 that if Our Lady protected Portugal from the Communists, they would express their gratitude by renewing the National Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. True to their word, on May 13, 1938, they renewed the Consecration of Portugal to the Immaculate Heart in thanksgiving for Our Lady’s protection. Cardinal Cerejeira acknowledged publicly:

Since Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917 …A special blessing of God has descended upon the land of Portugal …especially if we review the two years which have gone since our vow, one cannot fail to recognize that the invisible hand of God has protected Portugal, sparing it the scourge of war and the leprosy of atheistic communism.

Even Pope Pius XII expressed astonishment that Portugal was spared the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and the Communist menace. In an address to the Portuguese people, the Pope spoke of “the Red Peril, so menacing and so close to you, and yet avoided in such an unexpected manner.”5

The Portuguese passed this first danger unscathed, but immediately there was a second staring them in the face. World War II was about to break out.

On February 6, 1938, seven months before the declaration of war, Sister Lucy wrote to her bishop, Msgr. da Silva. She told him that war was imminent, but then spoke of a miraculous promise. She said “in this horrible war, Portugal would be spared because of the national consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary made by the bishops.”6

And Portugal was spared the horrors of war, the details of which are too numerous to here recount.7 Even more remarkable, Sister Lucy wrote to Pope Pius XII on December 2, 1940, to tell him that Portugal was receiving special protection during the war that other nations would have received if the bishops would have consecrated their nations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She wrote:

Most Holy Father, Our Lord promises a special protection to our country in this war, due to the consecration of the nation, by the Portuguese prelates, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; as proof of the graces that would have been granted to other nations, had they also consecrated themselves to Her.8

Likewise, Portugal’s Cardinal Cerejeira did not hesitate to attribute to Our Lady of Fatima the great graces that had been obtained for Portugal during this time. On May 13, 1942 he said,

To express what has been going on here for twenty-five years, the Portuguese vocabulary has but one word: miracle. Yes, we are firmly convinced that we owe the wonderful transformation of Portugal to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin.9

Cardinal Cerejeira further explained that the miraculous blessings that Our Lady obtained for Portugal due to the 1931 Consecration were a preview of what She will do for the entire world after Russia is properly consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart. The Cardinal said: “What has taken place in Portugal proclaims the miracle. And it foreshadows what the Immaculate Heart of Mary has prepared for the world.”10

Thus, it is not difficult to understand why the Portugal of this time period has been called the “Showcase of Our Lady”. And this triple miracle of Portugal stands as a preview of how Russia and the world will look after the Collegial Consecration of Russia.

I read about this years ago, and honestly, I completely forgot about it.  Thanks for the reminder!  Yes, it's easy to see that the consecration has not been properly done.  But I also believe that the continued delay is, at least in part, due to the fact that not enough Catholics are praying the Rosary daily, or making the First Saturdays.  I'm not sure if it was Fr. Gruner himself, or someone else, who once pointed out that, if enough people did these things, it would be the reason God gave enough grace to the Pope to "buck the tide," so to speak, and do as Our Lady asked.

I would be hard pressed to agree with you more on the why we haven't received the grace of the consecration yet.  I read somewhere that God will increase the sufferings until the luke warmness stops.

Jake said:

I read about this years ago, and honestly, I completely forgot about it.  Thanks for the reminder!  Yes, it's easy to see that the consecration has not been properly done.  But I also believe that the continued delay is, at least in part, due to the fact that not enough Catholics are praying the Rosary daily, or making the First Saturdays.  I'm not sure if it was Fr. Gruner himself, or someone else, who once pointed out that, if enough people did these things, it would be the reason God gave enough grace to the Pope to "buck the tide," so to speak, and do as Our Lady asked.

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