Why is This
The Last Chance for World
Peace?

By Father Nicholas Gruner, S.T.L., S.T.D. (Cand.)

People have asked me, “Why is this the last chance for World Peace?”

Father Paul Kramer, in his talk two days ago, spoke about prophecies that he will be the first to assure you that we don’t know the time line on. However, piecing together the prophecies of the Saints together with current world events, he speculates we could be heading for World War III as early as 2008.

The scenario he understands is that the present Pope, Benedict XVI, would recognize before he dies that the Consecration is not done and, according to prophecies, he may be the one to release the full Third Secret.

Frère Michel, author of the trilogy on Fatima, The Whole Truth About Fatima, indicated that before the Pope could do the Consecration of Russia that the Vatican must repair the damage that resulted from not releasing the full Third Secret in 1960. He came to that conclusion in 1985. Nor will it do for the Vatican to release part of it in the year 2000. No, the Vatican must release the text with Our Lady’s own words of the Third Secret. Not just part, but all of it.

With the public knowing of the full Third Secret, the Pope would then want to do the Consecration of Russia but he may not have time. He may have to go into hiding as Saint Pius X prophesied.

The fear is that he will suffer, and will be executed as a common criminal like the King of France, as Jesus warned about at Rianjo when he said: “Make it known to My ministers that given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution of My request, they will follow him into misfortune. It will never be too late to have recourse to Jesus and Mary.”

We have good reason to fear for the safety of the Pope and the bishops. In the vision that the Vatican released on June 26, 2000, the Pope is seen being shot and killed by guns and arrows, along with many bishops, priests and religious.

So, when we say this is “The Last Chance for World Peace”, although I do not have the gift of prophecy, I think we can say by all the prophecies of the saints, Scripture and current world events, this vision is dangerously close for the Pope, the bishops, the clergy, the religious, and  all mankind.

It is true that, ultimately, the Blessed Virgin Mary will triumph. She says, Herself, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph; in the end, the Holy Father will convert Russia to Me; in the end, Russia will be converted; in the end, a period of peace will be given to the world.”

So we know that the victory is around the corner. That is why we work many hours. The staff and myself push ourselves almost beyond our limits. We must do all we can while there is time.

We have very, very little time left. The signs are all there — not only from the voices of prophecy, but also in the secular world, militarily, diplomatically and legislatively.

Nevertheless, in all this, the Message of Fatima is a Message of Hope. It is not of despair. So the question really is ...

What Can We Do?

Each of us can do something. Too many think they can do nothing, and therefore do nothing. That is the wrong answer to what we are up against. We can all do something. It depends on us and it is not dependent on someone else.

There are people who reject the Message of Fatima and say, “I will not obey, I don’t believe it, I don’t understand it and I don’t want to.” Certainly, of those who are in this room, most of us recognize that the Message of Fatima is from the Blessed Virgin Mary, endorsed by God and approved by every Pope since 1922.

The Message of Fatima gives the solution to the problems of the world; whether it is Palestine, whether it is in Lebanon, whether it is in the arms race in Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, India or in other places of the world — and certainly most recently in the case of North Korea.

 The answer is not to have more force, more arms to kill more people before people kill us. That is not the answer.

The answer, rather, is to seek for and work towards the conversion of hearts to the reign of Christ, to the peace of Christ, first of all, in our hearts, in our homes, in our cities, in our countries, and between nations and peoples.

The only way to have conversion is by the grace of God. The only way to bring about this conversion of all the nations is by the Message of Fatima. It is a very simple plan and a very profound plan. And we are certain from reflecting on the Fatima Message, that nothing else will work.

It is important to understand that we are not here to promote the Fatima Center or Father Gruner or this or that magazine or a book, but rather the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.

Fatima Must Be Central
to Our Lives

Each of us has in our power to do a lot. We could do so much more if we made Fatima central to our lives. God and Our Lady can put the means in our hands to do this, to bring about the Consecration and the conversion of Russia and world peace.

The devil has his way of confusing people and putting obstacles in their mind, “Who am I, what can I really do by myself?” “I can do nothing,” as Mother Superior said in Pontevedra.

Each of us could say the same, “we can do nothing!”

By God’s Grace …
We Can Do Something

With the help of Jesus we can do everything (as Our Lord told Sister Lucy regarding her Superior).

It is up to us to do our part. Let us, at least in our hearts, and hopefully even publicly here today, say to the Blessed Virgin, “I will no longer make You sad by not doing anything, by not taking into account Your Message which You gave us with so much love, so much interest in our own welfare.”

Our Blessed Mother is never really seeking anything for Herself, although Her Son wants Her to be honored, Her Son wants Her to be obeyed — for the honor of God and for the salvation of souls and for peace in the world.

It is up to us to make that personal promise to Our Lady:

“Really, you know, I am useless, I am. I really can’t do very much. I don’t have much influence, but I will do whatever part You give me.  I will at least accept whatever difficulties there are, whatever problems there are in transmitting this Message and in living this Message myself.”

That is all She is asking of us; She is only asking that we give our hearts, that we give Her our intelligence to try to understand what it is that She wants and then to do the best we can.

She knows that we will not be very good at it but we must continue to persist, to persevere in making Her Message known and appreciated.

I have heard hundreds, maybe thousands of rejections of Her urgent Message. But really, when you look at the baseless objections, they disappear into nothingness. As wax melts before the fire, similarly the opposition of the devil disappears before the face of God.

All the Virgin Mary is really asking of us is to say:

“I believe You,
You gave us the Message,
You worked the Miracle of the Sun,
You worked the conversion of tens of thousands of people,
You have cured thousands of people,
You gave the sign to tell us that this Message comes from God, this message is true.
 I will believe and I will do my part, whether it is a little bit, whether it is a lot; that is Your choice.
I will do what You expect me to do.
I, as a priest; or I, as a bishop, will do my part. I will talk to my brother priests;
I will talk to my brother bishops. I will explain it to them.
If I encounter questions or objections I cannot answer, I will contact the Fatima Center to hear their researched replies.
I will do whatever it takes to forward Your Message.
If it is impossible to overcome some difficulties, I will at least know that I have done everything that I can.
Until I have tried to do whatever I can, I will never know everything I can do.
I will do everything. And that is my personal commitment to You, Holy Mother of God.”

Our Lady Awaits Your Consecration

That really is what Our Lady is asking from each of us and especially from the priests and bishops. That is, She wants you to consecrate and to dedicate yourself to Her loving, sweet, Immaculate Heart. That is what the Blessed Virgin wants from you, your heart.

We need your commitment, your promise; not to me, but to the Blessed Virgin, that you will do all you can.

Each of us, singularly, can not do it, but at least we can tell others, who will tell still more others. This movement is really a movement of grace from the heart of the Blessed Virgin; She wants to use us, She could do it all by Herself but God wants to use other humans, other persons to do their part.

And so, don’t think you are too small, or too inconsequential, put off in some part or corner of the world. What does it matter if I am from Madagascar or South Africa or India or Canada or the United States, or somewhere else? All of us are really very small in the whole world scale of things but all of us together can talk together, can make a difference, can make a big movement to pay attention to the Message of Fatima, to put Fatima on the agenda of the Church, on the agenda of the world.

Know it, Love it,
Pass it On

Ultimately, it depends on those who have heard the Message, to pass it on to others. It depends on those who have heard the Message to take it to heart; to those who have heard the Message, to know more about it.

I first heard the words of Our Lady back in 1965:

“If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.”

I said to myself, well, we must find out what these requests are, what it is that She is asking for. It is obviously very important.

We either have the annihilation of nations or world peace. We have a warning about the persecution of the Church and persecution of the Holy Father — what can we do? Well, my first business was to understand what it was She requested.

As I began to know more about the Message of Fatima, I also heard the objections. I heard people saying, “well you know, it doesn’t matter.” I remember, back in Montreal, where I was born, I wanted to put this statement of Our Lady on the buses. I was a teacher in one of the high schools there and I said this to the advertising agency who rented the space on the buses. The next thing I knew, a Jewish man came to visit me at the school, saying, “You really don’t want to put that on there. You can put the Ten Commandments of Moses on there and say that this is what God wants. That would be a good thing.”

I was a little bit naive at the time and accepted his objection, I never did anything. It is one of the promises to Our Lady that I still owe to Her — that I will put Her Fatima words on the buses in Montreal.

Fatima is the solution and the Fatima Message includes the Ten Commandments, but it is much more than the Ten Commandments. It is that God wants to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

God Has a Plan

God has a specific plan. He does not have a second plan, a backup plan. He has one plan, only one plan. He will not change His mind. God has one plan. If we follow that plan, we will have world peace. If we don’t follow that plan, nothing else will work. Now if I were the one writing that plan, even with whatever experience I would have, one could say there is a better plan. We would be fools, however, to think we could improve on God’s plan.

The sooner we recognize this, the sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we work towards this, the sooner we will have peace, the sooner we will have the salvation of millions of souls.

We delay God’s plan by trying to do it our own way. No doubt there are some very intelligent and very well thought out plans, but they are not sufficient. The devil is much more intelligent than we are. The defeat of the devil has been reserved by God to the Blessed Virgin.

God Wants a Personal
Relationship with You

Our Lady has, in simplicity, told us what God’s plan is. God is a very personal God. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost — and yet He wants a personal relationship with you; you, yourself, and Him.

He also wants you to have a personal relationship with the Blessed Virgin, your Mother and His.

The whole Message, when you look at it, is a very personal appeal. It is not to humanity; it is not to the world; it is to you personally. And He wants you to respond personally, not to Father Gruner, not to somebody else, not even to the Pope, but, ultimately, to the Blessed Virgin and to Himself, Jesus, and of course to the Father and the Holy Ghost.

That personal relationship is what He wants you to commit to. He then wants you to acknowledge that He has said something, that He has said something specifically, and that you have heard what He said.

He wants you to acknowledge what He said and that you agree, that you know that His plan is the right plan, and that you will do whatever you can to implement His plan.

This simple commitment will lead you to an immense opportunity in your own life, in your parish life, in your diocese, in your country, in the whole world. That opportunity, that opening to a whole new world of possibilities, Our Lady will give you. It can be quite different, perhaps, from anything you can now imagine or expect. Quite different, perhaps, from what anyone else might imagine. But if you promise, you commit and you persevere in promoting Our Lady of Fatima's full Fatima Message, if you will do whatever it takes to always be faithful to Her — then you will be credited before God and before men as one who helped save many souls — maybe even BILLIONS. World peace will be the legacy you leave to your loved ones who come after you.

The Number of Souls Saved
Depends on Cooperation with Grace

Pius XII said in an encyclical that the number of souls that are saved depends upon the cooperation of Catholics with grace. It is a great mystery, but nevertheless true. If Catholics will obey the impulses of grace which are directly from Our Lord to them personally, if bishops in particular respond, if priests respond, many souls will be saved. If all Catholics obeyed those impulses of grace then the whole world will be saved.

Nevertheless, if we don’t, those souls will be lost. Now they are lost because of their own sins but if we are faithful to grace, then the souls of those entrusted to us will be saved because God will give them the grace of conversion through our prayers and sacrifices.

If we don’t respond to that grace, then those souls that are entrusted to us will be lost. We have an example of this in the life of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. There was a criminal that was hardened in his hatred of God and hatred of man and he would not accept a priest to hear his confession, even though he was convicted of murder and was about to be executed. 

St. Thérèse, a fourteen-year-old girl at the time, prayed and made sacrifices for his conversion. God heard her prayers and sacrifices and just before the criminal was to be executed, he asked for the priest and the crucifix, to show his repentance.

So as the Council of Trent, itself, has told us, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven except the sin of final impenitence; that is a sin, above all, against the Holy Spirit.

Let us then pray and offer sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, as Jacinta of Fatima did.

Perhaps you have heard Jacinta’s great holiness spoken of. One of the best testimonies of Jacinta’s holiness was from her doctor, Dr. Lisboa. He operated on her and removed two bones from her rib cage. He could not give her a general anesthetic, and so could not put her to sleep for the operation. He tried a local anesthetic but for some reason that did not work either and so Jacinta felt all the pain of him cutting the bones out of her rib cage. She never complained. Dr. Lisboa said he heard her speak, she did not speak to the doctor but she spoke to Jesus and she said:

“Now, Jesus, You can save many
souls because I suffer very much.”

Jacinta accepted this suffering as Our Lady asked her to for the conversion of sinners. And so each of us, in whatever walk of life, whether we are a child, an adult, priest or bishop; each of us has the opportunity, the possibility of doing what we can to bring about the revolution (if I can call it that) of grace for the conversion of sinners and for the conversion, ultimately, of the whole world.

At some point, that effort of grace, that effort of sacrifice and prayers, will bring about the fulfillment of Our Lady’s Fatima request for the Pope and Catholic bishops of the world to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. It is only then, after that act, that public and solemn act of the Pope and the bishops, that Our Lady will be able to, by Divine decree, show Her power and bring about the conversion of Russia.

God has reserved and, in a certain sense, restricted Our Lady from acting until Russia is consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart.

Three Stages for World Conversion

There are three stages for the conversion of the world:

(1) The Holy Father to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
(2) When the Pope does the consecration, Our Lady will show Her power and convert Russia.
(3) The conversion of the world to the fervent practice of the Catholic Faith.

The third is the greatest of all. Our problem is that we are often so intent on what is happening today and yesterday, that we don’t sit back enough in our reflective mode and look at the greater possibilities and greater reality. Such activity is like trying to look at a big picture with your nose on the picture itself. You don’t get the perspective. Reflecting upon Our Lady’s Message, you will get the larger picture.

The picture Our Lady gives us is that of the whole world being converted, that of the whole world being at peace, that of the whole world turning swords into ploughshares, that of the whole world learning the art of war no more.

This is not just my vision, it is in Sacred Scripture itself. This is what Our Lady is offering us. Now, the practical and the (shall we say) unreflective persons will tell us that such a picture of the future of mankind is impossible to achieve. Without faith, without Our Lady, without our cooperation, it certainly is impossible. But, in fact, it is not only possible, it is certain to happen when we obey.

I met a bishop who was very interested in what I say, but he said to me, “Father, you understand, of course, that the Catholic bishops of the world today would not accept your vision.” I said, “Your Excellency, I know that, but I do believe Our Lady’s Message, and She said to us, ‘In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father (together with all the Catholic bishops of the world) will consecrate Russia to Me, she will be converted and a period of peace will be granted to the world.’”

It is not for us to continue to think, well that is what my sisters and brothers say, that is what my colleagues say, that is what everyone else says, therefore, I cannot think anything different. No. God is asking us to be responsible for ourselves, to think for ourselves and listen to Her, ourselves, even though it doesn’t seem possible.

All is Possible Through God
and the Blessed Virgin

I agree that without the intervention of God and the Blessed Virgin, it is impossible. But with the intervention of God and the Blessed Virgin all is possible and we have Her promise.

We must accept that vision that She has offered us and say,

“I will do my part. By myself I can do nothing but I will do my part and I will depend on Her to raise up others to do their part beside me, the next city over, the next country over, or around the world. I will do what I am expected to do and She will do the rest.”

Each of us must take our responsibility, each of us must take Her words to heart, each of us must say:

“Blessed Mother, I know You are sad because the good do not pay attention, but I, myself, to the extent I can, even though I am imperfect, even though I have many failings, I will no longer make You sad by not listening to Your requests, by not taking them seriously, by not reflecting upon them, by not explaining them.”

“Even if I have to pay some penalty of being misunderstood, of taking some penalty of not getting some promotion or some acknowledgment that I would deserve, I will do my part and I leave the rest to You.”

All of us — and not only all of us here, but all of those that you talk to, and they whom they talk to — will bring about the victory that She has promised.

She could do it by Herself, but, obviously, for the last 77 years, She has not done this. She is waiting for us to do our responsibility, to do our part. Ultimately, if we do what we can, others, even if not in our lifetime, will finally get the understanding, will finally do what it takes, because She says, “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

Whether or not we win in our lifetime, at least we will be recognized and rewarded by Heaven for having done what we could. As Shakespeare says, “the whole world is a stage.” Of course, the stage that we are on is the world. To carry out our roles before God, we must live the role that God expects us to live. Day by day, minute by minute, God expects us to do our part in this role.

It’s Up to You Personally

It is up to you, not to the person beside you or the other side of you. It is up to yourself. You have to say:

"I will do my part even if my friend, even if my bishop, even if my Cardinal, even if my washer woman does not agree with me. I will do what the Blessed Virgin wants."

It is a personal appeal from the Immaculate Heart of Mary to you. It is a personal appeal from the Sacred Heart of Jesus to you and it is for you to do your part. Whether it is simply to offer sacrifices in quiet because that is all that God has given you or whether it is to speak on the radio or television or publish articles, or to talk to your friend who’s a newspaper person, or to talk to your friend who is a Cardinal, or a bishop or the Pope, it is up to you to make that decision to say:

 “I will do my part. You, O Holy Virgin, have put me in this position and I will use that position to advance Your cause, Your victory.”

That is a choice before each of us today. And that is what I ask you, above all, to say in your heart.

“Blessed Mother, I, to the extent of all my possibilities, will not make You sad by not paying attention to Your Message. I will do my part and I will do that not only today, not only tomorrow, but for the rest of my life; to make Your Message known, appreciated and obeyed. First of all, in my own life but also to the extent I can to all those people around me, whoever they might be.”

The Fatima Movement
of Priests

Some of us, no doubt, would be able to reach out to the Pope. Some of us can reach out to other Cardinals and bishops. Some of us can have a lot of influence. God knows the possibilities but it is for us to make that commitment, and that is what Our Lady asked us to do and that is what I am asking you to do also. That is, that you make that commitment personally and that you make a commitment to join the Fatima Movement of Priests.

The Virgin Mary tells us, “Only Our Lady of the Rosary can help you.” She is very literal. She says that entire nations will be annihilated. When Lucy tells us that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth, she doesn’t mean a political change or a new name. She is talking about the people, the people of entire nations being killed. Entire nations will be wiped off the face of the earth.

My Inaction
Would Be My Guilt

If I know that people could be wiped off the face of the earth, and I know how to solve that problem and I don’t do my part, then I am guilty. We all can do something to save nations from becoming annihilated — by our prayers, our sacrifices, our fasting and also by passing on the Message.

Passing on the Message doesn’t seem like very much, and yet it is through the silencing of the Fatima Message which the enemies of Our Lady have been able to succeed, up to now, in preventing Her triumph.

In Poland, in 1949, the Communists, in order to take over Poland, only asked for two conditions. One was not to denounce Communism and the other was to take over the position of the army and police in the cabinet of the coalition government. With those two conditions they were able to take over Poland.

The same thing was asked of the Vatican in 1962, that the Vatican would not denounce Communism. One condition and one condition only: silence!

We may not realize it, but there are different levels of society, I’m not talking about economic or social levels, but God has ordained that just as there is a hierarchy of Angels, and that the higher Angels explain things to the lower Angels, so it is in human society that the more intelligent humans explain things to the less intelligent.

It does not make us any more important or better or good because we may be more intelligent, that is just the order that God has placed. But if we do not fulfill our role in explaining things to the less intelligent, they do not get the message. So when we maintain silence on the Fatima Message, the Message does not get down to the people.

To Not Do Our Duty
Is Not an Option

So it is not our option to not do our duty to pass on the Message. This is what has happened so far, and when you consider that in Portugal in 1917 there were only three children who saw Our Lady on May 13.  Jacinta told her mother, her mother told her father and the word was spread that way, so that on June 13, there were fifty people.

Not very many, 50 people, but those 50 people told their friends and neighbors and in July there were 5,000 people. And those 5,000 people told their friends and neighbors and in August there were 15,000 people. And those 15,000 people told their friends and neighbors and in September there were 30,000. Those 30,000 people told their friends and neighbors and in October there were 70,000 people there. All because the word was passed on by one child to her mother. 

At that time, the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon was in exile by the hand of the Masonic government. Catholic priests and religious were in jail and so I don’t blame the priests for not mentioning Fatima. In fact, many of them discouraged the faithful from going to Fatima.

The newspapers, on the other hand, when it reached a certain level, started to ridicule the people who believed in Fatima, publicly calling them fools and so forth. They even called out the army at some point to prevent pilgrims from coming to Fatima.

Despite all this, the faithful, of whatever rank, told their friends and neighbors to listen to the Message of Fatima. And they came and they listened and they spread the Message. I think that fact on Fatima, which is little reflected upon, is also a lesson for our time.

Your Voice Can
Break the Silence

Within the newspapers, within the Church, there are many forces that want you to keep silent about Fatima. But you at least can tell your friends and neighbors. You at least can do the little part you have wherever you are to spread the Message of Fatima and instill the truth about it. And that is how Our Lady will win, by passing the Message on to other people by word of mouth most of all.

Let us do our part. That is what Our Lady wants you to do. We all must make that commitment. Let us not shrink from our responsibility. You might think, "well, I didn’t see the Blessed Virgin. She didn’t give the Message to me. So I have no responsibility." No, you have heard the Message, you’ve had it explained, the books are here. You have the opportunity to know. God has given you that gift, that opportunity. You have to answer for that opportunity. You have to answer to God on Judgment Day, what you did to promote, certainly the Gospel, but also, you will be asked, what did you do to promote Fatima — the prophetic explanation of the Gospel for our time.

That is what I urge all, especially the priests and the bishops to do, to join the Fatima Movement of Priests, to explain the Message of Fatima always in the light of the Catholic Faith as defined by the Church for 2,000 years. And to promote it with the people around you. To promote it in practice as well as promote it in doctrine and teaching.

It is up to you to do your part. I will continue to do, by the grace of God, what I can. But one priest can’t do it alone. Time is running out. It is up to you to do your part to make this Message known, appreciated, loved and obeyed. And above all to make your personal commitment to Our Lady.

“Totus Tuus”
I am All Yours

As Pope John Paul II said, “Totus Tuus” (I am all Yours).

Let each of us say to the Blessed Virgin, “I am all Yours”. I will do my part to make Your Message known. I will do my part to live for Your Message. I will do my part to encourage others to live your Message. I will do my part with my prayers and my sacrifices and my works, to get the Consecration of Russia done by the Holy Father and all the bishops on one special day as a solemn and public act of reparation.