The Consecration of Portugal
and the Triumph of the
Immaculate Heart

by John Vennari

Note: This year marks the 90th anniversary of Our Lady’s visitations to Fatima. In all of these 90 years, the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has yet to be accomplished. The following demonstrates this fact by spotlighting the consecration of Portugal to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart that took place in the 1930s; the results of which were so spectacular that the consecration of Portugal has been referred to as the “Showcase of Our Lady”.

One of the most striking historical events that demonstrate the proper Consecration of Russia was not fulfilled is to contrast the effects of Pope John Paul II’s 1984 consecration of the world, with the Portuguese bishops’ Consecration of Portugal in 1931.

The Patriarch of Lisbon at the time, the eminent Cardinal Cerejeira, explained that the miraculous blessings that Our Lady obtained for Portugal due to the 1931 Consecration, is 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.”¹

This dramatic consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary demonstrates the great power of Our Lady, and Her fidelity in fulfilling Her promises.

The bishops of Portugal consecrated their nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on May 13, 1931.

The effects wrought from this consecration were so spectacular that Frère Michel of the Holy Trinity calls Portugal at this time the “Showcase of Our Lady”. It seems that Our Lady used Portugal to show on a national level what She would do worldwide if the Pope in union with the world’s bishops consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart.

Thanks to this 1931 consecration, Portugal experienced a “threefold miracle.”

1) There was a magnificent Catholic Renaissance, a great rebirth of Catholic life.

2) There was a miracle of political and social reform,

3) There was a miracle of peace, in that Portugal was preserved from the Communist terror, especially from the Spanish Civil War that was raging right next door. And also, Portugal was preserved from the devastations of the Second World War.

Cardinal Cerejeira, on May 13, 1942 did not hesitate to attribute to Our Lady of Fatima the great graces that She had obtained for Portugal during this time. 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 convinced that we owe the wonderful transformation of Portugal to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin.”

So, first we will discuss the 1931 consecration and then discuss the great graces that this consecration procured.

It was on October 13, 1930 that the Catholic Church gave its solemn canonical approval to the apparitions and the Message of Fatima.

This naturally aroused a great enthusiasm throughout Portugal. It was at this time that the bishops of Portugal, gathered around Cardinal Cerejeira, decided to give a public testimony to devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. They agreed that on May 13, 1931, a great national pilgrimage of thanksgiving would be organized under the direction of all the bishops of the country. On that day, the bishops would solemnly consecrate Portugal to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The bishops had actually made the decision to consecrate Portugal to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in January, 1931. They did this when they were all together on retreat. Interestingly, this retreat had been preached by Father Mateo Crowley, the great apostle of the Sacred Heart.

It has also been said that it was Sister Lucy herself who inspired the whole idea for this national consecration.

In 1928, on the Feast of Christ the King, the Portuguese bishops had consecrated Portugal to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. So, these bishops, quite rightly, saw the consecration of the nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a continuation and natural completion to this first act.

On May 13, 1931, three hundred thousand of the faithful came to Fatima for the event. And if I may, I would like to present the beautiful consecration formula of these good bishops. It is really a tribute to the faith of the episcopacy of Portugal at the time.

    “The Shepherds chosen by Your Son to watch over and feed in His name the sheep He has acquired at the price of His blood — in this ‘Land of Holy Mary’, whose name cannot be pronounced without pronouncing Your own — come today — as the officials and consecrated representatives of their flocks, and in an act of filial homage of faith, love and trust — to solemnly consecrate the Portuguese nation to Your Immaculate Heart. Take it from our fragile hands into Your own; defend it and guard it as Your own property; make Jesus reign, conquer and rule in it. Outside of Him there is no salvation.”

Then the bishops speak of the imminent danger of the contamination of the Communists.

“We, the pontiffs of your people, feel a terrible storm raging around us, threatening to disperse and destroy the faithful flock of those who bless You because You are the Mother of Jesus. Afflicted, we stretch out our suppliant hands towards Your Son, as we cry out: ‘Save us, O Lord, for we perish! ...’

“Intercede for Portugal, O Our Lady, in this grave hour when from the East blow furious winds, bringing cries of death against Your Son and against the civilization founded on His teachings, deceiving minds, perverting hearts, and lighting the fires of hatred and revolution in the world. Help of Christians, pray for us!”

You can see, this is dead-aimed at the Communists.

I also find it edifying that these bishops were concerned with the preservation of CHRISTENDOM. They spoke of an evil that “brings cries of death against Your Son and against the civilization founded on His teachings.”

Then the bishops turned their attention to the growing breakdown of morality in society:

“Intercede for Portugal, Our Lady, in this troubled hour when the unclean waves of an open immorality, which has even lost the notion of sin, exalt the rehabilitation of the flesh in the face of the very Cross of Your Son, threatening to choke in this world the lily of virtue nourished by the Eucharistic Blood of Jesus. Virgin most Powerful, pray for us!

“Intercede for Portugal, Our Lady, in this hour of passions and doubts when even the good run the risk of being lost ... Unite all the Portuguese people around Your Son, in the love of the Church and also in the cultivation of virtue, in respect for order and fraternal charity. Queen of Peace, pray for us.

“Remember finally, Patroness of our country, that Portugal once taught so many lands to proclaim You blessed among all women. In remembrance of what it once did for Your glory, Our Lady of Fatima, save it, by giving it Jesus, in Whom it will find Truth, Life and Peace.”²

Beautiful prayer — full of faith!

And Our Lady — in response to those bishops fulfilling Her requests so exactly — accomplished what is called the threefold miracle for Portugal that I had mentioned earlier:

1) A magnificent Catholic Renaissance, a great rebirth of Catholic life;

2) A miracle of political and social reform;

3) A miracle of peace, in that Portugal was preserved from the Communist terror; Portugal was preserved from the devastations of the Second World War.

For the bulk of this information, I’m relying on Volume II of the magnificent trilogy The Whole Truth About Fatima by Frère Michel of the Holy Trinity.

1) Miracle of Conversion

The first in this triple miracle was the Miracle of Conversion — a magnificent Catholic Renaissance. This Catholic rebirth was so striking, so dramatic, that even the people who lived through it attributed it unquestionably to the work of God.

At this time, there was a dramatic increase of priestly and religious vocations.  For example, in the diocese of Portalegre in 1917, there were only 18 seminarians. By 1933, there were 201. Diocese after diocese in Portugal tell the same story.

The number of priests in Portugal increased at least 25 percent. That statistic remained high until 1964. After the Second Vatican Council vocations started to drop, as they did throughout the world.

As for religious, their number almost quadrupled in 10 years. The same ascending curve was also noticed in the number of religious communities in Portugal at the same time.

Lastly, there was a great renewal of Christian Life, which showed itself in many ways including the development of the Catholic press, Catholic radio, pilgrimages, spiritual retreats, and a magnificent movement of Catholic Action that was firmly integrated into the framework of diocesan and parish life. There was at this time an association called The Pious Union of Crusaders of Fatima that numbered about five hundred thousand members. The people themselves were as fiercely anti-communists as they were devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

This Catholic Renaissance was so great 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.”³

So the first effect of Our Lady of Fatima and especially of the national consecration was this magnificent Catholic Renaissance in Portugal.

2) The Miracle of Political and Social Renewal

The second great miracle for Portugal was the miracle of political and social reform.

We have to remember the bishops had consecrated Portugal to Our Lady so that She may save it from Communism which was taking root in Spain, right next door.

Around 1932, an uncompromising Catholic leader named Antonio Salazar, came to be Premier of Portugal. Salazar had been rising in the government since 1928. Salazar’s goal was to put into practice a Catholic program that was Counter-revolutionary.  In fact, Salazar himself received a special blessing from Pope Pius XII for this work.

As I said, Salazar’s program was a Catholic, Counter-revolutionary program. He called Communism “the greatest heresy of our time” and he strove with all his might to fight against it. He was a fierce opponent of socialism, liberalism, and to use his words he was opposed to “everything which diminishes, divides, or dissolves the family”.

Salazar said: “For me I have only one goal ... What I propose is to bring Portugal permanently to life!” He explains:

     “We want to preserve at any price, from this wave that is falling over the world, simplicity of life, purity of morals, gentleness of sentiments, the equilibrium of social relations, and this modest but noble family atmosphere which is proper to Portuguese life.”⁵

Very simply, his goal was to establish Catholic Social Order, wherein the state, government and social institutions would base its laws of right and wrong on what the Gospels teach is right and wrong and on what the Church teaches is right and wrong. In this process, it seems that Salazar even dissolved Freemasonry in Portugal in 1935.

Salazar was keen to leave the Catholic Church complete and entire liberty of action. He permitted the Catholic religion to be taught in all schools, not just parochial schools. (Non-Catholic parents who did not wish their children to receive this instruction could have their children removed from these classes, as the Catholic Faith is never forced on anyone); but throughout Portugal, the Catholic education of the youth was greatly favored.

Another remarkable development at this time was Salazar’s legislation on marriage which read “The Portuguese state recognizes the civil effects of marriages celebrated according to canonical laws.” He then initiated into this legislation articles which frowned upon divorce. Article 24 reads, “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.” This was a law of the state that said, if Catholics engage in a valid marriage, there is no way that they can even ask for a divorce.

The effect of this law was that the number of Catholic marriages did not go down, they went up. So that by 1960, nearly 91 percent of all marriages in the country were canonical marriages. Can you imagine living in a land where 91 percent of all marriages are proper, canonical, sacramental Catholic marriages, and that the couples going into these marriages completely accept the fact that divorce is out of the question? That is a civilization of love! — and it is nowhere to be found as we begin the Third Millennium.

So while so many other countries throughout the world were plagued with communism, humanism, socialism and revolution; Salazar stood practically alone in establishing a nation that was, for the most part, based on Catholic Social principles. In other words, with objective truth, with reality.

3) Miracle of Peace

The third miracle is the miracle of peace in that:

1) Portugal was preserved from Communist terror,

2) Portugal was preserved from the horrors of the Second World War.

It was well known at the time that Moscow’s plan was to plant Communism in Spain. Because if they did this, then Europe would be book-ended by Communism. It would have Communist Russia on one side, and Communist Spain on the other; therefore, Communism could close in on Europe from both sides.

Now the Portuguese bishops were watching this very closely. They were watching the events in Spain, and they were afraid for Portugal. So on May 13, 1936, the bishops met together and made a secret vow. They vowed that they (the bishops) would lead a national pilgrimage to Fatima in 1938 “to give solemn thanks to the Blessed Mother if She obtained for Portugal victory over Communism and the benefit of peace.” (Cardinal Cerejeira’s own words.)

What faith!

On July 13, 1936, just two months after their vow, there was the assassination of the monarchist deputy Calvo Sotelo, which marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. As Frère Michel points out, the threat to Portugal was grave. Humanly speaking, it was practically inevitable that the revolutionary contagion would sweep right into Portugal.

But it never did.

Now, it could have, and it almost did.

For instance, on September 8, 1936, two Portuguese ships mutinied to join the Communists in Spain. As soon as Salazar heard this, he gave the order that the ships be bombarded until they either surrendered or sank.

When Salazar did this, he received the full backing of the bishops of Portugal. So it wasn’t long before the mutineers came to their senses. Afterward, the bishops themselves wrote about the event. They said that “a revolutionary movement got under way, which was quickly snuffed out. Thus Portugal could continue in tranquility on the path of work and progress.”

That was one major danger averted. Almost a year later, another, there was an attempt on Salazar’s life.

On July 4, 1937, Salazar was on his way to Mass at a private chapel of a friend’s house. Just as he stepped out of the car, a bomb exploded only 10 feet away (the bomb had been hidden in an iron case). But the bomb-blast left Salazar untouched and it also left his chauffeur untouched (even though the poor chauffeur was rendered deaf). Rather than being all shaken up, Salazar simply said to those around him, “Calm down,” and then he turned to his friend and said “Let’s go to Mass.” He just picked up where he left off.

Had Salazar been assassinated, it would have thrown the country into incredible turmoil, which is fertile breeding ground for Communism. And the bishops acknowledged in a collective letter in 1938, that it was an act of God that preserved Salazar’s life in this attempted assassination.

Anyway, by 1938, General Franco in Spain was on his way to victory, and the danger for Portugal had finally been averted. So, on May 13, 1938, when the bishops of Portugal fulfilled their vow and renewed the National Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cardinal Cerejeira acknowledged publicly that Our Lady of Fatima had spared Portugal the scourge of Communism.

“Since Our Lady of Fatima appeared in 1917 ... a special blessing of God has descended on the land of Portugal ... Especially if we review the two years which have gone by 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 was amazed that Portugal had been spared from Communism. In an address to the Portuguese people the Pope spoke about “the Red Peril, so menacing and so close to you, and yet avoided in such an unexpected manner”.⁷

World War II

Now, for Portugal at this time, one danger had passed, but another was staring them right in the face. They had escaped the contagion of Communism from Spain, but now the Second World War was about to break out. On February 6, 1939, 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 she told him of a magnificent and 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.”

And Portugal was spared the horrors of war, the details of which are too numerous to go into right now. (You can read about it in Volume II of Frère Michel’s Whole Truth About Fatima.)

On December 2, 1940, Sister Lucy wrote to Pope Pius XII and told him that Portugal is receiving special protection during the war that other nations would have received if the bishops would consecrate 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

So this is why Frère Michel of the Holy Trinity calls Portugal at this time, the “Showcase of Our Lady.”

When the bishops consecrated Portugal to Her Immaculate Heart, there was the threefold miracle:

1) There was a magnificent Catholic Renaissance, a great rebirth of Catholic life.

2) There was a miracle of political and social reform,

3) There was a miracle of peace, in that Portugal was preserved from the Communist terror, especially the Spanish Civil War which was raging right next door. And also, Portugal was preserved from the devastations of the Second World War.

This threefold miracle that Our Lady accomplished on a national scale in Portugal is something which She wants to do worldwide in an even more magnificent manner. But it will not happen until the Pope in union with all the bishops of the world, consecrate Russia to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart as Our Lady of Fatima requested.

Today’s Russia: No Triple Miracle

Thus it is not hard to understand why Portugal at this time has been called the “Showcase of Our Lady”. This triple miracle of Portugal stands as a preview of how Russia and the world will look after the proper Consecration of Russia. This preview is also helpful to us as it is a gauge by which we can judge the present. If we contrast the threefold miracle of Portugal with the present condition of Russia and the world, it is obvious that the proper Consecration of Russia is not yet achieved.

We’ll take a look at these one by one:

1) After the 1931 Consecration, there was a great Catholic Renaissance in Portugal. But since the 1984 Consecration of the world, Russia boasts no rebirth of Catholic life.

The Catholic Church is still a minority religion in Russia. The largest religion in Russia is the Schismatic Russian Orthodox, the next largest is Islam, followed by an assortment of Protestant sects. The Catholic religion in Russia only has the status of a sect among sects, that is, it is on the level with kooky minority religious such as the Moonies, the Mormons, the Quakers, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Hari Krishnas and the Church of Scientology.⁹

I should mention here a fact that should be obvious:  the conversion of Russia Our Lady spoke of is conversion to the Catholic Faith. This is not only a point of common sense, but it is also found in the testimony of Father Joaquin Alonso, probably the top Fatima expert of the 20th Century. Father Alonso, who had many interviews with Sister Lucy, wrote in 1976:

“... we should affirm that Lucia always thought that the ‘conversion’ of Russia is not to be limited to the return of the Russian People to the Orthodox Christian religions, rejecting the Marxist atheism of the Soviets, but rather, it refers purely, plainly and simply to the total, integral conversion of Russia to the one true Church of Christ, the Catholic Church.”¹⁰

In fact, on September 3, 2006, United Press International [UPI] reported that the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia says there are now over 5,000 sects in Russia that involve up to 10 million people. Father Yevgeny Tremaskin, deputy head of the Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Non-Traditional Religions and Occult and Sorcery Cults says that his center has been “continually approached by relatives of those who died in cult rites and whose property has been taken away by sectarians.”

Father Yevgeny said, “Different sects target different sections of the population. Some aim at civil servants, while others at workers. Thus, Scientologists and Jehovah’s Witnesses have gained the confidence of administrative and military circles and the educational community. Oriental and Hindu philosophy has spread to the intellectual elite but targets mostly the youth.”

This is no “conversion of Russia”, especially when we contrast the present state of Russia with the magnificent rebirth of Catholic life in Portugal that was the result of the bishops’ consecration.

2) Following the 1931 Consecration, there was in Portugal the miracle of political and social reform, in accordance with Catholic Social Principles. But after the 1984 Consecration, there is no Catholic social reform anywhere in Russia. To the contrary, Russia now boils with immorality and decadence.

Over 23 years after the Consecration, Russia has the highest abortion rate in the world. Fr. Daniel Maurer, CJD, who recently spent eight years in Russia, says that statistically, the average Russian woman will have eight abortions in her childbearing years — though Fr. Maurer believes the actual number is about 12 abortions per woman. He has spoken to women who have had as many as 25 abortions. The reasons for these dreadful figures are that other contraception methods (which are immoral anyway) have not been introduced in Russia, nor are they trusted. This leaves abortion as the “cheapest way to limit the family size”. Presently in Russia, abortions are free, but births are not.¹¹

The Contrast is Evident

In post-1931 Portugal, a Catholic head-of-state virtually outlawed divorce. But in post-1984 Russia, the divorce rate matches that of the United States; which means it is an extremely high divorce rate.

Russia also has the highest alcohol consumption in the world. Satanism is on the rise in Russia, the birth-rate is plummeting, and homosexuality is rampant in Moscow and throughout the country. In fact, in April 1993, nine years after the 1984 consecration of the world, Russian President Boris Yeltsin allowed homosexuality to be de-criminalized. Homosexuality is now “legal” in Russia.¹²

Worse, Russia is now a leading world center for the distribution of child pornography. The Associated Press reported on August 9, 2001, of a Moscow-based child pornography ring linked to another child pornography ring in Texas. To quote AP:

     “Russian law does not distinguish between child pornography and pornography involving adults, and treats the production and distribution of either as a minor crime, said Dmitry Chepchugov, head of the Russian Interior Ministry’s department for high technology crimes. Russian police often complain about the legal chaos that has turned Russia into an international center of child pornography production. ‘Unfortunately, Russia has turned into a world trash bin of child pornography,’ Chepchugov told reporters in Moscow”.

Then there is the disturbing news of Russia’s recent, highly immoral “reality television” program that Russian viewers were tuning in to by the millions.

Millions of Russians were tuning in to Russia’s new and lewd “Reality TV” program Za Steklom (“Behind the Glass”). Of this program, which was aired three times a day, one news service commented, “Russia has made a pointed effort to make the show more risqué than their Western counterparts”.

Six young contestants in their early twenties — three male, three female — are locked up in an apartment where 60 cameras film them 24 hours a day. All of their activities are filmed and broadcast, including showers and worse. It’s an X-rated “reality TV” show, with young couples engaging in highly immoral acts in front of the cameras.

Mark Franchetti in the November 24, 2001 London Times, reports that despite grumbles of disapproval from old hard-line Communists, Russian viewers “cannot get enough” of this “raunchiest version” of Reality TV. Franchetti writes, the program “boasts an audience share of more than 50% and thousands of Russians have endured sub-zero temperatures and queued for more than an hour to catch a glimpse of it through a window of the flat. Millions have logged on to the website, which has crashed frequently under the weight of traffic.”

The next example is so gruesome that I shudder to discuss it. But I must, if we want to understand the true state of affairs in Russia.

In early April, 2005, border guards stopped a train entering Russia from Ukraine, and confiscated a mule carrying 25 frozen human fetuses hidden in two vacuum flasks. The mule’s owner claimed he had bought these fetuses from a medical research center; but the man’s story was not true.

The gruesome cargo, in fact, was aborted babies from girls and young women that are being exported from Ukraine for use in illegal beauty treatments costing thousands of dollars.

The April 17 London Observer reported that racketeers are paying women to sell their aborted fetuses to quack clinics for courses of ‘anti-aging’ injections that claim to rejuvenate skin and cure a raft of diseases.

“It is thought”, says The Observer, “that women in the former Soviet Republic are being paid 100 pounds a time to persuade them to have abortions to allow their fetus to be used in treatments. Most of the fetuses are sold in Russia for up to 5000 pounds each. Some are paid extra to have abortions later in their pregnancy.”

The fetuses are cryogenically frozen and passed on to the beauty salons. The Observer reports, “Beauty salons in Moscow that buy the aborted material to provide ‘fetal therapy’ are flourishing, despite a Russian ban on all commercial treatments using human cells other than bone marrow. The salons offer injections of stem cells, the undivided cells present in embryos that can adapt into any kind of tissue, although they are still at the trial stage worldwide.”

Even though abortions performed more than 12 weeks into a pregnancy are restricted in the Ukraine, these later abortions are encouraged because the alleged “curative powers” from these older aborted babies are thought to be greater.

The process involves corrupt doctors. “When a doctor wants a fetus to sell”, says Sergia Shorobogatko, a former Kiev policeman investigating the trade, “he tells a girl there is a medical reason for an abortion later than 12 weeks.”

The women would be paid to wait until a late stage in her pregnancy, or might never know she was duped, says Shorobogatko. Her aborted baby would be passed to a middle man or institution, which, The Observer reports “would be cut into separate organs before placing these in storage”. The body parts are then sold and taken abroad.

Though injections using fetal cells are banned in Ukraine and Russia, they are nonetheless widely available in salons that charge up to 10,000 pounds (approximately $20,000 US). Wealthy clients are told the treatments can stop the aging process, or eliminate such debilitating conditions as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s. “One fashionable Moscow clinic” says The Observer, “‘promised to ‘take 10 years off your face’.”

Professor Vladimir Smirnov, director of Moscow’s Institute of Experimental Cardiology, said, “We are talking about a huge, corrupt and dangerous trade in quack therapies.”

Russian law enforcement against this ongoing abomination is notoriously lax.¹³

Would anyone in their right mind consider this to be the conversion of Russia?

Would Saint Padre Pio or Saint Maximilian Kolbe or Saint Thérèse of Lisieux call this a triumph of the Immaculate Heart?

To call what I have just described the “triumph of the Immaculate Heart” promised at Fatima is blasphemy.

The final point:

3) As a result of the 1931 Consecration, Portugal was granted a miracle of peace: it was spared the horrors of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. By contrast, after the 1984 consecration, there is no peace. The promise of peace to follow the proper Consecration of Russia is not going to be for Russia alone, but the whole world: “a period of peace will be granted to the world,” pledged the beautiful Lady from Heaven.

There is no need to propound at length on the dearth of peace, especially in the light of September 11 and its aftermath. The “worst terrorist attack in history” will not be one of the defining moments of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart.  The constant war in the Middle East is proof enough.

We are not in a period of peace because the Consecration has not been accomplished. But that does not mean that in the meantime we do nothing. We just sit around and wait.

We can still make consecrations to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart. These graces are there for the taking.

Conclusion:

Now, I am a layman, and certainly cannot tell bishops and priests what to do. But I will tell you what I would like to see happen.

I would like to see bishops consecrate their diocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; to join with their fellow bishops to consecrate their nations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I would like to see priests consecrate their parishes to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I would like to see priests and bishops enthusiastically promote the Fatima Message, and make this message central to their lives.

I would like to see husbands and fathers consecrate their families and their homes, and each one of their children individually to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; so that She may preserve and protect them the way She did the nation of Portugal.

I would like to see all individuals consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and to live this consecration by obeying all of Our Lady of Fatima’s requests: daily Rosary; Five First Saturdays; making sacrifices for sinners; offering their daily duty to God as an act of sacrifice.

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to see — and every day I pray to see — the Pope in union with the world’s bishops consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; so that we may see Her triumph, which will be the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.

Edited transcript of speech given at “Fatima: Last Chance for World Peace” conference in Tuy, Spain, October 10, 2006.