Excerpt from The Spirituality of Fatima

by Fr. Edward Carter, S.J.

July 13, 1917

    "During her appearance in July, Our Lady, in answer to Lucia's plea, promised that in October she would work a great miracle so that all might believe and know who she was. Again, the Mother of God told the children to sacrifice themselves for sinners and to say many times, especially when making a sacrifice, this prayer: "O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." ⁽¹¹⁾

    "During this same July apparition, Mary showed the three children a vision of Hell. She told them:

    "You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish, in the world, devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.

    "The war (World War I, then raging) is going to end. But if people do not stop offending God, another and worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you shall see a night illuminated by an unknown light [January 2, 1938], know that this is the great sign that God gives you that He is going to punish the world for its many crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. ⁽¹²⁾

    "To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the five first Saturdays. If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed....

    "But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph, the Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world." ⁽¹³⁾

 11. For background material on Fatima, I am particularly indebted to 
    Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven (Rockford: TAN 
    Books and Publishers, Inc., 1983). pp.3-4.
12. Ibid., pp.4-5.
13. Ibid., p.5.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment
 

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.
                       

p. 25

46. PRAYER.  In the preparatory prayer I will beg God
our Lord for grace that all my intentions, actions, 
and operations may be directed purely to the 
praise and service of His Divine Majesty.  

                Visitation

                (1) Luke 1: 39-45

Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.’

                (2) 

                (3)

 Prayer of St Ignatius

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.

                (4) The Magnificat

Luke 1: 46-55

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims
    the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit rejoices
    in God my Saviour;
because he has looked upon
    the humiliation of his servant.
Yes, from now onwards
    all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty
    has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his faithful love extends age after age
    to those who fear him.
He has used the power of his arm,
he has routed the arrogant of heart.
He has pulled down princes
    from their thrones
        and raised high the lowly.
He has filled the starving with good things,
    sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the help
    of Israel his servant,
        mindful of his faithful love
—according to the promise
    he made to our ancestors—
of his mercy to Abraham
    and to his descendants for ever.

                (5) Sing: Holy, Holy, Holy Is His Name

                (6) Human embryos at the earliest weeks of pregnancy
                        are human lives.

                (7) How can somebody kill a child in
                        the womb —
 

Isaiah 49: 15

Can a woman forget her baby at the breast,
feel no pity for the child she has borne?
Even if these were to forget,
I shall not forget you.

                (8) We must focus on Divine Love
                        Don't forget pains of hell —

                (9) Eucharist means thanksgiving

                (10) Gratitude —
                        If we see our sins — we are grateful
                            to be more holy — advance in
                            the spiritual life

                Birth of Jesus

Luke 2: 1-20

Now it happened that at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be made of the whole inhabited world. This census—the first—took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee for Judaea, to David’s town called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to a son, her first–born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the living–space. In the countryside close by there were shepherds out in the fields keeping guard over their sheep during the watches of the night. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And all at once with the angel there was a great throng of the hosts of heaven, praising God with the words: 

    Glory to God in the highest heaven, 
    and on earth peace for those he favours. 

    Now it happened that when the angels had gone from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go to Bethlehem and see this event which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. When they saw the child they repeated what they had been told about him, and everyone who heard it was astonished at what the shepherds said to them. As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.

                (1)  Jesus was conceived in the womb of
                        Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit —                      

                (2) When we sin — we choose evil
                        over good — we have a free will —
                        sin hurts our intimacy with Jesus

                (3) We are to follow and imitate Jesus —
                        Jesus came as a baby —
                        We are to grow in the spiritual life —
                        We came as babies and grow in our
                            bodies —
                        We are to grow in the spiritual life —

                (4) When we choose sin and evil — we make
                        that evil around us in our lives —
                        disobedience to God's wishes —

                (5) We are now surrounded by the mess
                        we chose  a chain of evil

2 Samuel 11: 1 - 12: 7

At the turn of the year, at the time when kings go campaigning, David sent Joab and with him his guards and all Israel. They massacred the Ammonites and laid siege to Rabbah-of-the-Ammonites. David, however, remained in Jerusalem. It happened towards evening when David had got up from resting and was strolling on the palace roof, that from the roof he saw a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David made enquiries about this woman and was told, 'Why, that is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.' David then sent messengers to fetch her. She came to him, and he lay with her, just after she had purified herself from her period. She then went home again. The woman conceived and sent word to David, 'I am pregnant.'

    David then sent word to Joab, 'Send me Uriah the Hittite,' whereupon Joab sent Uriah to David.When Uriah reached him, David asked how Joab was and how the army was and how the war was going.David then said to Uriah, 'Go down to your house and wash your feet.' Uriah left the palace and was followed by a present from the king's table. Uriah, however, slept at the palace gate with all his master's bodyguard and did not go down to his house.

    This was reported to David; 'Uriah', they said 'has not gone down to his house.' So David asked Uriah, 'Haven't you just arrived from the journey? Why didn't you go down to your house?' To which Uriah replied, 'The ark, Israel and Judah are lodged in huts; my master Joab and my lord's guards are camping in the open. Am I to go to my house, then, and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As Yahweh lives, and as you yourself live, I shall do no such thing!' David then said to Uriah, 'Stay on here today; tomorrow I shall send you off.' So Uriah stayed that day in Jerusalem. The next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk. In the evening, Uriah went out and bedded down with his master's bodyguard, but did not go down to his house.

    Next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. In the letter he wrote, 'Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest and then fall back, so that he gets wounded and killed.' Joab, then besieging the city, stationed Uriah at a point where he knew that there would be tough fighters. The people of the city sallied out and engaged Joab; there were casualties in the army, among David's guards, and Uriah the Hittite was killed as well.

    Joab sent David a full account of the battle. To the messenger he gave this order: 'When you have finished telling the king all about the battle, if the king's anger is aroused and he says, "Why did you go near the town to give battle? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the ramparts? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the ramparts, causing his death at Thebez? Why did you go near the ramparts?" you are to say, "Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too." '

    So the messenger set off and, on his arrival, told David everything that Joab had instructed him to say. David flew into a rage with Joab and said to the messenger, 'Why did you go near the ramparts? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the ramparts, causing his death at Thebez? Why did you go near the ramparts?' The messenger replied to David, 'Their men had won an initial advantage and then came out to engage us in the open. We then drove them back into the gateway, but the archers shot at your retainers from the ramparts; some of the king's retainers lost their lives, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.'

    David then said to the messenger, 'Say this to Joab, "Do not take the matter to heart; the sword devours now one and now another. Attack the town in greater force and destroy it." That will encourage him.' When Uriah's wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.When the period of mourning was over, David sent to have her brought to his house; she became his wife and bore him a son. But what David had done displeased Yahweh.

David is rebuked by Nathan
His repentance

Yahweh sent the prophet Nathan to David. He came to him and said:

    In the same town were two men,
    one rich, the other poor.
    The rich man had flocks and herds
    in great abundance;
    the poor man had nothing but a ewe lamb,
    only a single little one
        which he had bought.
    He fostered it and it grew up with him
        and his children,
    eating his bread, drinking from his cup,
    sleeping in his arms;
        it was like a daughter to him.
    When a traveller came to stay,
        the rich man
    would not take anything
        from his own flock or herd
    to provide for the wayfarer
        who had come to him.
    Instead, he stole the poor man's lamb
    and prepared that for his guest.

    David flew into a great rage with the man. 'As Yahweh lives,' he said to Nathan 'the man who did this deserves to die. For doing such a thing and for having shown no pity, he shall make fourfold restitution for the lamb.'

    Nathan then said to David, 'You are the man! Yahweh, God of Israel, says this, 'I anointed you king of Israel, I saved you from Saul's clutches,

                        Sin affects us the most —
                        Sin affects others around us —

                        There is not a private sin —

                (6) We praise God and thank God for His
                        gifts

                (7) December 17, 1991

His Burning Heart

R. I was alone in All Saints Church after Mass and Communion, in front of the tabernacle, when I saw the Sacred Heart. It was red around the outside, then a layer of yellow and then the brightest light in the center. I felt heat and it looked like an open furnace.

    I thought about it all day and it instantly gave me peace and warmth in my heart. This is the purpose of these letters—to draw hearts to the ardent on-fire love of Jesus. I received the following message that day:

    "Open your heart to the fire of God's love. He is ablaze in your heart. He wants to dwell in you and love you and others through you. Love God, yourself and one another and experience the fire set aglow in your heart and experience the warmth of His love."

end of writing

                (8) Patterns of sin, can become
                        traps, habits —
                        How does this pattern start —
                        What am I doing when I give into
                            sin "full steam ahead"

                (9) To seek to know about our evilness —
                        To know our buttons —
                        To know what leads us to sin —

                (10) Small sins reveal things to us —
                        No sin is good.
                        Pray for grace to have knowledge of
                            our sins —

                The Presentation

                (1) Luke 2: 22-28

And when the day came for them to be purified in keeping with the Law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord—observing what is written in the Law of the Lord: Every first–born male must be consecrated to the Lord—and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is prescribed in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:

    Now, Master, you are letting 
        your servant go in peace 
    as you promised; 
    for my eyes have seen the salvation 
    which you have made ready 
        in the sight of the nations; 
    a light of revelation for the gentiles 
    and glory for your people Israel.

 

                (2) Christ wore wounds for our sins —

                (3) Hell exists —

                        What about a garbage can of little
                            embryos — yanked from the
                            mother's womb —

                        Today our oppression is caused by
                            evil in the world —
                            murdering babies —
                            innocent babies

                        They worry about deaths from
                            swine flu — what about
                            deaths daily from healthy embryos        

                (4) We are to love —
                        Draw a picture of hatred —
                        Watch the movies —

                (5) Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. P.60-61
 

136. THE FOURTH DAY

        A MEDITATION ON TWO STANDARDS

The one of Christ, our supreme leader and lord,
the other of Lucifer, the deadly enemy of our
human nature

PRAYER.   The usual preparatory prayer.

window at a former Jesuit Seminary

137. FIRST PRELUDE.   This is the history. Here it will be that Christ calls and wants all beneath His standard, and Lucifer, on the other hand, wants all under his.

138. SECOND PRELUDE.   This is a mental representation of the place. It will be here to see a great plain, comprising the whole region about Jerusalem, where the sovereign Commander-in-Chief of all the good is Christ our Lord; and another plain about the region of Babylon, where the chief of the enemy is Lucifer.

139. THIRD PRELUDE.   This is to ask for what I desire. Here it will be to ask for a knowledge of the deceits of the rebel chief and help to guard myself against them; and also to ask for a knowledge of the true life exemplified in the sovereign and true Commander, and the grace to imitate Him.
   

FIRST PART

THE STANDARD OF SATAN

140. FIRST POINT.   Imagine you see the chief of all the enemy in the vast plain about Babylon, seated on a great throne of fire and smoke, his appearance inspiring horror and terror.

141. SECOND POINT.   Consider how he summons innumerable demons, and scatters them, some to one city and some to another, throughout the whole world, so that no province, no place, no state of life, no individual is overlooked.

142. THIRD POINT.   Consider the address he makes to them, how he goads them on to lay snares for men and bind them with chains. First they are to tempt them to covet riches (as Satan himself is accustomed to do in most cases) that they may the more easily attain the empty honors of this world, and then come to overweening pride.

   The first step, then, will be riches, the second honor, the third pride. From these three steps the evil one leads to all other vices.
   

SECOND PART

THE STANDARD OF CHRIST

143.   In a similar way, we are to picture to ourselves the sovereign and true Commander, Christ our Lord.

144. FIRST POINT.   Consider Christ our Lord, standing in a lowly place in a great plain about the region of Jerusalem, His appearance beautiful and attractive.

145. SECOND POINT.   Consider how the Lord of all the world chooses so many persons, apostles, disciples, etc., and sends them throughout the whole world to spread His sacred doctrine among all men, no matter what their state or condition.

146. THIRD POINT.   . . .
   

end of excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

 

                (6) Wounds —
                        rejection
                        unloving childhoods
                        divorces can really hurt children
                        etc. — etc. —

(7) Sing: A Song from Jesus

                (8) We are here to look at our sins —
                        say we are sorry and begin
                        a new life

                (9) Beg for God's mercy and grace

                (10) God is Perfect love —

                The Finding in the Temple

                (1)  God made us beautiful —

                        Song: God's Love

                (2) Sing: A Song from Jesus

                (3)

 Luke 2: 41-50

Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When the days of the feast were over and they set off home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was somewhere in the party, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere. 

    It happened that, three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, ‘My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.’ He replied, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he meant.

                (4)

                (5) Who is on our throne?

                (6) God is not like our imperfect
                        parents —

                (7) We should no longer want to
                        sin that hurts our
                        relationship with God

                (8) Song: I Love You Jesus

                (9) 2 Corinthians 1: 19