Pilgrimage to Fatima 2010....

Two years ago I was privileged to participate in the "Ecumenical Friends of Fatima Association" Pilgrimage to Our Lady's Shrine in Fatima, Portugal.

Bishop Edwin Barnes has asked some of us to raise awareness of the Pilgrimage next year when EFFA's Pilgrimage will conincide with the planned Pastoral Visit and Pilgrimage of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

The pilgrimage in 2007 was for me a very profound spiritual experience and one that I look back on with immense gratitude to the Lord that I was able to go. It is a very different Shrine to Lourdes with a greater emphasis on spiritual discipline and penitence, but these emphases are mixed through with hope and a deep joy.

The next EFFA Fátima Pilgrimage is from 10 to 17 May 2010
7 days full board approx. £650

(to be confirmed - was £626 in 2009)

Scheduled flight from Heathrow to Lisbon through MANCUNIA Travel.

Deposit £200.

Bookings CLOSE 31st December 2009
If you are interested please Fr Gray frcmg.stanmore@btinternet.com

The Story of Fatima

DURING WORLD WAR 1, on May 13,1917, in the first of six apparitions, a beautiful Lady who said She came from Heaven appeared to three shepherd children, Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucy in Fatima, Portugal.

Two months later, the Lady gave the heart of Her message to the three children, in what is known as the great Secret of Fatima. This Secret is composed of three distinct parts. The first two parts have been released by the Church as related by Lucy:

"As Our Lady spoke these last words, She opened Her hands once more, as She had done during the two previous months. The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form. . . . Terrified and as if to plead for succour, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us, so kindly and so sadly:

"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 what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end, but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out in the reign of Pius XI.

"When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine and persecutions of the Church and the Holy Father.

"To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays.

"If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.
"In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved. . . ."

"In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, and she will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world."

The Lady had promised that on October 13, She would perform a great public miracle so all would believe. Secular newspapers from around the world reported that while 70,000 people stood in the pouring rain, what appeared to be the sun suddenly came out, whirled madly like a pinwheel, casting all shades of color on land and people. It then plunged three separate times directly over the astonished crowd, many of whom threw them selves on their knees pleading for God's mercy.

After about twelve minutes of this phenomenon, the sun returned to its natural place and appearance in a clear sky. The people were completely dry, as well as the ground around them. During this miracle, the beautiful Lady identified Herself: "I AM THE LADY OF THE ROSARY."

The apparitions, which are now formally approved by the Catholic Church, were an appeal for prayer, sacrifice, reparation, consecration, and especially the daily recitation of the Rosary.