POPE BENEDICT XVI RECALLS HIS RECENT TRIP TO PORTUGAL

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During his general audience this morning, Benedict XVI reminisced about his recent apostolic trip to Portugal, which took place from 11 to 14 May to mark the tenth anniversary of the beatification of the shepherd children Jacinta and Francisco.

The Holy Father began by explaining how throughout his journey he had felt the "spiritual support" of his predecessor John Paul II, "who visited Fatima three times, to give thanks for the 'invisible hand' that delivered him from death in the attack of 13 May here in St. Peter's Square".

Read the rest at Vatican Information Service

Sister Lucia's Vision of Hell

Shared by Sue

In her Memoirs, Sister Lucy describes the vision of hell that Our Lady showed the children at Fatima:

"She opened Her hands once more, as She had done the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the demons and the souls [of the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now they fell back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fright (it must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me).

The demons were distinguished [from the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that we would have died of terror and fear."

90th Anniversary of the Last Fatima Apparition

Tonight, Bishop Silva will be celebrating the anniversary by holding a first time ever public Rosary at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, 7:00 P.M.

Please join us if you can!

On Saturday, there will be a nationwide Rosary Rally to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of Fatima. You still have time to attend a Rosary Rally in your state.

Find a Rosary Rally Near You

Feel free to post the above Fatima graphic on your blog as a way of honoring our Lady.

Local and National Event - Stay Tuned - 90th Anniversary of Fatima

October 13th is the 90th anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. In commemoration of this historic date, there will be a national public square Rosary event. In Hawaii, the plans to hold the public square Rosary are in the works. Renee Morimoto. and Josephine Yu. will be in charge of the one in Honolulu.

UPDATE: Details for the Hawaii time and place to be announced and confirmed as Bishop Silva is also scheduling a Rosary event to commemorate this date. See details below.

If you don't know if your area will be holding this event, the phone number for TFP (American Needs Fatima) can be found at my post HERE

IMPORTANT: The following was announced at the Nocturnal Adoration last evening by our leader Leonard. On Friday evening, at 7:00 p.m., our Bishop, Larry Silva, will lead the Rosary prayer in honor of the 90th anniversary of our Lady of Fatima. He said that he does not remember a bishop in Hawaii leading a Rosary like this in a very long time. He indicated he seemed to recall that may have happened when he was a young boy.

Please show Bishop Silva how much we appreciate his involvement in devotions by participating in this event.

More details on both events to follow.

For a list of participating cities, please click here

In Honor of the 90th Anniversary of Fatima

You are invited to join our Public Square Rosary Campaign, an exciting new crusade to hold 1,000 Rosaries on October 13th, exactly 90 years since Our Lady appeared at Fatima and worked the great miracle of the sun before the astonished eyes of 70,000 people.

To join a rally in your area, please CLICK HERE or call 866-584-6012.

Thank you and God bless you!
Robert Ritchie

First Saturday Mass and Devotions

We were back at St. Stephen's Church for First Saturday Mass. Fr. John heard Confessions prior to Mass yesterday and today. The Mass was dedicated to our Blessed Mother. Afterwards, there was Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and a Holy Hour. During this Holy Hour, Father John led us in entire Rosary. That means, we prayed all 20 Mysteries of the Rosary. We alternated with English and Spanish.

Following the completion of the Holy Rosary recitation, we prayed the Litany of Loreto. The Holy Hour was completed with Benediction. After Father left the altar, the Hispanic women led in the singing of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Madre de Dios... So beautiful!

To learn more about the First Saturday Devotion, please visit Catholic Tradition However, please use caution as this site links refers to the Fatima Crusader.

Father Robert Fox's 52nd Anniversary as a Priest and His Reflections on the Priesthood

Picture courtesy of THIS SITE

Father Fox of Fatima Family Apostolate recently celebrated his 52nd anniversary. As you may know, he is the priest who would take the young people on pilgrimages to Fatima. He is a prolific writer and also runs that wonderful magazine Immaculate Heart Messenger

I hope you take a moment to visit his blog and leave a note of congratulations or best wishes in his comment section. It is priests like Father Fox, so devoted to our blessed Mother and to the Church, that has inspired the younger generations of Catholics to be more orthodox and faithful to the Church and the Magisterium.

May God bless you abundantly Father Fox!

CLICK HERE for Father Fox's blog post.

World Apostolate of Fatima Sees Status Upgraded

Mahalo Connie for sharing this with me. And on a personal note, please pray that we are able to bring a chapter of WAF to Hawaii. It is something Connie is currently guiding me through.

For those of you making the pledge:

--Now a Public Association of the Faithful--

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The World Apostolate of Fatima has been established as a public association of the faithful for the universal Church.

This is according to the decree presented by Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, to professor Americo Pablo Lopez Ortiz, international president of the World Apostolate of Fatima.

A public ceremony, which included a moment of prayer, was held at the Vatican dicastery on Feb. 3.

"It is with great joy that we celebrate this moment of the consignment of the decree of establishment and approval of the Statutes of the World Apostolate of Fatima," said Archbishop Rylko during the ceremony.

"It indicates the occasion when the Holy See formally and joyfully accepts a new subject which has as its goal the sanctification of its own members and the building up of the whole Church," he explained. "At the same time, the lay faithful are confirmed by the Holy See in their right to associate in order to promote a more perfect Christian life and to develop evangelizing activities throughout the whole world."

Dated on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, last Oct. 7, the decree of establishment states: "The members of the World Apostolate of Fatima, spread throughout numerous countries of the world, commit themselves to become faithful witnesses of the Catholic faith in their own families, at work, in the parishes and communities, participating in this way in the New Evangelization. …

Considering that the WAF is a suitable instrument for the formation of the lay people through the message of Fatima in view of the new evangelization proposed by the Holy Father John Paul II and Benedict XVI […], the Pontifical Council for the Laity decrees the approval of the WAF and its statutes."

"A blessing"

In his address to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, Lopez Ortiz described the decree as "a great blessing and at the same time a great responsibility to carry out with hope and excellence."

"Under the umbrella of the WAF, all associations and apostolic movements propagating the authentic message of Fatima may encounter an example of faithfulness and loyalty to the Holy Father and the diocesan bishops in communion with the Successor of Peter," he said.

The president of the World Apostolate of Fatima highlighted the Blessed Virgin's promise of an era of peace, a century of hope, a new Marian Pentecost, and a new spring for the world -- if there is faithfulness to her message.

"The message of Fatima is more urgent now than ever before, more actual and more essential to the present state of moral and spiritual crisis of our civilization," contended Lopez Ortiz.

The Virgin of Fatima pleaded for prayer and penance in reparation for sins and the conversion of sinners. She also requested more authentic devotion to the Eucharist, to the rosary and consecration to her Immaculate Heart.

The essential themes of the Virgin's message, in her apparitions in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, to the three little shepherds Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, may be summarized in the need and importance of persevering and continuous prayer; the call to conversion, and urgent commitment to prayer and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners; confidence, commitment and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as the preferential way of Christian life.

Representatives from 14 countries attended the ceremony in the dicastery.

Attendees included Bishop Seraphim of Leiria-Fatima; Monsignor Luciano Guerra, rector of the Shrine of Fatima; and the former president of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro. Archbishops and national leaders from five continents were also on hand.

The World Apostolate of Fatima has millions of members in some 50 countries. It was founded in the United States in 1947. Initially called the "Blue Army," its rapid expansion transformed it into a World Apostolate.

For more information please contact

Michael LaCorte

Executive Director

Connie Schneider

National Chairwoman for Children’s Programs

connieschneider@earthlink.net