First Saturday Devotion – Prophecies for Today

“In My right hand, I carry the crosier that you see, for I desire to govern this Convent as Abbess and Mother… Satan will begin to try to destroy this work of God… But he will not succeed, because I am the Queen of Victories and the Mother of Good Success, and it is under this invocation I desire to be known throughout all time…”

One prophecy predicted that a Pope will  be imprisoned in the Vatican. The prophecy states that this Pope will be the one who declares the dogma of infallibility and will also proclaim the mystery of the Immaculate Conception. This Pope Pius IX, known hundres of years later, was effectively confined to the Vatican City after the capture of Rome by the Kingdom of Italy in 1870.

Warnings About the 20th Century

Our Lady of the Good Event predicted a “spiritual catastrophe” in the Catholic Church and society.

The dark vision presented to Sister Marianna ended with an unexpected note of joy, as Mary announced that the impending evil would be a sign of her imminent intervention. Our Lady’s warning of moral decay and the departure of people from God may be understood as a call to a return to faith.

“This will mark the arrival of my hour, when I, in a marvelous way, will dethrone the proud and cursed Satan, trampling him under my feet.”

Our Lady did not prophesy the end of the world, but a marvelous restoration of what has been lost in the Church and the world.

In 1917, she said in Fatima that the triumph of her Immaculate Heart willl happen after the Consecration of Russia, which was done on March 25, 2022. See article here.

NOTE – In 1946, during a gathering of youth at Fátima, Sister Lucia was asked by a young Russian girl, Natacha Derfelden,  who was in exile in Paris, as to how the conversion of Russia would be accomplished. She brought with her some Russian soil to place at the Shrine. Sister Lucia responded that the conversion of Russia would come through the Eastern Orthodox Church and “the Oriental rite”, seemingly meaning the conversion implied reconciliation and reunion between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

-John Mathias Haffert, Russia Will Be Converted, Johnhaffert.org, 1956

A theological commentary written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger on the Fátima secret cites it as a “conversion of the heart” : To be «devoted»‌ to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means therefore to embrace this attitude of heart, which makes the fiat – «your will be done»‌

Consecration means to set apart for the use of God for a given purpose. Consecration, in general, is an act by which a thing is separated from a common and profane to a sacred use. The Church distinguishes consecration from blessing, both in regard to persons and to things. Consecration elevates persons or things to a new state and they become the subjects or the instruments of Divine protection. The graces attached to consecration are more numerous and efficacious than those attached to a blessing; the profanation of a consecrated person or thing carries with it a new species of sin, namely sacrilege.

Some sources suggest that the consecration of Russia, as requested by Our Lady of Fatima, would prevent Russia from becoming the instrument of chastisement.

Others argue that consecration alone is not enough to prevent chastisement emphasizing the importance of penance and reparation, stating that “Our Lady uses precisely the term ‘chastisement’, even if it is unpalatable. The real cause of the evil that afflicts us is our sins, our continual disobedience to God…” This implies that chastisement is possible even if Russia is consecrated, as long as humanity fails to repent and amend its ways.

The Great Chastisement that is revealed in the Third Secret of Fatima is concisely set forth in the one page letter of Sister Lucy to Bishop da Silva which contains the ‘Third Secret’.

There are also private revelations telling of chastisement,

Blessed Anna Maria Taigi [+1837] wrote of the coming chastisement, saying: “God will ordain two punishments: One, in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils, will originate on earth; the other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over all the earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights [Joel 2: 31] 12 . . . the air will be laden with pestilence, which will claim principally but not exclusively the enemies of religion . . .”

The first punishment will be both physical and spiritual: wars and revolutions, etc. will be the substance of the physical chastisement “various nations will be annihilated”; and “persecutions of the Church and the Holy Father” will make up the spiritual chastisement: “the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer”.

In 1945, only a short time after the end of World War II, Pope Pius XII stated in his Christmas message to the Cardinals: “The world is on the verge of a frightful abyss . . . Men must prepare themselves for suffering such as mankind has never seen.” There will be a great world war far more destructive than the first two world wars.

Sister Elena Aiello [+1961] who is of great renown for her prophecies was told by Our Lady:

“My Heart is sad for so many sufferings in an impending world in ruin . . . The wrath of God is near. Soon the world will be afflicted with great calamities, bloody revolutions, frightful hurricanes and the overflowing of rivers and the seas . . . the world will be overturned in a new and more terrible war. Arms most deadly will destroy peoples and nations. The dictators of the earth, specimens infernal, will demolish the churches and desecrate the Holy Eucharist, and will destroy things most dear. In this impious war, much will be destroyed of that which has been built by the hands of man . . .

The prophecy written on an English tombstone centuries ago foretells:

“When pictures look alive, with movements free, when ships like fishes swim beneath the sea, when men, outstripping birds can soar the sky, then half the world deep drenched in blood shall die.” It would appear therefore, that the half-destroyed city in the Fatima vision published on June 26, 2000 represents the destruction of half the world: half the human race, more than three billion [3,000,000,000] human beings will perish in the chastisement, as the tombstone prophecy predicts.

Sister Lucy elaborated this topic on December 26, 1957, saying to Father Fuentes:

“Tell them Father that many times the Most Holy Virgin told my cousins Francisco and Jacinta, as well as myself, that many nations will disappear from the face of the earth. She said that Russia will be the instrument of chastisement chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world if we do not beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation.”

However, the Catholic Church has not officially declared Russia as the instrument of chastisement, but many Catholic commentators and theologians have interpreted the Fatima prophecies in this light.

Actually, In response to Sister Lucy’s question why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father consecrating that nation to His Mother’s Immaculate Heart, Our Lord replied

“Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later and put the devotion of the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.”

The statement regarding the necessity of the Holy Father consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary carries profound implications for the Church and its understanding of divine intervention in human affairs. Our Lord’s response to Sister Lucy highlights a desire for universal acknowledgment of this act as a significant triumph of the Immaculate Heart, which suggests that the consecration is not merely a ritual but a pivotal moment for the Church’s spiritual journey. This act is intended to elevate the devotion to the Immaculate Heart alongside that of the Sacred Heart, reinforcing the importance of Mary in the Church’s mission and the salvation of souls.

Regarding the third part of the secret of Fatima, Sister Lucia told John Paul II on May 12, 1982, 

“The third part of the secret: If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.

The third part of the secret is a symbolic revelation, referring to this part of the Message, conditioned by whether we accept or not what the Message itself asks of us: If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, etc.

Since we did not heed this appeal of the Message, we see that it has been fulfilled, Russia has invaded the world with her errors. And if we have not yet seen the complete fulfilment of the final part of this prophecy, we are going towards it little by little with great strides. If we do not reject the path of sin, hatred, revenge, injustice, violations of the rights of the human person, immorality and violence, etc.”

“Let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In his kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom he has given us; hence people are responsible.”

The phrase “the Church survived despite its theologians” is often attributed to G.K. Chesterton. He expressed a sentiment that, while theologians may engage in complex debates and disagreements, the essence and resilience of the Church endure beyond these intellectual discussions.

So, some theologians have argued that the third secret means that Russia will invade the world with its army, while Lucia, one of the three seers who received the message, says no, not with its army, but with its errors.

The central error of Russia was the creation of the first atheistic state. Russia’s communist regime employed massive propaganda to indoctrinate its citizens, especially the youth, in Marxist ideology, namely scientific materialism, which emerged in the mid-19th century in Western Europe, specifically in Germany and Britain. These “errors” included the rejection of traditional morality, the natural order of human society, and the Church. However, despite these efforts, the orthodox church’s ability to maintain a strong underground presence, as well as the resilience of individual believers, undermined the regime’s goals of complete secularization.

Russia’s errors did spread and led to the downfall of many Christian societies and  the persecution of the Church around the world. The failure to heed Our Lady’s request for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary led to the fulfillment of her prophecy. The modern world today operates under the ideology of  materialism. Who is responsible? Let us not say that it is God who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment, Lucia said.

 It raises questions, was the instrument of chastisement (Russia) solely used for the spread of errors,  which has already occurred, or are we, the people, also preparing our own punishment in another way.

Joseph Pronechen wrote in the National Catholic Register that on July 13, 1917, Our Lady of Fatima showed a vision of Hell and taught us how to avoid it. Our Lady provided several clear directives that, had we followed them, might have altered the course of history and spared the world from its current troubles. She spoke of the importance of the Rosary, revealed a vision of hell, urged us to aid sinners, and emphasized the need for the consecration to the Immaculate Heart, including the specific consecration of Russia. These are not mere suggestions; they are motherly commands that we must embrace and practice now more than ever. Yet, over the past century, how many have truly heeded this call?

——-

Prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success

NOTE – The prophecies of Our Lady of Good Event (Success), as revealed to Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres in Quito, Ecuador, have a dual focus: local and universal,

Early in the morning of January 21, 1610, Mother Mariana was favored by an apparition of the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. Then Our Lady appeared and related many predictions:

“Thus I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century, in what is today the Colony and will then be the Republic of Ecuador, the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals), for Satan will reign almost completely by means of the Masonic sects.

“They will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general corruption. Woe to the children of these times! It will be difficult to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and also that of Confirmation… Often during this epoch the enemies of Jesus Christ, instigated by the Devil, will steal consecrated hosts from the churches, so that they might profane the Eucharistic Species…

“As for the Sacrament of Matrimony… it will be attacked and deeply profaned… The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the precious light of the Faith will gradually be extinguished… Added to this will be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of priestly and religious vocations.

“The Sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised… The Devil will try to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every possible way; he will labor with cruel and subtle astuteness to deviate them from the spirit of their vocation and will corrupt many of them. These depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will make the hatred of bad Catholics and the enemies of the Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church fall upon all priests…

“Further, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury, which will ensnare the rest into sin and conquer innumerable frivolous souls, who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women. In this supreme moment of need of the Church, the one who should speak will fall silent.”

The Apparitions Will Become Known in the 20th Century

Early on the morning of February 2, 1610, Our Lady appeared again to Mother Mariana and repeated her command to have a statue made. Then She added:

“Tell the Bishop that it is My will and the will of My Most Holy Son that your name be hidden at all costs… for it is not fitting for anyone at the present time to know the details or origin of how this Statue came to be made. For this knowledge will only become known to the general public in the 20th century.

“During that epoch the Church will find herself attacked by terrible hordes of the Masonic sect, and this poor Ecuadorian land will be agonizing because of the corruption of customs, unbridled luxury, the impious press, and secular education. The vices of impurity, blasphemy, and sacrilege will dominate in this time of depraved desolation, and that one who should speak out will be silent…”

The most important of the apparitions of Our Lady of Good Success took place near the end of Mother Mariana’s life. The early morning of February 2, 1634, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, found Mother Mariana praying before the Blessed Sacrament, beseeching Him that she might be united with Him and be engulfed in that love which belongs to the Blessed. She also reminded Him to protect and preserve His daughters in this beloved Convent.

As she finished this prayer, she saw the sanctuary light extinguish itself, leaving the altar completely dark. Our Lady appeared to tell her that Our Lord had heard her clamors and would end her earthly exile in less than a year: “Prepare your soul so that, increasingly purified, it might enter into the fullness of the joy of Our Lord. Oh! if mortals, and in particular religious souls, could know what Heaven is and what it is to possess God! How differently they would live! Nor would they spare themselves any sacrifice in order to possess Him!”

The Blessed Virgin Mary then explained the five meanings of the Tabernacle light that had been extinguished before Mother Mariana’s eyes.

I.”The first significance is that at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, various heresies will be propagated in this land, then a free Republic. As these heresies spread and dominate, the precious light of Faith will be extinguished in souls by the almost total corruption of customs (morals). During this period, there will be great physical and moral calamities, both public and private.

“The small number of souls who, hidden, will preserve the treasure of the Faith and the virtues will suffer an unspeakably cruel and prolonged martyrdom. Many of them will succumb to death from the violence of their sufferings, and those who sacrifice themselves for Church and Country will be counted as martyrs.

“In order to free men from bondage to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of My Most Holy Son will destine for that restoration will need great strength of will, constancy, valor and much confidence in God. To test this faith and confidence of the just, there will be occasions when everything will seem to be lost and paralyzed. This, then, will be the happy beginning of the complete restoration.”

These chosen souls, who will restore the health of the Church, are described in detail as the apostles of the latter times, by St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

II.”The second meaning,” Our Lady said, “is that My Convent, being greatly reduced in size, will be submerged in a fathomless ocean of indescribable bitterness, and will seem to be drowning in these diverse waters of tribulations.” Many authentic vocations will perish, She continued. Injustice would enter even this Convent, “disguised under the name of false charity, wreaking havoc in souls.” And faithful souls, weeping in secret and imploring that such dire times be shortened, would suffer a continuous and slow martyrdom.

III.”The third reason the lamp was extinguished is because of the spirit of impurity that will saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it will run through the streets, squares and public places with an astonishing liberty.

“There will be almost no virgin souls in the world,” Our Lady told her. The delicate flower of virginity would be threatened by complete annihilation. However, She promised that there would always be some good souls in cloisters where it might take root, grow and live like a shield to deflect Divine Wrath. “Without virginity,” She said, “it would be necessary for fire from Heaven to fall upon these lands to purify them.”

IV.The fourth reason for the lamp being quenched is that the Masonic sects, having infiltrated all the social classes, would subtly introduce its teaching into domestic ambiences in order to corrupt the children, and the Devil would glory in dining upon the exquisite delicacy of the hearts of children.

“During these unfortunate times,” Our Lady foretold, “evil will assault childhood innocence. In this way, vocations to the priesthood will be lost, which will be a true calamity.”

Again Our Lady promised that during this time there would still be religious communities who will sustain the Church and holy ministers of the altar—hidden and beautiful souls, who will labor with valor and disinterested zeal for the salvation of souls. “Against them,” She warned, “the impious will rage a cruel war, letting fall on them vituperations, calumnies and vexations in order to impede the fulfillment of their ministry. But they, like firm columns, will remain unswerving and will confront everything with the spirit of humility and sacrifice with which they will be vested, by virtue of the infinite merits of My Most Holy Son, Who will love them in the innermost fibers of His Most Holy and Tender Heart.”

During this time, Our Lady foretold, “the secular clergy will be far removed from its ideal, because the priests will become careless in their sacred duties. Lacking the Divine compass, they will stray from the road traced by God for the priestly ministry and they will become attached to wealth and riches, which they will unduly strive to obtain.

“How the Church will suffer on that occasion—the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, discernment and prudence. Many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger.”

Our Lady continued to explain the fourth reason for the extinguishing of the Tabernacle light:

“Therefore, pray insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the secrecy of your heart. Implore our Celestial Father that, for the love of the Eucharistic Heart of My Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such generosity… He might take pity on His ministers and bring to an end those ominous times, and send to the Church the Prelate who will restore the spirit of Her priests.

“My Most Holy Son and I will love this favored Son with a love of predilection, and We will gift Him with a rare capacity, humility of heart, docility to Divine inspiration, the strength to defend the rights of the Church, and a tender and compassionate heart, so that, like another Christ, He will assist the great and small, without despising the more unfortunate souls who ask Him for light and counsel in their doubts and hardships. Into His hands the scales of the Sanctuary will be placed, so that everything is weighed with due measure and God will be glorified.”

Our Lady continued,

“The lukewarmness of all the souls consecrated to God in the priestly and religious state will delay the coming of this Prelate and Father. This, then, will be the cause of the cursed Devil taking possession of this land, where he will achieve his victories by means of a foreign and faithless people, so numerous that, like a black cloud, it will obscure the pure heavens of the then Republic consecrated to the Sacred Heart of My Divine Son.

“With these people, all the vices will enter, which will attract in their turn every type of chastisement, such as plagues, famines, internal fighting and external disputes with other nations, and apostasy, the cause of the perdition of so many souls so dear to Jesus Christ and to Me.

“In order to dissipate this black cloud which prevents the Church from enjoying the clear day of liberty, there will be a formidable and frightful war, which will see the bloodshed of countrymen and foreigners, of secular and regular priests, and of religious. That night will be most horrible, for, humanly speaking, evil will seem to triumph.

“This, then, will mark the arrival of My hour, when I, in a marvelous way will dethrone the proud and cursed Satan, trampling him under My feet and fettering him in the infernal abyss. Thus the Church and Country will finally be free of his cruel tyranny.”

V.The fifth reason that the lamp was extinguished is due to the laxity and the negligence of those who possess great wealth, who will indifferently stand by and watch the Church being oppressed, virtue being persecuted, and the triumph of the Devil, without piously employing their riches for the destruction of this evil and the restoration of the Faith. And it is also due to the indifference of the people in allowing the Name of God to be gradually extinguished and in adhering to the spirit of evil, freely delivering themselves over to vices and passions.

“Alas! My chosen daughter! If it were given to you to live in that tenebrous era, you would die of sorrow to see all that I have revealed to you here take place. But My Most Holy Son and I have such a great love for this land, Our legacy, that We desire even now the application of your sacrifices and prayers to shorten the duration of such a terrible catastrophe!”

Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evils she saw and the countless souls that would be condemned during these times, Mother Mariana fell unconscious. There the Sisters found her, as if dead, except for the violent beating of her heart. All of the doctor’s efforts to restore her to consciousness proved useless. In fact he said, humanly speaking, her life should have ended from the shock she had received.

The Sisters surrounded her, beseeching Heaven to leave them their great treasure, the last of the Founding Mothers, “the mainstay of observance, the column of the house.” Two days later, Mother Mariana opened her eyes, encouraged her Sisters to continue to follow the Rule, and consoled them that she would remain with them yet a little longer.

In the last ten months of her life, Mother Mariana never fully recovered the vigor of her health and was often obliged to remain in bed. In sickness as well as in health, she edified the Community with her example. Amid her intense pains, she always maintained a smile on her lips, an admirable serenity and an imperturbable spirit, proper to a soul whose life had unfolded in the shadow of the Cross.

Late in the night of December 8, 1634, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady appeared for the last time to Mother Mariana. She was again accompanied by the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. After many revelations Our Lady concluded:

“In the 20th century, this devotion (to Our Lady of Good Success) will work prodigies in the spiritual as well as temporal spheres, because it is the Will of God to reserve this invocation and knowledge of your life for that century, when the corruption of customs will be almost general and the precious light of Faith all but extinguished…”

Madre Mariana de Jesús Torres died a most holy death at 3:00 p.m. on January 16, 1635—just as she had foretold.

Over and over during the last four hundred years, the prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success have been fulfilled. The 19th and 20th centuries proved the accuracy of the prophecies to be astounding. Clearly the significance of Our Lady’s message, and the Devotion to Our Lady of Good Success, is now all the more important in the 21st century. As we see the world engulfed in error, heresy and sensuality, not to mention vices of all kinds, Our Lady’s call to prayer, reparation and penance becomes all the more urgent. How can we not heed Our Lady’s plea and daily strive to console Her Most Tender and Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Her Divine Son?

SOURCE –  Our Lady of Good Success—Quito, Ecuador, Salve Maria Regina Bulletin