International Confederation of Christian Family
Movements
Fatima 25 July ’07
T H E L E G A C Y
OF THE ‘MADONNA’ OF FATIMA
TO TO-DAY’S FAMILIES
Mgr. Charles G.
Vella
For the last 50 years I have nearly always been
present at the assemblies of this Confederation. I have grown in my commitment to the CFM-MFC, with many past and
present couples like Pat and Patty Crowley, the Leroux’s of Canada, the
Samaniego of Venezuela, the Amorin’s of Brazil, Father Sam Palmer of the U.S.,
the Clancy’s of Ireland and hundreds of others. Their memory and love for the Confederation are present with us
these days as we assemble at the feet of the Madonna of Fatima.
“The School of Mary”
Of all the international meetings organised by this
Confederation, this assembly in the Sanctuary of the Madonna of Fatima is and
will remain a landmark for future generations.
I think what has brought the CFM-MFC to Fatima, is our
love to Our Blessed Mother in a moment when families in the Western World are
under pressure, crises and turmoil.
Even our Confederation is at a turning point.
Pope John Paul II used to exhort us “to go to the
school of Mary” to learn the virtues and values we need for our families.
We came to “the school of Mary” to ask the Madonna of
Fatima to renew, strengthen and render our family organisations more relevant
to the world. Through Mary we learn how
to make CFM-MFC in our dioceses and parishes more relevant for to-day’s needs,
an instrument of evangelisation in the Church.
In “the school of Mary” we can listen to the legacy
which the Madonna of Fatima has entrusted to our families and how we can
transmit this legacy to other families, especially where there is physical and
psychological suffering.
“Family, live and transmit the Faith” was the appeal
to all families we heard from Pope Benedict XVI in Valencia, Spain, last year
at the 5thWorld Meeting of Families. We are at “the school of Mary” to renew our faith, the marriage
vows and for our spiritual growth through Mother Mary.
We are here on the 90th anniversary of the
first apparition of the Madonna on the 13th Mary 1917, to the three
shepherd children Lucia, Francisco and Giacinta. Since then millions of Catholics, non-Catholics and even Moslems
who venerate the Madonna of Fatima have come to this holy place.
So much has happened in the world in these ninety
years, during which we have seen some of the messages entrusted to the three
children, have come true. Mary choose
just three children from a farming family, for it was through this family that she
gave us Her legacy. Today she is
calling your family to pass on her message.
“Since the end of World War One up to the Vatican
Council Two, we have seen”, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said, “that in the
Church we have had two great spiritual movements, which have been consolidated
with the Marian Movement, which is rooted in the apparitions of La Salette,
Lourdes and Fatima which have spread in all the Church. The other is the liturgical Movement which
generated the Ecumenical Movement, the biblical and lay movement.” (1)
These words form the scenario or backdrop to our
Assembly. Because as a lay and ecumenical confederation, which begins its
family meetings with the reflection of the gospel, we arrive to discern and as
a result we incarnate God’s word (Gospel Enquiry) in our Action for the
Community.
Prayer, Penance and
Conversion
In “the school of Mary” we can integrate other
origins, philosophy and methodology of CFM-MFC with the legacy of the Madonna
of Fatima .
The legacy of Fatima should vigour our belonging to
CFM-MFC. I hear the words of Mary at
the wedding feast of Cana to the servants, echoing
in our hearts: “Do whatever He tells you” (John
2,1-12). Mary during these days
will see if we have “no more wine” and
She will intercede to Her Son to change “the water into wine.”
All we have to do is to listen with an open heart and
mind to the Holy Spirit to penetrate into the message of the legacy of the
Madonna of Fatima. From here we will
“Go, to teach and heal “ the families in our community.
(1)Benedict XVI, Maria Chiesa Nascente, San.Paolo,
Milano, 1998
Through living the legacy of Mary, the Church will
respond to the pressing issues of today and not try to just repeat what was
done in the past. It is up to lay people and couples, now more than ever before
that we have to respond to the appeal of the Madonna of Fatima for “Prayer,
Penance and Conversion.”
We have to reach out and “throw our nets in the deep”
to bring back the families to Our Mother.
This means that this Confederation should find new ways and means how to
visit families in their homes, above all families of the needy, the poor the
broken marriages, the single parents and those who feel abandoned. These marginalised people need to feel the
presence of Christ, the love of Mary and the warmth of the Church..
The Church loves and cares through us for these
people.
In this way our groups can become basic Christian
Communities, as in Latin America, or parish cells, as at San Eustorgio in
Milano and other countries.
After the death of Giacinta and Francesco, Lucia asked
Our Lady if she will remain alone. The
reply was “Jesus wishes to use you to make Me known and loved.” She also told her, what she wishes to tell
us today, “Do not be afraid I will never abandon you. My Immaculate Heart will
be your refuge and your “cammino” (walk) will lead you to God.”
Yes, Jesus is “using” the family to evangelise other
families, for the future of the world and the future of evangelisation depend
on the family.” (2)
The First Legacy of Fatima
I wish to present to you very briefly the main
messages, which form the legacy of the Madonna of Fatima to us. This legacy should be incorporated as a
pillar for the future programmes of this Confederation.
The first legacy of Fatima is a call to prayer, which was the exhortation right
on the first apparition on the 13th May, 1917, while the three
children at about midday were playing at Cova de Iria. “Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm” said Mother Mary to the children.
“Recite the Rosary every day, to obtain the peace in
the world and the end of the war.”
Once again in the third apparition on the 13th
July 1917, the Madonna told them:
“I wish you to come here on the thirteen of each
month, to continue to
pray the Rosary every day in honour of the Madonna of
the Rosary, to
(2) John Paul II, “Familiares Consortio”
obtain the peace of the world and the end of the war.”
Prayer through the daily Rosary is the way to Peace in
the world. The Peace which Jesus wishes
to humanity: “My peace I give you, not
the peace of the world.”
Peace begins at home, which the Church calls “the domestic
Church.” The peace of Christ is often
missing in many homes and the breakdown
in marriage if often caused because of lack of prayer, for only if the
family prays together, it stays together.
We are all hungry for peace but if we want peace among
nations, the end of wars, of terrorism, of hatred, the threat of war of
religions and every form of violence we all have to be “builders of
peace.” Peace does not come only from
the United Nations, from the G8 or from around the conference tables.
The Rosary
Mary has given us a very forceful instrument of peace
in the world and for the conversion of sinners, especially of the war lords who
spend billions in arms and let those in starvation perish. Suffice to remember that UNICEF states that
40 thousand children die daily of starvation and malnutrition.
In his Apostolic Letter on the “Rosary of the Virgin Mary” of the 16th October 2002,
John Paul II wrote:
“The Rosary is also the prayer of the family and for
the family. There was a time when the
recitation of the Rosary fostered the unity of the family. This form of prayer should not be
lost.” The Pope exhorts us:
“All those who dedicate themselves to the pastoral
care of families should promote with conviction the recitation of the
Rosary. The family that prays together,
stays together.”
Praying the Rosary for the children, and much more
with the children is not only the solution of every problem, but a spiritual
help which should not be undervalued.”
Let us make this exhortation the programme of our
confederation. The Pope end his
exhortation with these strong words:
“I wish this appeal of mine, should not end unheard.”
The Second Legacy of Fatima
The second legacy is the Madonna’s appeal, or better
command for “Sacrifice for sinners and
reparation.”
On the 13th July 1917 the Madonna showed the children the pains of
hell. “You see”, she told them “hell
and how the poor sinners fall into hell. If these souls did what I tell you,
many would have been saved and have peace.”
The children
understood the legacy the Madonna entrusted to them and in their simple ways
started making some sacrifices as a reparation. Every time they made some sacrifice they recited the prayer the
Madonna thought them:
“Oh Jesus, pour
your love, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins
committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
In the third apparition the Madonna spoke to the
children about the end of the war and “under the pontificate of Pope Pius XI,
the start of another even greater war, which will be a punishment to the world
for its crimes….To avoid the war, I will ask for the consecration of Russia to
my Immaculate Heart and the receiving of Holy Communion every first
Saturday. If people listen to my
request, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, these will be a spread of errors in
the world, which will give rise to wars and persecutions. The good will be martyred. The Holy Father will have much to suffer,
various nations will be destroyed.
Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia, which will be converted,
and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
Looking back to the past decades we have seen these
words come true to the relief of humanity.
The prophecy was the fall of communism, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
revival of the faith in Russia, in Eastern Europe, and the consecration of Russia
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Pius XII. The “Perestrojka” of Moscow spread to all the countries of
Eastern Europe. Gorbavioc after meeting
Pope John Paul II in the Vatican stated, “We now have changed our attitude
towards the problems of the past, with wanting to hide in a very simple manner,
for example the question of religion.”
The Assassination of the Pope
However the tragic attempt to assassinate John Paul II
on the 13th May 1981, was part of the prophecy of the Madonna. This provoked great suffering and fear in
all the world, but the year after on
the 13th May coinciding with the first apparition, the Pope came here to thank his Mother and
uttered the words of Jesus on the Cross “Woman, this is your Son” (John 19,26).
The bullet fired by the hired killer Ali Agca who was forgiven by the Pope when
they met in the prison of Regina Coeli, in Rome, was placed by the Pope in the
crown of the statue of the Madonna of Fatima.
The so called “Third Secret of Fatima” prophesised the
murder of “a bishop in a white cassock in St Peter’s Square”, which was first read by Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger, when Prefect of the Congregation of the Faith, and made known to us
by Pope Paul II. The facts are now known,
but some contend there is still a “Fourth Secret of Fatima”, but Card. Tarcisio
Bertoni, the present secretary of state denied such an existence. (3)
This background helps us to give an in depth
understanding of the legacy of the Madonna to contemporary families and to our
Confederation. The prophecies of the
Madonna about the events in the world and the Church,
concern closely all families especially those whose
sons and daughters
have gone to fight wars that could be avoided. Much
more so because the family today is heavily under pressure from secularism,
individualism, hedonism, sexism and politicians pay only lip homage to the family.
One million and two hundred thousand assembled for the
Family Day on the 16th May in Rome in defence of the traditional
family and in protest of the left wing government wanting to introduce legislation
to put on the same level with our families those who only co-habit , and to
recognise between the same sex companionships (like PACS in France) and
granting children for adoption to these couples. This mass rally was not called by the Church, but by the lay
associations of Italy, at which even families of different religions and
cultures took part only a few days before the statue of the Madonna of Fatima
was brought to Rome.
The same protests need to be made against the European
Union and those countries in Europe, which now sadly include some Catholic
countries, have passed legislation which undermine the traditional family and
recognised other forms so called “families”.
Pope Benedict XVI and various hierarchies have spoken in defence of marriage
between one man and one woman, while denouncing repeatedly other forms of
legislation which run against the natural family.
Missionaries of the Legacy
I wish to conclude with some concrete pastoral
suggestions for action, as the response of this Confederation of Fatima
entrusts to us here at “the School of Mary”.
On the 16th May 2006, when I addressed in
Strasbourg the European Parliament on the Family Day, I had already made some
very positive proposals. They do not
seem to have had a follow-up.
3) Antonio Socci, Il Quarto Secreto di Fatima, Rizzoli,
Milano, 2006
From Fatima we have to leave as missionaries to families, to whom we have to transmit the legacy of
Fatima. We have to become Families of the Madonna of Fatima,
ready to outreach to other families. We
have to go out to reach families in our neighbourhood “to teach and heal”.
Our response to the Madonna should be to recite and promote the Rosary with the
whole family, at least every Saturday. Ours should be a Crusade for the
Rosary, in the firm believe that “the family that prays together, stays
together”.
In our consumer society penance and sacrifice have become taboo, for we are breeding
children who want comfort, while millions are living in poverty. (2.7 billion
live with less than 2 dollars a day).
This Confederation has always been aware of the social needs of the
poor, but now we have to promise as a response to the Madonna, our commitment
for personal penance and sacrifice in
the family as reparation for the sins of the world. Some families as I have seen in Latin America and elsewhere, do
away with soft drinks and limit eating sweets.
My final prayer is to discover the legacy of the
Madonna of Fatima to every family and to promise in a solemn way at the
concluding Eucharist to be missionaries
of all and to all families, who through Mary may meet Jesus. So many
families need God and cannot make it alone.
They need our testimony and action.
With St. Augustine, the great patron of my city
Milano, I end “Our souls are restless until they find, through our Madonna of
Fatima, her Son Jesus Christ.”
20.5.07
e-mail: charlesvella@alice.it
wwwcharles vella.it
Via Raffaello Sancio 16,
20149 Milano
Italy
Charles G. Vella born in Malta and ordained priest in Rome in Marian Year 8th December, 1954. In 1956 he founded the Cana Movement in Malta and while in Chicago he came in touch with the Crowley’s. Since then he founded CFM in Malta and Italy, while he actively took part in ICCFM. In 1974 he was the Executive Director of “Familia’ 74” which ICCFM organised in Tanzania with the “World Council of Churches”.
Since then he was called by the Italian bishops to establish the marriage counselling centres in Italy. For ten years, he was Director of the “International Centre for Family Studies” in Milan, and for 20 years he worked as director for public relations, the press and ethics at the “Scientific Institute University Hospital San Raffaele”, in Milan.
He published several books and articles. The latest this year on “Ethics at the service of the Sick Person”.(Ed. Paolini)