The Five Pillars - According to Ven. Lúcia
ShareThe Five Pillars of Fátima
In the late 1940s and 50s, Fr. Howard Rafferty, O. Carm, was the Carmelite Order's Promoter of the Brown Scapular in the United States. As he travelled the country he would preach that wearing the Brown Scapular was an essential part of the message of Fátima. He found he was frequently rebuked, even by fellow priests, that this was not the case. He therefore resolved to go to Coimbra, Portugal, to the Carmelite Monastery where the surviving witness, Sr. Lúcia, resided and ask her whether it was correct. Going to Portugal, and after a great deal of difficulty (only bishops could speak to her), he providentially found himself invited to the parlor on August 15, 1950.
In his interview with Sr. Lúcia his position was confirmed. He was further given five essential elements of the message which Sr. Lúcia herself taught.
1. The Daily Rosary (5 decades)
2. Penance, especially offer the sacrifices of daily life (Our Lord to Sr. Lucia, 1945)
3. Communions of Reparation on 1st Saturdays
4. Consecration to Our Lady
5. Wear the Brown Scapular (the sign of one’s consecration)
The following table provides sources for each of the Pillars.
1. Say the Rosary Daily (Our Lady requests at each apparition)
13 May - “Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.”
13 June - “I wish you to come here on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later I will tell you what I want.”
13 July - “I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you.”
19 Aug - “I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, and to continue praying the Rosary every day.”
13 Sep - “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.”
13 Oct - I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”
2. Do Penance, especially offer the Sacrifices of Daily Life
1st Angelic: “. . . Pray with me. “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.”
2nd Angelic: “. . . You must pray! Pray! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. You must offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High.”
Lucia: “But how are we to sacrifice?"
Angel: “In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners. In this way you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you.”
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.”
“Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ terribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Offer reparation for their sakes and console God.”
Our Lady, July 13: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say often whenever you make a sacrifice: ‘O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary’.”
Our Lady, Aug 19: “Pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them.”
Our Lady, Oct. 13: Angel with the Sword: “Penance! Penance! Penance!”
Our Lord, 1945: “The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My Law. This is the penance that I now seek and require.”
3. Communions of Reparation on 1st Saturdays
Fátima, 13 July 1917 (to prevent Russia spreading its errors): “ . . . To prevent this, I shall come to the world to ask that Russia be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, and I shall ask that on the First Saturday of every month Communions of reparation be made in atonement for the sins-of the world.”
Tuy, 10 Dec 1925: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at very moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who,
• on the first Saturday of five consecutive months,
• shall confess,
• receive Holy Communion,
• recite five decades of the rosary, and
• keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the 15 mysteries of the rosary,
• with the intention of making reparation to me.
4. Consecration to our Lady
• purpose Our Lady gvies for appearing, God wishes to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart, as to the Sacred Heart
• consecration is given as the means to bring obout fruits of grace for nations, but therefore also individuals, families, parishes and dioceses.
5. Wear the Scapular
• Oct. 13 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared
• Sr. Lúcia to Fr. Rafferty: “the rosary and the scapular are inseparable, you can’t have one without the other”