By Sister Natalie Sayde
On Saturday, May 6, the Maronite Servants of Christ the
Light participated in a morning of recollection on the key theme and message of
Our Lady of Fatima. This year is the Centennial anniversary of the apparitions,
and the morning was presented and facilitated by the “Living The Fatima Message”
Group at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River.
The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light were asked to be
exhibitors at this event, where we were able to meet many people and show case
our charism. The morning was absolutely beautiful, and included adoration and
confession; the recitation of a living Rosary in a number of different
languages; a Rosary-making workshop; a play put on by Mrs. Elizabeth Montigny
on the life of the Blessed Mother as depicted in the Joyful Mysteries of the
Rosary.
The keynote speaker was Fr. Thaddeus Lancton, MIC, (Divine Mercy Shrine, Stockbridge, MA) who spoke
on the fundamental message of Our Lady of Fatima as being a call to penance and
conversion. Mary echoes her Son, who began His preaching ministry with the call
to “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Mt 3:2).
Fr. Thaddeus described how in one of the apparitions, Mary
showed the three children a vision of Hell, and how the children were
absolutely horrified by the sight. Mary said, “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, August 19, 1917).
Following this vision, the children began not only accepting the daily penances
that came to them in the form of ridicule and persecution, often by their own
families as a result of these apparitions, but also taking on additional
sacrifices. After what they had seen in Hell, they said that all they had to
endure here on earth seemed light in comparison to the suffering and torment of
that dark place.
This is fundamentally Our Lady’s Call, to say “Yes” to God in our
everyday lives in what He chooses to send us, rather than rebel against His will.
Fr. Thaddeus gave some very tangible examples of what penances Mary had in
mind. For example, if we’re stuck in a traffic jam, to accept it and offer it
as a sacrifice to God, rather than curse and rage. If our spouse is doing
something to annoy us, to respond with patience and love, rather than with our
usual anger and sharp retorts. These are the sacrifices that Mary wants from
all of us, and through them all her Immaculate Heart will triumph.
“Jesus wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the
world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it.” (June 13,
1917)