Our Call from Fatima and Faustina Conference

On a cool, New England spring Saturday morning, hundreds gathered in a newly renovated Welcome Center at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Father Donald Calloway, MIC, and Fr. Chris Alar, MIC opened the annual Divine Mercy Sunday Weekend with a power-packed conference on the message from Our Lady of Fatima and Divine Mercy.

In this 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, there is no more important time for people to know what Heaven is calling us to do.

Father Calloway began the morning asking the conference attendees: What is the most important aspect of the apparitions of Fatima? His answer: The daily praying of the Rosary.

"[Praying the Rosary daily] can stop wars" said Fr. Calloway, author of the recent books Champions of the Rosary and How to Pray the Rosary.

Father Calloway emphasized that the Fatima message is not just something from 1917 - it is still relevant today, and it is vital that we heed Our Lady's call.

In our world today, there are many blasphemies against our Lord and Our Lady. Heaven has sent apparition after apparition over the past century to call the world to conversion. From Our Lady of Fatima, Heaven has asked us to pray the Rosary daily for peace and to make the First Saturday devotions.

"We are given the Rosary to combat the faults of our times and console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary," Fr. Calloway said. This isn't just a devotion for a funeral or for elderly women in Church, he noted. Praying the Rosary is for everyone. "When times are tough," he said, "Heaven calls us to pray the Rosary."

The Rosary is also the most indulgenced prayer in the history of the Church - every day you can pray the Rosary for the remission of your temporal punishment, or for a soul in Purgatory.

Father Calloway encouraged everyone to pray the Rosary not only individually, but also in marriages, in families, in parishes, and in groups. If your parish doesn't pray the Rosary before or after daily Mass, perhaps try to politely and humbly ask your pastor about it, Fr. Donald suggested.

For those who want to learn more about the Rosary and how to pray the Rosary, see Fr. Calloway's newest books: Champions of the Rosary and How to Pray the Rosary.

Here's Fr. Donald's full talk:



Father Chris, the director of the Association of Marian Helpers, gave a powerful talk after Fr. Calloway on the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, as well as the interrelationship between Fatima and St. Faustina and the message of Divine Mercy.

Father Chris said, "The world today is ill, and the penicillin is Divine Mercy, and it is administered by Mother Mary, the nurse."

Father Chris explained the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, including the call of Our Lady to consecrate and convert Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and how this all connects to Divine Mercy.

Father Chris said that it was St. John Paul II himself who made the connection between Fatima and Faustina clear. While recovering in the hospital after having been shot on May 13, 1981, the 64th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, the Holy Father asked for two things: the third secret of Fatima and the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska in Polish. He knew the world needed to heed Our Lady's messages and call upon God's mercy.

Speaking directly from the official documents of the Magisterium of the Church, Fr. Chris explained that St. John Paul II did consecrate Russia, along with the rest of the world, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984. Then why hasn't the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and the era of peace happened yet? Because we still need the conversion of the world, which requires prayer and penance on our part. We must pray the Rosary daily for peace in the world and make the First Saturday devotions in reparation of the offenses and blasphemies against the Mother of God.

"Stop looking around for the miracles. Repent, confess, and call down the mercy of God," Fr. Chris said. "This Divine Mercy Sunday is your opportunity to have complete remission of sin and the temporal punishment due to sin if you go to Confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray to Jesus reminding Him of His promises to St. Faustina: 'The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion [on the Feast of Mercy] will obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment'" (Diary, 699).

Father Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, the vice-postulator for North America of the cause for the canonization of St. Faustina, has explained that a soul who participates in Divine Mercy Sunday with the intention of receiving these graces and fulfills the requirements mentioned above, his or her soul on Divine Mercy Sunday is as clean as it was on the day of his or her Baptism.

Here's Fr. Chris' talk:



Join us LIVE on EWTN on Sunday, April 23, at noon Eastern time for our Divine Mercy Sunday pre-show, followed by the Solemn Liturgy at 1 p.m.

CRBK

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