~ St. Sebastian
The unusual picture to the left strikes me as a saved soul, bearing in testimony a candelabra of five burning tapers, symbolizing the five means of salvation.
St. Louis de Montfort, the saint who so clearly taught the "shorter way" of True Devotion to Jesus through Mary, reminds us in his book, The Secret of Mary, that the five means of salvation are as follows:
1) Humility of heart, 2) Continual prayer, 3) Mortification in all things, 4) Abandonment to Divine Providence, and 5) Conformity to the Will of God.
For our own times, afflicted by the synthesis of all heresies (modernism) which only intensifies our struggle against "principalities and powers," Our Lady of Fatima has given us a five-point, peaceful battle strategy which cannot fail.
With a little thought on our own parts, we can easily recognize how the five means of salvation perfectly match with the Virgin's five-point "battle" plan to avert the five warnings/punishments She also foretold if Her requests were not heeded.
Of Our Lady's known Fatima message, the first three warnings have definitely come to pass; the fourth - "persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father "- continues to this day with martyrdoms of good bishops, priests, nuns and lay faithful, and the total chaos resulting from the attempted dismantling of every bastion and every stone of the Catholic City: the Rite of Mass, the catechism, the seven sacraments, authentic Christian education, the Code of Canon Law, you name it. "They" (you know - "they, them") want to tear it all down. (But we can't forget: God allows these tribulations, just as He did in the days recorded in the Old Testament. Some of the arrogant and presumptious souls will repent; the rest will be humbled. As for the faithful, they are given many opportunities to daily practice the virtues, and thus become saints!)
The fifth punishment of which Our Lady of Fatima warned is "the annihilation of nations" - not assimilation of nations, but annihilation...which means total destruction, completely obliterated, a cessation of existence, gone. For these reasons (and more), we really must pray and sacrifice for the Pope to command and lead the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Now, what is Our Lady's five-point peaceful battle plan, you may ask? It has been promoted in various articles, on the Keeping It Catholic list, and on this blog - but it's so important (this is a message from the Queen of Heaven, after all), let's repeat those points again:
1. The daily Rosary (which means just 5 decades every day! Amazing, isn't it? There is that number "five" again!)
2. Faithful accomplishment of daily duty (as Catholics and in our states in life).
3. Sacrifice for the conversion of sinners
4. Wearing the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and living chastely according to our states in life.
5. The "Five First Saturdays" devotion in reparation to God for the five major blasphemies committed against His Virgin Mother, Mary most holy. (Again, we see the number "five.")
What are the five blasphemies which so grieviously offend God (for what offends the Mother, offends the Son)? They are terrible, indeed, because in 1930 Christ Himself revealed them to Sr. Lucia, Servant of God:
"My daughter...there are five kinds of offenses and blasphemies uttered against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
-Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.
-Blasphemies against Her perpetual Virginity.
-Blasphemies against Her divine Maternity, while refusing at the same time to recognize Her as Mother of men.
-The blasphemies of those who publicly seek to place in the hearts of children indifference or scorn, or even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother.
-The offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her holy images."
So...let's think about all this. Five Wounds of Christ. Five means of salvation. Five requests from Our Lady at Fatima to the entire Catholic world (not counting #6, which only the Pope and bishops can accomplish). Five decades to a daily Rosary, requested by Our Lady. Five First Saturdays in reparation for five heinous blasphemies against God's Chosen Mother. Finally, according to various sources, we live in the Fifth Epoch or "incursion" of historical time.
Coincidences? I think not. What say you?
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