Zeal for the salvation of souls is a characteristic of great holiness –
Father Andrew Apostoli C.F.R. Fatima For Today p.66
Dates are significant. We remember birthdays and anniversaries. People select a special day to make a consecration to Mary or their vows if they are religious. St. Therese of the Child Jesus professed her vows on September 8, the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and made her consecration to the Holy Face on August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration. We can recognize the importance of dates through St. Therese.
Perhaps the most important date for Therese was the day the Virgin Mary smiled on her “at the morning of her life,” May 13, 1883, exactly 34 years before the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the children of Fatima. If there are no coincidences with God, then there is a connection between the two events; the importance of prayer and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners. Our Lady taught the simple children at Fatima this aspect of the “Little Way” of St. Therese, a doctor of the Church who was called “the greatest Saint in modern times” by Pope Pius X. This aspect is zeal for the salvation of souls – or love — and even more so, the sacrificial love that Jesus commanded.
St. Therese wrote in the final transcript of her autobiography: “It is prayer, it is sacrifice which give me all my strength; these are the invincible weapons that Jesus has given me. They can touch souls much better than words, as I have frequently experienced.”
These are among the final words written by the young saint, and they are echoed and confirmed by Our Lady to the children at Fatima.
Mary emphasized the importance of prayer and sacrifice to the children. During the third apparition, she told them to “Make sacrifices for sinners and say often while making a sacrifice: O Jesus, this is for love of you, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for offenses against the Immaculate Heart.” In the fourth apparition, she said, “Pray, pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no-one to make sacrifices and pray for them.”
Our Lady gave the children what Jesus gave to Therese—the “invincible weapons” to touch souls “better than words.”
What does Therese mean by sacrifices? “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” The children of Fatima also made small sacrifices: giving away their food, wearing a rope around their waists, sometimes not drinking when thirsty, remaining silent in the face of mockery and distrust. And like Therese, they made these sacrifices out of love for Jesus and for the conversion of sinners.
How can we apply Therese’s “invincible weapons” and our Lady’s teachings to the children of Fatima in our lives?
Common sense reminds us that we cannot become skilled overnight at prayer and sacrifices. We can easily start praying for the conversion of sinners, but taking every “single opportunity” to make sacrifices like Therese will require time and practice to reach such a level. It is a habit that must be built gradually, step by step.
The children at Fatima had to learn what it meant to “make of everything a sacrifice,” as the Angel of Peace told them the year before the apparitions. They were able to make sacrifices immediately, but it took some time for them to reach the level that St. Therese practiced — every “single opportunity.”
The more they practiced and responded to the request for sacrifices, the more grace they received until they achieved great heights of holiness.
If we start by making just one sacrifice a day for sinners, we will have begun our journey. Then, when ready, we can make two sacrifices a day, and so on, until we develop the habit of the children of Fatima and St. Therese. By making these sacrifices in combination with prayer, both Our Lady and St. Thérèse assure us that souls will be saved. We will grow in holiness during this process, and we will fulfill the new command of Jesus to love one another as He loved us—that is, sacrificially. (Jn 15:12)
The benefits last forever. It’s worth trying!
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