"Mary’s Heart is a safe refuge"

On December 20, 2001, the Holy See press room published an account of the conversation between Archbishop Bertone, then secretary of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Sister Lucia, the visionary of Fatima, Portugal. Here is an excerpt:

"I feel safe under the protection of Our Lady, who tenderly watches over the Church and the Pope", said Sister Lucia, who revealed a previously unknown detail to the account of the famous prophetic vision of July 13, 1917: "During the vision, Our Lady, all resplendent, held in her right hand a Heart, and in her left hand the Rosary."

The heart in Our Lady's hand "is a sign of love that protects and saves. She is the Mother who sees her children suffering and suffers with them, even with those who do not love her. She wants to save them all, and not lose any of those whom the Lord has entrusted to her. Her Heart is a safe refuge. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the means of salvation in difficult times for the Church and for the world.” 

Cardinal Ratzinger's reflection at the end of his commentary on the last part of the "secret" is very appropriate: 

"My Immaculate Heart will triumph: what does this mean? The heart that is open to God, purified by the contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of any kind. Mary's fiat, the word of her Heart, changed the course of world history, because she brought the Savior into this world and because through this yes God was able to become man in our midst and dwell there forever."

Source: www.mariereine.com