"Mary came to save us from a fundamental ideological error"

On the occasion of Pope Francis' brief visit to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal on August 5, 2023, at the time of the World Youth Days, author Bernard Balayn (1), who has worked extensively on the apparitions of Mary, revisited the relevance of the Fatima messages in today's global geopolitical context. Here's an extract from what he had to say on the subject in an interview for Vatican news:

"In the three messages (of Our Lady), which are in fact one and the same across time and chronology, we sense that the problem of peace is constantly present. First of all, Our Lady wanted to put an end to the First World War, which she did thanks to the means she provided, and which was used by the Church and the shepherds. Secondly, she wanted to prevent a second conflict, which the Queen of Heaven knew very well could happen, and which unfortunately did, because not enough people did what she asked. And thirdly, she wanted to stem a plague that began in 1917, a few months after her first visit, because Mary sees everything from a heavenly perspective. She came to preserve us from a fundamental ideological error, the effects of which we are still suffering today, namely Marxist communism, which is a perverse ideology that sidelines God from world history."

What secret would Our Lady of Fatima have for us today?

"We must have the courage to say that Mary's great suffering is the fear of seeing souls go to hell. The young shepherds saw the reality of hell.

We shouldn't live solely from this perspective, of course, but we should bear in mind that the Lord, that God, the Father and the Holy Spirit, have given us a mother who has come to us, and continues to do so - even if not all her apparitions are recognized - to say to mankind: "Be careful, do not cross the line". You have someone who loves you, the Father of course, the Holy Spirit who inspires you, Jesus through the Eucharist who nourishes you, and who teaches you through the Gospel.

But we also have, by the divine Will, the Immaculate Heart, who is united with the heart of her divine Son.

If we could have one wish, it would be that men finally stop looking at themselves, and that they raise [their gaze towards] heaven by looking at the Woman who loves them and who is their Mother, proclaimed as such by the Second Vatican Council: the Blessed Virgin Mary."

(1) Bernard Balayn is  a retired professor and author of several works on history and spirituality. He and his wife are committed to spreading the message of Our Lady of Fatima.

www.vaticannews.va (Translated)