October 13: The Miracle of the Sun
In addition, some information on the the Brown Scapular
An Eyewitness Account by Dr. José Maria de Almeida Garrett, professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Coimbra, Portugal
"It must have been 1:30 p.m when there arose, at the exact spot where the children were, a column of smoke, thin, fine and bluish, which extended up to perhaps two meters above their heads, and evaporated at that height. This phenomenon, perfectly visible to the naked eye, lasted for a few seconds. Not having noted how long it had lasted, I cannot say whether it was more or less than a minute. The smoke dissipated abruptly, and after some time, it came back to occur a second time, then a third time...
"The sky, which had been overcast all day, suddenly cleared; the rain stopped and it looked as if the sun were about to fill with light the countryside that the wintery morning had made so gloomy. I was looking at the spot of the apparitions in a serene, if cold, expectation of something happening and with diminishing curiosity because a long time had passed without anything to excite my attention. The sun, a few moments before, had broken through the thick layer of clouds which hid it and now shone clearly and intensely.
"Suddenly I heard
the uproar of thousands of voices, and I saw the whole multitude spread out in
that vast space at my feet...turn their backs to that spot where, until then,
all their expectations had been focused, and look at the sun on the other side.
I turned around, too, toward the point commanding their gaze and I could see
the sun, like a very clear disc, with its sharp edge, which gleamed without
hurting the sight. It could not be confused with the sun seen through a fog
(there was no fog at that moment), for it was neither veiled nor dim. At
Fatima, it kept its light and heat, and stood out clearly in the sky, with a
sharp edge, like a large gaming table. The most astonishing thing was to be
able to stare at the solar disc for a long time, brilliant with light and heat,
without hurting the eyes or damaging the retina. [During this time], the sun's
disc did not remain immobile, it had a giddy motion, [but] not like the
twinkling of a star in all its brilliance for it spun round upon itself in a mad
whirl."During the solar phenomenon, which I have just described, there were also changes of color in the atmosphere. Looking at the sun, I noticed that everything was becoming darkened. I looked first at the nearest objects and then extended my glance further afield as far as the horizon. I saw everything had assumed an amethyst color. Objects around me, the sky and the atmosphere, were of the same color. Everything both near and far had changed, taking on the color of old yellow damask. People looked as if they were suffering from jaundice and I recall a sensation of amusement at seeing them look so ugly and unattractive. My own hand was the same color.
"Then, suddenly, one heard a clamor, a cry of anguish breaking from all the people. The sun, whirling wildly, seemed all at once to loosen itself from the firmament and, blood red, advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge and fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was truly terrible.
"All the phenomena which I have described were observed by me in a calm and serene state of mind without any emotional disturbance. It is for others to interpret and explain them. Finally, I must declare that never, before or after October 13 [1917], have I observed similar atmospheric or solar phenomena."
Professor Almeida Garrett's full account may be found in Novos Documentos de Fatima (Loyala editions, San Paulo, 1984)
Fatima: The Miracle of the Sun, 13-Oct, 1917
Our Lady of Fatima Promotes the Ancient Devotion to the Brown Scapular
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| The Mother of God appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel during the great Miracle of the Sun because She wants everyone to wear the Brown Scapular of Carmel. |
On October 13, 1917 God performed a Miracle at Fatima. Recent studies show that over 100,000 people watched the sun "dance" and spin, and the three little seers were privileged with other visions. The last vision was seen by Lucia alone. Our Lady appeared, dressed as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her little Son upon Her knee. When she was asked the significance of this appearance, Lucia answered that the Mother of God wanted everyone to wear the Scapular. Father Howard Rafferty, Third Order Provincial of the Carmelites in the United States, was able to question Lucia about Fatima and the Scapular. The following is part of that interview:
Father Rafferty: "In some books on Fatima some authors do not make a mention of the Scapular as a part of the message."
Sister Lucia: "Oh, they are wrong!"
Father: ''What indicated that the Virgin appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the last vision of Fatima?"
Sister Lucia: "Because She held the Scapular in Her hands. The Holy Father has said to all the world that the Scapular is the exterior sign of our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
Father: "Is the Scapular therefore necessary in order to fulfill the Message of Fatima?"
Sister Lucia: "Yes."
Father: "Would you say that it is as necessary as the Rosary?"
Sister Lucia: "The Rosary and the Scapular are inseparable."
At Fatima, Our Lady emphasized the importance of the Brown Scapular; Her appearance as Our Lady of Mount Carmel reminded people about the promise She had made to St. Simon Stock almost 670 years previously.
History of the Carmelites and the Scapular
The Brown Scapular is a miniature of the brown woven wool mantle that the Carmelites wear. The Order itself has its origins on Mount Carmel near the fountain of the prophet Elias. Elias, one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, was the founder of the Carmelite Order, and his zeal, love and fear of God was the inspiration of the early Carmelites. It was at his prayer that the famed three-and-a-half-year drought ended (3 Kings, ch. 18). The first rain to fall came from a cloud rising out of the sea in the shape of a human foot. The cloud grew and grew until it covered the whole land and a great rain fell. Elias and his hermit companions saw in this cloud a prefiguration of The Woman who God promised would crush the serpent's head, "thou shalt lie in wait for Her heel and She shall crush thy head..." (Genesis 3:15). Several Saints and Doctors of the Catholic Church also explain to the world how this cloud, rising pure out of the bitter sea and leaving all impurities behind, is a figure of the Immaculate Virgin who would rise pure out of the sea of humankind, free of its universal impurity of original sin. After Elias had seen the cloud, he bade his followers to pray for the coming of The Virgin who was to bring forth man's Savior.Their prayers were answered. Not only did the Immaculate Virgin give birth to the God-man, but several years later, on their return from Egypt, the Holy Family sought food, shelter and rest amongst these saintly monks. After the Holy Family left them, these men of God built the first chapel on earth ever to be dedicated to the Mother of God. These men found in the Ark of the Covenant the perfect example of Elias' teachings of prayer and meditation. They took Her as their model, and She taught them how to offer to God everything with a clean heart. For centuries before they had to leave Palestine they called themselves "Hermits of St. Mary of Mount Carmel."
When the Saracens invaded, the Carmelites had to leave their beloved mount and to find another place where they could worship God. The Carmelites prayed to Our Lady, their perfect example, for guidance and She led them to Aylesford, England in 1241 with the help of Saint Simon Stock. Their first thought on reaching their refuge was to build a shrine in honor of their Patroness. In 1246 Simon Stock became the General of the entire Order. They had many trials, most of which seemed insurmountable. There were difficulties from within the Order occasioned by the great change due to the transfer from Palestine to England. There was trouble from outside the Order. The whole secular clergy attacked this "new" order. They seemed to hate the Carmelites, and especially the habits these people from the east wore. The old monks, fiercely loyal and loving towards their ancient cloak derived from Elian tradition, felt this particular persecution deeply. Simon Stock, who always had recourse to Our Lady, turned to Her now when all the problems he faced seemed to have become too great for him to handle. One day, July 16, 1251, Simon Stock went to his cell and prayed with all his heart for Our Dear Mother's intercession. He prayed,
"Flower of CarmelSuddenly the Saint's cell was flooded with light. Our Lady appeared to him, holding the Scapular in Her hand, even as she wore it full size on Herself, and She made this, the Scapular, a sign of Her special love and protection for them. She said to Saint Simon, "THIS SHALL BE TO THEE AND TO ALL CARMELITES A PRIVILEGE, THAT WHOSOEVER DIES CLOTHED IN THIS (Scapular) SHALL NOT SUFFER ETERNAL FIRE."
Vine blossom-laden,
Splendor of Heaven
Child-bearing maiden
None equal Thee!
O Mother benign,
Who no man didst know,
On all Carmel's children
Thy favors bestow,
Star of the Sea!"
After the Vision a miraculous change took place in peoples' attitudes towards the Order. The Pope approved the Order, and ordered that Ecclesiastical censures be used against anyone who further persecuted the Carmelites. He issued letters to Bishops and Archbishops, telling them to treat the Hermits of Saint Mary of Mount Carmel with more charity and consideration. After that, both civil and Ecclesiastical authorities helped the Carmelites.
A few years later the Blessed Virgin appeared to Pope John XXII. She revealed to him a second great promise which was to be attached to the Scapular: the Saturday, or "The Sabbatine" Privilege. That is, members of the Confraternity of the Brown Scapular who 1) faithfully wear the Scapular of Mount Carmel, 2) observe chastity according to their state in life, and 3) recite daily five decades of the Rosary (when substitution of the Rosary for the Little Office is granted*) will be freed from the pains of purgatory on the first Saturday after death.
Ever since Our Lady blessed the Scapular of Mount Carmel in 1251 it has been a Sign of Consecration to Mary. For a long time this special sign of consecration belonged exclusively to the Order. People outside the Order became anxious to be associated with Carmel, the Scapular, and its promises. So in the thirteenth century the Third Order and Confraternity of the Scapular of Carmel arose.
*All Catholics enrolled in the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel may receive the benefit of substituting 5 decades of the Rosary daily for the Little Office of Our Lady, by filling out our Fatima Crusade pledge and on it requesting this benefit, and sending the pledge to us at Fatima Crusade Headquarters.
Privileges
What do we gain from belonging to the Confraternity of Mount Carmel?The enrolled wearers of the Brown Scapular gain not only the promise of Salvation and the Sabbatine Privilege granted by the Mother of Grace, (which in itself should be sufficient reason for wearing it) and many indulgences granted by several Popes, but they also gain in the participation in all Masses, prayers and good works performed by the Religious of Mount Carmel.
When we wear the Scapular, we wear a garment blessed in Heaven, promoted on earth by Our Lady Herself. We wear what Our Blessed Mother wore when She made the unconditional promise of Salvation for all who were duly enrolled into the Confraternity, and who wore, at the hour of their death, the cloth which is a sign of Her love for us.
Catholic theologians and authorities like St. Robert Bellarmine, Pope Benedict XIV, Vermeersch etc., explain the promise to mean that anyone who dies in Our Lady of Mount Carmel's Confraternity, and wears the Scapular at the time of death, will receive from Her, at that hour, either the grace of perseverance in the state of grace or the grace of final contrition. Saints and Pontiffs, however, often warn us of the foolhardiness of abusing Mary's promise. At the same time that Pope Pius XI joyfully professed: "I learned to love the Scapular Virgin in the arms of my mother," he also warned all the faithful that "although it is very true that the Blessed Virgin loves all who love Her, nevertheless those who wish to have the Blessed Mother as a helper at the hour of death, must in life merit such a signal favor by abstaining from sin and laboring in Her honor." One can take it as certain that if he continually sins because of Mary's Scapular Promise, he shall not die in the Scapular. To lead a sinful life while trusting in the Scapular Promise is to commit a sin, the horror of which borders on sacrilege; its punishment will not only be eternal but far worse than if we had led a sinful life without making the Mother of God an excuse for crucifying Her Son.
Ecclesiastical Approval
St. Alphonsus says, "Modern heretics make a mockery of wearing the Scapular. They decry it as so much trifling nonsense." Yet there have been nine official, formal confirmations of the privilege. There have been nine different Popes who validly established the privilege. St. Pius V said: "With Our Apostolic authority and by tenor of the present we approve each of the privileges of the Scapular and also the Sabbatine." St. Pius X also approved them, as did also Pope Paul V: "It is permitted to preach . . . that the Blessed Virgin will aid the souls of the Brothers and Sisters of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel after their death by Her continual intercession, by Her sufferings and merits and by Her special protection, especially on the day of Saturday . . ." Pope Pius XI, commemorating the sixth centenary of the Sabbatine Privilege, said, "It surely ought to be sufficient merely to exhort all the members of the Confraternity to persevere in the holy exercises which have been prescribed for the gaining of the indulgences to which they are entitled and particularly for the gaining of that indulgence which is the principal and the greatest of them all, namely that called the Sabbatine." Pius XII wrote about the Scapular, "Let it be your sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which We are particularly urging in these perilous times." On February 2, 1965, in explaining what the Second Vatican Council meant about devotion to Our Lady, Pope Paul VI said, ". . . ever hold in great esteem the practices and exercises of the devotion to the most Blessed Virgin which have been recommended for centuries by the Magisterium of the Church. And among them we judge well to recall especially the Marian Rosary and the religious use of the Scapular of Mount Carmel."Extraordinary Events
In 1276 the remains of Pope Gregory X were laid to rest at Arezzo. In 1830 his body was placed elsewhere. When they opened the tomb, they found, on the pontiff's shoulders, his Carmelite Scapular, incorrupt. It is still perfectly preserved and is one of the greatest treasures of the Arezzo museum. Pope Gregory X was the first person to wear a small Scapular. |
St. John Bosco, who had preached about the Scapular and who had enrolled thousands, had a similar thing happen in his tomb. All decayable had gone except the Scapular. It would seem God was showing, in these cases, how important the Brown Scapular and its promises are.
Our Lady's promise to Saint Simon Stock was for eternal life after earthly death. But the wearers of the Brown Scapular have also received singular graces of bodily protection. Mary Herself said: “Take this Scapular, whosoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It shall be a Sign of Salvation a protection in danger and a pledge of peace”.
On its way to Australia in 1845, the English ship, King of the Ocean was hit by a wild storm. A protestant minister, Rev. Fisher, his wife, children and other passengers went on deck to pray and ask for God's mercy, as the ship seemed doomed.
An Irish crewman, John McAullife, opened his shirt and took off his Scapular. Making the Sign of the Cross over the ocean he threw the Scapular overboard. The wind immediately died, the waves calmed. Only one more wave washed the deck before the storm blew out. When the wave receded, the Brown Scapular John had thrown into the ocean was left at his feet.
The minister and his wife saw what had happened and questioned John. He told them about the Blessed Virgin, Her Scapular and Her promise of protection. They were so impressed that they determined to become Catholic so that they too could enjoy such a great protection.
In May, 1957 an entire row of houses had caught fire in Westboden, Germany. The family of one of the homes, realizing what was happening, immediately fastened a Scapular to the main door of the house. Sparks flew over it and around it but it did not catch on fire. Within five hours twenty-two houses were reduced to ashes. The one with the Scapular on it remained unharmed, in the midst of the destruction.
Many more events proclaiming Our Lady of Mount Carmel's intercession have been recorded, and some of these we hope to pass on. Extraordinary events of this kind happen to ordinary people like us. We too can enjoy the protection of the Queen of Heaven and Earth, our own Dear Mother, by wearing the shield She so lovingly gave us.
The Brown Scapular Saves You
From Hell
Extracts of a recent talk given by Father Marcel Nault
at the Rally in Defense of the Faith in Montreal, Canada.
One day, the Blessed Virgin Mary said, "I will save the world, with
My Rosary and My scapular." And when you go to Fatima, there's a huge
statue of Our Lady of Fatima and Mary holds the Rosary and the Brown
Scapular.Mary Herself said, "I will save the world through My Rosary and My scapular." Someone doesn't like that, and that someone is Lucifer. Sometimes you just wonder why is it so difficult for the Pope to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Sometimes you wonder why is it so difficult for the Pope to reveal the Secret of Fatima? And there is a reason. Satan doesn't want the Pope to consecrate Russia and reveal the Secret of Fatima.
And in the world and in the Church today, there is terrorism, terrorism so great, that the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and Priests are afraid, there is terrorism in the world and in the Church.
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| Father Gruner investing some of the more than 100,000 people he has enrolled in the Brown Scapular in recent years. |
Fatima More Urgent Than Ever
Pope John Paul says the Message of Fatima is more urgent, more relevant today, than ever. We must preach the Message of Fatima and sometimes we wonder why the Pope does not reveal this Third Secret of Fatima. We already know what the Third Secret of Fatima is. The Blessed Virgin Mary on September 19, 1846, told us at La Salette. She gave to Melanie of La Salette, a message and secret. And in the secret of La Salette, you can have that book, there is the imprimatur on it by Bishop Zula, who was the confessor, the spiritual director, of Melanie of La Salette. And in the Secret of La Salette, it is written, Mary said, "Lucifer and demons would come on earth in 1864, to make man lose the faith and the poor lose their souls."It is written and it is recognized by the Church, the truth, Lucifer and demons would come on the earth in 1864 to make man lose the faith. And by losing the faith we lose our souls and we go to hell for all eternity. And sometimes people are wondering why Father Gruner is working so hard to have Russia consecrated, and the Secret of Fatima revealed. It is because it is a matter of life and death, it is a matter of choosing life in Heaven, or a matter of choosing life in hell. That's why Father Gruner is working. This concerns the salvation of souls, for which Mary came to Fatima: to save our souls.
Jesus Died to Save Us from Hell
Each Good Friday when I pray the Stations of the Cross, on Good Friday I ask the faithful, "Why was Christ crucified on the cross on Calvary in Jerusalem? What was He crucified for?" He was crucified to deliver us. And I ask them, "Jesus was crucified on the cross to deliver you, to deliver you from what?" To deliver you from hell.Fatima is a message for all of us to save our souls from hell. My friends, sometimes I wonder, "why don't we preach hell anymore?" There was a plot not to denounce the errors of Communist Russia. A solemn plot that Father Gruner has written about often.
The Church entered an agreement not to condemn Communist Russia. And it seems today, there is another conspiracy of silence, we don't speak on hell anymore. St. Athanasius says, "Jesus has spoken more often of hell, than of Heaven." But today, tell me, how many times have you heard a sermon on hell! In the last 20 years? Tell me, when is the last time you heard a Cardinal or a Bishop deliver a sermon on hell? Although Jesus spoke more of hell than of Heaven.
Jesus in Matthew 10:28, "do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
I'll finish this in the Gospel terms, not the word hell, but the very same thing, for instance Jesus in Matthew 25:41, He will say to those on His left, depart from Me accursed ones to the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus, He came on earth to save men and women from eternal hell.
I have heard, with my two ears, priests who say hell does not exist. God is Love and merciful, God is Our Father, and God cannot throw one of His children in a burning furnace for all eternity! I have heard, and even some Bishops speak that way and yet that is heresy.
The Church Teaches ...
The Catholic Church has always taught that those who die in mortal sin are condemned by God to hell forever. The 4th Lateran Council in 1215 and the Council of Trent both speak of the punishment in hell as everlasting and infinite punishment and infinite damnation.Hell exists, hell is a Roman Catholic dogma and one cannot say he's a Catholic if he does not believe in hell ...
Hell is eternal, one hundred million masters will never deliver a soul from hell. Why don't we preach more often on hell? The talk of hell makes sense. St. Ignatius was afraid to go into hell. Saint Charles Borromeo, St. Alphonsus de Liguori used to say this prayer, "O Lord don't throw me into hell." How is it that saints fear hell and sinners don't fear hell?
In 1251, St. Simon Stock, he governed the Order of Mt. Carmel for men, had a problem to solve. His priests and brothers were scared, were scared! Were scared of what? Were scared to go into hell. Monks living inside the fence, monks fasting, Monks outside of the world, Monks praying all the time, Monks making penance. Holy Monks!! And they were afraid to go into hell!
St. Simon Stock prayed and the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1251 in Aylesford in England said to St. Simon Stock, "to give you assurance that your priests and brothers will go into Heaven, I bring you a vestment, a scapular." And Mary said, "this is My vestment, I will protect you, protect all of you priests and you brothers if they wear My scapular. That's My vestment". He will say well, wearing a Brown Scapular and not to go to hell? If Mary said so we must believe, because Mary, She is the Mother of God and She gave us the vestment of predestination.
Wearing the Brown Scapular is a sign of predestination like reciting the Holy Rosary is a sign of predestination. On July 16, 1251, She gave the Brown Scapular. On July 16, 1858 at Lourdes on the 18th and last apparition of Our Lady, She appeared to Bernadette, dressed as Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
On October 13, 1917, was the last apparition of Our Lady. 70,000 people were present for this 6th and last apparition of Our Lady of Fatima. They saw the Miracle of the Sun, they watched as the sun danced. Lucia, 10 years old; Jacinta, 7 years old; Francisco, 9 years; instead of watching the sun, their eyes were watching Mary in the sky. Mary was in the sky with Saint Joseph, Mary in the sky on October 13h. She had the Holy Scapular in Her hand and beside Mary was Saint Joseph standing up with Jesus in his arms and Saint Joseph and Jesus blessing the crowd.
The Rosary and the Scapular are Inseparable
And a person asked Lucia, what's the relation between the Rosary and the Brown Scapular, because Mary said, "My name, My name is "Our Lady of the Holy Rosary", and Lucia answered, "Our divine Mother wants every one of Her children, not only to recite the Holy Rosary, but also to wear the Brown Scapular."The Holy Rosary, and the Holy Scapular are inseparable. Everyone who says the whole Rosary, everyone that I know who recites the whole Rosary, the 15 mysteries, they all wear the Brown Scapular.
The Brown Scapular and the Holy Rosary are two sacramentals, are two signs of predestination."Is it important to wear the Brown Scapular and to recite daily our Rosary?" If you don't believe in hell, why bother?
The other day I was somewhere, I was doing a spiritual reading, and suddenly a woman came by in a nice dress. "Hello Father Nault, how are you?" "Well, good. Do I know you?" "Sure you know me. In 1987 you enrolled me in the Brown Scapular, and ever since I wear my Brown Scapular." And she had a dress, very well dressed and she showed me the Brown Scapular. "I was not expecting to see you here, Father, but I am one who has heard your sermon on the Brown Scapular, and ever since I wear my Brown Scapular." And I said, "Why?" "Because, I don't want to go to hell."
Mary, when She came on May 13, 1917, She spoke to the children about Heaven, Purgatory. "Where do you come from my Lady?" "I come from Heaven." "Will I go to Heaven one day?""Yes, you will." And will Francisco go to Heaven?" "Yes, he will but first he will have to recite many Rosaries." Our Lady on June 13 said to the three children that "two of you will come to Me very quickly and the third one will remain as My witness to promote My Message from Heaven." "How about our two little girlfriends that died?" "One, she's in Heaven, and Imayela, she's not in Heaven." "Is she in hell?" "No, she's not in hell." "Where is she?" "She's in purgatory," "Will she be there for a long time?" "Until the end of this world."
Hell and Purgatory
All theologians say there is no suffering on earth equal to the suffering of purgatory. But the suffering in hell is much greater still and it lasts for all eternity. On July 13, 1917, Our Lady again spoke to the three Fatima children; She opened Her hands and the light from the palms of Her hands fell on earth and in this light they could see the fires of hell.Suddenly they saw the wide red sea of fire, a wide red sea of fire in which they saw demons, and all kinds of animal forms, and some human forms. We know that no body is in purgatory today. Only the souls are in purgatory. Because the body will rise at the last moment for the last judgment. But Mary showed the souls, in the form of human beings. They recognized demons in hell, demons in hell, and human souls in hell. And there they were weeping, they were crying, there was despair, it was so awful, the children were scared. Sister Lucy tells us that if Our Lady had not beforehand promised to take them to Heaven she believes that she and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, would have died of fright.
After this vision of hell, Lucia tells us, some times Jacinta, who was 7 years old, would not eat. Lucia asked her "What's the matter with you Jacinta?" "When I think of the souls in hell, they are burning like wood in the fire. They are burning, they are burning, they are burning, and they will be burning for eternity, one hundred million, million, million years, they will still be there."
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta would pray the prayer of the Angel for sinners. They would pray the Rosary, they would fast all day, giving their food away to poor children. Remember they were only 10, 9 and 7 years old and they would pray very much and do great penances. They even wore a rough rope around themselves all day long to offer a sacrifice to God for the conversion of sinners, so that sinners would not go to hell.
Today in school, we don't talk about hell any more, we don't want to scare children. As a matter of fact we never speak of hell in our Roman Catholic schools, nor in our Catholic churches.
The Ultimate Tragedy
Hell is the most tragic dogma of our Catholic faith. If not for Jesus, who must have spoken about hell at least 15 times, I don't think we would believe such a reality as an eternal fire. To burn in hell a thousand years that will pass, to burn in hell a million years that would pass. But souls in hell, they will remain and remain and remain, billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of years. And little Lucia said it will not have yet begun. And it will hardly have begun ... |
Wonderful Promises
If you believe in hell my friend, if you believe in hell, you will not pass a second day without reciting the Holy Rosary. If you believe in hell, you will pass not a single day without wearing your Brown Scapular, and in the morning when you wake up you will say, "Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, please save me today from deliberate sin, from mortal sin, from purgatory and from hell", and when you go to bed, before you jump in your bed you will kiss again the scapular and you will say, "Our Lady of Mt. Carmel preserve me from purgatory, from hell, mortal sins and venial sins."If you do so, how can you go to hell? If you already pray the Rosary every day, if you always wear the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, She is bound to save you from hell because She is bound by Her promises. She promised that those Catholics who are enrolled in Her Brown Scapular and who will die wearing Her Brown Scapular will not suffer the eternal fires of hell. And She said that if they are faithful to the Rosary on the first Saturday after their death, I will take them out of Purgatory and bring them in Heaven. [The Sabbatine Privilege - editor]
The promise of the Brown Scapular is so strong, so beautiful, so divine, why don't people wear today the Brown Scapular? And sometimes people tell me, "Why is it, Father, there are around here very few priests who believe in the Brown Scapular and preach the Brown Scapular? I have never heard a sermon on the Brown Scapular since the end of Vatican II. Is it true, or is it not true anymore?" It is true.
And you know Bishops and priests don't preach of the Brown Scapular? There is a very logical reason. The reason why Bishops and priests never preach the Brown Scapular, it is because they are very intelligent and logical. It is because they don't believe in hell and they don't preach on hell. How can you preach on the Brown Scapular if you don't believe in hell? That makes sense, eh? If you don't believe in hell, why should they wear the Brown Scapular? Plus if hell exists, intelligent Catholics will wear their Brown Scapular.
In 1830, the year that Mary gave us the miraculous medal, in 1830 they looked in the tomb of Pope Gregory X, who died in 1276. Five hundred and fifty-four years after the death of Pope Gregory X, everything was ashes and dust, everything after 554 years, but we have found the Brown Scapular of Pope Gregory X and it is now intact in a famous museum, in Italy.
Saint John Bosco, a good fifty years after he was dead, they wanted to see what kind of a priest he was. To look in the tomb again, everything was ashes but they discovered the Brown Scapular of Saint John Bosco about 4 inches by 4 inches. And, the scapular you can see it with your own eyes in the museum of St. John Bosco in Turin just beside the room where he died.
When they moved the remains of Mr. and Mrs. Martin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, they moved the bodies from the cemetery and then put them to rest behind the Basilica of Mt. Carmel, everything was ashes, except the Brown Scapulars of Mr. and Mrs. Martin.
Scapular Protected Her from the Devil
One day a young woman before entering the religious life, went to see the Curщ of Ars and during the conversation, he asked the young woman, "Do you recall my child at the certain evening of dancing, where you were? There was a very young man, very pretty, unknown, distinguished, admired, and all the girls wanted to dance with him." "Yes, I recall when he never came to ask me, I was sad, yet all the other girls were privileged to dance with that young man.""You will have liked to dance with him, won't you?" "Yes." "Do you recall, when that young man was leaving the dance hall, you saw under his feet two blue flames? And you thought it was an illusion of your eyes? When you saw that young man leave the dance hall, you saw fire under his feet! It was not an illusion of your eyes my daughter. That man was a demon. And if he did not come to you to ask you to dance, it's for one reason, you were wearing the vestment of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel."There are many other miracles which are more important, and if you go to Mt. Carmel in Montreal, Mt. Carmel Street, it's on the west side of St. Ernest Street, there's a little booklet, the scapular, many histories, miracles regarding the Brown Scapular.
If it was up to me, if I had freedom, the true freedom, I would be preaching on hell every Sunday of the year. Because sometimes people go to Mass only once a year. Saint Ignatius used to preach in his preaching, the greatest of all charity is to deliver, to save souls from hell! There is no greater act of charity than to save a soul from hell! And the second act of charity is to save a soul from purgatory.
And when the Blessed Virgin came to Fatima She didn't ask that we build churches, schools, hospitals, to make bread, feed the poor! No, Our Holy Mother She had the divine wisdom. She knows what is priority and the priority She said is, "Pray and pray very much, make sacrifices, because many souls go into hell, because there is no one to pray, and to make sacrifices." That is, that was, that will be, all the time until the end of this world, the preaching of Our Lady of Fatima to save souls. To save souls.