Devotion to angels. The angel of Fatima said to the shepherd children: ‘Pray this way today’. The three visions of the Angel of Peace

Devotion to angels. The angel of Fatima said to the shepherd children: ‘Pray this way’. Night prayer 18 January 2020

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“Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me “-” Pray! Pray a lot! The most holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Constantly offer prayers and sacrifices to the Most High ”.

Before the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, the three shepherd children Lucia, Francesco and Giacinta (Lúcia de Jesus dos Santos, and his cousins ​​Francisco and Jacinta Marto), all residing in the village of Aljustrel, parish of Fátima had three visions of the Angel of Portugal , or Angel of Peace, in the Loca do Cabeço. In these three apparitions, which took place between spring and summer 1916, the Angel taught the three shepherd children of Fatima a PRAYER of adoration and intercession:

“My God I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you, I ask you for forgiveness for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you. Most Holy Trinity, Father Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you deeply and I offer you the precious Blood Body Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences with which he is offended. And for the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and for the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I ask you for the conversion of poor sinners “.

We can appreciate the efficacy of this prayer correctly when we conceive this prayer as the fulfillment of the two greatest commandments, of love for God and neighbor, from which “the whole Law and the prophets” derives (Mt 22:39). In the same way Saint Paul teaches: “The whole law finds its fullness in one precept: you will love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal 5:14; cf Rom 13: 8. 10). If we understand something of this truth, then we will not be surprised more than the almost illiterate children, by means of this prayer who recited for whole hours, did very well in virtue and holiness in a very short time.

But the Angel not only gives us a simple formula of prayer for the fulfillment of this commandment, so that we can carry it out for ourselves. What the Angel craves is that we believe with him, that we LOVE JESUS ​​EUCHARIST WITH HIM. Just as our Guardian Angel so desires, that we kneel and pray with him. If we do this, the Lord will be able to fulfill one of the most beautiful promises, “where two or three are gathered in My Name, I am among them” (Mt 20) .loading …

We can recite the prayer indicated by the Angel of Fatima many times during the day as a prayer together with our Angel and thus walk in the presence of God.

In his last apparition, as Lucia describes it in his manuscripts, the Angel of Peace appeared “with a chalice in his left hand and suspended on it a Host, from which a few drops of Blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and the Host suspended in the air, he prostrated himself on the ground near us and repeated the prayer he had taught us three times …

Then, rising, he took the chalice and the Host again, and gave the Host to me and what the chalice contained gave him a drink for Jacinta and Francesco, saying at the same time:
‘Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God. ‘
Again he prostrated himself on the ground and repeated the same prayer with us three more times and disappeared.
Carried by the strength of the supernatural, which enveloped us, we imitated the Angel in everything, that is, prostrating ourselves like him and repeating the prayers he said. The strength of God’s presence was so intense that it absorbed and annihilated us almost completely. It seemed that for a large period of time it even deprived us of the use of bodily senses. In those days we did the material actions as brought by this supernatural being that pushed us to this. The peace and happiness we felt was great, but only interior, with the soul fully concentrated in God. “

The way in which the Angel of Fatima not only knelt, but also touched the ground with his forehead, will be for us an indication of how we must pray, with all devotion, so that our prayer is not only a prayer of the lips. Gestures have been preserved in the Orthodox church which were once widespread in the West. One of these is metania in its small and large form. The great metania can be understood with the term “prostration”. These gestures are particularly frequent during the Lenten period but can also be found outside of this liturgical time such as, for example, in the days preceding August 15 during the singing of the Paracletic Canon to the Madonna Theotokos. A sense of compunction and serene penance must be associated with them. Through these gestures the body is particularly involved in the prayer of Orthodox Christians. During the Lenten season the Angel said to the boys: “Pray like this! The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplication “. These words “recited like this” literally repeat the words of Jesus to his apostles when he taught them to recite the Our Father (Mt 6, 9). As Saint Augustine writes, the Our Father is not only the best of all prayers, but also an example of all prayers. For this reason, not even the Angel of Portugal wanted to impose a specific formula on children, but even better he wanted to teach that love for God and neighbor will be the heart of all prayers.

Some people are easily discouraged in prayer, feel lonely and abandoned, it is better that they listen to these truths of faith and know that all the good comes to us through prayer. St. Alphonsus, a great devotee of St. Michael the Archangel, assures us that a grace is always and everywhere offered to us, that is, the grace of prayer; through prayer we can receive all the good of God.

After the Angel disappeared and left the children alone for a month to see if they remained faithful to the grace received and their purpose. Without speaking to anyone, except among them, without any other consoling visits from the Angel, the boys showed themselves faithful to their intent. Lucia noted: “The Angel’s words marked our hearts so deeply that we have never forgotten. Starting from this moment we often pray the prayer, prostrate on the ground, as we saw it done to the Angel and repeat his words until we feel exhausted “. With this they exercised heroic generosity in favor of the conversion of sinners.

Don Marcello Stanzione