Fatima: the Family & the Church
Mary’s Message with Prayers and Devotions
Timothy Tindal-Robertson
Catholic Truth SocietyISBN 9781784696566
eISBN 9781784696757
ASIN B09HR4PNNH
CTS Booklet D835
The first book I ever read from the CTS was Foley’s Apparitions of Mary, which I had picked up at a retreat many years ago. In fact it was 12 years between reading that booklet and the next volume I read from the Catholic Truth Society. And it has been fifteen years since I read that first book by Foley. Since then I have read 8 volumes from Foley’s pen and have been working on tracking down all his other books.
Since the spring of 2018 I have read over 200 volumes from the Catholic Truth Society, and many of them more than once. I stumbled upon CTS books while doing research on an author, and have been hooked ever since. I have also read many in the CTS Biographies and also Saints of the Isles Series, and I loved the books in the CTS Great Saints Series. I love reading about so many saints, their lives and their times. My other favourite books form the CTS are the Prayers and Devotions books.
The description of this booklet is:
“This summary of Our Lady’s message, updated to include the important development of the canonisation of Francisco and Jacinta by Pope Francis on 13th May 2017, explains why we need the message of Fatima more than ever. Our Blessed Mother longs to draw us back to the path of true happiness that her son Jesus Christ opened for us. Her requests, such as to dedicate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart and to pray the rosary every day, only require our hearts to be open, anywhere, at any time.
If we follow the example of Saints Francisco and Jacinta, anyone can become a saint like they did, and thereby find the strength and courage to live and proclaim the faith in today’s increasingly hostile secular environment.”
We are also informed that:
“This summary of Our Lady’s message, updated to include the important development of the canonisation of Francisco and Jacinta by Pope Francis on 13th May 2017, explains why we need the message of Fatima more than ever.”
And the chapters in this little volume are:
Fatima’s Message to the Church Today
Fatima Prayers and Devotions
Our Lady of Fatima and the Rosary
Acts of Consecration and Reparation
Other Marian Prayers
Novenas to Our Lady of Fatima
Fatima and Immaculate Heart Litanies
Fatima Hymns
The World Apostolate of Fatima
This booklet is an excellent resource. Foley and Tindal-Robertson write in an engaging and informative manner. The book was hard to put down. It is part history, part devotion, and part prayer book. I highlighted several passages while reading the book. Some of them are:
“The great virtue of the Rosary, in the words of Pope St John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, is that it puts one “in living communion with the mysteries of Christ”, whenever and wherever it is prayed with devotion.”
“There is no doubt that such a movement at a national level would make an important contribution to the urgent task of re-evangelisation; and history has demonstrated the power of the Rosary to counter difficulties that today confront families, in terms of the pressure to conform to purely secular values that undermine the Faith, and that the government is seeking to enforce in schools.”
“For this reason the Blessed Virgin is called upon in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, Mediatrix” (op. cit., n. 62). This is why we need to turn to her for help in overcoming the trials we face today.”
“He then explained that Fatima proposes the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because that means “consecrating this world to the pierced Heart of the Saviour, bringing it back to the very source of its redemption”; and that Mary’s appeal “must be taken up by generation after generation, in accordance with the ever new ‘signs of the time’”.”
“He went on to say: “if we want to be Christian, we must be Marian; in a word, we have to acknowledge the essential, vital and providential relationship uniting Our Lady to Jesus, a relationship that opens before us the way leading to him”.”
“Through the inspiring story of how the lives of the seers changed after meeting the Angel in 1916, and then even more after their exchanges with Our Lady in 1917, there is traced out an assured path to heaven through life’s trials and challenges, that can easily be followed by all under the consoling maternal guidance of Our Lady of Fatima.”
“Conversion, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is accomplished in daily life by, among other things, accepting suffering and enduring persecution.”
“In order to successfully confront the enemy, and advance the New Evangelisation, and ensure the salvation of our souls and those of our families, let us follow their example and entrust ourselves to Our Lady and the message she gave us at Fatima. The lives of Saints Francisco and Jacinta demonstrate that one hundred years later, this message is more relevant than ever.”
This is an excellent volume. It does an amazing job presenting the history of the events at Fatima, their immediate impact, the long term influences, and the need for a renewed devotion and adherence to the message today. The prayers, novena and litanies are an excellent collection. A few I had encountered before. A few of them were new to me. I plan to use some of the prayers in this booklet daily.
Foley’s writings on Mary are among the best I have read. And this new volume is an excellent addition to the canon of works on Fatima, and from the pen of Foley. This book was a huge blessing. It is a great volume that I highly recommend.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan! For other reviews of books from the Catholic Truth Society click here.
For reviews of other books in the CTS Devotions series click here.
Books by Donal Anthony Foley:
Christian Living: The Spirituality of the Foyers of Charity
Understanding Medjugorje: Heavenly Visions or Religious Illusion?
Marian Apparitions, the Bible, and the Modern World
Medjugorje Revisited: 30 Years of Visions or Religious Fraud?
Fiction:
The Glaston Chronicles:
...
Original Editions:
…
No comments:
Post a Comment