Convictions_20_2009.pdf

issue number 20 - November 2009

Devotion to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary

Convictions, issue number 20 - November 2009

Dear readers,

Our Lady asked the children of Fatima to pray the Rosary and to pray it every day. She invites us

to recite the rosary so that Communism will not be spread throughout the world, so that sinners

will convert, and she promised the triumph of the Immaculate Heart at the end of our e orts. Since

March 25th our Superior General invites us to a third Rosary Crusade. He would like the Catholic

faithful to unite throughout the world and to say – all combined – twelve million rosaries.

But is it the multitude of rosaries that the Superior General seeks? Is the quantity of prayers the

cause of the request of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima?

Certainly, the great number of rosaries manifests our fervour and our devotion. We love our dear

Mother from Heaven and we have con dence in her. Naturally, we take our rosary in order to tell her

we love her, to entrust her with all our problems, to request her intercession and to sing her praises.

Thus the frequent recitation is nothing less than the proof of our Marian devotion.

Mary never allows herself to be overcome in her goodness. If we on our part are faithful and gen-

erous in our prayers, she, on her part, will also show herself generous. If we meditate on the Rosary

every day, she will give us – as she has done since the time of St. Dominic – the grace to make our-

selves resemble Our Lord Jesus Christ. The prayer of the Rosary has a force all its own. Through Mary,

the words of the “Our Fathers” and the “Hail Marys” are like doors which permit us to enter into

the life of Jesus. Whoever meditates attentively on one or several of the fteen mysteries will place

himself in the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will take his hand and reveal to him her Divine Son.

It is through her that the faithful will always understand better who Jesus Christ is, what are His in-

tentions and His reasons, how He loves us and how much He has su ered for us. It is also through

the intercession of the Virgin Mary that we then receive the grace of a strong will. The prayer of the

rosary helps us to change our life. From the Annunciation to the Crowning in Heaven, each step of

the life of Our Lord nds her there. And each mystery reveals to us another characteristic, another vir-

tue. The rosary is the perfect and complete school of the Christian life. Having once entered into this

school, the faithful person who recites his rosary regularly will progressively change his thoughts,

his words and his actions.

He who loves his rosary will begin to say it constantly. In visiting a friend he will think of Mary on

her way to Elizabeth, as she hastens to render service to her cousin. He will regard the intense prayer

of Mary who, in spite of the pains of the voyage, always keeps her heart united to her Divine Son.

When falsely accused, he will admire the patience and the renouncement of Jesus, who takes His

cross to place it upon His shoulders. Jesus embraces His cross with love, seeing therein the instru-

ment of salvation, seeking nothing else but the accomplishment of the will of the Father. And so,

with the rosary in our hands, we will ask through our su erings to obtain the same patience, the

same love. Maybe we will have to grit our teeth, but without a doubt we will come to nd the graces

which Mary has prepared for us. Maybe we seek the reason why we are overwhelmed by an injustice:

the example of Jesus carrying out the will of the Father will give to our tormented soul the strength

to accept the divine will without complaining and without rebelling. If we are envious of the new

car of our neighbour: what must we do? Let us take up our rosary. Let us meditate the mystery of the

Ascension. We see the apostles, their gaze xed on heaven, where their Master has gone. We will very

quickly come to understand the triviality of the things of this world and the importance, the beauty,

the perpetuity of that which God has promised.

There it is – the reason for which the Blessed Virgin has given us the Rosary, which she wishes

us to say every day. That is what our Superior General wants of us: That we become true Christians

– Christians who resemble Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father Jürgen Wegner

E ditorial

issue number 20 - November 2009

480 McKenzie Street, Winnipeg, MB, R2W 5B9

Tel / Fax: 204-589-4524, convictions@shaw.ca

“Forming

Catholic

Minds”

Editorial _________________________________________________________ 2

Our Lady asked the children of Fatima to pray the

Rosary and to pray it every day. But is the quantity

of prayers the cause of the request of the Blessed

Virgin at Fatima?

Rev. Fr. Jürgen Wegner, SSPX

Publisher:

Rev. Fr. Jürgen Wegner

District Superior

Editor:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Chroniclers

Rev. Fr. Emanuel Herkel

Mr. Marc Ratusz, BA., MA.Th.

Translations:

Rev. Fr. Patrick Girouard

Printer:

Dave’s Quick Print, Winnipeg

The Immaculate Heart of Mary? __________________ 4

If someone were to ask you what devotion

to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means, would

you be able to answer them?

Rev. Fr. Gerard Rusak, SSPX

A Devotion for our time ________________________________ 9

Some devotions are more appropriate than

others for certain times in the history of the world.

The main idea of this devotion is a

special love for God and His saints.

Rev. Fr. Emanuel Herkel, SSPX

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What is an Acolyte? _________________________________ 12

The chief o ces of an acolyte are to light

the candles on the altar, to carry them in

procession and to prepare wine and water.

Rev. Fr. Todd Angele, SSPX

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Ought children to be spanked? ___________________ 14

In the previous article we discussed the pros

and the contras of corporal punishment. It now

remains to be seen whether these two viewpoints

can be reconciled.

Rev. Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX

Responsibility:

The authors of the articles presented here are solely

responsible for their judgments and opinions.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate ________________ 16

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate spread

throughout the West and the North of Canada

in the second half of the 19th century.

Rev. Fr. Roger Guéguen, SSPX

O cial Publication of the Priestly

Society of Saint Pius X for Canada

CONVICTIONS is a work of apostolate

done under the patronage of the

Immaculate Heart of Mary and

St. Pius X, and is published

ten times a year.

What’s happening in the Church? ________________ 20

News from the Church

Rev. Fr. Peter Scott, SSPX

Coast to Coast __________________________________________ 23

Activities of the SSPX in Canada

Convictions, issue number 20 - November 2009

S ummary

What is devotion to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary?

If someone were to ask you what devotion to the Immaculate Heart of

Mary means, would you be able to answer them? Would you think it

important to do so? Do you know yourself what this devotion is?

Fr. Gerard Rusak, SSPX

Introduction

I think we should all re ect on these ques-

tions. The dramatic words of Our Lady, on June

13, 1917, to Lucy, one of the seers of Fatima, in-

cite us to do so. It was the second apparition of

Our Lady at Fatima. At this point, the Blessed Vir-

gin had just promised that Jacinta and Francisco

would soon go to heaven but it would not be so

soon for Lucy. She had a mission to accomplish.

Our Lady, then spoke these three sentences: “Je-

sus wishes to make use of you in order to make

me known and loved. He wishes to establish in

the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. To

whoever embraces this devotion, I promise sal-

vation; those souls will be cherished by God, as

owers placed by me to adorn His throne.”

Our Blessed Mother says that those souls de-

voted to her Immaculate Heart will one day be

united in the company of great saints like St.

Thérèse the Little Flower. Since this is true, con-

sidering the Church’s approval of the Fatima Mes-

sage, it is absolutely necessary for each one of us

that we understand what is meant by devotion to

the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is especially

true for us in modern times, as is clear from the

second sentence in the quote above. Jesus “wishes

to establish in the world devotion to my Immac-

ulate Heart.” Clearly, that means it was a devo-

tion which was not present in the Church up until

Fatima. God knew that it would not be needed

until our times, and thus He awaited the oppor-

tune moment to establish it.

The third sentence is the most striking for us.

Our Lady promises salvation to those who em-

brace the devotion to her Immaculate Heart. That

should be enough to interest any soul to discover

the essence of this devotion. But what is more,

Our Lady says that those souls who have this de-

votion will be as owers placed by her before the

throne of God. Could there be any better result of

our life here on earth, than to bathe in the pres-

ence of God and please Him for eternity?

Our sources: In this article, without having re-

course to any other sources than Fatima, we would

like to discover what this devotion is, in order to

practice it and live it, and thus, save our souls. We

would like to do this in two parts:

1. The basic meaning of this devotion accord-

ing to the six apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima.

2. Additional clari cations, thanks to the ap-

paritions of the Angel of Portugal and the appari-

tions of Pontevedra, Tuy, and Rianjo.

D evotion to the Immaculate Heart

Part 1: Devotion to the Immaculate

Heart according to the Fatima appari-

tions

Consecration and Reparation: If we are to be-

come owers before the Throne of God, we must

realize in what this devotion to the Immaculate

Heart of Mary consists. The common consensus

from the interpretation of the Fatima Apparitions

is that this devotion is very simple, and in fact

could be reduced to three words: “Consecration

and Reparation”. I say three words because the

“and” is an equally important word as both Con-

secration “and” Reparation are necessary for this

devotion. We will see, however, that both are re-

ally themselves quite straightforward, and may be

lived by the most simple child, as they were rst

by the three children of Fatima. We will see what

Consecration and Reparation mean, and the prac-

tices associated with them in this devotion.

cration and Reparation. She is asking what is

most dear to her heart from these children.

1. That they completely o er themselves to

God. (Consecration).

2. That they do so as an act of Reparation to

God, (she will explain for which sins later), and

for the conversion of sinners. These are the two

intentions dearest to the Heart of the Blessed

Virgin. The Immaculate Heart has not yet been

mentioned by Our Lady of Fatima but we have

the substance of the devotion. It is on June 13th

that the children were formerly introduced to the

Immaculate Heart. When Lucy almost balked at

the su ering which lay before her to propagate

this devotion on earth, with the

words: “Am I to stay here

alone?” The Blessed Virgin

replied: “No, my daughter.

Are you su ering a great

deal? Do not lose heart, I

will never forsake you!

My Immaculate Heart

will be your refuge

and the way that

will lead you to

God. ”It was at the

moment when she

pronounced those

last words that she

opened her hands and

communicated to the

children the re ection of

an immense light. In it

they saw themselves as

submerged in God.

Consecration

In the rst apparition on May 13, 1917, the

Blessed Virgin Mary asked the children a fun-

damental question upon which all the succeed-

ing graces they were to receive, depended. Their

response may be compared to Our Lady’s “Fiat”

(May it be done to me according to Thy Word) at

the Annunciation. The question is extremely sim-

ple, so is the response. Our Lady asked: “Are you

willing to o er yourselves to God to bear all the

su erings He wants to send you, as an act of repa-

ration for the sins by which He is o ended, and

for the conversion of sinners?” “Yes, we are will-

ing.” There you have the very substance of

the devotion to the Immac-

ulate Heart. In Our Lady’s

question is included both

the idea of Conse-

Convictions, issue number 20 - November 2009

D evotion to the Immaculate Heart

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