| The
Message of Fátima The most important dimension of
the Fátima event was not the supernatural and preternatural
phenomena but the content and the meaning of the message communicated
to the children. By following this message their spiritual lives were
elevated to the heights of sanctity, to which the beatification of
Jacinta and Francisco testifies, and the hope and possibility of
the conversion of the world from its ruinous course was offered to
mankind.
 This message can be seen as comprising two essential elements, to
which all others can be related in some way. The first of these
elements is the singular role of the Immaculate One in the economy of
salvation, a dogmatic fact. God does not have whims, and so the
request of the Almighty that devotion to the Immaculate Heart be
established in the world must be founded on reality and presumes that such devotion is
justly given to the
Mother of God.
The second of these elements involves the practical
order, the value of devotion to the Immaculate Heart for the
individual life and for the future of the human race. To this element
are connected the various spiritual practices encouraged by the Angel
and by the Lady, as well as the prophetic content of the message, upon
which the fate of the world depends. Without the first element, the
dogmatic, the practical dimension of the message of Fátima would be
entirely arbitrary.
Devotion
to the Immaculate Heart
The
Practice of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart
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