The Mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the lives of Bl. Francisco and Jacinta of Fatima

Chapter VIII of Lumen Gentium affirms:

Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to His creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source (n. 62).

From this "one source" springs the mediation of Our Lady, unique in its nature and function, and the mediation of all holy souls who, by their union with Christ, the Mediator, and Mary the Mediatrix, have cooperated in the application of the fruits of Redemption with their intercession of prayer and sacrifice.

In this line, we also find the mediation of Bls. Francisco and Jacinta, inserted in the maternal mediation of Mary, of which Fatima was one of the clearest and most powerful manifestations. United to the Mediatrix, these two children participated in Her universal mediation, becoming instruments and messengers of grace and salvation for the entire world.

The Mediation of Mary

Various meanings are given to the word "mediation" in relation to Mary: these meanings are more or less similar, but not the same. For this reason, I first want to shed light on the concept of marian mediation in order to better understand- insofar as it is possible for the human intellect-this mystery of faith and grace.

Mary's mediation, which Pope John Paul II presents as and calls "maternal mediation,"¹ consists in two moments: the first regards the acquisition of the graces of Redemption, that is, carrying out Redemption; the second regards the distribution of the graces, that is, the application of redemptive grace to each man.

In the first moment or first phase, the Virgin Mary cooperates with Christ in our Redemption as Coredemptrix, that is to say by a unique title, as Mother of the Redeemer, even if it is in a subordinate manner that is dependent on the action of Christ.² In the second phase, She distributes all the fruits of the work of Redemption to each man, inasmuch as She is constituted by God as the distributor of all the graces flowing from the Redemption.

In order to distinguish the two phases of mediation, one speaks of mediation in first act and in second act. Fr. Stefano Manelli, FI, explains these two moments in marian mediation briefly but with great clarity and precision:

"In first act the Virgin Mary cooperated in the acquisition of divine grace with Her sacrifices and Her merits included in those of Her Son, the Redeemer. For this reason, She is the universal Coredemptrix, in the proper sense of the word. In second act, the Virgin Mary applies the fruits of Redemption to the individual men to be saved and sanctified, constituted Mediatrix and distributor of every grace. This is the universal mediation of graces."³

Mary's maternal mediation, in its most complete sense and fullest content, then, also includes the coredemption. Since Mary participated in the acquisition of the graces of Redemption, She was, therefore, willed by God to be the universal Mediatrix: "The salvific mission of the Immaculate," Manelli writes,

passes without interruption from working the Redemption of all with Christ (i.e., coredemption), to applying the Redemption, which means giving grace to individual men (i.e., mediation) ... The "dispensation" of redemptive grace by Mary is the natural consequence of the coredemption. In fact, precisely because Mary was the Sorrowful Mother, that is, directly and immediately cooperated by Her sufferings, symbolized by the "sword" that pierces Her soul (cf. Lk 2:36), in working the Redemption of all with Christ, precisely for this reason She received the power to distribute all the graces of the Redemption.⁴

It is, therefore, clear that if Christ is the only universal Mediator and Redeemer, Mary is in a strict sense the only universal Mediatrix and Coredemptrix, because She alone, as Pope John Paul II teaches in Salvifici Doloris, was chosen "to share in a singular and unrepeatable way in the very mission of her son" (n. 25).

God entrusted Her with His own universal will of salvation, as St. Louis Grignion de Montfort affirms at the school of St. Bernardine of Siena, so that the entire economy of grace and salvation is determined by Her:

God chose her to be the treasurer, the administrator and the dispenser of all his graces, so that all his graces and gifts pass through her hands. Such is the power that she has received from him that, according to St. Bernardine, she gives the graces of the eternal Father, the virtues of Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to whom she wills, as and when she wills, and as much as she wills.⁵

We know, however, that the saints also fulfilled a mission of mediation and intercession, and that also all of us Christians, called to holiness, should be committed to the same mission of salvation for our brethren. In what sense, therefore, can we say that every baptized person must carry out this function of mediating salvation? Not in the sense of coredemptive mediation, but in the sense of distributive mediation, i.e., mediating the "application" of the fruits of Redemption to souls to be saved. This "application" of the fruits of Redemption to individual souls is obtained through prayer, sacrifice, the perfection of charity, offering oneself, etc.

In fact, it is in this final phase of "application" that man's free and voluntary cooperation has a constructive role; but this cooperation will be effective in the measure in which one is united to the Mediatrix and, by consequence, inserted in Christ, the Mediator. Therefore, "In this sense, we can all truly be 'mediators' of redemptive grace-already acquired by the Redeemer and the Coredemptrix-in order to obtain it for ourselves and for others ... always in union with the Mediator-Who 'always lives to make intercession' (Heb 7:25)-and in union with the Mediatrix."⁶

At times, and to a certain degree, Manelli affirms, this mediation "would seem to be particularly evident in the great crucified victims who are the images most similar to the divine Coredemptrix";⁷ and precisely for this reason we are not afraid to assert that it also shines in these two marvelous little Blesseds: Francisco and Jacinta of Fatima, the youngest non-martyrs in the hagiographical history of the Church, of whom Our Lady herself at Fatima directly asked a total offering of themselves as victims, as Pope John Paul II also said: "According to the divine plan, 'a woman clothed with the sun' (Rev 12:1) came down from heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children of the Father. She speaks to them with a mother's voice and heart: she asks them to offer themselves as victims of reparation, saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God."⁸

Mary's Mediation in the Apparitions at Fatima

In the history of the Church, Fatima is one of the most eloquent expressions of Mary's mediation and one of the events that most exalts it: Our Lady, after having cooperated with Christ in Her earthly life in acquiring the graces of our salvation as Coredemptrix, now distributes these graces to every man as maternal dispenser. Here we are in the second phase of Her mediation, which is the dispensive phase, and which will only end at the end of time.⁹

The Second Vatican Council also drew attention to this, writing of the Virgin Mary that "[t]aken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home."¹⁰ It is because of this "maternal charity" of Hers, this role of mediation and intercession of Hers that at Fatima Our Lady came down to earth to show Her children the way to overcome the "dangers and difficulties" and to reach our "blessed home," sorrowfully asking prayers and sacrifices for the salvation of many who go to Hell because "there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them."¹¹

At Fatima, Mary's mediation is manifested not only by the fact that it was Our Lady who came to give us this message, but also by the content of the message, which in large part has a marian character to the prayer and sacrifice it requests: the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary and consecration to the Immaculate Heart, as well as generous offering of sacrifices. These are the means of salvation and conversion indicated by Our Lady through the three little shepherds.

These means show themselves to be truly powerful if one considers that the conversion of Russia has begun, as Our Lady predicted, with the consecration to the Immaculate Heart made in a definitive and complete way by Holy Father John Paul II on March 25, 1984, which was followed a few years later by the fall of communism.¹²

As for reciting the Rosary every day, Our Lady linked the end of the war and peace in the world to it,¹³ and the request to recite the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war was made in every one of Her apparitions: in May, June, July, August, September, and October of 1917, thus with a significant persistence that clearly denotes the value and power of this marian prayer before God.

According to Sr. Lucia, Mary's role of universal Mediatrix-with Her maternal mediation, both coredemptive and distributive¹⁴-is more evident than ever in the message and the events surrounding Fatima, and even if, on a theological level, unanimous agreement has not yet been reached about the nature and the importance of marian mediation, the facts of Fatima demonstrate not only the reality of this mediation, but also its extraordinary power, upon which God makes the end of the war and world peace depend,¹⁵ as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of God in the world through the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

What immediately draws the attention of anyone who reflects on the facts of Fatima is that Our Lady makes herself a Mediatrix of salvation and offers means of conversion, reparation, and sanctification; however, Her work of mediation calls for the collaboration of the little shepherds of Fatima. She would not have been able to carry out Her action of mediation between God and humanity if She had not found, in the little shepherds, souls open to receiving Her message and putting it into practice with a limitless readiness and generosity, truly astounding if one considers the tender ages of the children. Francisco and Jacinta, as we will see, fully cooperated in this marian mediation, permitting Our Lady to carry out Her maternal role.