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

"Little Mediators" in the Mediatrix

We have seen that God's universal will of salvation has been entrusted to Mary, along with an almost unlimited power in dispensing graces; but the possibility of Her mediation is also linked to that cooperation asked of each baptized person in general, and of a few souls in particular, in view of the application of the graces that She wishes to dispense.

At Fatima the Virgin asked for the cooperation of the three children, who allowed themselves to be molded so much by Her teachings and took Her requests so much to heart that they could be said to have realized in their life an extension of the coredemption and mediation of Our Lady, with their sacrifices, their prayer, their total self-offering, by making the message known first in their local church and then in the universal Church, this too at the cost of sacrifices and persecutions without number.

In particular, it is interesting to note the "marianness" of the instruments of intercession that Our Lady suggested to the little shepherds: besides offering sacrifices, She asked for the recitation of the Rosary and consecration to the Immaculate Heart, with the Communion of reparation on the Five First Saturdays. In addition, Our Lady asked for reparation not only to God, Who was so offended, but also to Her Heart.

Mary's mediation is thus present not only in the maternal call to conversion, but also in the very instruments for attaining this conversion, instruments that are centered on Her and that once again demonstrate Her role as universal Mediatrix of grace. This aspect merits a more detailed study that we are not able to make in this paper. Here we will limit ourselves to saying that little Francisco and Jacinta were marvelously capable of using these instruments of marian mediation: their hands, after the apparitions no longer abandoned the Rosary, which was recited in full and often; it was recited together with the pilgrims to obtain the graces requested; it was even recited on their deathbeds.

And what can we say about their ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary? Even if it does not seem that the three little shepherds made a consecration to the Immaculate Heart, at least not officially, nevertheless in deeds they lived such a total devotion and belonging to Mary, through Her Heart, that they really put consecration to Her into practice in the most perfect way-in the way that St. Louis Grignion de Montfort and St. Maximilian M. Kolbe understand it. In this journey of dependence on Her, reparation for the outrages committed against Her Immaculate Heart assumed a particular place, and we know well with what promptness the three little shepherds busied themselves in tirelessly offering this tribute of reparation.

United to the Mediatrix and making use of those powerful marian instruments of mediation, they too became little "intermediators" between Our Lady and souls, as the numerous conversions and healings that came about through them demonstrate, from the time of the apparitions to this day. And how many souls did they convert and save even without knowing it? God only knows. We are only able to reflect that these humble, little shepherds were projected-according to God's plan-into Our Lady's mission of universal mediation, participating in it in a truly marvelous way. They were able to make the "talent" they received bear fruit in a really extraordinary way, if we think about the copious fruits of grace that Fatima has poured out upon the Church and all mankind.

It has been said that the Immaculate is the one "full of grace" and that whoever is unlimitedly consecrated to Her, belongs to Her, and can be said to enter into Her, that is, to enter into Her "fullness" of grace and be made a participant in Her own mission, which is the mission of universal salvation.¹

We can say that this was realized perfectly in the life of the two little Blesseds, Francisco and Jacinta of Fatima. They entered into Her-into Her Heart; they concretely lived an unlimited consecration to Her. They allowed themselves to be enfolded and penetrated by Her love and, because of this very strong and intimate union with Our Lady, they also entered into Her mediation by participating in carrying out a role of "intermediation" between Our Lady and souls.

St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, referring to those who expressly consecrate themselves to the Immaculate, wrote: "Jesus Christ is the one Mediator between God and mankind; the Immaculate is the one Mediatrix between Jesus and mankind and we will be the fortunate mediators between the Immaculate and souls."² He clarifies the hierarchical gradation of Christ's mediation, participated in by His Divine Mother and by men. From this affirmation, we see the unique mediation of Christ and Mary, and the mediation exercised by men between the universal Mediatrix and souls, a role carried out in a special way by those who are united to Her with closer bonds.

At Fatima, Jacinta and Francisco realized this mission of intermediation between Our Lady and mankind, becoming "little mediators" between the Immaculate Mediatrix and all of the redeemed in need of grace.

From Francisco and Jacinta ... to the Franciscans of the Immaculate

In the course of this work, I have often had the chance to reflect on the fact that we Franciscans of the Immaculate, friars and sisters, have received a vocation very similar to that of the little shepherds of Fatima. Our legislation and form of life is, in fact, in perfect harmony with some fundamental aspects of the message of Fatima, almost constituting a continuation and a realization of it. Many of Our Lady's requests at Fatima find a response in our spirituality and life. It is interesting to note that on October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared for the last time, and three days later, the 16th of October, St. Maximilian M. Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculate at Rome, almost as a direct response-you could say-to Our Lady's requests.

In fact, St. Maximilian M. Kolbe too, placed Russia among his programs of marian apostolate as one of the first conquests to make, and was convinced that, sooner or later, the standard of the Immaculate would be raised over the Kremlin and that one day the Immaculate would be the Queen of Russia.³

The events at Fatima, with the wealth of messages it gives us, was in parallel with the life and spirituality of one of the greatest marian saints of our times. In these two spiritual experiences brought about by God in the Church, a divine plan of salvation becomes clear: consecration to the Immaculate as a sure way to God and a means of conversion and sanctification.

St. Maximilian, together with St. Francis of Assisi, is the inspirer of the religious family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. His entire spirituality comes together in the charism of the Franciscans of the Immaculate which, in the present moment in the history of the Church, also corresponds, among other things, to the appeals of the message of Fatima.

The Franciscans of the Immaculate live their life in the light and in the presence of the Immaculate, binding themselves indissolubly to the Immaculate with a vow of unlimited consecration to Her, called the "Marian Vow." With this consecration to the Immaculate, they become "property of the Immaculate," "docile instruments" in Her maternal hands, so that She may do with them as She wishes, without any reserve or limit. This Marian Vow influences the being (ontological aspect) and the action (dynamic aspect) of the friar or sister, making both in all truth, "of the Immaculate" in the most concrete sense of the genitive of possession:

- in the ontological aspect: the life of a person consecrated by the Marian Vow must be penetrated so much by the Immaculate as to come, in a certain sense, to no longer have one's own being but instead that of the Immaculate, that is, to arrive at "transubstantiating oneself " into Her and at being, as St. Maximilian M. Kolbe used to say, "almost another Mary living, speaking, and acting in this world";

- in the dynamic aspect: the action of the friar or sister with the Marian Vow must be carried out and realized completely in Mary, and in such a way as to be directly inserted in Her mission as universal Mediatrix of the grace that saves and sanctifies all the descendants of Adam and Eve.

By consequence, it can therefore be said that the unlimitedness of the consecration to the Immaculate makes the Marian Vow essentially "missionary," for the simple fact that the Immaculate can make use of the friar or sister without any limit in order to realize the plan of Her mission of universal salvation. But this unlimitedness, on the part of the friar or sister with the Marian Vow, also includes the offering of oneself as a victim, and even goes beyond this; that is, it extends even to immolation by martyrdom, precisely because it includes the most total and radical offering of oneself to the Immaculate, in view of the salvation of the greatest possible number of souls.

Theologically, the distributive maternal mediation of grace, which is a direct consequence of coredemptive mediation, extends the salvific mission of the plan of divine love in the Creation, Incarnation, and universal Redemption forward in time and takes it to the limits of time, to the eschaton. The Immaculate Mediatrix is the protagonist who acts as a supernatural lynch pin between God and humanity, Who acts as a root: the "root of Jesse," from which comes the "shoot," the universal Savior and Messiah (Is 11:1).⁴

All those who, united to the universal Mediatrix, collaborate and cooperate with their life of prayer and sacrifice in the distribution of grace to individual souls-and these are, in fact, the saints, the missionaries, the apostles, and especially the martyrs and victim souls-become instruments in the hands of the Mother and Mediatrix of All Graces, and are effective workers in God's plan of love for the salvation of humanity. And this is precisely the plan of life of the Franciscans of the Immaculate.

* * *

In the life of Blessed Francisco and Jacinta, which we have just reviewed, if only briefly, we find an exact fulfillment of all this: that is, what the Franciscans of the Immaculate try to live every day with their form of life according to the Rule of St. Francis of Assisi, Blessed Francisco and Jacinta have already lived in a complete and perfect manner, even to the maximum gift of self to the Immaculate, consisting in immolation as a victim, equivalent to the highest form of this gift, to the Marian Vow of unlimited consecration to the Immaculate.

One could truly say, therefore, that there is a golden thread of devotion and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that starts with none other than Francisco and Jacinta, then passes into the life of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, and comes to us Franciscans of the Immaculate, through the heart, teachings, examples, and works of the Founder, Fr. Stefano M. Manelli, who, in receiving the original inspiration for the charism which is the basis for the life of the Franciscans of the Immaculate-a new branch of the Seraphic Order-also kept in mind, as one profoundly aware of the events and message of Fatima, the maternal and sorrowful appeals of Our Lady.⁵

Francisco and Jacinta are, thus, a shining example for the Franciscans of the Immaculate, of how one lives out in deeds, the total belonging to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The request that Our Lady made to the three little shepherds in the first apparition-"Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and to bear all the sufferings He wills to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?"⁶-is the same request that She makes to each member of the religious family of Franciscans of the Immaculate who is totally consecrated to her; it is the most basic content of the Franciscan-Marian vocation.

Francisco and Jacinta's mission must continue in the Church. Today more than in 1917 there is a lack of those who offer sacrifices and prayers for the conversion of sinners, while the offenses against God and the outrages against the Immaculate Heart grow in number, and by consequence, the number of souls that go to Hell is also growing. Who is able to continue this mission except one who has received the same call of predilection from the Immaculate Heart? The Franciscans of the Immaculate are these "favorites" of the Immaculate Heart who must continue the mission of Francisco and Jacinta, but on the condition that they show themselves capable of responding with the same generosity and unlimitedness as these two children.

Conclusion

It has been said that "Fatima is the greatest intervention of God in the history of the Church and humanity. It is the greatest intervention of Our Lady after the death of the apostles."⁷ This is beyond question, if one considers the value of the message and the prophecies coming from Fatima and the echo that it has had in the history of the Church and of humanity. What Our Lady predicted has taken place, both in a positive sense when Her requests have been fulfilled, and in a negative sense when they have not. This is a very important point for consideration: the message of Fatima is something extremely serious and should be taken seriously. But has it been taken seriously?

Bishop Hnlica recounts:

On the day of the 50th anniversary of the apparitions, I met Sr. Lucia together with the Bishop of Fatima, who invited us to visit the tombs of the two Blesseds in the Basilica, today the shrine of Fatima. The church was closed. The Bishop had it opened for us and the three of us went to pray at the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta. In all this time, Sr. Lucia had never been there because she had gone to Spain. On one side there is Francisco's tomb, a little smaller, on the other side Jacinta's tomb. I was further ahead with the Bishop, while Sr. Lucia was a little behind me. The Bishop tugged my shirt and said "Look at Lucia!" I looked at her and saw that she was crying bitterly. The Bishop asked me, "Do you know why she's crying? Because the last time she saw Jacinta, her cousin told her on her deathbed: 'Lucia, remember what Our Lady said: I am coming soon to get you [two]; you will remain longer for a single reason, which is that of spreading devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'" The Bishop continued, "Sr. Lucia is crying because she feels that she has failed."⁸

Clearly, the failure is not Lucia's fault, nor that of Francisco or Jacinta: the "little shepherds" of Fatima are among the few who have really taken Our Lady's appeals seriously and have, in a way, "incarnated" the message of Fatima, showing the world how this message was and is to be received.

The ultimate objective of Fatima is the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, but this Triumph will come about only when we shall have responded as God requested at Fatima, through the mediation of His Mother manifested in the lives of these children.

May this modest work be a small contribution to the Triumph, in my soul and in the souls of those who will read it.

This article was excerpted from Mary at the Foot of the Cross – VII: Coredemptrix, Therefore Mediatrix of All Graces, Academy of the Immaculate, 2008.