Fr Leonard E Dollentas
Many devotees of Our Lady of Fatima in Macau were disappointed when hopes for holding the annual procession dimmed. Although the COVID-19 situation is improving in some parts of the globe, it is worsening in other parts. The local Church is one with the Macau government in remaining extremely cautious and continuing to apply preventive hygiene and distancing measures, and avoiding complacency. A modified journey of the image of Our Lady of Fatima to Penha was nevertheless carried out in Macau on May 13, without the vast crowd.
Our Lady understands the great suffering the whole world is enduring today, the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1917, when she appeared in Fatima she spoke tender words to the suffering, revealing the heart of a mother, desiring to give peace and refreshment to the suffering:
“Are you suffering a great deal? Don’t lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”
St Pope John Paul II noted Our Lady’s message of relief in his message for the world Day Prayer for the Sick on 1997 : “And in Fatima this relief is found: sometimes it is physical relief, when, in his providence, God grants healing from illness; more often it is spiritual relief, when the soul, pervaded by the inner light of grace, finds the strength to accept the painful weight of infirmity, transforming it, through communion with Christ, the suffering servant, into an instrument of redemption and salvation for oneself and one’s brothers and sisters.” (Message of Pope John Paul II 5th World day of the sick, February 11, 1997)
The present pandemic situation calls us to pray and heed the same call Our Lady made 104 years ago when she appeared to three shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco: “Pray the rosary every day to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”
The war however was not the lone cause of suffering at that time – there was also a pandemic. Among the three children whom Our Lady appeared in Fatima, Jacinta and Francisco Marto died of the Spanish flu that killed between 50 and 100 million people in the early 20th century. They were welcomed by our Lady in Heaven at their young and tender age.
Her motherly heart is aware of the present suffering the world is now undergoing. As of May 14, 2021 the coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic) has affected 220 countries and territories. Infection has reached 161,929,910 cases, with 3,360,935 deaths, and with 139,775,441 recoveries. We respond with the prayer in this difficult time, the rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the rosary we entrust our afflictions to Mary’s motherly care.
A lady devoted to our Lady of Fatima has an inspiring response when asked about praying to our Lady in this time of pandemic: “Macau may be free from a pandemic problem, that is a grace and a blessing, but we are part of the suffering world. The more we have to pray, because we have the strength to pray. Yes, we must spend more time in prayer and silence, interceding for the world and for the Church – and in this task, Our Lady is the best companion.” With an admiring glance to the image of our Lady of Fatima she added: “With my prayers and rosaries every day, my emotional pains and afflictions of life are more bearable.” (Photo: Fr Leonard Dollentas)
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