The Children of Fatima Saw Hell

Across several states as an educator in Catholic schools, there were always some parents who complained that certain truths were traumatic for their children.  One insisted her child literally had nightmares about sin or hell.  This was the same parent who supported her daughter reading a graphic novel that opened with a slashing murder scene.  Moreover, no matter how tacitly some teachers attempted to convey this reality, push back was likely from some families.  Many were convinced that all persons go to Heaven, along with their dogs.

 
Contrast this with Our Blessed Mother of Fatima, and her communications with the three shepherd children:  Lucia (Lucy), then 10, Francisco then 9, and Jacinta then 7.  First appearing to them on May 13, 1917, though gentle, Mother Mary was also quite forthright… blunt. 

 
Two months later, on July 13, 1917, Our Lady without pre warning—no soft ease into a “lesson”—spoke of the need for the children to sacrifice and make reparations for the sins against her Immaculate Heart.  She  “opened her hands,” and the rays from her hand seemed to penetrate the earth, and the children saw a sea of fire.  Plunged therein were demons and souls in human form.  It has been described hundreds if not thousands of times:  like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by flames, then falling.  Great clouds of smoke rose, and there were shrieks and groans of pain and despair.

 
This vision horrified the children and made them tremble with fear. (If such a presentation had occurred and been reported in our day, social workers would have sought victims, compensation, injunctions, and prosecution against “presenters,” but good luck in “serving papers” to the Queen of Heaven.”)

 
Of course to 21st Century sensibilities, most  cringe from or denounces anything that even mildly hurts the feelings of children.   We also live in the Age of Anxiety, but not for religious reasons.  Actually, one may argue that the absence of Truth creates more angst than perfect justice.  On some level, the person knows when he or she has been denied the facts of life and death and what occurs afterwards.

 
Still, imagery of hell seems almost inhumane if not abusive.  Yet Our Lady of Fatima, when the trio of looked up for solace, granted a kind expression but one that was also quite sad.  She noted,” You have seen Hell, where poor sinners go.  To save them God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart.  If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”

 
Keep in mind, again, the Mother given to us by Jesus Christ from the Cross  was uttering this declaration to three children, all preadolescent, two of whom today would be considered in a primary grade level.  While insensible to our limited intelligence, God knows souls, including those of the youngest among us.  I would also suggest contemplating the reality that in the context of eternity, everyone is an “infant.”  Moreover, age does not necessarily reflect spiritual wisdom or the ability to know, love, and serve God.  Millions  of elderly have died without ever advancing a mega second in soul growth, while the children of Fatima departed the temporal world most spiritually mature.

 
Our Lady continued with the later fulfilled prophecy that the current (Great War) was going to end, but a worse one would break out during the pontificate of Pius XI if people did not cease offending God.  Perhaps the uniformed reader-listener—can be forgiven for being skeptical, if not critical, had it not been for the day the sun danced. On October 13, 2017, an estimated 70,000 persons, near and miles away, religious and atheists, witnessed the great miracle of the whirling sun that seemed at one point to be plunging to earth.  Major news sources reported the event and all supporting details like the dried land  and clothing that had been just previously drenched by rain.   Like today,  people denied what they experienced and rejected Our Lady’s advice.

 
The children of Fatima, though, as young as they were and likely much more innocent than most, heeded the warning.  Francisco, now declared a Saint, to whom Our Lady admonished needed to say many Rosaries, willingly surrendered his life to the flu epidemic, as did Jacinta, also canonized.  Lucy was told that she would be remaining more years in the world but led an exemplary life and never ceased imploring people to convert.

 
Now it is our responsibility to evangelize.  As we re-experience the visitations at Fatima, from now through October again, let us share the truth of what was revealed.

 
In our times, three key take aways are evident.

 
One, sin is real; mortal sin eternally disastrous.  The last four things:  Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell confront all deceased.  Our Blessed Mother, echoing her Son, Jesus Christ, pleads with us to pay heed, and not just about offenses against the materially impoverished, but the desecration of the mind, body, and soul.    Specifically, at Fatima, the focus was on chastity.  Eternal consequences await the obstinate sinner.  While Jesus Christ has offered us Divine Mercy in our age, that is not a timeless option.  Dying in mortal sin, intentionally apart from God, renders persons unable to recognize Agape, let alone embrace love upon death.  

 
Two, we need to be reminded that all souls are “ageless” before the throne of God.    While it is true that children need to mature in reason to be held accountable for most major sins, the fact remains that even the very young can be quite aware of when they are being rebellious.  I knew at four years-old my tantrums were rebellion.  I may not have been introduced to the term “sin” or how vice manifested and could mushroom, but I “knew.”  In temporal time, by seven years old, children can distinguish right from wrong by occasion and degrees.  They can make an examination of conscience in accordance with the Ten Commandments and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.   Note, Our Lady of Fatima included seven-year-old Jacinta in all her disclosures and expectations.

 
As a sidebar, recall that the children asked about one of their peers, her final destination after death, and were shocked to learn that the girl would be in Purgatory until the end of the world.   What could she have done, they wondered, to render such a harsh punishment.?  Again, Our Blessed Mother did not mince words; she did not sugar coat the unfortunate circumstances.

 
Three, the devil knows exactly that young children can revolt against God and be damned.  If not, he would not target them while making adults his accomplices.   That so well meaning mothers and fathers refuse to accept this truth does not alter the reality of it.  

 
Now, all of this does not mean that parents must go through the day pointing out sins and punctuating the threat of hell to their children.  It does indicate a shift in attitude, and a developmental growth in knowledge and understanding.  Saint Philip Neri noted, “Beginners in religion ought to exercise themselves principally in meditation on the Four Last Things.”  Catholics should avail themselves of  numerous resources, including the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Teaching the faith without exceptions, fostering a virtuous life, explaining the actuality of ultimate justice  in balance with mercy, are all imperative, at all ages, in one way or another.   When in doubt, mediate on the beautiful face of Our Lady of Fatima and seek her counsel and consolation, but also the unvarnished truth:  Many souls go to hell.