What is the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary?
The triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary consists of the spiritual re-conquest of the entire world by the Immaculate Heart; that is to say, the return of our hearts to Her Son, so that we can once again belong to Him. As our Mother, she wants to show us the way we have lost: love, faith, conversion, the sacramental life, moral values, family values, obedience and fidelity to God and His Commandments. “The Immaculate Heart must conquer the whole world and each individual, in order to return them to God. It is for them that we should recognise her for who she is and submit ourselves to her and to her reign, which is all love and tenderness” (St. Maximilian Kolbe). We should therefore always think of the triumph of the Blessed Virgin Mary in terms of the destruction of sin, its structures and its consequences. This belongs precisely to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart because the battle is fought in the hearts of men – men who have become hardened, who have distanced themselves from God and hold on to darkness and sin, the world, the flesh and the devil. She – in whose heart one lives in fullness the Redeemed triumph of Christ – wants to make us participants in this victory, manifesting to each one of us and to all nations, the triumph of Her Heart, the triumph of grace over sin, of love over egoism, of peace over violence, of renewed faith over atheism, of loving devotion over indifference and frailty, of revealed truths over lies, heresies and false religion.
When and how will the Triumph come about?
According to the International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima, Prof. Americo Lopez Ortiz, “This triumph has already begun as a process with qualitative changes that occurred in Eastern Europe and Russia (after the collegial consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary) and by the prevention of a terrible nuclear war in the year 1985 according to a letter of Sister Lucia to St. John Paul II. But now, the triumph must move to the hearts of human beings, to a renewal of our spiritual life, to the realm of human inner life. Let us make possible the collapse of the evil structures that enslave the hearts of so many with vice, corruption and immorality as the evil structures and historical ties that enslaved many atheistic countries collapsed after the collegial consecration of Russia and the world performed by St. John Paul II on March 25, 1984”. It can be seen therefore that the struggle has moved from the political arena to the spiritual arena for the domination of the human heart. As observed by Prof. Americo, “The complete Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary may be accomplished after a severe trial, if the conversion of poor sinners is not as numerous as needed to receive from heaven the granting of such unique grace”. If enough people will convert to God and will do penance, the world will be spared the horrible trial as such prophecies like that pertaining to the destruction of Nineveh are conditional. However there is still hope that the world can be spared the trial. The Universal Church, all Christians and all men and women of goodwill must confront the terrible sins of our time and eradicate them from social life before “it is too late”. We must do as much as we can “while there is still time”. In other words, we should respond to the call of Our Mother through the means She gives us to reach the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.
How to Hasten the Promised Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
There are many things we can do to bring about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary quickly. Some of them are as follows:
1. Stop Offending God: Our Lady told the children that people must stop offending God, “because He is already so much offended”. Look at the world today. We are having the greatest upsurge in the following abominable and pernicious sins against the Divine Majesty namely — abortion, homosexuality, pornography, rape, adultery, terrorism, kidnapping, euthanasia, torture, bribery and corruption, consumerism. All these sins are thorns piercing the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We should therefore stop offending God who is already too much offended by our sins and the sins of the whole world. We should go to Confession regularly and amend our lives.
2. Amendment of Life: Another important thing that can hasten the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart is amendment of life. “Men must amend their lives”, Our Lady of Fatima declares. “They must stop offending Our Lord who is already too much offended. We must give up sin and become imitators of Jesus and Mary if we are to bring about the Triumph sooner. Amendment of life is the central condition of the world’s renewal. Unless we amend and change our lives, no amount of praying or penance will bring the Era of Peace. There will be no peace, no triumph until we reform. We must keep God’s commandments and give up our wayward selfish deeds. “Certain nations will be annihilated” if we do not stop offending God. Amendment of life is the most determinative element in God’s programme to save us from disaster. More swiftly than anything else we can do, true repentance will avert the punishment and hasten the triumph. We must amend our lives, “for Our Lord is already too much offended”.
3. Daily Recitation of the Rosary: We should pray the Rosary everyday as requested by Our Lady, meditating on the mysteries in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners, for our own salvation and the salvation of all mankind and for peace in the world.
4. Sacrifice of Our Daily Duties as Penance and Reparation for Our Sins: We should be faithful in our performance of our daily duties and offer the sacrifices that such fidelity demands as Acts of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. Faithful performance of our daily duties as penance and reparation for our sins can also help to hasten the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Our Lord told Sister Lucia some years after the apparitions in Fatima that the penance he now seeks and requires of us is that we perform our daily duties faithfully. It demands nothing unusual, but only that we accept fully the discipline daily duty entails, and the pain it includes. Such fidelity will hasten the Triumph, since it puts into practice what has happened in the heart. We can pray and be converted interiorly, but our conversion must emerge in the fulfilment of daily duty and in responsible behaviour. There is considerable penance in our lives when we apply ourselves to daily duty. Doing the Father’s will in law in terms of the faithful performance of our daily duties is the perfect method to hasten the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart and bring about the era of peace.
5. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: We should practice Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and encourage others to do so. For example, by consecrating ourselves and our families (and encourage the consecration of our parishes and communities) to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and encourage others to do the same. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will bring us the graces we need to thoroughly amend our lives. We need to consecrate ourselves and our families and communities including our parishes, our dioceses and our nations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is the antidote against present evils
(1) to prevent the loss of faith and morals (apostasy) among the faithful in our days;
(2) to atone for the sins of the society of our time;
(3) to bring down on the Church the special Marian protection given to those “favoured disciples of Jesus”, like John the Apostle, who was closer to the Heart of His Master and Redeemer and who received Mary as Spiritual Mother at the foot of the Cross. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart will hasten the worldwide triumph over evil.
6. Five First Saturdays Devotion: We should practice the Five First Saturdays Devotion in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and encourage others to do so. Priests should initiate parish/community practice of the devotion in the same way as the First Friday devotion. The present writer has already published many articles on the practice of the devotion as requested by Our Lady of Fatima.
7. Eucharistic Adoration: Also important for the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart is Eucharistic Adoration. Like St. Francisco, we should frequently adore the “Hidden Jesus” in the Blessed Sacrament and work hard to ensure that the practice of the Children and Youths of the Eucharist devotion is practiced in our communities regularly in accordance with the guidelines of the World Apostolate of Fatima International.
8. Forgiveness and Practice of Charity towards all: We should also practice forgiveness of anyone who has offended us and help those in need of our help.
9. Sanctification of the Family: We should live authentic Christian family lives and participate actively in all pro-life activities to put an end to the various forms of immorality and abuses in married life as well as the culture of death.
10. Living a Virtuous Life: We should avoid all types of sin especially the sins of impurity and immodesty, pride, envy and jealousy, corruption, character assassination and neglect of our daily duties and live a virtuous life. We should also encourage others to be pure and holy by our personal example.
• Professor Okunu is the President and Coordinator of the World Apostolate of Fatima in Africa.
