
While we should not recklessly seek signs from God, the Scriptures (Mt. 16:3) and the Second Vatican Council both assert that it is wise to be able to read the “signs of the times”. After all, if God does offer a sign to us, there could be serious consequences if we do not recognize and heed it. So, what are the “signs of the times” for us in this third decade of the third millennium? I believe the “signs of the times” for us in the 21st century are the very signs that were revealed to the three shepherd children at Fatima (Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta) in 1917 by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima reveal the satanic plan that Satan would try to destroy the Church and turn people away from God. I will like to explore, in detail, the events behind these signs. It is urgent for the Church to revisit these events because unless the Church leads her people to an acknowledgement of Our Lady’s warnings and leads the way to a major repentance, we will still face the consequences.
Signs of the Times
The contemporary world is engaged in an enormous struggle between the forces of good and evil, between a living faith in the Supreme Being and the absolute rejection of God. Two years before he was elected Pope (Pope John Paul II), Cardinal Karol Wojtyla on a 1976 visit to the United States made the following statement: We are today before the greatest combat that mankind has ever seen. I do not believe that the Christian community has completely understood it. We are today before the final struggle between the Church and anti-Church, between the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. The signs of the times or contemporary developments that represent what Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) refers to as ‘the greatest combat that mankind has ever seen’ between the Church and anti-Church are the following:
- The Attack on the Family
The family is the only place where the weak, whether they be very young, very sick or old, are cared for by those bound to them through love. The family is the building block of society. If families are strong, the society will be strong; if they are weak, then the society will be weak. Karl Marx saw the traditional family as an enemy of freedom and equality. According to him, the authority of husbands over their wives and that of fathers and mothers over their children create inequalities and are rivals to the absolute power of the state over each individual. This notion that the traditional family was the enemy of equality spread to Europe and the United States, where war was declared on those laws that supported traditional marriage. Little by little, the legal supports beneath marriage have been stripped away. First, divorce was legalised. Next, cohabiting couples were given legal benefits that once were only granted to married couple. Now samesex unions have been given the same legal status as matrimony. Of course, when marriage is no longer honoured and no longer understood as the only proper place for sexual relations, then sexual immorality runs rampant and weakens family life even further.

- Increase in Sexual Immorality
The message of Fatima came with a warning of dire consequences if the world continues to shun God. The world still shuns God as evidenced in unending wars, killing of the innocent in the womb, etc. Instead of paying heed to the merciful appeal of Our Lady of Fatima, men appear to have chosen the way of perdition. The extent to which our world has drifted from the paths that lead to salvation by continuing to offend God “who is already too much offended”, can be seen from the following: Abortion has been legalized in many countries of the world and where it is not legal, illegal ones continue almost on daily basis. In many countries in the so-called civilised world, there has been a redefinition of marriage to include gay-marriages, co-habitation and other forms of immoral unions, so much so that one can say that, to paraphrase the statement of Billy Graham with reference to his comments on the sins of immorality in the United States, if God does not punish the world for its sins, then He owes an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us cite a few specific cases:
(1) Adultery and abortion, homosexuality and gay-marriage (same-sex unions) have been legalised in the United States, all European countries and the United Kingdom
(2) The U.S. agreed that for better relationships with the world super powers, all the countries of the world must accept homosexual marriage or what is referred to as same-sex marriage.
(3) The city of Miami (in the United States) has been proclaimed a public sex sales city, meaning that anywhere you feel the need arises, you can go ahead and satisfy yourself (even in the church). Are we surprised that recently Miami was hardest hit by the Hurricane “Irma” that almost wiped off everything there like in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah?
(4) Not long ago, incest was legalised in Germany. The Government signed a law that declared the non-existence of incest. By implication, brothers and sisters can now get married, and so can mothers and their sons, fathers and their daughters.
(5) Sex acts with animals have been legalised in Canada, according to a ruling issued by the Supreme Court. In Spain, pornographic movies are authorised in secondary schools and universities.
As of October 1, 2017, same-sex marriage became legally recognised in many countries including, the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxemburg, Malta, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway and South Africa to name a few. The 2019 Euro-Barometer found that 85% of Britons thought samesex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe. Same-sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13th January 2020.
Even after the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic when people should repent of their sins, Argentina legalised abortion. There was great jubilation among the people when their Senate passed the bill. To a stunning degree, the world has actually embraced the offences against purity and marriage which Our Lady warned about at Fatima. Today, over a century later, we see the effects all around us: A contempt for the true meaning of marriage and a widespread delight in sexual immorality. Are we surprised that the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19 pandemic) hit the world and caused the death of over two million people all over the world, out of which 400,000 were Americans and continued to spread?
- Satanism
The Message of Fatima and its Implementation
Our Lady came to Fatima to warn her children (followers of Christ) that great evils would come upon the world if they did not lead good lives and offer reparation for the sins of mankind by prayer and sacrifice. These evils would include war, famine and persecution of the Church, as well as of the Holy Father. She exhorted her children to become fervent in working for the salvation of souls for whom Christ her Son died so painfully upon the Cross. If we accept that the message of Fatima is indeed relevant today, how do we implement it? The message of Fatima can be implemented in the following ways at personal, community/parish, and higher ecclesiastical levels:
• Stop offending God who is already too much offended by the sins of men. We should avoid all types of sin, especially the sins of impurity and immodesty, child abuse, injustice, kidnapping and killing of innocent people, corruption and all types of uncharitable behaviour as well as neglect of our daily duties. To appease God and console our Lord Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother for the sins of the world for which mankind is being punished by means of the pandemics and wars, the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences in Africa and Asia, in union with our Holy Father the Pope should prevail on the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of the United States and all European countries which have legalised all types of sexual immorality, including adultery, abortion, same-sex marriages and incest to work hard to get their governments to delegalise the acts of sexual immorality. All Bishops should strongly appeal to the entire faithful in their countries to acknowledge their sins, seek for forgiveness and make reparation for them and for the sins of their nations and stop offending God “who is already too much offended”.
• Pray the Rosary everyday. All Catholics should pray the Rosary everyday as requested by Our Lady, meditating on the mysteries in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners, for their own salvation and the salvation of all mankind and for peace in the world.
• Do Penance and make Reparation for sins committed. By penance, Our Lady explains that men must amend their lives, give up their easy lives of sin, ask pardon for their sins and make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Why? Because both are so grievously offended by the sins of men. By reparation, Our Lady means:
1) Offering sacrifice to atone for our sins.
2) Fulfilling our daily duties to the best of our abilities.
3) Accepting the responsibilities of our state in life.
4) Obeying the Commandments of God. Especially relevant, is the sacrifice Our Lord requires of each of us; most notably is that sacrifice necessary to avoid sin and the occasion of sin as well as to accept with submission to God’s holy will all the sufferings sent to us. Everything we do, we can offer it as a sacrifice, and in offering it to God, we should say this prayer: O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Reparation holds back the hand of God from striking the world in just punishment for its many crimes.
• Practice Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the second apparition of Our Lady to the three shepherd children on July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary said, “Jesus wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to all those who embrace it and these souls will be loved by God like flowers placed to adorn His throne”. We should practice devotion to the Immaculate Heart and try to get others to do so.
An attempt to make the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary popular in the Universal Church was made by Pope Pius XII in 1954. He issued the encyclical Ad Coeli Regina, in which he “commanded” that an act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary be made annually in every parish in the world on the feast of the Queenship of Our Lady. Pope John Paul II after consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25, 1984 said that “every Christian, everyApart from the sins of immorality, the U.S. have authorised and made public satanic churches where what they call Black Masses are celebrated.one has to be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Every Bishop has to consecrate his diocese, every head of a family, the family’s father, the family’s mother has to consecrate his or her own family.
Everyone of us has to consecrate himself or herself to our Lady”. An excellent book on Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the one titled: “Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – Practices and Prayers” by the writer of this article (with the Imprimatur of Most Rev. (Dr.) Ignatius Kaigama, former President of the Episcopal Conference of West Africa). It explains the different types of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God, including First Saturday Devotion with focus on devotion through consecration and reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and presents various acts (prayers) of consecration and reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary including personal acts of consecration as well as prayers for consecration of a family, a parish, a diocese and a nation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and how to prepare for them. Copies are available from the author (E-mail: mogunu@yahoo.com)
• Practice the First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady told Sr. Lucia (now Venerable Sr. Lucia), “I promise to help at the hour of death with the graces needed for salvation those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries, with the intention of making reparation to my Immaculate Heart”. One can confess within 8 days before or after the First Saturday provided that one is in a state of grace when receiving Holy Communion on the First Saturday. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is pierced with thorns, because of the five major blasphemies and offences committed against it.
These are:
1. The blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception;
2. Blasphemies against Her Virginity;
3. Blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity and for the offences of those who refuse to recognise Her as the Mother of all mankind;
4. Blasphemies of those who try publicly to implant in children’s hearts indifference, contempt and even hate against this Immaculate Mother;
5. The offences of those who insult her directly in her sacred statues.
We should practice the First Saturdays Devotion of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and encourage others to do so. Priests and leaders of religious communities should initiate parish/community practice of the devotion in the same way as the First Friday devotion. Anyone who needs more information on the First Saturday Devotion can communicate with the writer of this article through his e-mail address stated above. On September 14, 2017 the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines in a circular letter (signed by Rev. Fr. Marvin S. Mejia – Secretary General of the Bishops’ Conference) addressed to all the Cardinals, Bishops and Reverend Diocesan Administrators requested them to initiate the Diocesan promotion and implementation of the First Saturday Devotion which they described as “the forgotten message of Fatima” in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
Conclusion
Our world today is in dire need of peace: Individual peace, peace in our families and communities and peace in our nations. The peace promised to us by Our Lady of Fatima can be achieved through daily meditative recitation of the Rosary, calling on the Mother of Jesus, who is ever ready to come to our assistance, performing our daily duties well, treating our fellow human beings with justice and dignity and practising the First Saturday Devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The message of Fatima came with a warning of dire consequences if the world continues to shun God. The world still shuns God as evidenced in unending wars, killing of the innocents in the womb, kidnapping and killing of innocent persons, etc. Instead of paying heed to the merciful appeal of Our Lady of Fatima, men appear to have chosen the way of perdition. We should renew our dedication to the Holy Rosary and pray it at every opportunity.
Prayer and Penance can bring our sinful world back to God. Venerable Sr. Lucia warned while she was alive that mankind cannot know the “promised peace” unless a sufficient number responds to Our Lady of Fatima’s requests. We need that sufficient number if we need peace in our homes, in our families, in our towns and villages, in our country and in the whole world. How can we contribute to make this possible? We can do so by our life of prayer, penance, sacrifice and reparation. It is in the context of this spiritual challenge that we should all join in the renewal of our commitment to Jesus and His Blessed Mother and in the rededication of our lives and all we have to their service.
Together as God’s family, let us join in prayers of reparation, adoration and thanksgiving to God the Most High. As we come to ‘the throne of grace’, as we come to ‘the heart most pure’, let our thoughts, our words, our actions and interactions be always a living testimony of the prayer of the Angel of Fatima: Most holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I adore thee profoundly, I offer thee the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which he is offended. By the infinite merits of his Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you the conversion of poor sinners.
• Prof. Michael Ogunu is International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima