Triumph of the Immaculate Heart

World Apostolate of Fatima U.S.A. – Our Lady’s Blue Army

Asbury, New Jersey

13 July 2026

Is 61, 9-11

1 Sam 2, 1. 4-5. 6-7. 8

Lk 2:41-51

Homily

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is a source of profound joy to return to this place sacred to the Virgin Mother of God under her title of Our Lady of Fatima and to offer the Holy Mass for the intentions of all who have come on pilgrimage today and of all who have asked to be remembered in prayer here. I thank David Carollo, the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA, for the invitation to offer the Holy Mass today. At the same time, I express, in the name of us all, deepest gratitude for his faithful service of the Apostolate. I thank also the staff, the volunteers, and the benefactors of the Apostolate, and all who are making possible our pilgrimage today.

Honoring the anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin Mother of God to the holy seers, Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and the Venerable Lucia dos Santos, on July 13, 1917, at a time when wars are taking many lives and destroying essential goods, we are particularly conscious of Our Lady’s words regarding war and peace. Her words are especially instructive for us in doing what we can to bring an end to wars and to establish peace within nations and among nations.

So often today, the Church’s response to war concentrates exclusively on human efforts, such as meetings of enemies and the search of diplomatic solutions to hostilities. The impression is sometimes given that we, by our human efforts, can bring an end to wars, even all wars, and can establish lasting peace. While our human efforts have their place, they must be grounded in the truths of the Faith and in the prayer and sacrifice which those truths inspire in our hearts. Our Lord sent Our Lady at Fatima to teach us the origin of war in man’s fallen state, in his suffering the effects of original sin. Because human nature is fallen, from the time of the sin of our First Parents Adam and Eve, there will always be wars. At the same time, because our human nature has been saved from sin and everlasting death by the Redemptive Incarnation of God the Son, we receive the grace to practice the virtues, above all the virtue of justice, which overcome sin and restore peace. Without the help of divine grace, we can never overcome wars and establish peace. Our Lady of Fatima, with all the maternal love which flows from her Immaculate Heart, leads us to the font of peace in the glorious-pierced Heart of her Divine Son.

Today’s Gospel, the account of the Finding of Child Jesus in the Temple, reminds us that the Immaculate Heart of Mary was and is always one with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At the conclusion of the account, in which the Child Jesus manifested His divine mission, the Evangelist tells us: “And he [Jesus] went down with them [Mary and Joseph] and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart.”[1] The union of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the Sacred Heart of Jesus from the moment of His virginal conception in her womb reached its fullness when the Heart of Jesus, immediately after He died for our eternal salvation, was pierced by the Roman soldier’s spear. At that moment, the Heart of Mary was mystically pierced for it was totally one with the Heart of Jesus. From that moment, the Immaculate Heart of Mary has never ceased to beat with maternal love for us. Her apparitions at Fatima are a most wonderful manifestation of her maternal love.

In her apparition on July 13, 2017, just before the Vision of Hell, Our Lady instructed the children: “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”[2] The instruction of the Mother of God resounds in our hearts today as we live in a world which is ever more beset by the rebellion against God and His plan for our eternal salvation through the Redemptive Incarnation of God the Son. Our Lady of Fatima leads us to her Divine Son Who alone brings us peace in this life and eternal peace in the life which is to come.

We have all received the grace to be peacemakers from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, especially in the Beatitudes, Our Lord teaches us the response before the lack of justice, of righteousness, which leads to war: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied… Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God… Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”[3] At Fatima, on July 13, 1917, the Virgin Mother of God taught us clearly the way to the transformation of the world, that is, the way of repentance for our sins and of daily following of Our Lord with all our heart.

Our Lady of Fatima granted to Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia the terrifying Vision of Hell not to make them doubt God’s promise of salvation but to show them the way to avoid sin and eternal death and to practice the virtues leading to the attainment of eternal life. Our Lady assured them that, through devotion to her Immaculate Heart, the world will be saved by the immeasurable and unceasing love pouring forth from the glorious-pierced Heart of Jesus. In the face of the terrifying suffering caused by man’s sins, Our Lady instructs us, through Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia:

To prevent this [war, famine, and the persecution of the Church], I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated.

In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.[4]

Our Lady calls us to be one in heart with her Immaculate Heart, cooperating with her Divine Son’s saving work. In accord with our vocation in life and the distinct gifts with which God has endowed each of us, we are called to be “fellow workers in the truth.”[5] Each of us is called to pray and do penance for the conversion of Russia, to make the First Saturdays of Reparation, and to pray the Rosary, keeping in our hearts, one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all that Our Lord has said and done for our eternal salvation.[6] There is no excuse for not doing our part to bring about the end of war and the spread of peace.

Today, privileged to be on pilgrimage to this holy place of Our Lady of Fatima, let us unite our hearts anew to her Immaculate Heart, giving our hearts totally to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by praying the Holy Rosary, by acts of penance and reparation, and, above all, by meeting Our Lord in the Sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist. Let us embrace whatever suffering is necessary to be faithful co-workers with Christ in the transformation of our world, in accord with the Father’s will.

With Mary Immaculate, we trust the promise of the Lord spoken through the Prophet Isaiah, praying: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”[7] May we, one in heart with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, keep always in our hearts the Mystery of Faith, so that we, with Mary, may bring Christ and His saving work to the world.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Raymond Leo Cardinal BURKE

[1] Lk 2, 51.

[2] “Sacrificai-vos pelos pecadores e dizei muitas vezes, em especial sempre que fizerdes algum sacrifício: Ó Jesus, é por Vosso amor, pela conversão dos pecadores e em reparação pelos pecados cometidos contra o Imaculado Coração de Maria.” Carmelo de Coimbra, Um caminho sob o olhar de Maria. Biografia da Irmã Maria Lúcia de Jesus e do Coração Imaculado O.C.D. (Marco de Canaveses: Edições Carmelo, 2013), p. 61, [Hereafter, Carmelo de Coimbra]. English translation: Carmel of Coimbra, A Pathway under the Gaze of Mary: Biography of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, tr. James A. Colson (Washington, NJ: World Apostolate of Fatima, USA, 2015), p. 68. [Hereafter, Carmelo de Coimbra Eng].

[3] Mt 5, 6. 9-10.

[4] “Para a impedir, virei pedir a consagração da Rússia a Meu Imaculado Coração e a Comunhão reparadora nos primeiros sábados. Se atenderem a Meus pedidos, a Rússia se converterá e terão paz; se não, espalhará seus erros pelo mundo, promovendo guerras e perseguições à Igreja. Os bons serão martirizados, o Santo Padre terá muito que sofrer, várias nações serão aniquiladas.

Por fim, o Meu Imaculado Coração triunfará, O Santo Padre consagrarMe-á a Rússia que se converterá e será concedido ao mundo algum tempo de paz.” Carmelo de Coimbra, pp. 63-64. English translation: Carmelo de Coimbra Eng, pp. 68-69.

[5] 3 Jn 8,

[6] Lk 2, 51.

[7] Is 61, 10.