This month we reflect on how the three shepherd children can help guide us to lives of more faithful and fruitful prayer, as well as deeper simplicity. The September Apparition saw huge crowds pressing all around the children, begging for intercession for themselves and their loved ones. A journalist in the crowd even cut off Lucia’s long plaits of hair which she wore down to her waist as she passed by. Lucia later said of the incident: “Nothing is my own, so what of it! Everything belongs to God. May he dispose of it all as best pleases him.” We see in these events how the children’s world had been turned upside down since the first apparition just four months earlier. Their quiet, hidden life – so reminiscent of Mary’s own experience growing up in seemingly insignificant Nazareth – is now caught up in a mighty storm as the news of the apparitions spreads like wild-fire across Portugal and beyond. While the terrifying weapons of the First World War continue to wreak carnage on the battlefields of France, Belgium and Germany, the children find themselves in a different kind of battle – between faith and doubt/disbelief, between the Church and those who seek to ridicule and oppose her. The children were certainly affected deeply by this tempest raging around them. But, we see how, as the world around them becomes ever more complex, they root their daily lives in ever-greater union with God through prayer and abandonment to his will – so powerfully symbolised by Lucia’s seeming indifference to the loss of her beautiful, long plaits of hair! How can we, in the tempests of our own lives and world, learn from the example of the three shepherd children? The Call to Prayer When the children finally arrived at the holm oak tree on that September day and began to pray the rosary, it was not long before Our Lady appeared before them. Her request to Lucia is like a heart-beat uniting all the apparitions: “Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war.” Reflecting years later on the reason for this repeated call to prayer, Lucia wrote: “Prayer is the basis of the spiritual life. If we give up praying, we deprive ourselves of that supernatural life which comes to us from the meeting of our soul with God, a meeting which comes about in prayer.” [ Sister Lucia – “Calls” from the Message of Fatima, Chapter 16 ] Prayer is the oxygen which enlivens our souls. Lucia writes of the need to persevere in prayer, to faithfully and fervently seek the God who is always waiting for us. It is we who distance ourselves from God through our wrong choices, including losing the hunger and desire for a daily life rooted in prayer. We can only truly be alive in our relationship with God when we come humbly and expectantly before him in regular prayer. Furthermore, Lucia, reflecting on Our Lady’s words “in order to obtain the end of the war”, adds the following insight: “Clearly, at the time, the Message was referring to the [first] world war which was afflicting so many people just then. But the word war also stands for many other wars going on all around us, which we must help to bring to an end by our prayer and self-sacrifice. I think, too, of the wars waged against us by the enemies of our eternal salvation: the devil, the world and our own carnal nature.” [Ibid] We see so clearly in the Fatima story the undeniable presence of the devil seeking to obstruct and pervert God’s kingdom at every turn. In our own day, in both our war-scarred world bleeding from the senseless destruction of modern warfare, and in the battlefields of our own homes and hearts, we experience the attacks of the devil’s pride, envy and malice. Lucia speaks also of ‘the world’ – the society around us in which we can so powerfully experience God’s presence – but also a reality where we can be faced with so much temptation, distortion and distraction. Think, for example, of the fundamental struggle to know what ‘Truth’ is today in our increasingly digitalised and manipulated world. And yes, we all experience the daily conflicts of our own ‘carnal nature’ tempting us on deceptive paths leading us away from God. The antidote to these “enemies of our eternal salvation” is answering God’s call to prayer. Prayer – medicine for the soul – can of course take so many forms and is something uniquely personal to each of us. Yet, at the same time, we are united in our Catholic tradition by particular pathways of prayer leading us to deeper communion with God, the Church and with each other, such as the Eucharist, Adoration and praying with the Word of God. All of these are central to the Fatima message, while the Rosary – personal and communal – is given particular prominence by Our Lady. Why the Rosary? As St John Paul II so beautifully reminded us in his Encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae : “With the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love. Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.” [RVM 1] The Rosary is a path of prayer which guides us back to the heart of the Gospel, inviting us to bring key moments in the life of Jesus and Mary from the pages of Scripture into the ordinary realities of our own lives – trials, joys, doubts, hopes. The Rosary is a daily lifeline, leading us to a deeper experience of God’s love for us and for our world as revealed through Jesus and Mary. It is a spiritual weapon which keeps us close to God. The Call to Simplicity We see also so clearly in the three children how their prayer lives are rooted in the rich soil of an ever-greater simplicity of life. They let go of any forms of personal vanity, self-centredness and worldly ambition. Instead, they dedicate themselves to living the mission entrusted to them by Our Lady in the realities of their daily crosses and duties – offering simple sacrifices with humility, gratitude and love for the salvation of sinners and reparation for offences against God. They make real Jesus’ Gospel teaching that profound spiritual gifts such obedience, service and total dependence on God are best lived through a childlike trust in God. What changes do we need to make in our own daily lives so as to follow their example? What paths of distraction, selfishness and superficiality do we need to close down so that we too may also play our part in our shared mission to build God’s kingdom on earth? A very fruitful spiritual exercise for this month would be to read/re-read St John Paul II’s Encyclical on the Rosary. A beautiful way to prepare for October, the month when we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. See: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/2002/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae.html Fr Richard Nesbitt A priest for the Westminster diocese since 2007. After serving as the Vocations Director for the diocese for a number of years, he has been parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima in White City West London since 2013. Father Nesbitt is currently the WAF Spiritual Director for the Diocese of Westminster.
Fatima begins with the Angel of Peace who calls to Prayer through reverence to God
Call to Prayer through the ‘We Believe’ Festival – Four days of Faith, Grace and Mission
The theme of this August edition, “Confession and the Interrupted Apparition,” invites us to reflect on a central aspect of the Fatima message: the urgent call to conversion of heart. One of the most valuable aids in responding to that call is the Examination of Conscience, a prayerful practice rooted in the Ten Commandments, helping us to look honestly at our lives in the light of God's truth and mercy. In August 1917, the children of Fatima were prevented from reaching the Cova da Iria on the 13th because they had been detained by the local authorities. Yet Our Lady's plans were not frustrated. She later appeared to the children at Valinhos and repeated her appeal for prayer, sacrifice and repentance. Even amid interruption and suffering, Heaven's message remained unchanged: sinners must be converted, and souls must turn back to God. An Examination of Conscience is a beautiful response to that appeal. It is not simply a list of faults or failures. Rather, it is a moment of prayer in which we place ourselves before God and allow His light to shine into the hidden corners of our hearts. Guided by the Ten Commandments, we reflect on our love for God, our relationships with others, our use of the gifts entrusted to us, and the attitudes that shape our daily lives. The children of Fatima understood that sin is not something abstract. They learned from Our Lady and from the Angel of Peace that our actions matter and that God desires the salvation of every soul. Their response was one of humility, prayer and sacrifice. Likewise, when we examine our conscience, we are not simply reviewing our behaviour; we are allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal where we have failed to love as Christ loves. Perhaps we discover moments when prayer has been neglected, when pride has taken root, when we have judged others harshly, or when resentment has found a place in our hearts. Perhaps we become aware of missed opportunities to show kindness, patience or charity. Such discoveries should never lead to discouragement. Instead, they are invitations to draw closer to the merciful Heart of Jesus. This is why the Examination of Conscience is so closely linked to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A good confession begins long before we enter the confessional. It begins in the quiet of prayer, where we honestly acknowledge our sins and place our trust in God's infinite mercy. The more sincerely we examine our conscience, the more deeply we can experience the healing grace of confession. For members of the World Apostolate of Fatima, this practice holds particular significance. Our Lady did not come to Fatima just to warn humanity about the consequences of sin; she came to show us the way to her Son. Her Immaculate Heart is a refuge that guides us towards repentance, reconciliation and holiness. Every sincere Examination of Conscience is a step along that path. As we reflect on the Interrupted Apparition this month, we are reminded that external events may disrupt our plans, but they need never interrupt God's work within our souls. Let us therefore make time for a regular prayerful Examination of Conscience, approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation with confidence, and respond generously to Our Lady's call to conversion. In doing so, we bring forward in ourselves, the spirit of the Fatima children, who allowed God's grace to transform their hearts and, through them, touch the world. May Our Lady of Fatima help us to see ourselves as God sees us, to repent with sincere hearts, and to rejoice in the boundless Mercy of her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Below is the link on ‘How to make a good confession’ with a detailed ‘Examination of Conscience’ ‘How to make a good confession’ Based on the booklet ‘Divine Beads’ A Family Prayer Book
Conversion in the Christian life is not a single moment but a continuous turning toward God, a lifelong movement of the heart in which the believer constantly returns to the Lord with trust, humility, and love. In this journey, the Blessed Virgin Mary stands as the perfect model of unwavering openness to God, while the Sacrament of Confession becomes the privileged place where this conversion is renewed. Mary, free from sin, remained always oriented toward God. From the moment of the Annunciation to her presence at the Cross, her life is marked by complete openness and obedience to the divine will. Her “yes” at the Annunciation (Lk 1:38) was not a one-time act but the beginning of a lifelong disposition of surrender. She continually lived in God’s presence, always turned toward Him in faith and trust. In this sense, Mary embodies what it means to live a constant conversion, a heart always open, never turning away from God. For us, the first step in conversion is the recognition of our sinfulness. Scripture expresses this clearly in the prayer of the tax collector: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Lk 18:13). Unlike the Pharisee, he humbles himself before God, and Jesus declares him justified. Pope Francis, in various interviews and homilies, similarly emphasizes that we must begin by acknowledging that we are sinners in need of mercy rather than self-sufficient individuals. Conversion begins not with perfection, but with humility. This turning toward God is always met by God’s response of grace, as the Lord promises through the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezek 36:26). Likewise, St James invites believers: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (Jas 4:8). Our effort to return to God is always preceded and sustained by His grace; conversion is therefore a cooperation in which we turn, and God renews. Within this dynamic, the Sacrament of Confession becomes the greatest opportunity given by God for conversion. It is not merely a ritual of guilt, but a living encounter with divine mercy. In Confession, we entrust ourselves to God’s forgiveness and renew our relationship with Him and others. This mercy is beautifully portrayed in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11–32), where the Father runs to embrace the returning son, kisses him, and restores him to full dignity. This image captures what happens in Confession: God does not wait coldly, but runs toward us with love and joy. The Church Fathers also highlight this reality. St Augustine teaches that God is “more eager to forgive than we are to repent,” emphasizing the abundance of divine mercy that meets human weakness. Seen in this light, Mary’s own life is a constant participation in this mercy. From the cradle to the Cross, she trusted fully in God’s faithful love. In the Litany of Loreto, she is invoked as Mother of Mercy, reminding us that her entire life was shaped by trust in God’s saving compassion. Her response stands as a living witness to what conversion truly means: a heart that continually returns to God. So, like Mary and St. Peter, who renewed his love for Christ after his denial (cf. Jn 21:15–17), we are invited again and again to return to God and to renew our love for Him, saying, “Lord, I love You.” Fr. John Erambil The Vincentian Community
To be recited on August 7 to 15,2026 - Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feast Day: 16 August
How to make a good Confession
Our Lady Of Fatima Visits St Ann's
