Faithful Lines / Shirley Vogler Meister

Volunteers needed to organize 3,000 rosary rallies

My previous column this month emphasized the feast days for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Now I focus on something dear to the hearts of Catholic men and women worldwide: the Fatima message.

As many of us know, more than 90 years ago, Jesus Christ’s mother, Mary, appeared several times in Fatima, Portugal, to three shepherd children. During these visitations, Our Lady of Fatima told them and all the faithful what she wanted them to do.

The 1917 promise was that if we followed her instructions, not only would we be protected from evil, but we will be rewarded for faithful devotion to her wishes.

According to America Needs Fatima, it is now up to us to continue spreading devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Through various sources, including Christian Newswire, I learned that America Needs Fatima (ANF) is organizing rallies throughout the U.S. The rallies will be held on Oct. 11, the Saturday closest to Oct. 13, which is the date that the historical “Miracle of the Sun” was witnessed at Fatima.

ANF is promoting peaceful rallies through rally captains, who are organizing friends and other members of their communities—hopefully across the nation.

At a national coordination office in Rossville, Kan., last year, 120 volunteers made 35,000 calls. This information comes from Robert Ritchie, executive director of America Needs Fatima, which was founded in 1985.

Ritchie reports, “An amazing network is forming to honor the Mother of God and pray for the conversion of America … only God can help us stop abortion, pornography, blasphemy and sins against nature that are so widespread. … If anything can stop the moral crisis in society, it’s the power of the rosary.”

Last year, 140,000 members nationwide organized 2,173 rosary rallies to honor the anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Fatima. Besides the volunteers on phone duty in Kansas, ANF needs more rally captains, each of whom gather people in their towns to pray the rosary in public. The event is called the Public Square Rosary Crusade.

More information can be obtained at www.americaneedsfatima.org or by calling 888-317-5571 and leaving a message.

Also, the Web site was extremely helpful, even giving a mailing address: America Needs Fatima, P.O. Box 341, Hanover, PA 17331. ANF’s e-mail is anf@americaneedsfatima.org.

If readers in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis are involved with the Public Square Rosary Crusade, I would appreciate knowing about your experiences previously or after October.

(Shirley Vogler Meister, a member of Christ the King Parish in Indianapolis, is a regular columnist for The Criterion.) †