By Jerry Rivera
On 29th June 2019, Diocese of Westminster and Southwark members of the World Apostolate of Fatima in England & Wales (WAF E&W) celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The day began with Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel & St Simon Stock Church, Kensington. The Filipino choir headed by Rene Arabia lifted the congregation and added to the appreciation of worship during the Mass.
Fr Richard Nesbitt, WAF Westminster spiritual director, spoke of the powerful experience of being enfolded and immersed in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is estimated that one hundred people were enrolled and invested in the Brown Scapular on the day.
The Missionaries of Charity looked after the centennial pilgrim statue of the Immaculate Heart while it was in the Carmelite church. Then during the procession of reparation for the sins and offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, along High Street Kensington to Our Lady of Victories Church, the National Pilgrim Virgin statue was carried by the Knights of St Columba, headed by Nestor Baniqued, the custodian and a grand knight himself. These are two different statues representing different aspects of the Fatima message.
Mgr Jim Curry welcomed the congregation to Our Lady of Victories, where the relics of Ss Jacinta and Francisco were venerated, accompanied by the recitation of the litanies to the two saints and of Immaculate Heart of Mary. The event ended with the singing of Salve Regina, the angelic salutation and a final blessing from Mgr Jim.
It is hoped that this will now become an annual celebration on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart, which is itself the central theme of the apparitions at Fatima in Portugal. During the June 1917 apparition at Fatima, the Blessed Virgin said that God wished to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart throughout the world. She promised salvation to whoever embraces this devotion.
May Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart be our refuge and the way that will lead us to God.
To find out more please visit worldfatima-englandwales.org.uk/ or email info@worldfatima-englandwales.org.uk/
