"A vastly serious omission: The failure of Fatima enthusiasts to stress the horrible alternative to acceptance of the great message."

      Despite the torrent of literature that has poured from the presses on the great miracle of the sun and the events which preceded and followed it, the Catholic world has shown an amazing indifference to the plea of the Mother of God for prayer and penance. Indeed, if a survey were conducted to measure the percentage of response it is safe to assume that the number who could testify to having even given the subject serious thought would be sad to contemplate ...

      The excessive curiosity of many who seemed to await with eagerness the news of the revelations contained in the missive deposited with the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima by Lucy, and which was not opened until the year 1960, seemed to prove a hindrance to the proper application of the Fatima program, for in their frantic effort to grab at the least inkling of the contents of the secret letter, many of these misguided souls took no notice of the real warning sounded by Our Lady and already revealed by the hierarchy.

Our Lady of Fatima said Russia (atheistic Communism) would raise up wars and persecutions against the Catholic Church. We see an example of this in the cruel torture and long imprisonment of the heroic confessor of the Faith, Cardinal Mindszenty. In 1956 the Freedom Fighters of Hungary succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Communist oppression for a brief time. Above is a picture of Cardinal Mindszenty surrounded by the Freedom Fighters who released him.

Something We Didn't Tell

      Admitting, then, that the events of Fatima have been treated shamefully in some quarters, it can still be said with safety that there is something more to the reasons why an ungrateful world has failed to comply. To me, the answer is one vastly serious omission - the failure of Fatima enthusiasts to stress the alternative to acceptance of the great message, an alternative that is so horrible to contemplate that it is just possible the proper study of it could tip the scales in favor of public response. In all truth, some writers have touched upon it but the real terror, that would grip an American city on the appointed day of revolution, has been ignored; but, make no mistake about it, it is this phase of Red plans which comprises the dreaded alternative to acceptance of Fatima. If our Catholic people can be brought to see what is in store for us, according to Communist drawn strategy, it is this writer's belief, that they would eagerly grasp at the chance to obey Our Lady's request, for refusal to accept the Virgin's plan is to invite chaos.

      Former Communists, who have abandoned the party, seem to be of one mind in endeavoring to remind us that their training, while agents of Moscow, was principally directed toward correct planning for the day of revolution. It is important that we understand now that this looked-for day is not to be regarded as a myth. It is one of the most essential steps in the Communist grab for power. To enable the reader to understand this, I quote from the account of Kenneth Goff, who left the ranks of the Reds in the 1940's:

      "At that hour, two large riots are supposed to take place in every city of any size. Leaders of these mobs are to be carefully chosen and trained in advance. The disturbances are to be of such extent as to require sending large forces of police to those areas. While the authorities are trying to quell these riots, picked bands of Reds are to seize the radio stations and telephone exchanges. With the aid of their comrades who are employed inside, all communication systems are to be instantly crippled.

      "Flying squads of Communists are to seize control of the water supply and shut it off; also the electrical power and gas. This means that no elevators or street cars are to be running. Homes would be without water, fuel or light. It would be impossible to communicate with friends or loved ones, even in another part of the city.

      "Goon squads of professional murderers are to round up the people in business districts. Men are to he held as hostages in some of the larger buildings. . .

      "These are exactly the methods used in Russia, Spain and other places where the Communist Party has been allowed to organize and come to fruition. They firmly expect to do the same thing in the United States.

      "Bridges, subways and street car stations are to be blown up. Downtown areas are to be isolated from the rest of the city. Sharpshooters and snipers are to be detailed in taxicabs and vehicles, which are to be taken over, to wipe out the police, soldiers, uniformed persons and known vigilantes. Smoke bombs properly located in subways, buildings and large stores, are to add to the terror of the people.

A Red Dream

      "This is the day - the big day toward which every Communist in America is looking . . . and for which he is preparing. His entire training focuses at that point.

      "When night comes, the city is to be in pitch darkness. Murderous bands of Reds will roam the streets, plundering shops and starting fires in old buildings. This will increase the panic and facilitate the surrender of women, children and old people, who will be held as hostages to hasten the surrender of unarmed men.

      "Then as the morning sun casts her first rays on the community, one will be able to see blood flowing in the streets. This is no idle dream. The Communist Party is working methodically and with deadly precision toward this objective."

It's Happened Before

      Joseph Zack, who left the Communist Party in the 1930's, is another who has raised his voice to warn Americans of the Red plans. After summing up some of the main points, similarly covered above in the account by Goff, Zack who was one of the top men in the Red ranks, adds:

      "On the basis of practical experience gained from other insurrections staged by Communists in Europe and Asia, as analyzed in the Moscow training schools, 600 men organized in combat groups of five, and properly coordinated according to the pattern taught in Moscow, would be quite sufficient to capture all the key objectives in a city like Detroit in the first morning hours.

      "Detroit police headquarters could be taken in the early hours of the morning by five groups equipped with hand grenades, a couple of sub-machine guns and a dozen revolvers, and from there on each minor precinct station would be on its own. The police commissioner, of course, would be captured right out of bed, put on a radio station with a revolver to his head, and made to order the police to keep quiet and await developments.

      "Three groups would be sufficient to take the city hall, where the same thing would happen to the mayor as happened to the commissioner."

      The reader is reminded that both of the authorities quoted above, are former members of the American Communist Party. The same warning was expertly set forth years ago by still another, Ben Gitlow, who in 1929 was appointed head of the Communist Party in the United States. Following his break with Stalin, Gitlow devoted his time to endeavoring to arouse the American public to the danger which threatens them.

      Last, but not least, may I quote the much respected and deeply lamented Dr. Tom Dooley whose heroic work in Asia parallels the deeds of some of the greatest saints ever recorded in Church annals. In his book, The Night They Burned the Mountain, Dr. Dooley tells of his fears when confronted with the thought that he might have to abandon his crew of Asian workers and leave Laos before the Communist invasion:

      "I had seen what Communists do to Asians who work with Americans, for I had Asians working with me in North Vietnam when the Communists took over. I knew that the six or eight of my star pupils would be taken out and beheaded in front of the whole village and their heads, with the organs of the neck hanging down, would be impaled upon stakes. I knew that the Communists would take members of my Lao crew, stand them in a circle facing inward, and with machetes would deftly cut the tendons in the back of their knees. When the crew would fall to the ground the Communists would walk around and hack them to pieces. I have seen the Communists do this and just leave the men in the middle of a room or in a field. When the tendons were cut, the Lao would not bleed to death. They would crawl like animals until they were caught and hacked to death. This is what they would do to Chai, to Si, to Ngoan, and to Deng. To the girls on my staff they would do even more dreadful things."

The Alternative

Our Lady of Fatima said: "lf 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, several nations will be annihilated." One of the instruments Our Lady has given us to defeat communism is the daily recitation of the Rosary. YOUR daily Rosary may be the last one needed to overcome militant atheism.

      Tragic and frightful as all this can be, is it not amazing to ponder that all of this could be averted by the simple acts of prayer and penance asked by the Mother of God in this late hour. Is it really so difficult to say five decades of the Rosary daily; to make the Five First Saturday devotions; to make the Act of Consecration to Mary's Immaculate Heart which the Message of Fatima asks? Is the acceptance of our daily cross, which is all that God requires of us, in the way of penance, so difficult? Surely all these become easy and welcome when we remember that failure to comply with such a program leaves us with the horrible fate outlined above by those who have first-hand knowledge. Surely the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel assumes greater value and appeal when we remember the emphasis it received in the last of the Fatima visions. Let us reach for this ancient sacramental and, wearing it with devotion, hurry to save civilization from a holocaust, the holocaust of which we receive a hint in the writings of the late Professor Walsh, who, in his interview with Lucy was assured that unless a sufficient number of Catholics respond to the Virgin's requests the Red menace will engulf all the nations of the world.

      Ninety-five Catholic Bishops (American), along with others, prominent in our national life, have recently warned that unless our people awake, the U.S.S.R. will eventually take us without even the necessity of an outside invasion.

      The decision is ours - the future of mankind hangs in the balance.

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