彭保祿神父

正如我在十月份主僕月訊所提到過的，十月對於我們這些禮敬天主之母童貞瑪利亞的人有特別的意義。十月七日是玫瑰聖母紀念日，這是為了紀念擊敗十六世紀之際想要席捲整個歐洲大陸的土耳其人而設定的。在教宗庇護五世宣告這一天為玫瑰聖母紀念日後，我們更要從玫瑰經當中注意到我們蒙救贖的奧蹟。一九一七年聖母從五月十三日起，除了八月十三日受到當地政府的阻撓干預，每一個月她都在當月的第十三日顯現，她也選在十月份作為她在法蒂瑪顯現的結束。今年是她顯現的九十週年紀念。

然而，如果我們細讀並研究聖母對路濟亞，方濟各和雅琴達傳達的訊息，我們可以理解到她的顯現與她聖子耶穌有很緊密的關聯。聖母不是為了自己而顯現，而是為了她的聖子，因為她要我們，為了我們的得救聽從他，並使得整個世界免於巨大的災難。

我們都記得當聖母顯現發生的時候，正是蘇聯共產革命，第一次世界大戰及因戰爭造成嚴重後果的時候，這些嚴重的後果包括了共產主義的散播，無神論，以及獨裁專制的橫行。法蒂瑪聖母不斷的警告我們，除非跟隨她聖子耶穌的教導，人類的大災難與悲劇將會繼續的發生。事實上災難與悲劇真的就發生了，尤其是在第二次世界大戰期間，成千上萬的人喪失了他們的生命。

聖母的顯現，反映出一位悲傷的母親承擔著世界罪惡的痛苦，因為我們人類拒絕合作，使得她對消除世界罪惡所作的任何幫助感到無能為力。她不斷的顯現與警告再再的証明災難是真實的。教宗庇護十二世與教宗若望二十三世對聖母的顯現沒有什麼具體的作為，後來教宗保祿六世(被認為是受苦的教宗)刻意的提醒我們這些警告，可是這個世界，包括了大部份信主的人，繼續的聽而不聞。天主差遣了教宗若望保祿二世盡心盡力的召集教會跟隨著聖母的召喚皈依。他公開正式的將整個世界奉獻給聖母的無玷聖心。我們都知道在他教宗的任期中，世界的共產主義瓦解了。有很多的信友重新拾回他們的信仰，尤其是數以百萬計的青年們，他們都蒙受到信仰的吸引，忠實的回到教會。

法蒂瑪聖母曾經說過，如果我們跟隨她的召喚，棄絕罪惡並且聽從她的聖子耶穌，那麼她的無玷聖心將會獲得最後的勝利，聖教也將受到廣揚，世界也將能享受到和平。至於能否實現這些，就在於我們是否願意全心的跟她合作了.

The Meaning of October

Fr. Pul P. Pang O.F.M

As I said in the first page of our October Newsletter, October has a special meaning for those of us who are devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. There is the feast of the Holy Rosary on October the seventh, to commemorate the victory over the Turks when they tried to over-run most of Europe in the thirteenth century. But even more when Pope Pius the Fifth declared that this day be the feast day of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, paying special attention to the mysteries of our redemption as contained in the rosary. Then Our Lady Herself chose again October to be the last month of Her series of apparitions at Fatima in 1917. Our Lady chose every thirteenth of the month for her apparition, except for the third and fourth months when the government interrupted the series. And this year occurs the 90th anniversary of these apparitions.

However, if we pay a little more attention, if we analyze Her instructions imparted to the visionaries Lucia, Francisco and Jachinta, we realize that Our Lady’s apparitions are closely connected with Her Son Jesus Christ. Our Lady did not appear for Her own sake, rather for Her Son because She wanted us to listen to Him in order for us to be saved, in order for the world to be spared of great calamities.

We do remember when the apparitions took place, there was communist revolution in Russia, the first world war and the terrible consequences of the war. But even more terrible consequences were the spread of communism, atheism and dictatorships around the world. And Our Lady of Fatima persisted in warning that unless we heeded Her Son’s teachings, these human calamities and tragedies would continue. And they continued indeed, with millions and millions of people dying, especially during World War II.

The apparitions showed a sorrowing mother who suffered for the sins of the world and yet was impotent to do anything to help because we human beings refused to cooperate. Her repeated apparitions and warnings were best proof that the threats of calamities were real. Popes Pius XII and John XXIII were not able to do much about these apparitions. Then Pope Paul VI (who was considered a suffering Pope) did call our attention to these warnings, but the world, including most believers, continued to ignore. The God sent Pope John Paul II to the world who did everything he could to summon the Church to heed Our Lady’s call to conversion. He publicly and officially consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We all know that it was during his reign that the world communism collapsed, that many believers returned to the faith and that the youth in particular, millions and millions of them, were attracted to the faith and fidelity to the Church.

Our Lady of Fatima did say that if we heed Her call to abandon evil and to listen to Her Son, Her Immaculate Heart would triumph, the Church will spread and the world would enjoy peace. It is now up to us to fully cooperate with Her so that all this would happen.