Prayers for Peace – A Reflection by Sister Bernice Lindsey, OSB

Here we are in May. Flowers and trees are blooming, birds of all species are returning and singing, and things seem to be tranquil. Yet my heart cries for the people of Ukraine and what is happening to their lives and their homelands. But not just Ukrainians suffering, there are many soldiers from Russia who are dying on the battlefield leaving loved ones behind.

When I was a child in the 1950s and 60s, we were taught about the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal on October 13, 1917. Our Lady of Fatima told these shepherd children to pray the rosary daily for the end of the war (World War I). Mary continued to appear once a month for 6 months to these three children, Lucia (9), Jacinta (7) Francisco (6).

I don’t know how many of you remember the 70s and 80s the Soviet Union, with the Cold War and the Iron Curtain? We as Catholics were encouraged to pray the rosary daily for the conversion of Russia and the end of communism and the conversion of sinners. The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, the USSR collapsed. No longer did Russia seem like such a threat.

Our Lady made three requests:

Request for the First Saturday devotion – December 10, 1925

Request to spread the First Saturday devotion – February 15, 1926

Request for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – June 1929

With what is happening around the world today, I would like to put the challenge, no not a challenge, I would like to request and highly encourage all of us to pray the rosary. Pray for the conversion of Russia and the end of war so that peace may reign in our hearts, in our homes, and in our world.

OUR LADY OF FATIMA
(Gladys Gollahon / Samuel Lewis)

(Ave Maria! Ave Maria)
Dear Lady of Fatima,
We come on bended knee
To beg your intercession,
For peace and unity.
Dear Mary, won’t you show us
The right and shining way?
We pledge our love and offer you
A rosary each day!

You promised at Fatima,
Each time that you appear,
To help us, if we pray to you,
To banish war and fear.
Dear lady, on first Saturdays,
We ask your guiding hand,
For grace and guidance here on earth,
And protection for our land.

(You promised at Fatima,
Each time that you appear,
To help us, if we pray to you,
To banish war and fear.)
Dear lady, on first Saturdays,
We ask your guiding hand,
For grace and guidance here on earth,
And protection for our land.
(Ave Maria!)

(Transcribed by Peter Akers – November 2017)

Click here to Listen to a recording of Our Lady of Fatima, as Sr. Bernice remembers hearing it as a child.