Immaculata University - Gleaner Yearbook (Immaculata, PA)

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MJ I'l'll'I'L6lClfL!CLte 0tA2l M2011 0 80,68 ln the late summer of 1914, Sir lidward Grey, last of the Great Victorians, looked out of his window at VVhitehall as the lamplighter was making his rounds, and remarked: The lights are going out all over Europe. They will not come on again in our time. How true his words have proved to be! Despite the frantic efforts of the twenty-year truce, the lights of faith and hope tlickered like a candle in the threatening winds, and in 1939, as the tempest rose to fury, they again went out. Can we, the youth of this generation, relight these lamps of faith and hope and keep them burning? The answer comes not from mid- Atlantic, Quebec, Teheran, or Yaltag not from l.ondon, Moscow, or Xkfashington : but from an obscure hamlet in Portugal. The spark from which the lights are to be rekindled burns in the depths of men's hearts-it is the fire of love. For the second time in a generation, we are embroiled in a life and death struggle. lt is not a conflict of nationalities but of philoso- phies. This is clearly evident from a recently published expose of our enemies' principles: NVhere there is a struggle there is a front, declared Theodor Frisch in God and lfacr: .fl SllflIlI'l?l iX Creed. The fronts are evident: one is called Christ, the other Germany . . . liach epoch has its symbol. Two epochs and two symbols are now facing each other: the Cross and the Sword. Our struggle is not against man. lt is against an idea. . The dynamism ,of this false paganism can not be overcome by force, much less by re- vengeful hate. Our only effective weapon is the sword of the spirit. Decisive campaign strategy need not be planned by military ex- perts: it has already been revealed, as in days of old, to the poor and the lowly-to innocent shepherd children who played and prayed while they tended their fiocks on the hillside. On a beautiful Slay day in 1917, the hour of deepest gloom in XVorld XVar 1, the air was B suddenly 'rent as by a fiash of lightning. and the vision of a most beautiful Lady appeared. l.ucia. the eldest of the children tells us: She was clothed in a garment of purest white. About her neck was a golden cord, hanging down and ending in a tassel below her waist, while a heavy veil. also of dazzling white but bordered with rich gold embroidery, covered her head and enveloped her entire figure. Her face was youthful, kindly, and gracious, yet tinged with a touch of sadness. Her hands, delicate and slender, were folded before her breast. From her hands hung a long white rosary, and it seemed as if the beads, cross, and chain were made of dazzling pearl. And the message of the beautiful Lady? lt was at once a plea and promise. A plea for the consecration of the world to the lmmaeulate Heart of God's Mother: a plea for personal holiness and sacrifice. And the promise: Russia will be converted and there will be peace. Un October 31, 1942, Our Holy Father, l'ope .Pius XII, solemnly consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On that day he broadcast to Portugal where the closing celebration of the Silver .lubilee of the Apparitions of Fatima was in progress. And now we, her special' children, invoke the inter- cession of our beloved Mother, terrible as an army in battle array, against the sinister forces that would fain encompass our destruction. Our l.ady's specific recommendation to the children at Fatima was the reception of Holy Communion, the recitation of the Rosary, and fifteen minutes of meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary on the First Saturday of five con- secutive months. Wfe, the Silver jubilee Classof lmmaculata College, join in this great C1-usglqle, pledging our loyalty to Mary Immaculate and enrolling our- selves under Uur l.ady's banner of prayer and sacrifice to obtain the blessings of a lasting peace!

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