It is the essence of our faith, because it concretely expresses the first and only commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 22:37–40).

Jesus, the Savior, to free us from the evil that has taken root in the heart of man, redeemed us by offering His life to the Father. He then invited His disciples to do the same.

St. Paul reaffirms this concept:
“I complete in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the Church.” (Col 1:24)
and he urges us to follow his example:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.” (Rom 12:1)

At Fatima, the Virgin Mary renews this invitation to the three shepherd children:
“Are you willing to offer yourselves to God, ready to endure all the sufferings He may wish to send you, in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and for the conversion of sinners?”

All of this is contained in a single word: consecration.

To deeply understand the spiritual meaning of “consecration”, we are helped by the words of St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort in the Treatise on True Devotion to Mary, where he writes:
“If a soul gives itself to Mary without reserve, Mary will also give herself without reserve to that soul.” (n. 181)
As a result, the Holy Spirit “will find His dear Spouse reproduced in that soul and will come upon it with the abundance of His gifts to work wonders of grace.” (n. 217)

Consecration and Children

On May 13, 1917, when Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta answered “yes” to the Virgin’s invitation, she opened her hands and from them a Light came forth that struck the children in the chest and entered into them. Lucia later wrote:
“That Light was God.”

Visibly, Mary communicated the Holy Spirit—of whom she is the temple—to the children, sharing with them her power of intercession and mediation. Thanks to the “yes” of these three children and their consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Portugal was saved from both World War II and communism. With the “yes” of millions of children, Mary will save the world.

In this light, the words repeatedly spoken by St. Pio of Pietrelcina take on full meaning:
“The children will save the world!”
They are the “wine of the final hour” that Mary will draw from the Heart of the Father to bring new divine vitality to the wedding of Christ and the Church.

But where will they draw this power from?

• • From consecration, that is, the offering of themselves to God;

  • From the Rosary, prayed alone or in small groups;

  • From the Eucharist, receiving Jesus from the age of reason and adoring Him in the Blessed Sacrament.