by Susan Fox
“Beloved, let us love
one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God, for God is love.” (1John 4:7)
“My brothers and sisters,
saving souls through Jesus for the Glory of God and for the love of our
neighbor is the most important work we can do in this world.” (Esmeralda Kiczek
in The Adoption Movement: Saving Souls)
“If anyone out of pure
love of God prays for another person as though he was praying for himself, his
prayer shall enlighten the heavenly Jerusalem like the morning sun.” (St.
Mechtilde)
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| Jacinta Marto's incorrupt face 15 years after her death in 1935 |
On the morning after her death on Feb. 20, 1920, they found
10-year-old Jacinta Marto with the tracks of bloody tears on her face.
She had wept for her dearly loved “poor sinners,” whom she
feared would end up in hell, a frightening place she’d seen in a vision shared
with her brother Francisco and cousin Lucia dos Santos. This was the first
secret of the 1917 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal.
My human mother wouldn’t even let me watch “Chiller Theatre”
when I was young lest I have nightmares. But our heavenly mother gave three
young children a vision of hell that would change their lives forever.
“That
vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, who at the
first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that
we would have died of terror and fear," Sister Lucia said after describing
the vision as an adult. Jacinta, the youngest, was only seven years old when
she shared the vision with Francisco and Lucia.
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| Cousins: Jacinta Marto, Lucia dos Santos & Francisco Marto |
Esmeralda
Kiczek in her book,The Adoption Movement: Saving Souls, describes some of penances the children undertook afterwards for
the conversions of sinners. Finding children poorer than themselves, the three
cousins gave them their own lunch.
Jacinta
would eat bitter acorns as a sacrifice. Lucia said to her,” Jacinta, don’t eat
that; it is too bitter!” Her little cousin responded, “But it is because it is
bitter that I am eating it, for the conversion of sinners.” They even gave up
water to the sheep for the salvation of sinners on an afternoon when the three
were desperately thirsty.
“I have a
fire in my chest but it doesn’t burn me,” Jacinta said concerning her love for
Our Lord, Our Lady and her neighbor.
She
predicted her own death, saying she would die alone in a hospital. She did -- after
suffering through a painful surgery removing two ribs without general
anesthesia. But she kept her eye on the ball: she planned that this suffering
would convert many sinners.
Then when
she asked for the last sacraments and the Holy Eucharist, telling the hospital
chaplain she was dying that night, he didn’t believe her. So he effectively left
her to die without the comfort of the Church because when he returned the next
day she was already dead -- a little lamb who offered everything so that souls
would be able to accompany her to heaven. No one goes to heaven alone. We would
not be able to count the people Jacinta will take with her before the end of
time.
What a joy
to have author Esmeralda Kiczek with her little book, The Adoption Movement,
remind us of the fire that Jesus so greatly desired to be enkindled in the world
– the fire of love in which no one suffers the pains of hell because of the charity
of their brothers and sisters. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear, but received the Spirit
of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit itself bears
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14-16)
The author recommends
that we Christians adopt a person, pray for them and make little sacrifices on
their behalf so that we can satisfy the dying thirst of Our Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross. Both St. Theresa of
Lisieux and Mother Teresa of Calcutta interpreted Christ’s cry for water on the
cross to mean, “Bring Me souls!”
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| St. Theresa of Lisieux |
“From that
day, the cry of my dying Savior -- “I
thirst!” sounded incessantly in my heart, and kindled therein, a burning zeal
hitherto unknown to me. My one desire was to give my Beloved to drink; I felt
myself consumed with thirst for souls, and I longed at any cost to snatch
sinners from the everlasting flames of hell,” wrote St. Theresa in her autobiography,
The Story of a Soul.
About this
time she heard of an impenitent murderer named Pranzini who was sentenced to
death. Everyone feared he would be eternally lost. St. Theresa began to offer
the infinite merits of Jesus Christ and the hidden treasures of Holy Church on
Pranzini’s behalf, knowing that her own efforts were futile. And since this was
to be her first “child,” she asked Jesus for a sign of repentance to reassure
her of Pranzini’s salvation.
The day
after his execution, Theresa opened the newspapers: Pranzini had mounted the
scaffold without confessing his sins when all at once he turned around, seized
the crucifix and kissed the wounds of Christ three times.
“I had
obtained the sign I asked for, and to me it was especially sweet. Was it not
when I saw the Precious Blood flowing from the Wounds of Jesus that the thirst
for souls first took possession of me? I wished to give them to drink of the
Blood of the Immaculate Lamb that it might wash away their stains, and the lips
of ‘my first born’ had been pressed to these Divine Wounds. What a wonderful
answer,” St. Theresa wrote.
Our Lord
told St. Faustina, “I thirst. I thirst for the salvation of souls. Help me, my
daughter, to save souls. Join your sufferings to My Passion and offer them to
the heavenly Father for sinners.” (Diary of St. Faustina 1032)
Now we are
in an age where atheists troll the Internet accusing Christians of worshiping a
murderous god who sends people to eternal torture and punishment. I always say,
“What god are you talking about? Mine suffered cruel torment and death to
prevent you from going to hell!”
The
atheists got it backwards. God sends no one to hell. People choose it. The
Adoption Movement is about saving people from their own choices. God is a
Gentleman. If you do not want Him, He lets you alone. Ergo, hell. Hell is the
absence of God.
A priest
friend of mine was given the opportunity by God to pull one of those poor
sinners out of hell and drag him into heaven. The soul went kicking and
screaming and fought viciously to return to hell. Finally, the priest gave up
and let him return. Hell is a choice.
I first
realized the power of this form of intercessory prayer when I went through a
retreat on The Healing of Families: How to Pray Effectively for Those Stubborn Personal and Familial Problems taught by Fr. Yozefu-B Ssemakula. Whole families can suffer mental and health
problems or inordinate temptations because an ancestor gave the evil one
permission to join the family. Fr. Joe (as we called Fr. Yozefu-B) showed us
how to take satan out of our lives by simply removing his permission to be
there.
But Father
Joe assured us the removal of the curse only affected those who were closely
related by blood. Well, this frustrated me beyond belief because I passionately
wanted to help absolute strangers as well as close relatives.
So I was
driving to the doctor one day, and I saw a lonely looking young man with his
skateboard on the street corner. And I passionately turned to God, and asked
Him how I could pray for this young man. And God said, “Isn’t he your brother?”
“Yes! That
is the answer!” I immediately adopted the young man as my brother! And then when
I pray the prayer Fr. Joe taught us, sending the evil one to the foot of the
cross, he leaves my brother alone too!
So here was
my proof. I saw another young man cleaning vegetables at Whole Foods, and he
had an unhappy expression on his face. With deep passion, I adopted him
silently in my heart, and begged God to give him a better job and a wife who
would be faithful to him for life. (He looked like he needed one, but couldn’t
afford one.)
The young
man looked up and asked me if he could help me. And I modestly said, “Well, I
was looking for some potted basil.” And then he was off! He went all over the
store looking for potted basil in a manner I would never expect from a complete
stranger working in a grocery store. There wasn’t any. But that was okay
because I was able to say to him. “I’ll buy the packaged basil instead. And God
bless you!” The whole encounter, while quite ordinary, made us both happy – he
in an effort to serve, and me in praying for him.
“The
Adoption Movement involves the spiritual adoption of anyone who touches your
heart as your brother or sister,” Mrs. Kiczek said. Founder of The End of Abortion Movement, she and her family spearheaded
two successful pro-life Twitter Storms using the hashtag #PraytoEndAbortion.
“All you have to do is pray the adoption prayer (see below) and solemnly
promise Our Lord Jesus Christ to pray and make sacrifices for your new
spiritually adopted brothers or sisters for the rest of your life.”
Don’t be
deterred from this apostolate because you fear suffering. Mrs Kiczek gives
several simple examples of what you can offer up, including headaches and pains
-- emotional, spiritual and physical.
One can
also give up dessert or just take a smaller portion. Smile when you want to
frown, kneel when you want to sit, and love when you don’t feel like it.
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| St. Faustina Kowalska |
I like the
story of St. Faustina’s fasts. Her confessor forbade her from her usual
penances because she was ill. So she was taking stiches on her embroidery and
she asked Jesus to give her one soul for each stich. She reminded Him she was
unable to do any more strenuous penance for the time being.
I love to
offer up St. Faustina’s stiches because I didn’t even have to do the embroidery!
But you could also offer up St. Anthony’s sermons, or St. Paul’s incarceration.
The saints have buried treasure in the Church in the form of their sufferings
and good works. Use them!
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| Jacinta & Francisco Marto |
Don’t miss
out on the benefits of Jacinta’s sacrifices. Her humiliations did not end with
her death! In 1937, Pope Pius XI would
not accept causes for canonization of minors because he thought they could not
fully understand heroic virtue or practice it repeatedly. For the next four
decades, no sainthood processes for children were pursued. Finally, Jacinta was
declared venerable after a general assembly of the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints decided, "in some supernatural way, some children could be
spiritual prodigies." And in 2000, she and Francisco – sister and brother -- were declared blessed.
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| Jacinta's body gave off the aroma of flowers even three days after her death |
Her
casket was opened in 1935 and 1951 and both times Jacinta’s face was found to
be incorrupt. Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified. Jacinta witnessed the reality of hell. As a result, her path of salvation lay in adopting other people and making sacrifices
for them. “Remember this: whoever brings back a sinner from the error of
his way will save his (own) soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
(James
5:20)
But the greatest spiritual adoption of all time occurred at
the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, according to Mrs. Kiczek. Hanging from the
cross in His last moments of life on this earth, Jesus addressed His Mother,
and said, “This is your son,” referring to the Beloved Apostle John. In that
moment, John stood in the place of all mankind. And to John, Jesus said, “This
is your Mother.”
On Good Friday, Mary became the Mother of the Human Race.
She embraced us all as her children, even the Roman Centurion who had just
crucified her Son. Welcome Mary into your life as your mother, and this spiritual
childhood will bear great fruit.
Blessed Jacinta attested to this. At the age of 10 just
before her death, she counseled Lucia, “Soon I shall go to Heaven. You are to
stay here to reveal that the Lord wants to establish throughout the world the
devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell everyone that Our Lord grants us
all graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them that they should all
ask for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as God has placed it in Her
hands. Oh, if I could only put in the heart of everyone in the world the fire
that is burning in me and makes me love so much the Heart of Jesus and the
Heart of Mary.”
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| Francisco, Lucia and Jacinta before the Immaculate Heart of Mary |
ADOPTION PRAYER
In the Name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Come Holy Ghost, Creator
Blest, And in our hearts take up Thy rest; Come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made,To fill the hearts which Thou hast
made.
O Comfort Blest to Thee we
cry, Thou heav'nly Gift of God most high; Thou fount of life and fire of
love, And sweet anointing from above,
And sweet anointing from above.
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the
devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the
Heavenly Host - by the Power of God thrust into hell, satan and all the evil
spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
My sweet Jesus, my God and my
Savior, I solemnly adopt (Name of Adoptee(s)) as my spiritual brother/sister
and promise to pray and make sacrifices for the rest of my life and into
eternity for him/her and all my adopted brothers and sisters.
O Jesus, who has said, “Ask
and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it will be opened to
you,” Behold I ask, I seek, and I knock for that faith that obtains all and for
the healing, conversion, and salvation of all my adopted brothers and sisters.
In the name of Jesus, I cast
out all evil spirits that are hindering the healing, conversion, and salvation
of my adoptee(s) to go directly to the foot of the cross bound in Jesus’ hands
without doing any harm to me or my family, to be sent by Him to the deepest
recesses of hell. Never to come back, never to come back, never to come back.
(Three times)
Oh! Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most
precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the
tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and
indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor
sinners, especially my adopted brothers and sisters. Amen.
Most merciful Jesus, you
revealed to Saint Faustina that whoever calls upon your mercy on behalf of a
poor sinner and said this prayer with a contrite heart and faith will be given
the grace of his/her conversion. Behold I now pray with confidence in your
mercy for my adoptee(s) “O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of
Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us I trust in You.”
Dear St. Joseph I ask you to
please adopt me, my family, and my adoptee(s) as your sons and daughters
forever.
Sweet Virgin Mary as you
adopted the Beloved Disciple at the foot of the cross, I ask you to adopt me,
my family, and my adoptee(s) as your beloved sons and daughters forever.
Divino Nino, raise your Holy
Arms for us and bless us.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I
love you, save souls.
Jesus, my God and my All, I
trust in you and I will sing your praises forever and ever. Amen.
