Conference June 5th 1994 (*)
Our Lady revealed to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta in Fatima during her second apparition on June 13, 1917, “Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne.”
Commentary by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:
“What Our Lady says about devotion to her Immaculate Heart is amazing. She formally promises heaven to all that practice this devotion. There are no two ways about it, she is very clear: to those that embrance devotion to her Immaculate Heart, she promises salvation.
“This promise was made to Lucia, Jacinta, Francisco and through them, all of humanity. It holds true for all that would learn of it in years to come. Thus, wherever it is announced, this promise is made. For example, as I speak of it at this very moment, this promise is being made.
“So, then, what are we waiting for? Let us immediately accept it! It is Our Lady herself who makes this promise. It is as if she said to us: ‘Make haste to embrace this promise. I shall love you so much more for it. Come!’
“It is as if Our Lady were trying her hardest to think of new ways of drawing us to heaven. But there is a miserable something or other in modern man that makes him impervious to even the most magnificent promises. He would rather trust his all to a life insurance policy than to a promise such as this.
“Now, consider the beautiful comparison Our Lady makes: she says that those souls that embrace devotion to her Immaculate Heart will be placed meat the throne of God in heaven, as a lady places flowers before an altar near the Most Blessed Sacrament.
“What a magnificent thought; to think of our soul placed near God as if it were a flower! Could anything be compared to that? Yet people hear this and remain indifferent…”
(*) Crusade, January/February 2002, page 14.