THE advice from heaven as to how humanity is to prepare for the Warning echoes the requests of the Blessed Mother in her apparitions of the last two centuries. She has been calling out to the world, asking us to repent, turn back to God, amend our lives, do penance to make reparation for our own sins and the sins of the world. She has called out to us, pleading with us to pray, pray, pray, and to take the practices of the Catholic faith extremely seriously. The souls of her beloved children are at stake.
At Heede, in 1945, Jesus spoke with great force: “Humanity has not listened to My Holy Mother, who appeared at Fatima to urge mankind to do penance. Now I, Myself, have come to warn the world in this last hour: the times are serious! May people finally do penance for their sins; may they turn away with all their heart from evil and pray, pray much, in order to calm the indignation of God. May they often recite the Holy Rosary, in particular: this prayer is powerful with God. Less entertainments and amusements! I am very near.”
Elizabeth Kindelmann shared that Jesus said the following to her in a thundering voice, “Before the difficult times are upon you, prepare yourselves for the vocation I have called you to by renewed tenacity and a firm decision. You must not be lazy, uninterested, and indifferent because the great storm is brewing just ahead. Its gusts will carry away indifferent souls consumed by laziness. Only those souls with a genuine vocation will survive.”
Tender and fatherly advice came from St. Joseph, when Janie Garza asked him on March 19, 1966, how we should prepare: “Pray, my little one, pray. Remain faithful to all that the Holy Spirit directs you to do. Act in everything that Most Holy Mary is calling you to. Be a strong messenger of living her messages of peace, prayer, Holy Mass, fasting, conversion, and reading Holy Scripture. Do this as a family. Do not reject God’s Most Holy Name so that He will not reject you. Decide to be a holy family, to pray together, to love, and to forgive one another. This is a time of decision for all of God’s children. Live as God’s people, leading good, simple and just lives. Open your hearts to God’s love and mercy. Every familymust consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary [48] and to my intercession and protection, that We may lead you closer to God. We will prepare you for the things to come. Live as children of the Lord, and you will live through all these troubled times. . . Do not fear anything, but abandon yourself to the Holy Spirit who will help you to do the Holy Will of God.”
In 1977, when the visionaries at Garabandal were asked if they had any words of advice for people in order that they might prepare for this event, Conchita answered, “We must always be prepared with our souls in peace and not tie ourselves down so much to this world. Instead, we must think very often that we are here to go to heaven and to be saints. Mari Loli responded that we are “to do much penance, make sacrifices, visit the Blessed Sacrament every day that we are able to, and to pray the Holy Rosary daily.”