"I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart..." Hos. 2:16
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part 2, Sec. V “The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life” – CCC #1434 – 1442
Our Lady’s call:
“I would like the world to pray with me these days. As much as possible, to fast strictly on Wednesdays and Fridays, to pray every day at least the Rosary, the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries…”
(note this message was given on 8/14/84 prior to the addition of the Luminous mysteries. One Rosary contains all of the given mysteries of the Church. Our Lady calls for the whole Rosary in all four parts to be prayed each day whenever possible).
Prayer:
O Lord God, Creator of all creation and my Creator, today we give you thanks for having arranged the world so wonderfully. Thank you for having given fertility to mother earth so that she may bear all kinds of fruit. Thank you for the food prepared from the fruits of the earth. Father, I rejoice in your creatures. I rejoice in all the fruits today, and I thank you. Thank you for our daily food and drink.
Father, thank you for having made my body in such a way as to be able to use the fruits of the earth and so develop and serve you. Thank you Father for all those who through their work, produce new life possibilities. Thank you for those who have much and give away to others. Thank you for all who are hungry for heavenly bread while eating this earthly bread.
Father thank you also for those who have nothing to eat today, for I am convinced that you will send them help through good people. Father, today I decide to fast. In doing so, I do not despise your creatures. I do not renounce them, I only want to rediscover their value. I decide for fasting because your prophets used to fast, because Jesus Christ fasted and so did his apostles and disciples. I especially decide for fasting because your servant Mother Mary fasted too. She called me to fasting.
“Dear children, today I invite you to start fasting with the heart. There are a lot of people who fast because others do so. Fasting is a habit nobody wants to give up. I ask the parish to fast out of gratitude that God allowed me to stay in this parish so long. Dear children, fast and pray with the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (9/20/84)
Father I present this day of fasting to you. Through fasting I want to listen to and live your word more. I want during this day to learn to be turned more toward you, in spite of all the things that surround me. With this fast that I take upon myself freely, I pray to you for all who are hungry and who because of their hunger have become aggressive.
I present you this fast for PEACE in the world. Wars come because we are attached to material things and are ready to kill each other because of them.
Father I present to you this fast for all those who are totally tied down to material things so that they are unable to see any other values. I ask you for all those who are in conflict because they have become blind in what they possess. Father open our eyes through fasting to what you give us to what we have. I am also sorry for the blindness which has taken hold of my senses so that I do not give thanks for the goods I have. I repent every misuse of material goods because I used to judge their value wrongly.
Make me able, through this fast today, to see you and the people around me better. Enable me to hear your word better. Through todays fasting, let love for you and for my neighbor grow in me. Father I decide to live on bread and water today that I may better understand the value of heavenly bread, and the presence of your Son in the Eucharist. Let my faith and trust grow through fasting. Father I decide for fasting and accept it because I know that in this way my longing for you will grow in me. Eagerly and with gratitude do I think of your Son’s words: How blessed are the poor in spirit, the reign of God is theirs.
Father make me poor before you. Grant me grace that through fasting I may understand how much I need you. Grant that through fasting my desire for you may grow, that my heart may long for you as the deer longs for the running waters and the desert for the clouds of rain. Father, I pray to you, grant that through this fast my understanding of the hungry and the thirsty of those who do not have enough of material goods, may especially grow. Help me see what I do not need but possess, that I may give it up for the benefit of my brothers and sisters.
O Father I especially pray to you. Grant me the grace to become aware that I am but a pilgrim on this earth, that when passing away to the other world I shall not take anything with me but love and good deeds. Let the awareness grow within me that even when I possess something I cannot call it my own for I have only received it from you to manage it. Father grant me grace that through fasting I may become more humble and more willing to do your will.
Cleanse me of my selfishness and haughtiness. Through this fast cleanse me of all bad habits and calm down my passions, and let virtue increase in me. Let the depth of my soul open to your grace through this fast so that it may totally affect and cleanse me. Help me to be always like your Son, in trials and temptations, to resist every temptation, so as to be able to serve you and seek your Word more and more, day after day.
Blessed Mother, you were free in your heart and bound to nothing except the Father’s will. Obtain by prayer the grace of a joyful fast for me today, in which my heart will be able to sing with you a thanksgiving song. Obtain by prayer the grace for me that my decisions to fast may be firm and lasting. And I offer for all people, the difficulties and the hunger I am going to feel today. Mary, my Mother, pray for me. Let every evil and temptation of satan stay away from me today through your intercession and through the power of your protection. Teach me dear Mother to fast and to pray that day after day I may become more and more like you and your Son, Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Below are other reflections about Fasting and prayer from Our Lady…
“Dear children! Today I call you to come closer to my Immaculate Heart. I call you to renew in your families the fervor of the first days when I called you to fasting, prayer and conversion. Little children, you accepted my messages with open hearts, although you did not know what prayer was. Today I call you to open yourselves completely to me so that I may transform you and lead you to the heart of my Son Jesus, so that He can fill you with His love. Only in this way, little children will you find true peace, the peace that only God give you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (10/25/98)
“The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature. Charity cannot replace fasting. Those who are not able to fast can sometime replace it with prayer, charity and a confession; but everyone except the sick must fast.”
“… Excuse me for this, but you must realize that satan exists. One day he appeared before the throne of God and asked permission to submit the Church to a period of trial. God gave him permission to try the Church for one century. This century is under the power of the devil, but when the secrets confided to you come to pass, his power will be destroyed. Even now he is beginning to lose his power and has become aggressive. He is destroying marriages, creating division among priests and is responsible for obsessions and murder. you must protect yourselves against these things through fasting and prayer, especially community prayer. Carry blessed objects with you. Put them in your house and restore the use of holy water…” (this message was given to Pope John Paul II in a letter from Mirjana in December 1982…)
“…today I invite you to pray for peace. At this time, peace is threatened in a special way and I am seeking from you to renew fasting and prayer in your families. Dear children, I desire you to grasp the seriousness of the situation and that much of what will happen depends on your prayers, and you are praying a little bit! Dear children, I am with you and i am inviting you to begin to pray and fast seriously as in the first days of my coming…” (7/25/91)
“…be joyful carriers of peace and love in this peaceless world. By fasting and prayer, witness that you are mine and that you life my messages. Pray and seek! I am praying before God that you convert; that you life and behavior always be Christian. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (4/25/99)
“…Your Savior is here with you. What prevents your hearts from receiving Him? What all is false within them? Purify them by fasting and prayer. Recognize and receive my Son. He alone gives you true peace and true love. The way to eternal life is He, my Son! Thank you.” (1/2/06)
“when you fast anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to the others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you….” (Matthew 6:17-18)
Her School of Love 