They said, "they will never come."

This booklet is to serve as a Guide and Promotion

of the

Annual Worldwide Eucharistic Holy Hour

for Children and Youth

and the fruit of this movement is:

CHILDREN OF THE EUCHARIST

A program for every parish ~ school and family to lead our world's children and youth to the 'source and summit' of the Church the

Most Blessed Sacrament!

United let us enroll the Children and Youth of the World into the

“School of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”

“In the end

my Immaculate Heart will triumph”Our Lady to the Little Shepherds of Fatima ~ July 13th ~ 1917

Children of the Eucharist received a perpetual Apostolic Blessing from His Holiness Benedict XVI in the Year for Priests, for children who pray for priest before the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Children of the Eucharist

movement is:dedicated to the little Shepherds of Fatima!

Children's Eucharistic Adoration is dedicated to

Blessed Francisco1908 – 1919

Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta have been “set on the lamp stand which God has lit to give light to humanity in its hours of darkness and doubt.” May they now shine even more brightly by their example, by the way in which they responded to the call for conversion and to make reparation for the offenses committed against God and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It has pleased God to grant many graces to those who have recourse through the intercession of Blessed Francisco… – Pope John Paul II ~ Beatification of the “Shepherds of Fatima”

Fatima, Portugal 2000

Blessed Francisco wanted to be the “Consoler of Jesus" primarily by praying the Rosary and adoring the “Hidden Jesus” in the Tabernacle of his parish church. “He lived motivated by one desire so revealing of the way young people think, of “consoling and cheering up Jesus"

May the children and youth of the world follow the way of this Blessed Little Shepherd of Fatima.

Pope John Paul II ~ Beatification Ceremony

May 13, 20

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACEMost Reverend Robert W. Finn, Bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph

FOREWORDProfessor Americo Pablo Lopez-OrtizInternational President of the World Apostolate of Fatima

APOSTOLIC BLESSINGS OF THE MOVEMENTPOPE BENEDICT XVI Fifth Annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy HourYear for Priests - Children praying for priests before the Holy Eucharist

DECREE of the World Apostolate of FatimaPublic International Association of the FaithfulThe Pontifical Council for the Laity, Vatican City

LETTER OF INTRODUCTIONTO THE WORLD’S CARDINALS, BISHOPS AND CLERGYConnie Schneider ~ International Coordinator

LITURGICAL GUIDE OF THEFIFTH ANNUAL WORLDWIDE CHILDREN’S EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

Approved liturgy: Bishop Robert W. Finn and Liturgist at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

ORDER OF SERVICE – SHORT VERSION

ORDER OF SERVICE – COMPLETE VERSION

DESIGNATED EUCHARISTIC EPICENTERS

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

THE NEW EVANGELIZATION AND THE LITTLE SHEPHERDS OF FATIMAJosé Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation of the Saints

CHILDREN OF THE EUCHARIST PROGRAM“CHILDREN OF THE EUCHARIST – CONSOLERS OF THE HIDDEN JESUS”

DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATIONMrs. Jean Prather, Coordinator of Elementary Religious EducationHoly Family Catholic Church, St. Louis Park, Minnesota

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENTWORLDWIDE CHILDREN’S EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL IIBEATIFICATION OF FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO, SHEPHERDS OF FATIMA – Saturday 13 May, 2000 – Fatima, Portugal

CAN CHILDREN BE SAINTS?Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia –

ZENIT NEWS – HOLY HOUR EMPHASIZES PRAYERS OF CHILDREN ORGANIZERS URGE PARTICIPATION OF WORLD’S CHILDREN

PREFACE

Most Reverend Robert W. FinnBishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri

Fatima’s “Angel of Peace” appeared to the three little shepherds in 1917, and convened the first “Children’s Holy Hour.” Quickly they would become students in the “School of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” and apostles of prayer and sacrifice. God used these small children to renew the Gospel message of repentance and call the world back, through Mary, to His Son.

On the 90th anniversary of the apparitions I had the privilege to preside at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in Washington D.C., at the 2007 Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour.

Crowning the image of Our Lady of Fatima and entrusting ourselves to her classroom of faith and love, we readied our hearts in prayer and song and adored our Lord Jesus Christ.

In response to the children’s questions I wanted to teach about Eucharistic adoration – the first and highest prayer of the human heart, a prayer which directs itself to the supreme and sublime mystery of the Godhead. At the same time, I learned from our children what the world learned from Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta: a way of trust and joy and prayer by which we approach the Blessed Sacrament, hand in hand with Mary, and learn to live with a more pure love.

We prayed before the monstrance, and contemplated the mysteries of the rosary, focused as they are on the unfolding revelation of the Incarnate Lord, His victory over sin and death, and the exemplary participation of Mary in the pathways of the Christian journey.

As priests facing the challenging circumstances of our Pastoral Ministry, we daily come before the “Ineffable Mystery”: the living Presence of Jesus Christ. In Holy Mass, and in its extension in adoration, we draw strength and light from the Eucharistic Sacrifice, “the center and root of the whole priestly life,” and the source “from which principally flows the priest’s pastoral love.” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, no. 14)

Children also are drawn to the Eucharistic Jesus. It is not that they become suddenly capable of articulating deep mysteries – any more than we do – but that they begin to acquire peace and a listening heart necessary to following our Lord.

God chose the children at Fatima to be apostles for peace in the world through prayer and sacrifice. The “Lady dressed in white” prepared them to suffer much, to persevere in virtue, and to be images of holiness in ordinary life.

This simple outline offers a framework for and resources for such a Holy Hour in your diocese and parishes. I ask my brother bishops and pastors throughout the world to consider the value of children’s Eucharistic adoration for the sanctification of families, and as a locus of intercession for peace and authentic conversion.

I join the founders of the Worldwide Catholic School Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour in inviting you to gather for the annual observance on the First Friday in October as participants in a global response to the New Evangelization following Mary’s invitation to renewal.

In Christ and Mary,

† Bishop Finn

FOREWORD

The CHILDREN’S EUCHARISTIC ADORATION PROGRAM is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, a beautiful and powerful inspiration

implemented into a Program of the World Apostolate of Fatima (WAF), an international public association of the faithful, present in more than 120 countries and having more than 20 million members

pledged to follow the requests of Our Lady of Fatima to bring peace and God’s kingdom to earth.

Prayer is so powerful and so much needed! The lack of faith, materialism, and consumerism of our present societies are poisoning the environment to such degree that salvation of souls is more difficult than ever before! Nevertheless, the infinite power of God’s mercy, his perfect love and grace, are superabundant, as they can overcome all obstacles to bring sinners to repentance and friendship to God.

Children’s prayers are even more powerful than those of ordinary adults, since the children’s hearts are capable of more transparency and authenticity, qualities that God himself can not resist! This is why the three little shepherds of Fatima were chosen to become messengers of God’s plan for our days to rediscover the Gospel of Jesus Christ and recover Faith, Hope, and Charity. The Message of Fatima is a great instrument for the New Evangelization of our present societies and the prayer of adoration, taught to the little children of Fatima is the key to reconciliation and peace through recognizing God’s majesty and honor and making reparation for the sins of the world, preventing the terrible consequences of evil.

We need to teach our children “to experience God” in their prayers. The Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament in our churches is a wonderful means “to immerse young people in that light coming from the Immaculate Heart which is God Himself.” Through adoration we can contemplate the mystery of God and we can go deep into His merciful love as, coming closer to Him, inviting Him to dwell in our hearts, and experiencing His presence and its fruits of peace and spiritual joy! No matter how much we may be suffering because of sickness, poverty, or grievances. Christ’s peace and joy is of such spiritual nature that it overcomes all negative circumstances.

Also, through the authentic prayer of adoration, our children “will also see themselves, their souls and consciences as in the best of mirrors,” learning to know themselves, developing “an inner life” which will become the theater where they will experience their friendship with Jesus Christ, their personal relationship with God Himself Who will forever dwell in their hearts. Only adoration can open a heart to God in such a degree that the invitation to come and live in it is irresistible! This is their personal history of salvation.

Blessed Francisco Marto is the model for our children and young people who search and long for the best of friends, Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

His meditative prayer, his dedication “to console the Good Lord, so much offended”, his “inner life” that developed into a personal friendship, his “openness to silence” so that he would be able to listen in his heart the voice of God, are authentic qualities so much needed today to live a Christian life!

Blessed Francisco, as he was not able to hear Our Lady’s Message, since he only could see her, learned the great lesson that to hear God’s voice in his heart, he must first empty his inner self from all materialistic obstacles and must pray in meditation (many Rosaries), as our Blessed Mother did on earth, contemplating in her Heart all those precious moments and experiences with Jesus Christ, her beloved Son. It is this kind of prayer that today’s world must learn if humanity really wants to prevent the terrible consequences of sin and bring

peace and justice to all. This is the path to salvation because through the prayer of adoration, through meditative prayer (like the Holy Rosary well prayed), we will discover the value of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection and we will live the memory of Him in our inner life! Then, Blessed Francisco, at the end, of the three children of Fatima, was the one having the most profound prayer of contemplation!

Blessed Francisco, the little child of less than ten years, will teach us how to walk the path to holiness. This, in synthesis, is the significance and actuality of the Children’s Eucharistic Adoration Program of the World Apostolate of Fatima. A program that must be present in our parishes, schools, apostolic movements, youth organizations, and family practices. How nice to unite our families in prayer, the prayer of adoration before the tabernacle of our parishes, the same way as we all participate in a baseball game, a football practice, or a basketball tournament.

The yearly event of the Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour on the First Friday in October must be planned carefully, so that the greatest possible spiritual fruit is achieved. But not only this special day, but throughout the year, in many instances that small groups or large ones may come to Jesus in the tabernacle of our churches and pray in adoration. Let us learn the beautiful Fatima prayers that the Angel of Peace and Our Lady taught the little shepherds and recite them with devotion and faith. Our environment will be much better and our children will become closer to God! Grace and Mercy to all!

In Christ and Mary,

Prof. Americo Pablo Lopez-OrtizInternational President of the World Apostolate of Fatima

DECREE

The World Apostolate of Fatima is an association of the faithful that has

as its general purpose “the promotion of the authentic teaching of the

Catholic Church and the strict adherence to the tenets of the Gospel; the

personal sanctification of adherents through faithful adherence to the

message of Fatima and the promotion of the common good by the

spreading of the message of Fatima” (Statutes, art. II, 1-3).

In the apparitions of 1917, the Blessed Virgin reaffirmed to the

three little shepherds – Lucia dos Santos and her blessed cousins,

Francisco and Jacinta Marto – the perennial Christian message of

conversion, prayer and penance in reparation for sins and for the

conversion of sinners, together with a more genuine devotion to the

Eucharist, the devotion to the Rosary and the consecration to her

Immaculate Heart.

At the same time, “the World Apostolate has the specific purpose of

promoting the Pledge given by each member of the World Apostolate of

Fatima” (Statutes, art. II, 4).

The members of the World Apostolate of Fatima, spread throughout

numerous countries of the world, commit themselves to become faithful

witnesses of the Catholic faith in their families, at work, in the parishes

and communities, participating in this way in the “New Evangelisation.”

The Second Vatican Council, together with the post-conciliar teaching, has

given special attention to the new forms of aggregation of the Christian faithful

and their participation in the life of the Church. Deep esteem and consideration

has been shown to them (cf. Decree on Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam

actuositatem, 18, 19 and 21; John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation

Christifideles Laici, 29).

In his Apostolic letter, Novo millennio inuente, His Holiness John Paul II wrote

about the great importance of “the promotion of forms of associations, whether

of the more traditional kind or the newer ecclesial movements which continue

to give the Church a vitality that is God’s gift and a true “Springtime of the

Spirit” (46).

Consequently:

Having examined attentively the request presented to this Dicastery, by Prof.

Américo Pablo López Ortiz, President of the World Apostolate of Fatima, that

this association be erected as a public international association of the faithful

and that its Statutes be approved;

Considering that the World Apostolate of Fatima is a suitable

instrument for the formation of the lay people through the message of

Fatima in view of the new evangelisation proposed by the Holy Fathers

John Paul II and Benedict XVI;

Valuing the commendatory letters received from many Dioceses around

the world, which reflect the positive appreciation of the Bishops for the

activities developed for the members of the World Apostolate of Fatima

to benefit the Church;

In light of articles 131-134 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus for

the Roman Curia and according to canon 312; §1, 1º of the Code of

Canon Law, the Pontifical Council for the Laity decrees:

1º. The erection of the World Apostolate of Fatima as a public

international association of the faithful, according to canons 298-320 and

327-329 of the Code of Canon Law.

2º. The approval of the Statutes of this association duly

authenticated by this Dicastery and deposited in our Archives, for a

period of five years ad experimentum.

Vatican City, 7 October 2005, Memory of the Blessed Mary Virgin of the

Rosary

INTRODUCTION

WORLDWIDE CHILDREN AND YOUTH EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

Catholic school children and all the children of the worldfollowing the way of the little shepherds of Fatima!

“The proper meaning of catechesis, in fact, must be this: to bring the flame of Jesus’ love, even if it is a small one, to the hearts of children, and through the children to their parents, thus reopening the places of faith of our time.”

– Pope Benedict XVI (Bressanone, Italy, August 22, 2008)

Dear Cardinals and Bishops,Clergy, Catholic Educators, and Parents,

Let us unite and open the door for a New Springtime for families!

At Fatima, the “Angel of Peace” was sent as a Tutor in Love by our Blessed Mother to draw the little shepherds into the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus. He taught them how to adore Jesus, to pray, and to make sacrifices for the conversion of the world as a kind of prelude to what the essence of her message would be.

GOD IS OFFENDED – WE MUST DO PENANCE AND AMEND OUR LIVES

Lucia wrote in her Memoirs:

“The words of the Angel were indelibly impressed upon our minds. They were like a light which made us understand who God is, how He loves us and desires to be loved, the value of sacrifice, and how pleasing it is to Him and how, on account of it, He grants the grace of conversion to sinners …”

The Worldwide Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour is a call to the world’s clergy, catholic educators, and parents to escort the children of the world into their parish churches and chapels each year on the first Friday of October, to spiritually unite the prayers of our world’s Catholic school children and all the Catholic children of the world, as they are guided into the School of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It’s easy, and free, and will serve as a first step to open the hearts of our children and youth then the parents.

During these tumultuous times in which we live in which so many parents are burdened with anxiety concerning the material and temporal needs of their children, it’s logical to send a call to those who already have the daily care of the souls of our world’s children.

The Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour lends the opportunity to open a floodgate of graces and mercy on our world, as millions of children throughout the world gather into the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus, united in prayer as they console the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, make reparation to His Most Sacred Heart as requested by the “Angel of Peace” at Fatima, Portugal, and give them the unprecedented opportunity to pray for the needs of their own family and all the families of the world. It is easy and logistically straightforward for clergy, school principals, and teachers to literally walk their students to their parish churches and chapels to participate.

The children of the world are wounded by the scourges of divorce, drugs, abuse, impurity – and the list goes on. Who is going to repair these wounded hearts? We must bring them into His Presence to be bathed in His love because He alone can “fan the flame of faith in the souls of our world’s children, and through the children to their parents, thus reopening the places of faith of our time.” The fruit of this Eucharistic global event will be untold graces that will be shed on the families of the world.

DOMESTIC CHURCH ENTRUSTED TO THE PRAYERS OF CHILDREN

In his 1994 Christmas Letter to the world’s children, Pope John Paul II stated:

“At the close of the year of the family and in this letter he wrote: “My dear young friends, it is to your prayers that I want to entrust the problems of your own family and all the families in the world.”

We need a crusade to guide the children of the world into the presence of Jesus, rather than leaving it to chance of them finding the Blessed Sacrament while on earth, and thus leaving only the terrible examples offered to them by immoral television programming, movies, and magazines.

Please consider making an appeal to your diocese to participate in and support the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour, which is always held on the first Friday in October. By doing so, you would be an instrument in the hands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and our Eucharistic Lord in the realization of the long-awaited New Springtime for our families and the world.

The Worldwide Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour will bring grace and peace to families – it will help change the world. Not with great words, not with great actions, but with great love … and God’s beloved little children will lead them.

Our children will be transformed in holiness and become active evangelizers in their parishes, schools, and families, and thus will have hope of escaping the consequences of a world that has literally lost its way.

Connie Schneider

October ~ 2006Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Catholic school children from the Archdiocese of Washington

Diocese of Arlington and

Archdiocese of Baltimore.

WORLDWIDE CHILDREN AND YOUTH EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

LITURGICAL GUIDE

This guide was

the order of service for the

Fifth Annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour at the

Basilica of the National Shrine of the

Immaculate Conception in

Washington, DC

Presided by the Most Reverend Robert W. Finn, D.D.

It is an excellent guide for clergy, educators, and parents for the

Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour as well as for

Children’s Eucharistic Adoration

in our parishes, schools, and families.

WORLDWIDE CHILDREN AND YOUTH EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

ORDER OF SERVICE

Intentions for the Worldwide Children's Holy Hour

o To console the Eucharistic Heart of Jesuso To pray for the families of the children present and all the

families of the world as entrusted to them by Pope John Paul IIo For the Holy Father, for his protection and the success of his

mission on earth, following the example of Blessed Jacinta Marto.

MODERATOR WELCOMES all Present o Lighting of Unity Candleo Announcement of Intentionso PROCESSION OF OUR LADY'S STATUEo Placement of Petition Basketo Student Presentation - Fatima

The Bishop or Priest begins with the Sign of the Cross and greets all present

o OPENING PRAYERSo Come Holy Spirit prayerModerator invites those gathered to join in the:o Canonization Prayer of Blessed Francisco and Blessed

Jacintao Crowning of our Blessed Mother's statueo Crowning Hymn

QUESTION AND ANSWER TIME

BISHOP OR PRIEST RECEIVES QUESTIONS FROM CHILDRENThis is patterned after Pope Benedict XVI meeting with the children of Rome on October 15, 2005

EXPOSITION AND ADORATION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT

o Eucharistic Hymn: O Salutaris Hostiao Prayers as taught by the Angel of Peaceo Entrustment Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Maryo TWO MINUTES OF SILENCE

WORLD MISSION ROSARY FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD

BENEDICTION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT

o Eucharistic Hymn: Tantum Ergoo Benedictiono The Divine Praiseso Closing remarkso Recessional Hymn: Holy God We Praise Thy Name

To maintain spiritual unity throughout the world please consider the four following devotions.

o Children are gathered before the Most Blessed Sacramento Pray the prayers as taught by the Angel of Peaceo Pray the Entrustment prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Maryo Pray the Rosary for all the families of the world

WORLDWIDE CHILDREN AND YOUTH

EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

ORDER OF SERVICEWITH PRAYERS

 INTRODUCTION

WelcomeIn honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we, the children of the world, light our Unity Candle.

Lighting of Unity Candle and Announcement of Intentions and Special Petitions

PROCESSION OF OUR LADY'S STATUE Processional Hymn: Hail Holy Queen

The Bishop or Priest processes into church with other participants in the Holy Hour:

PROCESSIONAL HYMN

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, Holy Queen enthroned above, O Maria!Hail, Mother of mercy and of love, O Maria! Refrain:Triumph all ye Cherubim! Sing with us ye Seraphim!Heaven and earth resound the hymn!Salve, salve, salve, Regina! Our life, our sweetness here below, O Maria!Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria! (Refrain) When this exile is complete, O Maria!Show us thy Son, our Jesus sweet, O Maria! (Refrain)

Placement of Petition Basket Student Presentation - Fatima

The Bishop or Priest begins with the Sign of the Cross and greets all present:

Bishop: In the name of the Father …

All: Amen

Bishop: Peace be with you!

He may explain the meaning of the event before praying the Opening Prayer.

OPENING PRAYER

Bishop: Let us pray:

Lord, Jesus Christ,We worship you living among us in the Sacrament of Your Body and Blood. May we offer to our Father in heaven a solemn pledge of undivided love.May we offer to our brothers and sister a life poured out in loving service of that kingdom, where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

All: Amen

COME HOLY SPIRIT, Come by means of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your dearly beloved spouse.

COME HOLY SPIRIT, Unite and heal all the families of the world.

COME HOLY SPIRIT, and pour out your Holy Spirit upon all the children of the world. 

† The Moderator greets those gathered and invites them to join in the prayer:

Prayer for the Canonization ofBlessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta

All: Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly with all the powers of my soul, and I thank Thee for the apparition of the most Holy Virgin in Fatima, which has made manifest to the world the treasures of her Immaculate Heart. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I implore Thee – if it should be for Thy greater glory and the good of our souls – to glorify in the sight of Thy Holy Church, Francisco and Jacinta, the shepherds of Fatima, granting us through their intercession the grace which we implore. Amen.

CROWNING OF OUR LADY’S STATUE

“Heavenly Father, to You we offer praise and thanksgivingbecause what You have kept hidden from the proud and learnedYou have revealed to the merest of children. Thank You, Father,for You have graciously willed it so.” (Luke 10:21) 

CROWNING HYMN We Are the Children of the World – Answering His Call 

O Lord, prepare my soul to breathe Your breath,come Holy Spirit; You are my joy; You are my strength,my Bread of Life, Holy Eucharist. 

CHORUSWe are the children of the world, answering Your call!You are the Savior of the world, Jesus in the Eucharist,I love You! 

Hail Mary full of grace, Blessed is the fruit of your womb,Jesus; He bled and died that I might live; Blessed is the fruit ofyour womb, Jesus; Forever present in the Eucharist, O MostBlessed Sacrament, O Most Blessed Sacrament. CHORUS 

“Let the children come unto Me,” He said, “Let the childrencome...” (Sing Hosanna!) then repeat CHORUS 

Dearest Lord we pray, bless our families with Your peace andlove; You tell us, “Do not be afraid”; Bless all people with Yourpeace and love; The peace of Christ throughout the world,through the Blessed Sacrament, O Most Blessed Sacrament.CHORUS

QUESTION AND ANSWER TIMEBISHOP OR PASTOR RECEIVES QUESTIONS FROM CHILDREN

PATTERNED AFTER POPE BENEDICT XVI MEETING WITH THE CHILDREN OF ROME ON OCTOBER 15, 2005

EXPOSTION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT            • Eucharistic Hymn: O Salutaris Hostia            • Prayers as taught by the Angel of Peace            • Entrustment Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

TWO MINUTES OF SILENCE

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WORLD MISSION ROSARY FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD BENEDICTION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT            • Eucharistic Hymn: Tantum Ergo            • Benediction            • The Divine Praises            • Closing remarks by Bishop/Pastor            • Recessional Hymn: Holy God We Praise Thy Name

EXPOSITION AND ADORATION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT

 Opening Hymn – O Salutarus

O SALUTARIS Hostia,Quae coeli pandis ostium:Bella premunt hostilia,Da robur, fer auxilium. Uni trinoque DominoSit sempiterna resid,Qui vitam sine terminoNobis donet in patria. Amen

O Saving Victim, open wideThe gate of heaven to man below! Our foes press on from every side; Thine aid supply, Thy strength bestow. 

To Thy great Name be endless praise. Immortal Godhead, One in Three! O grant us endless length of days. In our true native land with Thee. Amen. 

PRAYERS OF THE ANGEL OF PEACE

“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You, and I beg Your pardon for thosewho do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You. (Three times) O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee. My God, my God, I loveYou in the Most Blessed Sacrament!” (One time) My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You, and I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore,

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do not hope, and do not love You. (Three times) O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Youprofoundly. I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul,and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles ofthe world, in reparation for all the outrages, sacrileges, andindifference by which He is offended. Through the infinitemerits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heartof Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. (One time)

CHILDREN’S ENTRUSTMENT PRAYER TO THE

IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

“O Virgin Mary, My Mother, I give to your Immaculate Heart,my body and my soul, my thoughts and my actions. I want to bejust what you want me to be, and do just what you want me todo. I am not afraid because you are always with me. Help me tolove your Son, Jesus, with all my heart and above all things.Take my hand in yours so I can always be with you.”

two minutes of silence

WORLD MISSION ROSARY FOR THE FAMILIES OF THE WORLD

AFRICA ~ AMERICAS ~ EUROPE ~ OCEANIA ~ ASIA

 

BENEDICTION OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENTAt the conclusion of the Holy Hour, Tantum Ergo is sung as theBlessed Sacrament is incensed. Tantum Ergo

Tantum ergo SacramentumVeneremur cernui:Et antiquum documentum

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Novo cedat ritui:Praestet fides supplementumSensuum defectui. Genitori, GenitoqueLaus et residen,Salus, honor, virtus quoqueSit et residenn:Procedenti ab utroqueCompar sit residen.Amen.

Down in adoration falling,This great Sacrament we hail;Over ancient forms of worshipNewer rites of grace prevail;Faith will tell us Christ is present,When our human senses fail. To the everlasting Father,And the Son who made us free, And the Spirit, God proceedingFrom them Each eternally,Be salvation, honor, blessing,Might and endless majesty.

Bishop or Pastor: You have given them Bread from Heaven

All: Having all sweetness within it

Bishop: Let us pray

Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of Your suffering and death. May our worship of the Sacrament of YourBody and Blood help us to experience the salvation You won for us and the peace of the kingdom where You live with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

All: Amen

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BLESSING OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITHTHE BLESSED SACRAMENT

 

The Divine PraisesBishop leads each acclamation, all repeat. Blessed be God.Blessed be His Holy Name.Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.Blessed be the name of Jesus.Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.Blessed be His most precious Blood.Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.Blessed be her glorious Assumption.Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin, and Mother.Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints. RECESSIONAL HYMN 

Holy God We Praise Thy Name Holy God we praise Thy name; Lord of all we bow before Thee;All on earth Thy scepter claim; All in heaven above adore Thee.Infinite Thy vast domain, Everlasting is Thy reign!Infinite Thy vast domain, Everlasting is Thy reign! Hark, the loud celestial hymn; Angel choirs above are rising;Cherubim and Seraphim, In unceasing chorus praising,Fill the heavens with sweet accord: Holy, holy, holy, Lord!Fill the heavens with sweet accord: Holy, holy, holy, Lord! Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit: three we name Thee,

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Though in essence only one; Undivided God we claim Thee,And adoring bend the knee while we own the mystery.And adoring bend the knee while we own the mystery.

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Recessional Procession of the Fifth Annual Worldwide Eucharistic Holy Hour

with Most Reverend Bishop Finn presiding.

Fruit of the Worldwide Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour is

Children and Youth Eucharistic Adoration in our

parishes, schools, and families!

The ANGEL OF PEACEHeaven’s “Tutor of Love”

Sometimes our Lord himself intervenes to convey to us, by means of private revelations, parts of the universal Message of Salvation which are in danger of being forgotten, and therefore need to be repeated. Such was the case, for example, of the revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. At other times, our Lord allows His Blessed Mother to come on His behalf. Rarer still, if not unique in the history of the Church, is the case of our Lady having sent an angel ahead of her to pave the way for her own coming. She thus provided for the events in Fatima a kind of prelude which at once plunged the children into a supernaturally charged atmosphere in which they learnt the coordinates of what was to constitute the essence of her Message:

God is offended; we must do penance and change our lives.– Fr. Luis Kondor, S.V.D., Vice Postulator of Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta

The apparitions of the Angel of Peace preceded the apparitions of our Blessed Mother at Fatima, Portugal. She sent him as a “Teacher of Love” to teach the little shepherds how to adore Jesus, how to pray while adoring Him, and the value of reparation and sacrifice, “...thus convened the first children’s holy hour.”

Parishes and schools throughout the world participate in the global Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour. We must remember that the fruit of this Holy Hour is Eucharistic Adoration in our parishes, schools, and families. The following Order of a “Visit with the Hidden Jesus” is an excellent outline for a Eucharistic Program for parishes and schools. It is simple, easy to follow, and easy to do. It is way for clergy, teachers, youth leaders, and parents to draw the children in their care into the true Eucharistic presence of Jesus. Most importantly, it follows the way the Little Shepherds of Fatima who were taught by a “Teacher of Love” from Heaven. The angel’s instructions developed the children’s spirituality in the “School of the

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Immaculate Heart of Mary” and into becoming the first unmartyred children to be beatified and one day canonized. Let each one of us become a “signpost of love” for the children of the world— reading, this way to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

THIS IS A SIMPLE 'ORDER OF SERVICE' THAT IS USED IN THE BOOKLET "MY VISIT WITH THE HIDDEN JESUS"

FOR YOUR PARISH, SCHOOL OR FAMILY

o Welcome

Opening Prayers

Come Holy Spirit

Pardon Prayer

Sacrifice Prayer

Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity

TWO MINUTES OF SILENT ADORATION

o Prayer to Blessed Francisco and Jacinta for the families of the world

o Prayer for Canonization of Blessed Francisco Blessed Jacinta

o Entrustment Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

o Holy Rosary (complete or a single decade)

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Optional

o Gospel or Scripture Reading

o Questions from Children

o Teaching on Eucharistic Reparation, Prayer, Penance, and Sacrifice

o Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament

o Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament

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DESIGNATED EUCHARISTIC EPICENTERS FOR THE ANNUAL

WORLDWIDE CHILDREN AND YOUTH

EUCHARISTIC HOLY HOUR

Cardinals and Bishops throughout the world!

Would you consider designating a basilica, shrine, or parish church in your diocese as a Eucharistic Epicenter for the Annual Worldwide Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour?

Presently, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the global Eucharistic Epicenter, and it is our hope for the future that each continent and nation will designate its own Eucharistic Epicenter for their school children. This will provide regional locations for the world’s school children to gather and pray before our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament during the Global Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour.

In the future, if funds permit, we hope to link up via satellite connection to enable children throughout the world to visually unite in prayer, powerfully witnessing to each other the unity of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.

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Children throughout the world are joining in this Global Eucharistic event for Children

Children sent this picture from New Guinea

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IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Because this Global Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour is broadcast, we do not wish to imply that schools around the country and world join in ONLY if they have the technical capabilities to do so.

The broadcast of the Holy Hour provides ‘a spiritual Eucharistic epicenter’ for children from around the world to spiritually unite with the school children gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC and all children throughout the world.

The primary focus is: On one day, always the first Friday in October, to gather the children of the world before our Eucharistic Lord, follow the program, and to pray for peace in our families and world. It is the responsibility of those leading the Holy Hour in your parish or school to help the children participating to understand they are spiritually united with other children and young people around the world, and that Jesus truly Present in all the Tabernacles of world, sees them united as

ONE

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NEW EVANGELIZATION AND THELITTLE SHEPHERDS OF FATIMA

“Father, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children” (Mt 11:25).

Cardinal José Saraiva Martins,Prefect of the Congregation of the Saints spoke of

the gift of the “Little Shepherds” to the Church and to the world, in the context of the New Evangelization.

October 12 ~ International Fatima Congress for the 21st Century

“My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way which will lead you to God”– June 13

Our Lady appeared to the little Shepherds gleaming with light, but in her words and also in Her face, which at times was veiled in sorrow, because of the constant reality of sin. She showed the children her Immaculate Heart crowned with thorns, and explained that prayer and sacrifice are needed in order to make reparation for the many evils that offend God, to bring an end to war and to obtain peace for the world. Mary’s language is simple, suited to children, without being toned down or fanciful. The Virgin chooses innocent children as her privileged collaborators in order to combat the terrible leprosy of sin which is corrupting mankind with the weapons of prayer and penance. Pius XII, whose cause for beatification is now under way, made his prophecy. I quote his words: “You must not think that a tender age is an obstacle in the way of consummate perfection, for holiness.

Our predecessor Pius X declared that there will be saints among young children when he opened to them the Eucharistic Tabernacle. He knew, as we ourselves know, that physical age does not stand in the way of the soul, so that the human being, even a young human being, can attain the perfection of spiritual age (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III, q. 12, sed contra and ad 2). If Jesus calls for spiritual childhood as a condition for entering into heaven, and then goes on to say: ‘Let the little children come unto me,’ how can one deny that children are able to attain evangelical perfection?”

No. In no way. To prove it, we have the example of the two little Shepherds who, in accordance with the Church’s most recent practice, inaugurated precisely with them, were solemnly raised to the honor of the altar. These two who, in a sense, originated this new practice, were also, one might say, the first to benefit from it.

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Turning to Francisco,

The words of the Angel, “Console your God,” impressed Francisco very deeply and guided his whole life. He wanted to be the ‘Consoler of Jesus’ primarily by praying the Rosary and adoring the Hidden Jesus in the Tabernacle of the Parish Church.

He wanted to go often and stay in church as long as he could in order to be near the tabernacle close to the “hidden Jesus,” as he called the Eucharist in his childlike, profound way of speaking.

God told only Francisco “how sad” he was, as he said. One night his father heard him sobbing and asked him why he was crying; his son answered: “I was thinking of Jesus who is so sad because of the sins that are committed against him.” He was motivated by one desire—so expressive of how children think – “to console Jesus and make him happy.”

– Pope John Paul II

The Rosary

In addition to all this, if we examine the many episodes in the lives of the little Shepherds, we cannot but see the line which links them all together, namely the recitation of the Rosary. When we pay attention to this undoubted fact, we perceive that for them the Rosary is a reply of love to the Lady who came to visit them.

Let us work together to help the children of the world to come to know the “Power of the Most Holy Rosary.”

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INTRODUCTION TO

Igniting the 'flame of faith' in the hearts of the children of the world!as they follow the way of the little Shepherds of Fatima!

SCHOOL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

The World Apostolate of Fatima’s Children’s Program, Children of the Eucharist, is an invitation to our world’s clergy, teachers, and parents to help the children and young people of the world follow the way of the Little Shepherds of Fatima and lead them to enroll into the School of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is the school of God Is Love.

THIS IS NOT A NEW WAY!

It is a way initiated by Heaven to children, approved by the Church, and yet lived by saints for centuries, notably by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church.

THE WAY IS SIMPLE: “TO JESUS THROUGH MARY”

Our Lady of Fatima sent the “Angel of Peace,” as a Tutor of Love to pave the way for her coming and to place the little shepherds in the loving and true presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, to teach them how to adore Jesus, and to teach them prayers of reparation to pray while in His Eucharistic Presence. He also guided them into the school of adoration, prayer, penance, and sacrifice as they found themselves in the school of love, which is none other than part of the School of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Our Lady desired to present a way, a simple way for the little shepherds and all the children and young people of the world, for all of humanity, to make peace with God as He pours His peace into our families and the world.

The souls of the little shepherds were set in a flame of love!

In her Memoirs, Lucia stated:

“We received from the experience of the Angel of Peace ‘…a light which made us understand who God is, how He loves us and desires to be loved, the value of sacrifice, how pleasing it is to Him and how, on account of it, He grants the grace of conversion to sinners.’”

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When this light was given to them to understand that God loves us and desires to be loved by us, they immediately began to live heaven’s requests, not because of a command, but out of love.

If sacrifices have their origin in love, they begin to change us one step at a time. This is the path the ‘Angel of Peace’ set the children on and they entered totally and deeply into an intimate relationship with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, where our Lady then continued to gently guide them on their earthly journey to her Divine Son, Jesus. They were thus transformed into saints.

God Is Love: Children and our young people need to know that God loves them and that He wants to be loved by them. There are too many in the world who do not love God because they do not know Him as they should and that He desires their love. By encouraging this school of thought to children and youth through making visits out of love for Jesus in the Tabernacle, as well as praying throughout the day and showing their love through sacrifices,

the children will take on the heart of Blessed Francisco. The little shepherd said, “I am sad, because He is sad, and I wish to console Him.”

Children and the youth of the world need to know that God loves all people and that there are those who are in danger of going to

Hell. Out of love, children can offer prayers and sacrifices to God for souls who do not pray for themselves and who do not have anyone to pray for them. It is through the transcendent value of love, which is the very basis on which such an offering exists that God, Who is Love, grants the grace of conversion to sinners.

The Children of the Eucharist program consists of the many calls of the entire Message of Fatima and its teachings: the offering of prayers and sacrifices, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Eucharistic Adoration, the Rosary, and reparation to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

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The program is simple – such is the message of Fatima. Here we have mapped out a little way that will help children, young people and yes, adults, to begin a life of prayer, penance, and sacrifice, and to become sensitive to sin as they grow in virtue and grace and follow the way of the little shepherds of Fatima, thus growing in holiness.

The objective is hope for the children of the world by helping them to learn and live the ABCs of the message of the “Angel of Peace” and our Lady’s requests, as they continue their journey on the path of life and become active missionaries in their parishes, schools, and homes.

Dear Boys and Girls: Our Lady needs all of you to console Jesus, Who is sad because of the bad things done to Him. She needs your prayers and your sacrifices for sinners. Ask your

parents and teachers to enroll you in the ‘School of Our Lady’ so that she can teach you to be like the Little Shepherds who tried to do whatever she asked them."

Pope John Paul IIBeatification Ceremony of Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta

2000 Fatima, Portugal

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THE PROGRAM IS SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD!

What follows is a step-by-step easy way and we hope unique way, to introduce the requests of Our Lady of Fatima and the “Angel of Peace.” It is a simple way to help children of all ages to live the Gospel message by following the way of the Little Shepherds of Fatima in the School of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It is excellent for your parish, school, and religious education program and family. PROMISE CARD: The Promise card is explained to the children that they are being invited to be enrolled in a worldwide mission to help Our Lady of Fatima bring the world back to God.

Certificate of membership is downloaded.

Global Morning Offering: Children throughout the world spiritually unite in the prayer of the “Morning Offering” in their classrooms and families, as they offer their every thought, word, and action of the day, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as a daily sacrifice to God, for the conversion of the world. Entrustment Prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Children are introduced to the “Entrustment Prayer” as a foundation of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Wearing a sign of Entrustment to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

o The Brown Scapular

o Miraculous medal of Our Lady

The Rosary or the World Mission Rosary for Families

The World Mission Rosary inspired by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, helps children to envision how they are praying for their own family and all the families of the world, one continent at a time.

Annual Global Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour

Each first Friday of October Catholic school children and all the children of the world gather in their diocesan cathedrals, parish churches and

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chapels, spiritually uniting their prayers with children throughout the world, for the intentions of their own families and all the families of the world.

Children and Youth Eucharistic Adoration in parishes, schools and families!

o This is the fruit of the Worldwide Children and Youth Eucharistic Holy Hour.

o Let us unite and begin an International Catholic School Campaign where, on each first Friday, Eucharistic Adoration is beginning to be promoted in every Catholic school and parish.

First Friday Adoration, promotes the Great Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Five First Saturday devotions are introduced wherever possible

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DIRECTORS OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

As Coordinator of Elementary Religious Education at Holy Family parish in St. Louis Park (Minneapolis), the sufferings I see in some of the children I meet can overwhelm me at times. Some carry the hurt of divorce. I’ve met children who carry the burden of drug addiction or alcoholism in their families. I’ve met children exposed to internet pornography as young as second grade. There are children with illnesses including mental illness at such tender ages. And then there are the almost universal sufferings of so many who struggle with grades, struggle with friendships, or struggle to overcome certain fears. I often pondered, “Is there something I can do that would really make a difference in the lives of these children?”

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.Matthew 11:28

At the end of the 2000 school year, I seriously asked myself that question. “Is there something that I can do that would really make a difference in the lives of these children?” I was specifically thinking of the public school children that came to the parish religious education classes on Wednesday evenings that I coordinated. I went to my pastor, Father Thomas Dufner, and expressed my concerns. What more can be done that we are not already doing in the short amount of time we have them?

When dealing with personal challenges, trials, and sufferings, I knew the answer. I knew where to go. I knew Who to go to. I turn to our Lord in prayer, making a daily visit to our Adoration Chapel, asking Him to help me, heal me and guide me. He is always available for me to come to Him and bring Him my burdens so He can console me and strengthen me. But how could that truth be bridged over to children? How do you make that truth a reality in their lives? And not just in the lives of a few children but in the lives of many children?

Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14

In the Fall, I took the Wednesday night religious ed students, grades 1-8, into the sanctuary and together we knelt in front of the altar. Father exposed the Blessed Sacrament for us and that was the first large group time of Children’s Eucharistic Adoration at Holy Family. Using the hand held microphone, I greeted Our Lord truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I thanked Him for always being here for us. I stood up and pointed to the little white Host in the monstrance and told the children, “This is really and truly Jesus. Isn’t He so smart and wonderful to think of such a tremendous way of always being with us?” We prayed our decade of the Rosary together for our families and for all the families of the world. Then we had a few moments of quiet time. I said to them, “Boys and girls, now I want you to think of anything that you are worried about. Anything that is on your mind. Anything that is

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important to you. You tell Jesus about it right now. He is so interested. He will hear you and help you if you ask Him.” And in those moments of silence, He did hear. And He continues to hear. Since that night, we have implemented Children’s Adoration into our public school program every month, every year. The effects of our time in prayer have been transforming not only to the overall success of the Wednesday Religious Ed program, but most importantly in the lives of the children themselves. They began to experience the effects of their prayers. They met Jesus personally. They started to understand that the Jesus they were learning about in class, who walked on this earth 2000 years ago, is really and truly present for them, right now, tonight, at this moment.

I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.Matthew 11:25

For the past 8 years it has been an amazing experience for me to pray with children before the Most Blessed Sacrament. And it doesn’t matter if it is the public school children, the children making their First Holy Communion, children coming to special retreats, children from our parish school or the overwhelming group of children gathered for Catholic Vacation Bible School every summer. We sing for Him, bow and adore Him, thank Him, offer our prayers of petition and entrust to Him all our cares.

This year I have the great honor of leading the newest formed group of children in guided Eucharistic Adoration. They are the toddlers and preschoolers of Holy Family. Yes, you read that correctly. And they really get it. I think my favorite part of our time together is the very end. Spontaneously they will often start waving their little hands and calling out, “Goodbye Jesus! Goodbye! We love You!!!” These are the moments I just can’t seem to forget. I wonder what Our Lord is thinking?

Once, after adoration for our country, a pain pierced my soul and I began to pray in this way: “Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your Saints,

and especially the intercession of your dearest Mother who nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our sins, but on the tears of the little children, on the hunger and cold they suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones,

grant me the grace I am asking of You for my country.”

At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus, His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me:

“You see, my daughter, what great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the world.”

– Entry #286 from the Diary of Saint Faustina

Mrs. Jean Prather, Coordinator of Elementary Religious EducationHoly Family Catholic Church, St. Louis Park, Minnesota

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History and Development of theWorldwide Children’s Eucharistic

Holy Hour

Matthew 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits."

The Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour was founded by two members of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Archdiocesan division of the World Apostolate of Fatima. The inspiration was presented to Archbishop Harry Flynn as a celebration for the Year of the Rosary. At the suggestion of the Archbishop, the World Apostolate of Fatima co-sponsored with the Archdiocesan Office of Family, Laity and Marriage, to celebrate and acknowledge the Year of the Rosary, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II in 2003.

The founders knew it would be an inspiring and effective way to spiritually unite the prayers of children around the globe and to offer prayers, especially the Rosary, before the Most Blessed Sacrament, for the families of the world, as entrusted to the prayers of children, by Pope John Paul II in his Christmas Letter to the world's children.

Inspired by the success of the program, the World Apostolate of Fatima continued to co-sponsor the event with the Office of Family, Laity, and Marriage, as they continued promoting the program nationally and internationally.

The Year of the Eucharist in 2005 presented an unprecedented opportunity to spread the program to all Catholic schools in the United States. In 2005, “Year of the Eucharist” the Archdiocesan division of the World Apostolate of Fatima, developed a National “Prayer of Petition” contest to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for Catholic school children to participate in. Irish Singer, Dana, took the winning petitions and put them to song. From that, our theme song was born: We are the Children of the World. 

This was also the first year that the International body of the World Apostolate of Fatima participated in and promoted the Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour. On February 2006 pilgrimage to the Vatican and Fatima, the World Apostolate of Fatima received their ‘Decree of Approval’ as a new ‘Public Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right from the Pontifical Council of the Laity. At the first international Congress of the World Apostolate of Fatima at Rome, the Program was introduced to the delegates participating at the “Salesianum” by the International President of the WAF, Prof. Américo Pablo López-Ortiz and Mrs. Connie Schneider, Archdiocesan President of the WAF in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. It was during the on going pilgrimage to Fatima and a visit to the graves of Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta, two of the little shepherds of Fatima, that Children of the Eucharist was born.

In 2006, Our Lady opened the doors of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and for the first time EWTN broadcasted the Holy Hour LIVE to over 140 nations. Since then the Basilica has become the Eucharistic Epicenter of this annual event.

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APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS JOHN PAUL II

TO FATIMA (MAY 12-13, 2000)HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II

BEATIFICATION OF FRANCISCO AND JACINTA MARTO,SHEPERDS OF FATIMA

Saturday, 13 May 2000Fatima 1. “Father,… to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children” (Mt 11: 25).

With these words, dear brothers and sisters, Jesus praises the heavenly Father for his designs; he knows that no one can come to him unless he is drawn by the Father (cf. John 6: 44); therefore he praises him for his plan and embraces it as a son: “Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (Mt 11: 26). You were pleased to reveal the kingdom to the merest children.

According to the divine plan, “a woman clothed with the sun” (Rev 12: 1) came down from Heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children of the Father. She speaks to them with a mother's voice and heart: she asks them to offer themselves as victims of reparation, saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God. And behold, they see a light shining from her maternal hands which penetrates them inwardly, so that they feel immersed in God just as – they explain – a person sees himself in a mirror.

Later Francisco, one of the three privileged children, exclaimed: “We were burning in that light which is God and we were not consumed. What is God like? It is impossible to say. In fact we will never be able to tell people.” God: a light that burns without consuming. Moses had the same experience when he saw God in the burning bush; he heard God say that he was concerned about the slavery of his people and had decided to deliver them through him: “I will be with you” (cf. Ex 3: 2-12). Those who welcome this presence become the dwelling-place and, consequently, a “burning bush” of the Most High.

2. What most impressed and entirely absorbed Blessed Francisco was God in that immense light which penetrated the inmost depths of the three children. But God told only Francisco "how sad" he was, as he said. One night his father heard him sobbing and asked him why he was crying; his son answered: "I was thinking of Jesus who is so sad because of the sins that are committed against him.” He was motivated by one desire – so expressive of how children think – "to console Jesus and make him happy.”

A transformation takes place in his life, one we could call radical: a transformation certainly uncommon for children of his age. He devotes himself to an intense spiritual life, expressed

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in assiduous and fervent prayer, and attains a true form of mystical union with the Lord. This spurs him to a progressive purification of the spirit through the renunciation of his own pleasures and even of innocent childhood games.

Francisco bore without complaining the great sufferings caused by the illness from which he died. It all seemed to him so little to console Jesus: he died with a smile on his lips. Little Francisco had a great desire to atone for the offences of sinners by striving to be good and by offering his sacrifices and prayers. The life of Jacinta, his younger sister by almost two years, was motivated by these same sentiments.

3. “Another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon” (Rev 12: 3).

These words from the first reading of the Mass make us think of the great struggle between good and evil, showing how, when man puts God aside, he cannot achieve happiness, but ends up destroying himself.

How many victims there have been throughout the last century of the second millennium! We remember the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and the other wars in so many parts of the world, the concentration and extermination camps, the gulags, ethnic cleansings and persecutions, terrorism, kidnappings, drugs, the attacks on unborn life and the family.

The message of Fatima is a call to conversion, alerting humanity to have nothing to do with the “dragon" whose "tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth” (Rev 12: 4). Man’s final goal is heaven, his true home, where the heavenly Father awaits everyone with his merciful love.

God does not want anyone to be lost; that is why 2,000 years ago He sent His Son to earth, “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19: 10). And he saved us by His death on the Cross. Let no one empty that Cross of its power! Jesus died and rose from the dead to be “the first-born among many brethren” (Rom 8: 29).

In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came here to Fatima to ask men and women “to stop offending God, Our Lord, Who is already very offended.” It is a mother’s sorrow that compels her to speak; the destiny of her children is at stake. For this reason she asks the little shepherds: “Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.”

4. Little Jacinta felt and personally experienced Our Lady’s anguish, offering herself heroically as a victim for sinners. One day, when she and Francisco had already contracted the illness that forced them to bed, the Virgin Mary came to visit them at home, as the little one recounts: “Our Lady came to see us and said that soon she would come and take Francisco to heaven. And she asked me if I still wanted to convert more sinners. I told her yes.” And when the time came for Francisco to leave, the little girl tells him: “Give my greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.” Jacinta had been so deeply moved by the vision of hell during the apparition of 13 July that no mortification or penance seemed too great to save sinners.

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She could well exclaim with St Paul: “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the Church” (Col 1: 24). Last Sunday at the Coliseum in Rome, we commemorated the many witnesses to the faith in the 20th century, recalling the tribulations they suffered through the significant testimonies they left us. An innumerable cloud of courageous witnesses to the faith have left us a precious heritage which must live on in the third millennium. Here in Fatima, where these times of tribulation were foretold and Our Lady asked for prayer and penance to shorten them, I would like today to thank heaven for the powerful witness shown in all those lives. And once again I would like to celebrate the Lord's goodness to me when I was saved from death after being gravely wounded on 13 May 1981. I also express my gratitude to Blessed Jacinta for the sacrifices and prayers offered for the Holy Father, whom she saw suffering greatly.

5. “Father, to you I offer praise, for you have revealed these things to the merest children.”

Today Jesus’ praise takes the solemn form of the beatification of the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta. With this rite the Church wishes to put on the candelabrum these two candles which God lit to illumine humanity in its dark and anxious hours. May they shine on the path of this immense multitude of pilgrims and of all who have accompanied us by radio and television. May Francisco and Jacinta be a friendly light that illumines all Portugal and, in special way, this Diocese of Leiria-Fatima.

I thank Bishop Seraphim, of this illustrious particular Church, for his words of welcome, and with great joy I greet the entire Portuguese Episcopate and their Dioceses, which I deeply love and which I urge to imitate their saints. A fraternal greeting goes to the Cardinals and Bishops present, with a special word for the Pastors from the community of Portuguese-speaking countries: may the Virgin Mary obtain reconciliation for the Angolan people; may she bring comfort to the flood victims of Mozambique; may she watch over the steps of Timor Lorosae, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe; may she preserve her Brazilian sons and daughters in the unity of faith.

I extend a respectful greeting to the President of the Republic and to the authorities who have wished to take part in this celebration. I take this occasion to express, through them, my gratitude to everyone who helped make my pilgrimage possible. A cordial embrace and a particular blessing to the parish and city of Fatima, which today rejoices in her children who are raised to the honors of the altar.

6. My last words are for the children: dear boys and girls, I see so many of you dressed like Francisco and Jacinta. You look very nice! But in a little while or tomorrow you will take these clothes off and ... the little shepherds will disappear. They should not disappear, should they?! Our Lady needs you all to console Jesus, who is sad because of the bad things done to him; he needs your prayers and your sacrifices for sinners.

Ask your parents and teachers to enroll you in the “school” of Our Lady, so that she can teach you to be like the little shepherds, who tried to do whatever she asked them. I tell you

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that "one makes more progress in a short time of submission and dependence on Mary than during entire years of personal initiatives, relying on oneself alone" (St Louis de Montfort, The True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, n. 155). This was how the little shepherds became saints so quickly. A woman who gave hospitality to Jacinta in Lisbon, on hearing the very beautiful and wise advice that the little girl gave, asked who taught it to her. “It was Our Lady,” she replied. Devoting themselves with total generosity to the direction of such a good Teacher, Jacinta, and Francisco soon reached the heights of perfection.

7. “Father, to you I offer praise, for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children.” Father, to you I offer praise for all your children, from the Virgin Mary, your humble Servant, to the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta.

May the message of their lives live on for ever to light humanity’s way!

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Can Children Be Saints?

The children of Fatima responded to the messages Mary brought us all. They did not merely pass these messages on as instruments. They were the first to respond to a divine call to arms, to the spiritual combat called for in an age of revolution, when the golden chain of the holy rosary must be raised against tyranny, persecution, and increasing moral corruption. The children of Fatima were not merely channels, but willing mere children who cooperated with divine grace, spiritually mature with heroic fortitude, allowed grace to change their lives in the space of three or four years.

Whatever replies others may have given to this question, on May 13, 2000, in Fatima, Portugal, Pope John Paul II beatified two children who died respectively at the ages of 11 and 10, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Their cousin, Sister Lucia, a Carmelite nun aged 93, was present at the solemn Mass of beatification.

We know these children as the three visionaries of Fatima, the ones chosen by God to receive messages of hope and peace for humanity, divine appeals and warnings, even timely prophecies only revealed by the Church at the beginning of the Third Millennium. These calls for "prayer and penance" were given through the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. On May 13, 1917, the first apparition took place on the field known as the Cova da Iria. On this same day, May 13, 1981, an assassin’s bullet struck the Pope who returned once again in gratitude to Fatima to beatify the children.

These are the two youngest persons ever to be beatified in the history of the Catholic Church, that is, apart from young martyrs. Yet, in a sense, theirs was a path of martyrdom. Both of them, in the last years of their short earthly lives suffered greatly in body and spirit and that is the point to begin in giving praise to God for their sanctity.

Their heroic practice of the virtues is surely the best place to begin. Without heroic virtue or martyrdom the process of beatification and canonization cannot succeed. These reflections in praise of the virtues of these two children are drawn from various recollections and memoirs of Lucia herself. The virtues of faith, hope, and love shine through her vivid memories of the shepherd children of Fatima. Faith, hope, and love…

FAITH

The courageous faith of Francisco emerged in prison, where the children were taken to terrify them, an attempt to force them to deny what they claimed to have seen. As Lucia tells us, the boy was prepared to die rather than deny what he had seen. In this he was exactly like the men and women who were the witnesses of the Resurrection of Jesus, the people who saw the risen Lord, who could say with the convinced faith of Saint Peter, “Lord, to whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!”

Likewise, through Lucia’s memoirs we see how the childlike faith of Jacinta the little shepherdess was tried and tested during her final illness, when her small body was racked

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with the aching pains of the influenza that was sweeping the world at that time, often incurable. Her realism was reflected in her reply when Lucia asked if she was feeling better. “You know I am not getting better. I have such pains in my chest. But I don’t say anything. I am suffering for the conversion of sinners.” Her final illness fulfilled her spiritual thirst for making personal sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, a practice she developed as Our Lady had requested. Ultimately, as Our Lady had told her, this little child was to die alone, separated from her parents and friends in a hospital in Lisbon on February 20, 1920. That was the final cross for Jacinta. She felt it deeply and admitted that frankly to her cousin, but she feared not. She trusted in God and his Blessed Mother. Her practice of the virtue of faith was remarkable not only in its simplicity but in its realism.

Francisco shared this courageous sense of mortification and self abnegation with his younger sister. For example, Lucia recalled how they both felt abandoned in prison, and really believed they would be martyred, and yet here they offered even this abandonment as a sacrifice for sinners and for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV. Note their consciousness of the Vicar of Christ at that moment of fear and stress. This indicates a sense of the wider Church, which rapidly grew in their lives, going beyond the limitations of their culture and narrow experience of life in a small community in a remote place in a humble land. Faith in Jesus Christ means faith in his Church, fidelity to all her teachings. Their courageous experience in prison also reveals the single-mindedness, the purity of heart, the candid faith of children that Jesus presented as the model of all faith.

They both grew rapidly in the practice of prayer, the essential language and dialogue of faith. Francisco’s prayer life developed an ascetical quality, a portent of the kind of adult faith already emerging in this young man. Had he lived longer, no doubt he would have found his vocation in a contemplative life, as did his cousin Lucia. He preferred to pray by himself, to “console Our Lord” as he put it. His mortification helped tame the boisterous side of his personality, revealing a spiritual maturity well beyond his years, and this is quite at variance with the developmental theories of some educationalists of the last century.

HOPE

The second theological virtue given by the Holy Spirit is hope. In spite of the pressures they endured, these children, like all true saints, had a sense of joy about them. This too has to be taken into account in any process of beatification. The Church does not beatify gloomy people because a lack of joy may well indicate a weakness in living out the virtue of hope.

Jacinta loved to dance, although she gave this up as a sacrifice for sinners. She rejoiced in the beauty of creation, especially collecting wild flowers. There is a quietness and stillness about her joy. Francisco, on the other hand, was more open and outgoing than his sister; social, friendly and smiling boy, according to Lucia. Both children retained a sense of humor throughout the final years of their lives. It was tempered by the burdens placed upon them but seems to have bubbled up in healthy reaction to the somewhat ludicrous behavior of some of the faithful who fussed over them.

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Joy never left them amidst all the trials that came with the responsibility Our Lady had placed on them. When their time for leaving this world drew near, they did not fear death. They accepted what Our Lady had predicted for each of them – imminent death. But they looked forward to heaven with inner joy because they both trusted in her Immaculate Heart. With this motherly heart, Mary never abandons her children, a truth we all need to learn again and again. Knowing this, Francisco and Jacinta lived the virtue of hope in a spirit of joyful trust in whatever God willed for the future.

LOVE

We have reflected on their faith and hope. Now we have entered the golden realm of third and greatest virtue, charity, love – caritas, agape. How well they learnt how to cultivate this sublime virtue in the best school – the school of Mary’s Immaculate Heart, the temple of love that can never be separated from the blazing furnace of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Love points to the Eucharist, “summit and source” of all grace in the Church. Devotion to the Eucharist is essential in the life of any saint. Lucia bears witness to these children’s love of the Eucharist, “the Hidden Jesus” as both Jacinta and Francisco called our Lord ever present in the most Blessed Sacrament. Both of them loved to visit the Blessed Sacrament in churches, and both felt the pain of not being able to do this during their final illnesses. Their practice of the love of God found its focus in their devotion to “the Hidden Jesus” in the sacrament of His.

It was a time when the intentions of Pope Saint Pius X had not yet been fulfilled everywhere. In that part of Portugal, Children were at least ten years old before they received their First Communion. So both Francisco and Jacinta valued Holy Communion deeply, approaching the Eucharist with reverent preparation and thanksgiving. Both of the children received the Eucharist as penitents. It is particularly moving to read Lucia's account of how Francisco prepared for his death on April 4, 1919. His last confession and Communion were uppermost in his mind. The sacraments of Jesus' pardon and union with us were his main concern. He knew he was preparing for the great and final journey.

Both of the children took sin seriously. Their innocence and purity was not naïve or bland. There was much spiritual courage involved in their own struggle to maintain fidelity to God's will under adverse circumstances. Those circumstances were not merely the hostility they encountered in the early phase of the apparitions, but something more insidious and enticing for a child, the great attention they attracted, which included attempts to spoil them, or to make them into little celebrities, and this is also recorded by Lucia. They seemed to see through this, to perceive the temptations involved, and by grace they rose above the choice of creatures and chose the love of God.

The virtue of love included the love of others. With their different temperaments, Francisco and Jacinta always showed a sense of charity towards others, of concern for other people's needs. This is an essential factor in discerning the sanctity of candidates for beatification. Both children responded to requests for prayer from people in need. Their deeper lives of prayer and sense of union with God did not cut them off from others. Indeed they attracted

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people, at first curious to see the little visionaries, but then able to see that in themselves these were extraordinary children. Their love of God was thus filled in an outgoing and generous love of others. The supreme infused virtue, charity, love, greatest gift of the Holy Spirit.

It therefore comes as no surprise that the holiness of Francisco and Jacinta is described by Lucia as almost tangible. This is borne out in what Lucia recorded. These are the comments of some local women about her cousins: "It's a mystery one cannot fathom! They are children just like any others. They don't say anything to us and yet in their presence one feels something one cannot explain and that makes them different from all the rest. “Likewise: “We’ve just been talking to Jacinta and Francisco; when with them we feel that there is something supernatural about them.”

In the light of such testimony, we know that these children are not being beatified just because they saw Our Lady. An apparition does not cause holiness. We know from other instances that contact with heaven is not necessarily an automatic cause of personal sanctity . The children of Fatima responded to the messages Mary brought us all. They did not merely pass these messages on as instruments. They were the first to respond to a divine call to arms, to the spiritual combat called for in an age of revolution, when the golden chain of the holy rosary must be raised against tyranny, persecution and increasing moral corruption. The children of Fatima were not merely channels, but willing mere children who cooperated with divine grace, spiritually mature with heroic fortitude, allowed grace to change their lives in the space of three or four years.

As Lucia describes their warm and natural relations with parents and other relatives, we also see the children of Fatima emerge clearly as saints of the family. In these times we need strong Christian families built on holy marriages. May Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco intercede for all our families, and especially that children will grow to be like them, in lives of faith, self sacrifice, charity, and holiness.

So we return to the question with which we began. Can children be saints? Through an act of her chief Pastor and Teacher on earth, the Catholic Church replies “yes!”

Bishop Peter Elliot

Bishop Peter Elliott is the Titular Bishop of Manaccenser and Auxiliary Bishop in the Southern Region of the Archdiocese of Melbourne.

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Stretch out your hand, O beloved and omnipotent children, to the Vicar of Christ, and give the

consolation of the incomparable victory of your precious prayers.

Do your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all the adults of your family respond to your humble

demands?Yes, they do what you ask; because it is irresistible,

and for God, the way that you speak to him and ask, is also irresistible, and will be your example, to your

loved ones, of who you all are.

Pope Benedict XVExcerpt from the Homily to the Children of Europe

July, 1916

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ENDORSEMENTS

Our Holy Father (Pope John Paul II) asks me to convey his prayerful good wishes for the Children’s Day of Prayer to be celebrated on the 7th of October 2004. Archbishop Harry Flynn September 28th ~ 2004

“I give thanks to Jesus and His Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima, for the presence of so many children gathered in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament in the National Basilica in Washington DC. May God and our Lady so bless the hearts of all these children that they will respond generously to the invitation of Jesus to go and make disciples of all the Nations.

International Secretary General of the Holy Childhood Association, Father Patrick ByrneNovember 1st ~ 2008

His Eminence, Sean Cardinal O’Malley has asked me to acknowledge his receipt of your recent letter sent with enclosures concerning the School Children’s Eucharistic and Marian Holy Hour, and to reply on his behalf.It is good to know of the Holy Hour planned at the National Shrine on October 6th…with the help of God and through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, may the children of the world indeed be gathered in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord to pray for families. Reverend Robert T. Kickham Secretary to the Archbishop August 23rd ~ 2006Through our e-mail connection with each parish we are sending this word of the “Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour.”

Cardinal William H. KeelerArchbishop of Baltimore

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Inside Back Cover

…As I write these words, I am watching through the Eternal Word Television Network, the children of the world bowing profoundly before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. and to know that they are being joined by children worldwide, including in my own diocese fills me with an overwhelming, inner joy! Could there be anything more beautiful than this?...

Filipe Neri Ferrao

Archbishop of Goa and Daman ( India )

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