By Br. André Marie, M.I.C.M.

2017 SBC Conference

Theme: A Worldview in the Light of Fatima

Brother Andrè Marie spoke all about Fatima: “A Vision of Fatima”. I do not think it would be possible to paint a more limpid picture of all things Fatima than Brother does in this hour presentation. He began by talking abut happiness which, as Saint Thomas teaches, can only be achieved in this life by living for our last end. First in thought, last in execution. It is the possession of the true good that makes man happy. The good is what all men desire by nature but, alas, evil, in the guise of a false good, is preferred by most. The highest good is that which is desirable in and for itself. Lesser goods are sought as means for something else. Brother explains very convincingly that, whereas the will seeks the good, happiness is in its possession. That is to say, along with Saint Thomas, happiness is in the intellect, which is the faculty of the highest form of possession, i.e., knowledge. “[W]e shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is” (1John 3:2). Eternal Life is thusly called “the Beatific Vision”. After speaking about the Fatima children and the visions and messages, Brother demonstrates how the seers were happy in holiness — translated, blessedness. The second part of his talk is a beautiful reflection on the eight beatitudes as manifested in the short lives of two of the Fatima children and in the patient endurance unto death of all three of them as they hungered and thirsted for justice (holiness). The seers of Fatima, as Brother colors in the details so well, truly lived the Beatitudes in a heroic way.

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