PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is two fold:



Our KEY Premise: The Blue Army was legitimate and was fulfilling the requirements that Our Lady requested; no other 'replacement' movement was needed nor seems to have the legitimacy and ample official Ecclesiastic endorsement that "The Blue Army" originally had.


PLEASE NOTE:

(a) Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from the book "Dear Bishop" by John Haffert (1).

(b) For those who wish to pursue this very serious matter further, we have indicated the page number from which the quotation was taken. In addition, within Haffert's book there are many quotations from other sources. Therefore, those quotations cited by him are credited immediately after the page number in this document.

(c) Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation are indicated as "Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation".

While there are many other passages in the book that support each element under consideration here, only a few, that were deemed sufficient to make our point, were selected for this document. The reader is invited to study further, to determine for himself the validity of our premise.


BACKGROUND

The key "Background" to the founding of The Blue Army is the Messages and Requests of Fatima. Thus, first, we must recount portions of said Messages.

p.6 The very first question Our Lady put to [the children at Fatima]: "Will you be willing to accept whatever God will send you and to offer it up for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary?"


p.322 "If men do not listen to my words Russia will spread her errors ... promoting further wars and persecutions ... The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will suffer much and various nations will be annihilated." - Our Lady, July 13, 1917

p.6 [Sr. Lucia, the remaining witness of Fatima] "The Rosary is not the most important request" ... the essential request ... was ... 'Will you be willing to accept whatever God will send you and to offer it up for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary?' ... she emphasized that it is the fulfillment of one's daily duty, according to one's state in life ... which is the primary condition for turning back of the tide of evil which threatens today's world, and which will also bring us the great favor of the conversion of Russia and an era of peace for mankind."

p.9 We are responsible ... Our Lady spoke these soul-shattering words: "Continue to make sacrifices! So many souls are lost because there is no one to pray and make sacrifices for them!


DETAILS

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Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: Using a pledge (3) that embodies the elements of the Fatima prophecy, the Blue Army invites people who promise to daily fulfill Our Lady's terms for world peace.

p.7 The pledge (3), as I wrote it down during the course of this interview [with Sr. Lucia] contained the following conditions: Pray the Rosary daily; wear the Scapular as a sign of consecration to the Immaculate Heart; offer up the sacrifices demanded by daily duty, extending our Morning Offering through the day.

p.25 ... the Blue Army is essentially an extension of the [daily] Apostleship of Prayer ... a response to those very first words of Our Lady to the children of Fatima: "Will you be willing to accept whatever God will send you and to offer it up in reparation for sin and for the conversion of sinners?" ... offering all that we are, have and do through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in union with the Sacrifice of the Mass...

p.26 The Blue Army in its basic and simplest form is really like the opening of the door of the human heart to the heart of Mary, and through the heart of Mary to an intimate union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist.

p.27 This is ... an army of prayer and sacrifice, an army on its knees.

p.320 [Bishop (of Leria-Fátima Diocese) Venancio]" ... this is the great and important task of the Blue Army: to mobilize these ... forces and bring them to conscientious service of the Church, to collaborate with other movements, to give new life to the various forms of apostolic activity."

p.322 [Bishop Venancio]"The task of The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima consists in making known to the whole world the Message of Fatima, by all means at its disposal so that men of all nations will realize it in their personal lives."

p.153 The Bishop emphasized that perhaps one of the unique aspects of the Blue Army is that its membership is open to every person, in every walk of life, and it includes bishops, priests and religious, as well as laity.

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(a) Russia


(b) The World in General


(c) Our Spiritual Maturity


Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: The Fatima Plan from God through the Virgin Mary was for the conversion of Russia, the conversion of the World, and the maturing of the faithful. This Plan was fully and openly endorsed by Pope Pius XII, so why would we need other "plans" such as the one proposed by the Marian Movement of Priests?

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p.7 We had completed the [Blue Army] pledge (3), and she was satisfied. "Yes", [Sr. Lucia] said, "these are the basic things which must be done in order to obtain the conversion of Russia."

p.216 ... we developed the international motto of the Blue Army: Orbis Unis Orans ... "one world praying" ... We look to Our Lady appearing at Fatima with Her hands folded in prayer, and hearing Her message, we try to unite the world in prayer with Her to bring about the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart and the fulfillment of that great promise: "An era of peace to mankind."

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: The Blue Army was founded for the fulfillment of the Messages of Fatima (which were fully approved and accepted by all Popes and many, many members of the Clergy and the Hierarchy). Therefore, why was it necessary to create the Marian Movement of Priests (MMP), which is based on alleged locutions (which, to this date, do not have explicit, official approval by the Church authorities)?

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p.33 The Blue Army is a response to the Message of Fatima – both in its simplest form as an extension of the Morning Offering through the day, and its far more complex form as a complete program of being born into intimate union with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus through living our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

p.77 ... article from Cardinal Tisserant [Dean of College of Cardinals ... and intimate of Pope Pius XII] describing the Blue Army as "the response to the message of Our Lady of Fatima," ... Our "Queen needs this army for her spiritual victory." "The Blue Army should make known to the whole world, and not just to Catholics, what is necessary in order that peace may reign at last in the whole world."

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: The Blue Army promoted only the request of Our Lady of Fatima, thus, one must ask 'Whose plans are the other movements promoting?'

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p.108 ... but finally, in a solemn meeting, which was attended by Cardinal Tisserant, the statutes were adopted, and then presented to the Holy See for approval. The congregation in charge of such matters (before the Council) gave them approval "ad experimentum" (which was the normal procedure).

p.160 ... Bishop de Silva, first Bishop of Fatima, who said: "You may promulgate this [pledge (3) and plan] as coming from me," and how he subsequently encouraged us ... [and] appointed a Canon to draw up statutes which he then presented to the Holy See for formal approval, thus establishing an official ... Blue Army with the approval of Rome.

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: The Blue Army statutes were approved at the highest level of the Roman Catholic Church. Other groups' statutes have not received such approval. As a matter of fact, not even the Rector of the Sanctuary of Fatima in Portugal was aware of the MMP's activities in Fatima as late as 1995. (4)

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(a) The Blue Army was endorsed by Pope Pius XII...


(b) and by Pope Paul VI...


(c) and had the support of Padre Pio...

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p.26 ... two additional goals: 1) to cause those fulfilling the pledge (3) to deepen their response in association with others... 2) to encourage and to organize militant members who will spread this message throughout the world...

p.77 The result was a magnificent article from Cardinal Tisserant describing the Blue Army as "the response to the message of Our Lady of Fatima, "and quoting the Scripture attributed to Our Lady, namely that She is "like an army in battle array," and that the Queen needs this spiritual army for Her victory.

Later Cardinal Tisserant was to give the Blue Army its greatest mandate when he said: "The Blue Army should make known to the whole world, and not just to Catholics, what is necessary in order that peace may reign at last in the whole world."

In addition to being Dean of the College of Cardinals - and therefore the most important Cardinal in the church, Cardinal Tisserant was also an intimate of Pope Pius XII and perhaps had more influence with the Pope than any other member of the Curia.

p.113 [Bishop Hasterich wrote] "... I see in the Blue Army a great rallying force for all people of good will who are desirous of following the teachings of Christ ... [and] as a means of coordinating various devotions to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and His Blessed Mother."

p.208 Again the Queen of the World was showing Her power, Her own personal direction to Her "Army."

p.218 [words of a leader in the U.S. Blue Army work] "Our Lady appeared to me and told me that She wanted me to join this Apostolate, and that She was its General..."

p.223 [The Bishop of Fatima's] thoughts naturally turned to the only World Apostolate of the Fatima Message, the Blue Army.

p.236 I thought it important to include this all-too-brief reference to St. Joseph so that all Blue Army members will recognize that he is one of the leading 'generals' in Our Lady's troops!

p.278 ... Bishop Venancio said that the forces of evil must indeed recognize it as the Queen's Army even though its only weapons are the Rosary and the Scapular, because an army of evil can be overcome only by an army of holiness.

p.288 [Bishop John Reiss] ... We can storm heaven so that this message handed to us by Our Lady, according to the will of Her Son, may again be heard. We must change our lives. We must live differently; we must root out of us evil in all its forms. We must pray for this, but above all we must continue so that by example we may bring many more voices to the union of prayer so that God will hear the requests of Our Blessed Mother, that She may be our advocate and win for us the peace of Christ.

p.305 What seems most important … and what I think Bishop Ahr had in mind when he asked me to record these remembrances is to attribute to Our Lady the raising up of an army in response to Her Fatima warnings and promises, and that this victorious army (with the victory assured by Our Lady Herself) must experience many setbacks ... and even many defeats.

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p.130 The article, titled "Tragicomedy in Four Acts," cited three factors which, in Soviet eyes, had prevented the atheistic revolution from having taken over the entire world in the fifty years since the success of Lenin's storming of the Winter Palace in Leningrad.

The first was Hitler, the second was the Cold War, and the third was The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima. These incessant and violent attacks have certainly damaged us on more than one occasion. (ed. -- see full transcript, Appendix IV, pp 334-340)

p.208 The Apostolate began to develop on a world scale ... despite the increasing effectiveness of Soviet propaganda directed against it ... charges that the Apostolate of Fatima was a weapon of the CIA and a political "export" of Portugal ... a colonial power ruled by fascists, which held millions in slavery in Angola and Mozambique.

p.215 The greatest evidence of their effectiveness came ... when ... more than a million people turned out to honor Our Lady on the Communist May Day.

p. 276 ... the only major deterrent remaining to the global triumph of communism is, according to the Russians' own admission, The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima.

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: Since the prayerful activities of the members of the Blue Army had such well-documented results why was it necessary to replace it with another movement? Are we now witnessing here Revelations 12: 15-17 ?

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p.45 ... Bishop of Fatima began to look on the Blue Army as the most important of all Fatima activities. He not only encouraged us to build an International Center near the Basilica to foster the Apostolate in the world, but in his last days, the very first thing he asked his secretary each morning was: "What news is there today of the Blue Army?"

p.48 ...Lucia replied: "Do not be discouraged ... Look at the United States, a country so often associated with materialism, and yet there is the Blue Army!" and "today there is something more: Today there are legions like the Blue Army in the United States..."

p.65 and after asking his [Fr. Lord's] advice, [I] received the answer: "If you and Fr. Colgan join forces, there will be an explosion for Our Lady."

p.65 ... there was a marvelous biblical foundation for wearing a blue ribbon in Numbers: "The Lord said ... put tassels on the corners of their garments, fastening each with a blue cord ... that the sight of them will remind you to keep all the commandments of the Lord, without going astray after the desires of your hearts and eyes..."

p.69 But what to me is most marvelous and consoling as I recall that last visit with Monsignor before he died is that from the day of his death we have never lacked a priest to take his place.

p.74 ... Maria de Freitas ... was also translating most of the other international correspondence, she realized that the only true effective Apostolate of Fatima that was developing in the world was the Blue Army.

p.122 one of the most brilliant pages in the history of our Apostolate was written from 1967 until 1971, when pilgrim statues of Our Lady of Fatima were crowned simultaneously by 50 bishops, for more than 70 countries around the world.

p.124 The Pope made this most evident in a gesture which certainly surprised me ... In the midst of the ceremonies, His Holiness took Lucia by the arm and marched her to the front of the platform before that immense crowd and the clusters of television cameras which were carrying this incredible sight to hundreds of millions around the world.

p.131 ...She disclosed that " My Son has heard your prayers" [for peace]. At Fatima, She promised not only peace, but also the conversion of Russia. She appeared in blue, crowned as a Queen, with two crosses next to Her head - one East and one West. Four candles were burning in an oval which surrounded Her. And as the Rosary was prayed, the entire apparition increased in size in the night sky.

p. 139 ... as the years passed, and the Apostolate mushroomed like the proverbial mustard seed...

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: After having been opposed at the highest level at the Vatican, Paul VI affirmed the mission of the Blue Army ... to have Our Lady crowned "Queen of the World".

p. 200 ... the person of 'average' sanctity could not stand up at the center of this conflict [spiritual battle with Satanic forces], without not only great personal sanctity, but also without the prayer support and companionship of similarly dedicated souls ... That special vocation of Sr. Mary Miranda, of the Felician Province of Lodi, New Jersey, [was] ... to pray and sacrifice herself for the Apostolate in general, and finally to found ... the Blue Army "House of Prayer", to be a 'spiritual heart' of the Apostolate...

p.202 ... community founded by Our Lady for this Apostolate, to bring about the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart in the world: a special vocation for a special purpose.

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: Other 'coincidences' and miracles too numerous to mention are related throughout the book; the author himself states (in p.244) "...if I start talking too much about such revealing incidents ... and the marvels that we experienced, we will run into volumes." These incidents and marvels led the author and the leadership of the Blue Army to purchase properties, icons, etc. and to produce a television series, all without debt – among many other things – to do the work of Our Lady in promoting the Blue Army.

p.311 [Mr. Haffert states] Perhaps some readers may have perceived very different signs of Heaven's approval of this Apostolate, such as the fact that Lucia herself drew up the pledge (3), that the first Bishop of Fatima authorized its promotion and ...the second Bishop of Fatima became its active promoter and International President. But certainly not less important a sign ... has been the participation of [my own Bishop, George Ahr]...

There is also the great sign of the intervention of Rome, in the person of the most important Cardinal of the Church, Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, Dean of the Sacred College. He became in reality the first "Cardinal Protector" of the Apostolate.

Still other readers might consider the greatest sign to be Padre Pio's endorsement of the Blue Army as the 'ideal apostolate' of our time, and that the venerable stigmatist consented to be the Spiritual Father of all those who would live up to their Blue Army pledge (3). For me personally there are other signs...

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Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: Any work undertaken for the Glory of God will be the subject of various kinds of attacks from satanic sources. While some opposition may be permitted so as to guide us into a 'right' path, discernment is required to persist in the face of an attack meant to divert one from the work of the Lord. The earlier attacks on the Blue Army were clearly meant to destroy the work, but ultimately they were overcome and became, instead, glorious victories.

p.20-21 [following a failed attempt to unionize the workers of the Apostolate] ... we had reason to believe that Communists were behind this – because of our program for the 'conversion of Russia' ...

Opposition and problems and more opposition have been our lot from the very beginning. How could it be otherwise? Satan was there the day that Our Lady announced that his program to extend the errors of militant atheism throughout the world would be crushed by Her – that She would convert Russia and bring an era of peace to mankind ... Mighty forces were being raised up by Our Lady to sustain [us]

p.36 ... what would be their reaction when confronted with this particular formula which claimed to embody the essential requests of Our Lady for the conversion of Russia? Was there not a possibility of it becoming a subject for debate?

p.29 Such opposition, even when subtle (like the book in France which claimed that the Blue Army was financed by Archbishop Lefebvre) or blatant, like published claims in Portugal and Spain that the Blue Army is a branch of the CIA, is understandable.

p.117 [after hiring a Madison Avenue agency to] "break through" to the consciousness of the general public ... the [poll] results were unbelievably poor ... many people did not even know what atheist meant ... many television stations refused [to air commercial spots that were] of a religious nature ... [then] my wife developed [numerous physical ailments] ...

p. 125 I cannot tell Your Excellency how much I suffered at some of these international meetings! Many European members seemed to resent the fact that the Apostolate originated in the United States...

p. 128-129 Strangely the name "Blue Army" gave us more trouble than any other particular aspect of the Apostolate. Msgr. Colgan…said to me: "John, tell them that if they want to change the name, it is all right with me. Let them vote for another name.

" They thought of "Crusade," but the representative from Italy made it known that Pope John XXIII specifically said that he did not like the word "crusade" to be used because of its recollection of the actions of some of the "Crusaders" who had stormed Constantinople. In the end, an overwhelming majority confirmed the name "Blue Army." ... But as time passed, the Communists were indeed able to "smear" the name of the Blue Army - which, as it turned out, they considered the number one deterrent to the success of their world revolution.

p.167 Despite the opposition of many around the Pope (and I emphasize around the Pope)...

p.203 [religious communities that supported the Blue Army have] gone through untold hardships ... extremely difficult path ... Satan seems to know the harm that he is bound to suffer in the future from these chosen, totally dedicated ... and does everything in his power ... to prevent their foundation and ... development.

p.205 I know how unceasingly the devil works to sow dissension, to create doubts, to block the way at every turn. To the complex problems ... is added the constant scheming and interference of an infernal enemy, infuriated with despair by the very words which comprise our hope: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart shall triumph..."

p.250 I could not understand why ... the secular press continued to ignore the Message of Fatima. It was like some diabolical conspiracy of silence.

p.251 [it seemed] that communication ... was arranged by the Communists in Poland who intercepted the Cardinal's mail

p.277 Enormous funds placed at the disposal of the Communist Party in Spain by Moscow were actually used to stop the Blue Army by: 1) well placed agents to influence the bishops directly; 2) pressure to [refer to] Communist Party as ... a form of Christian socialism rather than atheist Marxism; 3) propaganda in the right places to make this convincing; 4) Every major happening to call attention to Fatima [was] countered with something to undermine Fatima.

p.278 The French... 'Fatima: Inquiry into an Imposture' ... is a violent attack against the Blue Army and Fatima ... coincided with 'Fatima: The Miracle is a Lie' published in a leading Spanish periodical ... evidence of an internationally directed attack.

p.282-3 ... if Satan were not so effective in playing upon the threads of pride in a few individual crusaders who present themselves to become leaders. When these frictions happen, the bishops become reluctant to 'take sides' – and reluctant to have anything to do with an apostolate which lacks ... unity and charity.

p.306 We have mentioned ... the enemies we know ... the enemy we don't know [is] Satan. He is manifesting himself more than ever ... a serpent who is being crushed beneath a heel ... and all the grass thrashes about as though given life by his powerful presence.

p.307 what may take us unawares is the work of Satan upon ourselves and upon those working at our very side. In my opinion, the explanation is primarily Satan's 'entrance' by the doors of money, pride (feelings injured in persons who have not received the expected recognition) and in just the ordinary weakness of human nature.

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p.52 Was it Sr. Lucia, who, in the parlor of the Dorothean Convent on the outskirts of Porto, spelled out precisely the fundamental requests of Our Lady which must be fulfilled to bring about the conversion of Russia?

Should we be more correct however in saying that the first bishop of Fatima, the Most Rev. Jose Correia da Silva, was the founder of the Blue Army who said "with all the authority as bishop of the place of the apparitions: "You may promulgate this [the establishment of the Blue Army] as coming from me."

p. 54-55 It is said that "as far as the Blue Army was concerned, there were three: Bishop de Silva, Bishop Venancio, and yourself [Bishop George Ahr]."

p.55 Dr. Jose Galamba de Oliveira. He was the one who acted as liaison between Lucia and the Bishop...

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: Chapter 6 also credits Msgr. Harold Colgan as instrumental in the Blue Army from the very beginning, and was heavily involved in the work for 25 years.

p.55 [but, in fact] "...I hope I am making it clear that the real founder of the Blue Army was Our Lady Herself..."

Commentaries by The M+G+R Foundation: We know who was the force behind the establishment Blue Army; however, who was truly the force behind the establishment of the Marian Movement of Priests which came to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the Blue Army?

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John Haffert did not begin this work of his own accord, to make money or for his ego. He practiced strict obedience to Church authority in his life and in previous apostolic work long before the establishment of the Blue Army was undertaken. He did so even when it required great personal sacrifice. When circumstances seemed to point in the direction of this new apostolate, he repeatedly went to his spiritual advisors for confirmation and leadership.

He often spent his own money to further the interests of the Apostolate, not waiting for others to fund the work, but trusting that God would repay the money (or not) according to His will.

There are so many examples that could be quoted from the book that it would be impossible to recount them all. Yet Mr. Haffert did not write the book to defend himself; he only wrote it because his Shepherd, Bishop Ahr instructed him to do so on December 12, 1980. In every situation, he submitted himself to authority without regard for his own reputation or gain, as befits a man who serves God with all of his heart. He gained nothing, therefore, ...


Destroying its enemies' reputation does not seem to be an uncommon practice (5) for Opus Dei.

In this "Sea of Institutional Lies" (6), only those who have eyes to see, will "See". Regretfully, the parable of the virgins and the lamp oil [Matthew 25: 1-13] will finally be played out in Time soon.


IN CONCLUSION

"What to do?" the faithful seeking some guidance, will ask. Unfortunately, although the Blue Army still exists, it is not even the shadow of what it was at one time - physically and spiritually. Therefore, we would not recommend it "as is," for a number of specific and valid reasons which we will keep to ourselves.

Therefore, what we recommend is the formula that has always worked: Live the pledge (3). You do not need the "New and Improved" Blue Army. Their original "formula" was obviously a success when even the Soviets used the Blue Army as one of the key reasons for their failing to destroy the Faith worldwide.



NOTES             

(1) "Dear Bishop!" by John M. Haffert - Memoirs of the author concerning The History of the Blue Army - AMI International Press, Washington, N.J. 07882, USA - Copyright 1982 - ISBN0-911988-42-4

(2) Sr. Lucia's Memoirs - On Direct (Portuguese and English)

(3) The Blue Army Pledge

(4) The Marian Movement of Priests - In Conclusion  ||  The Rector of the Sanctuary of Fatima questions the standing of the MMP

(5) A typical example of the defamation of the character of an enemy of the Opus Dei

(6) The Vatican outright lies about the third part of the Secret of Fátima.






Published on December 12, 2004 - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe