Alexandrina of Portugal
and the Consecration
By Rev. Fr. Fabrice Delestre
The consecration of
the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, accomplished by Pope Pius XII on
October 31, 1942, was the result of the
 requests,
not of Sr. Lucy, but of another Portuguese woman, Alexandrina da Costa, known by
the name of Alexandrina of Portugal, who was born in Balasar, a village situated
between the cities of Porto and Braga, on march 30, 1904, a Good Friday. At the
age of 14, in order to defend herself against the perverse intentions of three
men who had entered the house where she was in the company of two other girls,
she jumped out of a window 12 feet high, and as a result of the fall suffered
damage to her spinal column that immobilized her in a painful martyrdom that
lasted until her death on October 13, 1955. it was to this victim that our Lord
gave the order to obtain from the pope the consecration of the world to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary. The first request dates from July 31, 1935, and
Alexandrina, who was already a voluntary victim of the Eucharist, offered
herself as well as “victim for the consecration of the world to our little
Mother in heaven,” Our Lord having urged her to obtain this consecration for
more than a year, finally her spiritual director, Fr. Mariano Pinho, S.J.,
transmitted this request for the consecration of the world on Sept. 11, 1936, to
His Holiness Pope Pius XI by the intermediary of his Secretary of State, Pacelli.
The Holy See then ordered the Apostolic Nunciature of Lisbon to initiate an
inquiry into the matter. On July 11, 1937, the Provincial of the Jesuits wrote
to the Nuncio, relating to him the conclusion of the investigation:
On the basis of the
information gathered, it is not possible to doubt the sincerity or the virtue of
the young woman. But since she does not show any outward sign that can probe the
divine origin of the locutions that she says she hears, the possibility of
illusion still remains.
It was Fr. Pinho who
was charged with preaching the spiritual retreat to the Portuguese bishops at
Fatima in June 1938; at the end of the retreat, the bishops wrote a collective
letter to Pope Pius XI:
Most Holy Father, the
Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon and all the archbishops and bishops of Portugal,
met at the Sanctuary of Fatima at the feet of the blessed Virgin Mary to renew,
in a spirit of thanksgiving, the consecration previously effected to her
Immaculate Heart, consecration which has saved Portugal, especially during the
course of the last two years, from the peril of Communism, exult with joy for
such a great and miraculous benefit accorded by the Mother of God. Humbly
prostrate at the feet of His Holiness, they insistently beseech Him that, as
soon as His Holiness shall judge the moment opportune, the entire world also be
consecrated to this most pure Heart, so that, at last, it might see itself
delivered once and for all from such great perils that threaten it from every
side, and that might reign the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ, by the
mediation of the Mother of God.
A few months after
this letter, our Lord sent to Alexandrina the external supernatural sign that
was to authenticate in the eyes of the Holy See that the request came from God:
the sign consisted of the young woman’s participation, physical and spiritual,
in the holy passion of our Lord. This phenomenon occurred every Friday from
October 3, 1938, and each time became more painful for the young woman: she, who
was normally incapable of moving, arose then in ecstasy to relive the passion of
Jesus. The phenomenon only ended on March 27, 1942, when, under the pontificate
of pope Pius XII, everything was ready for the greatly desired consecration. On
may 22, 1942 Jesus said to Alexandrina: “The heart of the Pope, the heart of
gold, is resolved to consecrate the world to the heart of Mary,” In fact, on
October 31, 1942, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 25th
anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, Pope Pius XII, speaking in Portuguese
over the radio, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a
consecration which he renewed on December 8, 1942, at Rome during the course of
a ceremony.
Since during the same
years Sr. Lucy had been petitioning the Vatican to obtain the consecration of
Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, this consecration of the world was attributed
to the requests of the seer of Fatima. Nevertheless the two requests are
distinct, as are their origins: the consecration of the world was due to the
requests and sufferings of Alexandra da Costa: the request for the consecration
of Russia is part of the message of Fatima, which has been transmitted by Sr.
Lucy. (See the brochure by Fr. Humerto Maria Pasquale, S.D.B.: Mensageira de
Jesus para a consagração do mundo ao Imaculado Coração de Maria, published with
imprimatur in 1980 by Cavaleiro da Imaculada, Porto. As far as we know, this
brochure has not been published in French [or English].)
In a letter dated
February 28, 1943, to the Bishop of Gurza about the consecration of October 31,
1942, Sr. Lucy wrote:
The good God has
already shown me that He is pleased by the act, even though incomplete,
accomplished by the Holy Father and by several bishops. He promises, in return
to put an end to the war soon. The conversion of Russia is not for now.
On May 4, 1943, Sr.
Lucy wrote in the same vein to Fr. Gonçalves: “Our Lord promises to end the war
soon, in consideration for the act which His Holiness has deigned to accomplish.
But as it was incomplete, the conversion of Russia will be later.” (See Fatima:
Intimate Joy, World Event, by Bro. Francis Marie des Anges, CRC 2nd
edition revised and corrected of December 1993, Ch. 11, p. 248.)
One might reasonably
think that it is because of the obstinate refusal of Pope Pius XI, between 1930
and 1935, to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that our Lord
asked Alexandrina to offer herself as a victim to obtain the consecration of the
world to this same Immaculate Heart. This consecration in the divine plan seems
to be a remedy of substitution, destined, not to avert the chastisements,
sufferings, and persecutions announced to Sr. Lucy in 1929, but to mitigate or
shorten them. In this perspective, Sr. Lucy’s expression “incomplete act” takes
on all its meaning.
«The Angelus»,June 2000, Volume XXIII,
No. 6 (Canada) |
