The Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima, now mostly known as the World Apostolate of Fátima, is a public international association of the Christian faithful that has as its general purpose "the promotion of the authentic teaching of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the strict adherence to the tenets of the Gospel; the personal sanctification of adherents through faithful adherence to the Message of Our Lady of Fátima and the promotion of the common good by the spreading of that Message of Fátima".

History

The Blue Army was founded in 1946 by Rev. Fr. Harold V. Colgan, parish priest of St. Mary of

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

(US). Father Colgan had fallen seriously ill and was hospitalized. During his illness he prayed to Our Lady of Fátima that if she should cure him he would spend the rest of his life spreading devotion to her. He attributed his recovery to his prayers and began preaching to his congregation on a regular basis about the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. He summed up the message of Our Lady's apparition as this: * Devotion to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

, * Daily recitation of the Rosary and * Righteous observance of the duties of one's state of life. His message was highly successful; however, he wanted to make more of a lasting impression upon his congregation, and so he added two further items of his own invention. The first was a signed promise that one would try to uphold these values and the second was to wear a blue ribbon or blue medal in order to remember the promise. This was also a success and the congregation all enrolled. It was then that Fr. Colgan began to think about extending this to other parishes and other nations. Thus was born the Blue Army, from Colgan's own words: "We will be the Blue army of Mary and Christ, against the

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

of the world and of Satan." Fr. Colgan began preaching his message and gained success, especially with the assistance of writer John Haffert who began delivering conferences on the message of Fátima and the Blue Army. Colgan then went to the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

in May 1947 to meet

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius ...

in order to present his project for approval from the

pontiff A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was la ...

. The foundation of the International Blue Army took place at the House of Pontevedra, Spain, where Mary is said to have appeared to request Communion of Reparation every First Saturday. Currently, there are over 20 million members.

World Apostolate of Fátima

The World Apostolate of Fátima has its world headquarters in the '' Domus Pacis'' ("House of Peace"), a pilgrim guest house in

Fátima, Portugal Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities o ...

. While the Blue Army was founded in 1947, because of its rapid spread around the world, it became necessary to erect a new society. The Decree of Erection of the World Apostolate of Fátima was signed on 7 October (the Feast of the Holy Rosary), 2005. Then on 3 February 2006, the World Apostolate of Fátima held an official ceremony for the consignment of the decree and the approval of its statutes at the

Pontifical Council for the Laity The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their co ...

in Rome.

Organization

The Apostolate is broken up into prayer cells which are found in parishes throughout the world. These cells fall under state and national Apostolate centers which in turn are subordinate to the International Secretariat based at Fátima in the ''Domus Pacis''. The International Secretariat exists in order to coordinate the activities of the organization throughout the world and to carry out the policy decisions of the board of trustees, an elected group of nine members of the Apostolate who represent various regional centers of the Apostolate. They meet once a year to discuss the internal affairs of the Apostolate. As of 2017, Donal Anthony Foley was the secretary, World Apostolate of Fátima, England and Wales.

Membership

Membership in its most basic sense is through making a Pledge promising the following: * To offer up every day the sacrifices demanded by one's daily duty to the faithful observance of God's law * To say five decades of the Rosary daily while meditating on the mysteries * To wear the

brown scapular The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (also known as the Brown Scapular) belongs to the habit of both the Carmelite Order and the Discalced Carmelite Order, both of which have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as their patroness. In its small form, it ...

of Our Lady of Mount Carmel as a sign and reminder of personal consecration to Our Lady and * On the first Saturday of five consecutive months, with the intention of making reparation to the

, confess and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep company with Our Lady for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary. The official pledge of membership is:

I pledge myself to Our Lady and wish, thereby, to join the World Apostolate of Fátima.

Dear Queen and Mother, who promised at Fátima to convert
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and bring peace to all mankind, in reparation for my sins and the sins of the whole world, I solemnly promise to Your Immaculate Heart:

# To offer up every day the sacrifices demanded by my daily duty # To pray at least five decades of the Rosary daily while meditating on the Mysteries # To wear the Scapular of Mount Carmel as profession of this promise and as an act of consecration to You, # To accomplish the devotion of the
Five First Saturdays The First Saturdays Devotion, also called the Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Catholic devotion which, according to Sister Lúcia, Sister Lúcia of Fátima, was requested by the Veneration of Mary in the ...
of the month, including the fifteen-minute meditation on the Mysteries of the Rosary. I shall renew this promise often, especially in moments of temptation.

The daily offering mentioned is traditionally the following:

O my God in union with the
Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...
''(here kiss the brown scapular)''. I offer Thee the Precious Blood of Jesus from all the
altars An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...
throughout the world, joining with it the offering of my every thought, word and action of this day.
O my Jesus, I desire today to gain every
indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...
and merit I can and I offer them, together with myself, to Mary Immaculate – that She may best apply them to the interests of Thy Most Sacred Heart. Precious Blood of Jesus, save us! Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Thus are delineated the primary devotions of the World Apostolate. These are the devotions mandated by the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Apparitions at Fátima. Traditionally this pledge is printed, and signed by the person who desires membership. It is also traditional that this signed pledge is then sent to the international headquarters in Fátima where it is then taken and buried near the shrine there. Aside from the daily offering, recitation of the rosary, the wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the five Saturdays in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Apostolate also recommends to its members the practices of nine first Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Home

Enthronement An enthronement is a ceremony of inauguration, involving a person—usually a monarch or religious leader—being formally seated for the first time upon their throne. Enthronements may also feature as part of a larger coronation rite. ...

of the Sacred Heart, and family consecration to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

and the

. A further practice associated with the World Apostolate is the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fátima. There are several designated "pilgrim statues," however the primary one is the international pilgrim statue which has traversed the globe several times since its sculpting in 1947 by José Ferreira Thedim. The purpose of the statue is to renew interest in Catholic parishes in the message of Fátima, and to stir up affection to Our Lady.

Blue Army Shrine

The National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, in Washington Township (

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

), New Jersey, is located on and rises over the Muscontecong Valley. It hosts more than 50,000 pilgrims annually.

The Apostolate symbol

The symbol of the apostolate consists of a pair of

doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

forming an image of praying hands holding a rosary. These are then surrounded by an image of a brown scapular, containing the words in Latin ''Orbis Unus Orans'' ("One World Praying"), the motto of the Apostolate. All of these surmounted on a blue disc, blue being the symbolic

liturgical color Liturgical colours are specific colours used for vestments and hangings within the context of Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, blue, white, green, red, gold, black, rose and other colours may serve to underline moods appropriat ...

of the Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church.

Media

In 1996, John Haffert (co-founder of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima) spoke about Fátima and his book ''Meet the Witnesses'' in which he interviewed nearly 200 witnesses to the Fátima miracle, describing their detailed witness accounts. In 1985, the organization largely financed the film ''State of Emergency'', originally advertised under the title ''Chain Reaction''. Starring

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

, the film concerns a nuclear physicist who determines that

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...

experiments may lead to global destruction. The physicist travels to Portugal to investigate the Fátima prophecies, believing they may describe his fears. The film was produced by Richard Bennett and written by Ray Cunneff, based on an article on nuclear tests by Rand McNally Jr. Of the production, Martin Sheen said, "The fact that it's even being done is so extraordinary. A film about a man's subtle transformation, about a spiritual journey he's compelled to take…amazing! It's hard to find anything where you can project your personal feelings." The film's budget was $6 million. It also starred

Peter Firth Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme '' Spooks''; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lif ...

and

Tim Pigott-Smith Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he wo ...

. The World Apostolate of Fátima USA has published ''Soul Magazine'' quarterly since 1950. The editor is Barb Ernster.

References

External links

The National Blue Army Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima Web Page
- Asbury, NJ {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Army Of Our Lady Of Fatima Our Lady of Fátima Catholic advocacy groups Christian organizations established in 1946 1946 establishments in New Jersey Non-profit organisations based in Portugal International Christian organizations