The Errors of Russia
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused the Catholic Wise Guy to ponder again Our Lady of Fatima’s famous message about Russia. This prophecy was made at Fatima, Portugal in 1917 before the communists seized power in Russia in 1917. Our Lady requests:
“…the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church.”
The bloody history of the remainder of the 20th century reveals Our Lady’s requests were not heeded. The Communists came to power in Russia and spread their errors, first in their own country and then throughout the world.
Before considering the “errors” of Russia, let’s provide some background. As 1917 dawned, political, military, and religious thunderstorms crashed across the world. World War I had been raging in Europe and elsewhere for over two years with millions of casualties on both sides. Monarchs teetered, struggling to grasp their crowns under the stress of war and the challenge of democratic forces and the anti-democratic devotees of Marx.
Prior to the war, Catholicism had suffered from relentless attacks from modernist criticism. The war itself piled scandal upon scandal as the young men of “Christian” nations slaughtered one another. The war killed many and gave birth to millions of unbelievers.
Into this wild world, God sent his messenger extraordinaire, the Queen of Peace, the Blessed Mother, Mary. She appeared six times in Fatima between May and October 1917 to three shepherd children, who knew nothing of history or politics. Over time, they relayed what she told them. After years of study, the cautious Church approved the authenticity of these apparitions.
The Blessed Mother prophesied several major events during her six visits to the children, but in this little essay the Catholic Wise Guy will focus on only one – “the errors of Russia.” After seizing power in Russia in 1917 after the apparitions had ended, the communists consolidated their power over several years, and then spread their errors, first throughout Russia and then throughout the world. Russia’s fundamental error was “Communism,” an ideology developed by Karl Marx (a German) with cruel refinements added by Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tso-Tung, Pol Pot, and others. Under the Banner of Brotherhood, the Communists spread misery, terror, persecution, poverty, and death. Their capacity for evil exceeded even that of their step-brothers – the National Socialists (NAZIS), who knew a thing or two about death and destruction.
Many consider Communism hands down the most evil ideology ever inflicted upon mankind. It took a lot of Gulag and killing to achieve that distinction. Books have been written about Marx and Communism, but in this simple essay the Wise Guy offers only a few highlights of the German’s evil theory.
The Marxists disguised their darkness by presenting a shiny vision of a classless society summarized in Marx’s slogan, “From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs.” But this utopian vision, this banner of brotherhood, became a banner of blood in every country in which communism ruled. Here’s a partial list of these countries – the fourteen non-Russian republics of the Soviet Union (including Ukraine), Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Cuba, China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam. Perhaps their “banner of blood”explains why the flag of the Soviet Union was red. China’s flag is red too.
Communists in power ruthlessly fanned the flames of class warfare, and relentlessly persecuted Christians and other faiths – remember Marx called religion “the opiate of the people” and Mary predicted “persecutions of the Church.” The communists imprisoned and killed at rates much higher than the NAZIS. The Reds worked tirelessly to make all cultural institutions, including the family, subservient to the State. All truths about life, God, politics, and economics resided in the Party. Only the Party can define truth. Regarding family issues, Russia was the first country to have legal, widespread abortion and divorce. This is a corollary damage of Communism. Even today post-communist Russia has the highest abortion rate in the world.
Russia spread her errors until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Reality caught up with the communist lies. But Russia’s errors live on in other places bearing the Marxist/Leninist brand of hate, most notably in Communist China and Western Universities.
In 2022 Russia resumed her mischief-making by invading her fellow Slavs the Ukrainians. Russia’s soldiers no longer march under the Communist banner but for imperialist, land-grabbing Russia. Some consider this a new kind of “error” of Russia, but the Wise Guy considers it a replay of Czarist Russia.
What’s a good Catholic to do? Pray. Follow the requests of Mary. Support the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and participate in the “communion of reparation” on the First Saturdays of the month.
Peace, Brothers & Sisters.