Kansans might have thought they had heard everything about the “Little Way” of Saint Thérèse. Many were surprised when attending a lecture given at two venues by TFP member Norman Fulkerson, titled: “Applying the Little Way of Saint Thérèse to Our Fatima Times.” Forty-five people attended a December 7 meeting in Topeka, while a smaller, but equally animated, audience attended one in Wichita on December 8.
Mr. Fulkerson described a unique aspect of Saint Thérèse’s spirituality developed by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira. He explained how the “Little Way” consists in accepting the “ordinary sacrifices” of life for the love of God. These sacrifices are not only the “painless” ones we commonly associate with the “Little Way,” but also the very painful sufferings which are still ordinary. For example: Saint Thérèse suffered tremendously from tuberculosis. However, as painful as the disease was, since it was not out of the ordinary for her times, her acceptance of the sickness was following the “Little Way.” The same could be said about influenza, which took the life of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto and cancer, which kills millions today.
Saint Thérèse suffered everything God sent her. This included a continual flood of small sacrifices both painful and not. This type of sacrifice is accessible to everyone and is exactly what our Lady of Fatima requested of the world. It is called a “Little Way” not because it is small and mediocre, but because it is simple and direct. Nevertheless, it requires amazing fortitude and fidelity.
“I have never read nor desired to read Saint Thérèse’s autobiography,” said one man at the Topeka gathering. “But after hearing this meeting, I am going home and will start reading it tonight.”
“I’ve never had a special devotion to Saint Thérèse” said one young lady, “but [this meeting] gave me some insight into her greatness, a greatness I never realized before… Now, I’ve got to read her autobiography…”
About the same time Mr. Fulkerson was lecturing about Saint Thérèse in Kansas, TFP Washington Bureau Chief Mario Navarro da Costa, was speaking in Miami, on a tour sponsored by the Cuban-American group Cubanos Desterrados from December 8-11.
On Decmber 8, Mr. Navarro da Costa and Cubanos Desterrados president Sergio de Paz were the only guests on a two-hour radio program on the Spanish-speaking Radio Mambi. Mr. Navarro da Costa linked the political situation in Latin America to the message of Fatima. He indicated that this has been a busy election season in Latin America and almost all the elections were won by leftists, some moderate, some radical.
However, he was quick to point out that if Lenin were alive today, he might change his famous “useful idiots” quote and refer to “useful moderates” instead. Mr. Navarro da Costa concluded: “The moderates by their anesthetizing and paralyzing role, prevent good reactions in public opinion and promote a smooth slide of centrist sectors of public opinion to the left.”
December 9 began with an interview on Telemiami Television. Afterwards, Mr. Navarro da Costa spoke to the group Unidad Cubana, an umbrella group for anti-communist Cubans in Miami. He warned against the risk of Cuba’s transformation into a “Caribbean China” with a vibrant free market economy controlled by the Communist government.
The next day Mr. Navarro da Costa presented the lecture: “Is There Still Hope for Our Chaotic World?” at the Coral Gables Country Club. His talk consisted in an overview of world trends in light of the Fatima message.
On the final day of his trip, Mr. Navarro da Costa was interviewed by Mr. Ariel Remos of the editorial board of Diario Las Americas at the headquarters of the prestigious Spanish language newspaper of Miami, in which he again related the recent developments in Latin America, linking it with the Fatima Message.