Kowtows Are Not New

July 29, 2020

This is not the first time the kowtow has been revealed in private revelation. At Fatima in 1916, the Angel taught the three children to kowtow. The Angel taught them new prayers together with a new prayer posture. (The Six Kowtows are a mere variation of this basic posture.)

In his first apparition, after he approached them, the visionary Sister Lucia recounted, “He said, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.’ Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the ground, and made us repeat these words three times: ‘My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.’ Then, rising, he said: ‘Pray thus. […]’ His words engraved themselves so deeply on our minds that we could never forget them. From then on, we used to spend long periods of time, prostrate like the Angel, repeating his words, until sometimes we fell, exhausted.”

After the angel called them to generously pray and do penance in his second apparition, Sister Lucia related, “It was for this reason that we began, from then on, to offer to the Lord all that mortified us, without, however, seeking out other forms of mortification and penance, except that we remained for hours on end with our foreheads touching the ground, repeating the prayer the Angel had taught us.”

Before the third and final apparition of the Angel, Sister Lucia wrote, “As soon as we arrived there [a hill where they were shepherding], we knelt down, with our foreheads touching the ground, and began to repeat the prayer of the Angel: ‘My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You…’ I don’t know how many times we had repeated this prayer, when an extraordinary light shone upon us. We sprang up to see what was happening, and beheld the Angel. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which some drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice suspended in the air, the Angel knelt down beside us and made us repeat three times: ‘Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.’ Then, rising, he took the chalice and the Host in his hands.” As he gave them Holy Communion he said, “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.’ Once again, he prostrated on the ground and repeated with us, three times more, the same prayer ‘Most Holy Trinity…’ and then disappeared. We remained a long time in this position, repeating the same words over and over again. When at last we stood up, we noticed that it was already dark, and therefore time to return home.”

Finally, before Sister Lucia received her final apparition on June 13, 1929, in her convent’s chapel, she was kowtowing while praying the Angel’s prayers.)