May 13 - Our Lady of Fatima
On May 13th, 1917, at the tail end of the Great War, three small Portuguese children were tending their sheep when they were greeted by a resplendent figure. A beautiful woman in white appeared to the children: Lucia dos Santos (9) and her cousins Jacinta Marto (6), and Francisco Marto (8).
“Please don’t be afraid of me, I’m not going to harm you,” the lady said, telling them that she was from heaven. She wore a white mantle with gold trim with a rosary in her hand. The lady asked them to “say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” She told them that they would experience great suffering in their life, but they would go to heaven. Francisco and Jacinta, she said, would go very soon, but Lucia would have to wait.
The lady visited them six times in total, each time telling them to pray and sacrifice for sinners. She showed them visions of hell and secrets of the future. Many of the “secrets” predicted the suffering of the world during the 20th century. Perhaps the most impactful of all the messages was: “My Immaculate Heart will triumph,” reminding the world that the war for the soul of the world has already been won. The children received persecution and disbelief from all corners throughout the months during the apparitions, even spending a night in prison.
On the last visit, on October 13th, 70,000 people showed up in the pouring rain to witness the apparition. That day, the lady revealed that she was the Blessed Virgin, proclaiming: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” Then the crowd witnessed an immense miracle, the sun appeared to dance in the sky, changed colors, and seemed to briefly plunge towards the earth. The heavy rain – which had left the people soaked to the skin and wading in mud – disappeared, leaving the ground, the crowd, and their clothes dry as a bone.
The visionary siblings, Jacinta and Francisco, both died not long after, but Lucia lived a long life, passing away in 2005 as a Carmelite nun and bearing witness to Our Lady of Fatima’s message. The messages and apparitions of Fatima received formal approval from the Catholic Church, and the site of the apparition has become a pilgrimage site where many miracles and healings have occurred.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.