“I am the Lady of the Rosary.” Such title was the revelation by Our Blessed Mother in Fatima to three children as she appeared to them for the sixth and final time on 13 October 1917. True to this title of Our Lady, she repeatedly asked the children in all six apparitions in Fatima to “say the Rosary every day,” for peace in the world and an end to the war. Before then, in the past five apparitions, the children only knew her as a “woman who comes from Heaven, all in white, more brilliant than the sun.”
The story of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin in a small village in Fatima, Portugal begins in the spring and summer seasons of 1916. It was during the time of the First World War when most of Europe was in much chaos. Three shepherd children, Lúcia Santos, 9, and her cousins Francisco Marto, 8, and his sister Jacinta Marto, 6, experienced visitation by a holy angel three times. The angel who identified himself as the “Angel of Peace” told them to constantly pray and offer their sacrifices to the Lord as an act of reparation for the sins of the world.
On 13 May 1917, Our Lady first appeared to the three children as a woman who “wore a white mantle edged with gold and held a rosary in her hand.” They were told that she would visit them again the following month in Cova da Iria, which indeed happened on June 13, the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua. In that second visit, Our Lady showed the children a vision of hell, reminded them of the daily devotion to the Holy Rosary, and spoke about taking Francisco and Jacinta to Heaven soon with Lúcia staying to lead a long life to spread Our Lady’s message and devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. Word of these visions and reports of miracles quickly spread in the following weeks that people began to flock to Fatima. Provincial officials thought of these reports as political threats and disruption. In spite of initial attempts to stop the children by jailing and interrogating them, no one could prevent the children from seeing Our Lady, which happened in a total of six apparitions.
The final apparition, remembered on this 13th day of October, was particularly significant because of Our Lady’s promise of a miracle to take place that day to show the people that the apparitions were true. A huge crowd of believers, onlookers, and reporters estimated to be 70,000 people came to witness that day. In what is now referred to as the miracle or phenomenon of the “dancing sun,” people saw the sun turn in circles and in zigzag movements as well as change in colors, even visible for up to forty kilometers away. Scientists had no recording of such phenomenon prior to this and it left most of the people with no doubt as to the veracity of the apparitions of Our Lady to the three children in Fatima. By 1930, the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima gave his “worthy of belief” approval and the Catholic Church declared the apparitions as authentic. To this day, pilgrimages to Fatima continue year round and devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary are widespread among the faithful Catholics in various parts of the world.
As Pope Benedict XVI stated, the message of Our Lady of Fatima remains consistent with what the Catholic Church has always taught, and that is the important role of prayer in the “salvation of souls” and the call for conversion of sinners, penance and sacrifice.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
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