In the small, remote village of Fatima, Portugal during the turbulent year of 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times to three young, illiterate shepherd children. These humble visionaries - Lucia dos Santos, aged 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged 9 and 7 - were graced with heavenly visions and messages that would change the world and the course of the 20th century.
On May 13th, while tending their family's sheep on the sun-drenched hills near Cova da Iria, the children witnessed a brilliant figure appearing above an oak tree, "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." This was the first of six monthly apparitions of the radiant Lady.
In this initial apparition, the Lady instructed the children to pray the rosary daily for an end to the raging World War I. She revealed to them two secrets foretelling another world war in the near future, the rise and fall of Russian Communism, and pleading for devotion to her Immaculate Heart as the path to world peace.
Over the next five months, crowds of thousands gathered at the Cova to witness any sign of the Lady's return. The children fell into ecstasies, enraptured by visions and messages only they could perceive. They revealed that the Lady had shared a three-part secret: a vision of hell, predictions of future events, and a mystery not to be revealed until much later.
The final apparition on October 13th was a spectacular event witnessed by 70,000 pilgrims who had defied government orders not to gather. After the Lady had spoken her final words to the children, the sun appeared to tumble from the sky in a terrifying zigzag motion, casting brilliant colors across the landscape. The sun then appeared to grow larger and plunge towards the earth before resuming its normal place in the heavens. This "Miracle of the Sun" left the crowds stunned and the land and their rain-soaked clothes instantly dry. It was undeniable proof of the supernatural events unfolding.
The Lady of the message seems to have read with special insight the 'signs of the times', the tragedy of a world at war and in the grip of the 'dragon' of murderous hatred. ~ Doctrine of the Faith
For decades, the three secrets entrusted to the children remained cloaked in mystery and speculation. The first two parts were revealed by Sister Lucia in the 1940s, describing the vision of hell and the request for Russia's consecration to the Immaculate Heart. However, the third and final secret was not divulged until the year 2000 by order of Pope John Paul II.
This third part contained a chilling vision of a "Bishop in White" shot down amid the corpses of many martyred priests, religious, and lay faithful. While open to interpretation, many believe it foretold the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. The Pope himself credited Our Lady of Fatima for sparing his life that day, as the attempt occurred on May 13th, the anniversary of the first apparition.
At the heart of Our Lady's messages to the children of Fatima was an urgent call for prayer, penance, and radical conversion of heart. She asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, for the practice of the First Five Saturdays devotion to make reparation for sins against her, and for the daily recitation of the holy rosary.
"Pray, pray a great deal and make many sacrifices, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them," she pleaded to the children. Her words echoed Christ's gospel message: "Pray constantly, and do penance. The times are evil, so as to avoid eternal damnation, one must pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners."
The Lady's requests were a clarion call for spiritual renewal and reparation in the midst of the unprecedented violence, godlessness and immorality unleashed by World War I. She promised that faithfully heeding her requests would bring peace: "In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph...and a period of peace will be granted to the world."
The message of Fatima is a call to conversion and repentance, a summons to prayer and the Christian life. ~ St John Paul ll
The three children embraced Our Lady's messages wholeheartedly, even as they faced ridicule, interrogation by authorities, and imprisonment. They remained unwavering in their accounts of the apparitions and in living out the Lady's requests for prayer and penance.
Francisco and Jacinta tragically died just a couple years later in 1919 and 1920 during the European flu pandemic, having borne their suffering with supernatural heroism. Lucia went on to become a Discalced Carmelite nun, living until 2005 as the messenger of Fatima's prophecies to the world.
The children's lives bore witness to the truth and urgency of Our Lady's appeals. As Lucia recounted, "The Most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one heeds her message...They continue to outrage the Lord...As for the conversions of sinners, we must not lose heart. Let us redouble our prayers and sacrifices."
Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze. ~ Sister Lucia, one of the Fatima visionaries
As we reflect on the dramatic events and messages of Fatima over a century later, we are invited to imitate the fidelity, courage and zeal of Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia. Through the daily rosary, first Saturday devotions, sacrifices and offering up our daily duties, we can heed Our Lady's pleas and work to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart in our lives, families and the world.
In our era of rampant secularism, immorality and hostility towards the Catholic faith, Our Lady's Fatima messages have particular urgency. We are called to be modern-day apostles through our witness of prayer, penance and living the gospel without compromise. As she promised the children, this is the path to peace and the triumph of truth.
Will you answer the call to prayer, penance and conversion that came through the children of Fatima? Turn your heart to Jesus through the maternal mediation of Mary, allowing her to lead you along the path of repentance, holiness and fidelity to the Church's teachings. In this way, you can be an instrument of her Immaculate Heart's triumph in the world.
As we commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, let us carry her messages into our lives, nurturing peace, conversion, and hope in our communities and our hearts. Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
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