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On May 13, we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, looking to the Blessed Mother for peace and comfort in times of uncertainty. According to tradition, on May 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto, near Fatima, Portugal. The children saw her five more times in the months that followed, and she asked them to pray the Rosary daily and give devotion to her Immaculate Heart. During the last sighting, she told the children her name was The Lady of the Rosary and gave them a message of prayer, peace, and penance known as the “Secret.” The “Secret” was given in three parts in the years that followed.
That same year, in what later became known as the Miracle of the Sun, on October 13, 1917, throngs of the faithful who gathered in Fatima reported seeing the sun dance in the sky. This joyous miraculous event continues to bring hope to the faithful around the world, as Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has remarked:
Ninety years after the apparitions, Fatima continues to be a beacon of comforting hope but also a strong appeal for conversion. The light that Mary made shine into the eyes of the shepherd children and manifested to so many people in the miracle of the sun on 13 October, shows that God’s grace is stronger than sin and death.
The Story Unfolds
Lúcia later became a Carmelite nun and wrote her Memoirs in 1942, revealing the first two parts of the “Secret.” The first was a vision of hell, and the second predicted the end of World War I and the possibility of World War II.
However, it was not until the year 2000 that the third part of the secret was disclosed, describing the murder of a “bishop clothed in white.” This is believed to have been predictive of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.
After the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II wrote to Sr. Lúcia: “it was a mother’s hand that guided the bullet’s path and in his throes [he] halted at the threshold of death.” He later made a pilgrimage to Fatima, giving one of the bullets from the attempt to the shrine, where it was placed in the crown of the statue of Our Lady.
The Hope of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima has since become a beloved Marian devotion of protection and hope for those suffering, offering comfort through times of uncertainty.
Prayer to Our Lady of Fatima
O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
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