This is recorded in the Book of Jashar. The sun halted halfway across the heavens; not for an entire day did it press on."---(Joshua Ch. 10 vs. 13)
In the year of our Lord, 1917, God deigned to send His Mother to three shepherd children, Lucia, aged 10, Francisco, 9, Jacinta 7. The place was Fatima, Portugal a remote village filled with peasants and hard working families. Lucia was cousin to siblings, Francisco and Jacinta. Together they would shepherd their family's flocks on property owned by Lucia's family.
These were very devout children, but nothing out of the ordinary. What I mean is, they were taught at a very young age about the tenets of their Faith. They had a devotion to God, but at that age, it was a developing relationship---much like any normal Catholic children have. Nonetheless, Our Lord chose them to receive some of the most important messages for our times.
It was on May 13, 1917, while the shepherds were out with their flocks, they saw what they describe as a luminous globe, resting upon a holmoak tree in a part of the land called "Cova de Iria." In the middle of this globe of light, stood a very beautiful lady, who looked no older than 18 years of age. She spoke to the children and told them not to be afraid, for she came from Heaven. She told them she had a mission for them, one that was very important, and asked if they wished to take upon themselves this mission. The children agreed. For the next months, Our Lady appeared on this very same spot on the 13th of every month. With every visit, she disclosed the important message, and the children's important mission. The main theme of this message was to pray for sinners. Our Lady described the evil that was spreading in the world. A philosophy was coming out of Russia, she told the children, a philosophy that was Godless and militant. What she described to the children, was the spread of communism. Atheistic, militant communism has murdered more people in all of civilized history. At the time of this apparition, marxism was not widespread, and ordinary folk did not know much about it, most especially children, nor would even understand Marxism. (The exception was leaders of certain nations, who at this time were fighting for Marxist principles to become the norm in their rule of law. Portugal's own rulers were flirting with it.) At the very moment, Our Lady was giving this warning, the Bolshevik revolutions were going on in Russia, deposing the monarchy and putting into place a regime of murderous, atheistic thugs who would rule Russia and spread their evils around the world for the next 75 years. (One would argue that this philosophy has evolved into the socialistic principles we see driving certain politics in our own country.)
Our Lady showed the children how to offer up their sufferings for the reparation of the sins of the world. Jesus invites every believer to take a part in the suffering He did for us. This is why St. Paul writes, "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2)
Our Lady also bestowed upon the children 3 secrets which were revealed in their entirety to the Church and the world in the year 2000. These secrets were the vision of hell, shown to the children during the first apparition. The children described the earth tearing open, and all sorts of beasts and fire, smells and noises arrising from the pit. Lucia describes what she said were souls "dancing to and fro in the fire, never finding a surface to rest, never finding relief from the scorching pain of the flames." Our Lady then told the children that they had seen "Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go because no one will pray for them. Most go to hell for the sins of the flesh." (Sins of the flesh are immorality, sexual sins, masturbation, indecent thinking, partaking in pornagraphy, fornication, adultery, lusts, impure thoughts.) The second secret was the prophecy that a worst war was coming if mankind did not cease in offending God (this prophecy was fulfilled with the rise of the NAZIs and WWII), and the last was a vision of the Church Militant on earth. It was a vision showing Catholic laity, religious, bishops and even the Pope losing our lives at the hands of our enemies. This has been interpreted as to have already passed, in the many wars of the 20th century, where countless Catholics lost their lives to militant atheism. (I wonder, though, if this is still to come?)
This takes us to October 13, 1917, 95 years ago today. On this day, God allowed a miracle to take place, only so that the doubting would BELIEVE in these messages, and put into practice the prayers, supplications and sufferings that Our Lady asked the children as well as all of us to participate in for the salvation of souls. God allowed the sun to "dance" at Fatima. Here are some pictures of that event:
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It had actually been raining that day, but after the Sun spiraled and came closer to the earth, the onlookers were suddenly dry as well as the ground they were walking on...
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| photo of the onlookers watching the sun as it danced in the sky |
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picture of the crowds that day at the Cova
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| People look at the sun, and fall on their knees in prayers to God |
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the crowds that day
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| Inset of "O Seculo," the marxist, left-leaning newspaper of Fatima |
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| Even the liberal/marxist leaning newspaper could not help but rave about what their reporters had witnessed of the Miracle of the Sun! |
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After the apparition was finished, people wanted to get close to the children, they had to be shuffled away quickly. This picture shows a soldier who took pity on Jacinta, and carried her through the crowd so the crowd would not get to her...
During this last apparition, the sun began to spiral and all colors of light flew off the sun. It appeared in a way so as not to hurt the eyes of anyone who watched it. The sun seemed to break away from its place in the noon day sky and "dance" across the sky, going from one direction to the other. At one point, during this "dance," the sun seemed to be flying down towards the earth. This sent the thousands at the Cova in great fear. Many souls who had not been living right, at that moment were converted.
In 1930, after a decade and a half of research, in-depth investigation, interviews of witnesses and family members, the apparitions at Fatima were deemed "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! Bl. Jacinta and Bl. Francisco, pray for us! |
