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Our Lady of Fatima

Of all the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, none has so captivated the world as her appearance to three children at Fatima, in Portugal, in 1917. The three children were Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Our Lady urged them to pray and do penance, for the conversion of sinners.

Portugal, like many countries during that time, was experiencing a heavy-handed wave of secularization. Government officials forced the children to undergo harsh interrogations, and even jailed them for a time. On the 13th day of one month, the clergy worked with the civil authorities to actually highjack the children on their way to the place where they customarily met the Lady.

But no one could deny the change that was taking place in the lives of Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco. They got serious about prayer; and they undertook severe fasting and other traditional means of penance. Their personal conversion made their witness credible to the world. And indeed the world was taking notice. American and European newspapers stationed reporters in Fatima to track the progress of the story. Spectators present on October 13, 1917 witness the miracle of the sun. The apparitions even made it to the front pages of the faraway New York Times.

The details of the story were sometimes sensational- but they were true. The Lady had given the children certain messages they could share with the world, and others they were to keep secret. Speculation ran wild about the content of the three secrets, which were gradually divulged over the next 83 years. What are the secrets of Fatima? The first was a vision of hell, which inspired the children to do greater penance for the conversion of sinners. The second secret was about evangelization. The Blessed Virgin called for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart-and asked Catholics to make a Communion of reparation on the First Saturday of every month. The third secret was kept under wraps until the turn of the millennium. It included an apocalyptic vision of history as it was about to unfold. Pope Benedict XVI said, it was primarily about the suffering of the Church. Its message, then, is perennial as much as it was particular. When asked about the hidden "secret" of Fatima, Pope Saint John Paul II would take out his own Rosary and tell people that "This...is the secret of Fatima." The visionaries at Fatima foresaw the great trials of the twentieth century-like the rise of communism and the horrors of the World Wars. But their secret is still relevant, and it's there in plain sight. It's prayer. It's the way we draw close to Jesus in the mysteries of the Rosary.


The Bible and the Virgin Mary Video Bible Study
MARY AS YOU'VE NEVER SEEN HER
Exactly who is the Blessed Virgin Mary? Can you explain her role in God’s plan for the world? Do you fully understand the vital role she plays in your life?

While Catholics know Mary is important, many never fully grasp how essential she really is. Now they can. The Bible and the Virgin Mary unveils the mystery of Our Lady that is woven into the fabric of Sacred Scripture.