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The time was 1916. World War I was terrorizing Europe and the communists were seizing control of the Russian empire. People lived in fear, with little hope for a better future. Into this moment of history, God sent his Angel of Peace - not to the leaders of the great warring nations, not even to the Holy Father in Rome - but to three humble children in a remote village in Portugal. Just as the first mortals to hear the glad tidings of Jesus’ birth were simple Judean shepherds, the first mortals to hear of God’s displeasure at the loss of faith and hope in the modern world were three little shepherds.
Lucia (nine), Francisco (eight), and Jacinta (six) lived simple and quiet lives. On a spring day in 1916, the children were tending sheep when they were startled by the appearance of an angel. The angel revealed himself as the Angel of Peace and taught the children a prayer. The angel appeared a second time to the children a few months later and asked them to make sacrifices to God. During his third and final appearance, the angel brought a chalice and Host. He gave the Host, the Body of Christ, to Lucia. He gave the chalice, the Blood of Christ, to Francisco and Jacinta. In this way, the angel prepared the children for the appearance of Our Lady.
On May 13, 1917, after praying the rosary, as was their custom, the children saw a brilliant light. A “lady more brilliant than the sun” appeared. She smiled and said, “Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.” Lucia asked her where she came from, to which Our Lady pointed to the sky and replied, “I come from heaven.” She directed the children, “Say the rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and the end of war.” With that, she departed.
Our Lady of Fatima appeared seven times to the children. Throughout her apparitions, she said that God wanted them to establish a devotion to her Immaculate Heart. She warned that the evil in the world would only get worse, and that the only hope for the world’s salvation would rest upon each person’s desire to embrace God and prayer.
News spread about the young children who claimed to be seeing the Blessed Mother. The children were scorned and even briefly imprisoned, but they continued to meet her on the 13th of each month. The Blessed Mother’s primary request was that the world needed to pray and to offer sacrifices to God for the salvation of souls.
She told them that Francisco and Jacinta would be joining her very soon in heaven but that Lucia would stay on earth for a long time.
On October 13, 1917, Our Lady appeared for the last time and revealed, “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” It was during this final apparition that the young children and 70,000 people witnessed what has come to be called, “The Miracle of the Sun.” Mary raised her hands to the sun and it began to move or, as eyewitnesses described it, “the sun began to dance in the sky.”
After the visions concluded, news of the young “seers” and the “Miracle of the Sun” reverberated throughout the world. As Our Lady had promised, Jacinta and Francisco soon passed away and joined her in heaven. They were both recently beatified. Lucia remained here on earth for many years, continuing to share Our Lady’s message of prayer and sacrifice with the world. After a lifetime of prayer and religious life, on February 13, 2005, Lucia, too, was called to join Our Lady and her Blessed cousins in heaven.
Today, the story of these three children whom the Blessed Mother called to share her message is known worldwide. Almost 100 years later, her message continues to resonate throughout the earth, inspiring hope and prayers through the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A magnificent stained glass window depicting the Miracle of the Sun, stands in the Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel in Fatima, Portugal.
Fatima Pearl Rosary and Holy Water Font
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