Our Lady of Fatima
I have dedicated this page to Our Lady of Fatima
In 1917, an event occurred which cannot be explained by modern science. In my opinion, this is one of the most profound events that has ever occurred which supports the existence of God. This event occurred within the last 100 years which is fairly recent compared to the events in the bible. The Miracle of the Sun was predicted months in advance and was witnessed by 70,000 people. The oldest child, Lucia became a nun and Lúcia died on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97. Her long life was predicted in the visions while the other two children died young as predicted. Lúcia's cousins, the siblings Francisco (1908–1919) and Jacinta Marto (1910–1920), were both victims of the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1919. The prediction of WWII and the rise and fall of Communism in Russia also were predicted. There were many atheists present during The Miracle of the Sun and many became believers on the spot. If you have never heard of this event, please read further and click on the links here to learn about it.
This message was meant for the entire world to hear not just Catholics. It doesn't matter which denomination you are. It is a message to all Christians as well as non Christians and even atheists.
This is the account of what happened according to Wikipedia :
Between May and October of 1917, three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto reported visions of the Virgin Mary in the Cova da Iria fields outside the hamlet of Aljustrel, very close to Fatima, Portugal. They had this experience on the 13th day of each month at approximately the same hour. Lúcia described seeing Mary as "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."
A photostatic copy of a page from Ilustração Portugueza, October 29, 1917, showing the crowd looking at the miracle of the sun during the Fatima apparitions (attributed to the Virgin Mary)
According to Lúcia's account, Mary confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fatima. She exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most important, Lúcia said Mary asked them to say the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace. Many young Portuguese men, including relatives of the visionaries, were then fighting in World War I.
Thousands of people flocked to Fatima and Aljustrel in the ensuing months, drawn by reports of visions and miracles. On August 13, 1917, the provincial administrator Artur Santos (no relation), believing that the events were politically disruptive, intercepted and jailed the children before they could reach the Cova da Iria that day. Prisoners held with them in the provincial jail later testified that the children, while upset, were consoled by the inmates, and then led the inmates in saying the Rosary. Administrator Santos interrogated the children primarily about the alleged secrets, but was unsuccessful in his attempt to discover what those secrets were.
Santos went so far as to feign the preparation of a pot of boiling oil, and then removed the children one by one from his interrogation room, claiming that each removed child had been boiled to death in the oil, and urging the remaining child to divulge the secret so as to avoid a similar fate. That month, instead of the usual apparition in the Cova da Iria on the 13th of the month, the children reported that they saw Mary on August 19 at nearby Valinhos.
On October 13, 1917, the final in the series of the apparitions of 1917, a crowd believed to be approximately 70,000 in number, including newspaper reporters and photographers, gathered at the Cova da Iria in response to reports of the children's prior claims that on that day a miracle would occur "so that all may believe". It rained heavily that day, yet, countless observers reported that the clouds broke, revealing the sun as an opaque disk spinning in the sky and radiating various colors of light upon the surroundings, then appearing to detach itself from the sky and plunge itself towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, finally returning to its normal place, and leaving the people's once wet clothing now completely dry. The event is known as the "Miracle of the Sun".
Columnist Avelino de Almeida of O Século (Portugal's most influential newspaper, which was pro-government in policy and avowedly anti-clerical), reported the following "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws-the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people." Eye specialist Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem reported "The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceeding fast and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat". The special reporter for the October 17, 1917 edition of the Lisbon daily, O Dia, reported the following, "...the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds...The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands...people wept and prayed with uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they."
Lúcia (right) and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco.
No movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time. According to contemporary reports from poet Afonso Lopes Vieira and schoolteacher Delfina Lopes with her students and other witnesses in the town of Alburita, the solar phenomena were visible from up to forty kilometers away. The three shepherd children, in addition to reporting seeing the actions of the sun that day, also reported seeing a panorama of visions, including those of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of Saint Joseph blessing the people. The Benedictine historian of science, Fr. Stanley Jaki, has suggested that the apparent movement of the sun was a hallucination caused by an atmospheric inversion (though that it was experienced by all of the gathered crowds seems a less than likely explanation), but that the children's foreknowledge of the apparent sign was miraculous... (go to Wikipedia to read more or click on the links below):
There was a movie made in 1952 about what happened in Fatima:
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
The Miracle of Fatima is also included in the Films of Faith DVD:
There are also many books available about Fatima. Here are some of them:
"Fatima: The Story Behind the Miracles"
by Renzo Allegri & Roberto Allegri:e
"Our Lady of Fatima"
by William T. Walsh
"The Children of Fatima and Our Lady's Message to the World"
by Mary Fabyan Windeatt
Links:
Wikipedia
http://www.fatima.org/
http://www.culturalcatholic.com/LadyFatima.htm
http://www.theimmaculateheart.com/
http://www.wafusa.org/
http://www.ewtn.com/fatima/index.htm
How to say the Rosary:
https://secure.www.pacifier.com/rosary-center.org/howto.htm
http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm
Photos:
Lúcia (middle) and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco:
Lúcia (middle) and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco:
Lucia Santos:
Lúcia, Jacinta and Francisco at the Cova:
On September 13, 1917, 30,000 people came to the Cova to see what would occur. One month later, on October 13th, more than twice as many (70,000) would assemble to view a promised miracle:
Actual picture of the heavy rain storm that broke out upon the crowd
that came to see the predicted miracle:
Additional photo from the Miracle of the Sun:
Additional photo from the Miracle of the Sun:
Sister Lucy in 1945, at age 38:
Luciawith Pope John Paul II:
Lucia with Pope John Paul II:
The Beautiful Cathedral in Fatima, Portugal:
The Beautiful Cathedral in Fatima, Portugal:
Please help spread the message of Fatima to others. Most young people have never heard it before. Please add her and place her in your Top Friends. May God bless you.
For year after year, the song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin has been voted the number one hit of all time by rock and roll fans. For a long time, this song has made me think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Maybe she's been trying to tell us something. "There's still time to change the road you're on." Here are the lyrics:
Stairway to Heaven
By Led Zeppelin
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
And when she gets there she knows if the stores are closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And it makes me wonder
There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And it makes me wonder
And it's whispered that soon, if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen
Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
Woe oh oh oh oh oh
And it makes me wonder
Your head is humming and it won't go in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady can you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadow's taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
And she's buying a stairway to heaven