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 50th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Fatima Scott 455-457 (1967)  100th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Fatima Scott 1652 (2017) From 13 May to 13 October 1917 the Blessed Virgin appeared to three children at Fatima, Portugal: Lucia dos Santos, Francesco Marto and Jacinta Marto. The Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated on 13 May). On 13 October, the date of the final appearance, the Miracle of the Sun occurred. During a rainstorm, dark clouds broke, and the Sun appeared to be spinning in the sky, shedding lights, and moving toward Earth before returning to its position in the sky. A crowd of 30,000 to 100,000 witnessed the event and their wet clothes and the damp ground inexplicably became dry. Witnesses to the event reported varying impressions and descriptions of the Sun’s appearance. The youngest of the Fatima children died in the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1919-1920. The oldest, Lucia dos Santos, entered a convent, eventually entering a Discalced Carmelite order in Coimbra, Portugal. During the remainder of her life she experienced visions of the Blessed Mother and Jesus. Sr. Lucia also described the appearance of the Virgin Mary in an authorized version of her memoirs. She died in 2005 at the age of 97. Sr. Lucia documented the three secrets of Fatima: (1) a vision of Hell, (2) devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and prayers for the reconversion of Russia (done by Pope John Paul II and the world’s bishops in 1984), and (3) a vision of the death of a pope and other religious figures, the latter of which was revealed in 2000. Later Pope Benedict XVI explained that the third secret not only pertained to the 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II but also could pertain to the suffering the Church is going through due to clerical sexual abuse. Millions of people make a pilgrimage to Fatima annually, with the largest crowds gathering on 13 May and 13 October. Several films have been produced about Fatima, the most recent released in August 2020. The two youngest children of Fatima were canonized by Pope Francis in 2017 on the first centenary of the apparitions. As of now they are the youngest persons canonized by the Church. REFERENCES: |
