In 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, you counseled three shepherd children, saying, “My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”
. . . For guidance for ourselves, pray for us.
For counsel for how to love those who I find difficult to love, pray for us.
It was May 13, 1917. The US had just joined the allies in WWI, and three children – 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta Marto, 7, and Francisco Marto, 8 – were tending their family’s sheep. The Três Pastorinhos (three little shepherds) saw a bright light in a place called Cova da Iria. Then, beside a small oak tree, a woman shining brighter than the sun revealed herself.
Only Lucia could speak with her. She identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary and told Lucia she would appear there on the 13th for the next six months. Each month, the children returned to the spot and saw her, although she was invisible to others. Lucia requested a miracle to persuade people to believe in their visions.
On the Virgin’s sixth appearance in October 2017, a crowd (estimated from 30,000 to 70,000) witnessed the promised miracle.
The Miracle of the Sun Persuades the People
The massive crowd assembled near the oak tree. Soaked by cold rains, they awaited their miracle on muddy fields. Our Lady of Fátima appeared to the children, telling Lucia a chapel should be built there in her honor and predicting the end of the war, which resolved about a year later, on November 11, 1918.
When Our Lady ascended, the wet cloudy skies suddenly cleared and the sun danced. For about ten minutes, witnesses watched the sun twirl and blaze, scatter a rainbow of colors, plunge to the earth and zigzag back into place. The crowd found themselves suddenly dry, despite the hours of soaking rains. Contemporaneous newspaper articles reported on the phenomenon.
"The Story of the Shrine of Fátima in Portugal"
Grand European Travel
Mr. Blue Sky,
Please tell us why
You had to hide away for so long
(So long)
Where did we go wrong?
. . .
Hey there, Mr. Blue,
We're so pleased to be with you.
Look around,
See what you do . . .
. . . and today
Is the day we've waited for.
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