On May 13, 1917, in a place called Cova da Iria ("Valley of Peace"), near Fatima, Portugal, three shepherd children, ten-year-old Lúcia Santos and her cousins, nine-year-old Francisco and seven-year-old Jacinta Marto, saw a woman who was more radiant, like the sun.
The Lady encouraged the children to pray and asked them to come to Cova da Iria on the 13th of every month. The children fulfilled the request and the Holy Virgin appeared to them again on the 13th of June, July, September and October. (The apparition took place on the 19th of August, as the children were detained for questioning on the 13th.)
Word of the apparitions spread quickly, and the last time, on October 13, 1917, about 70,000 people were present in Cova da Iria. It was then that the famous "miracle of the sun" happened: the sun grew in size, began to rotate, and then seemed to fall to earth.
“We stood there, burning in the light that is God, and we did not burn. What a God! You can't tell. Yes, we can never say that.” (Francisco Marto)
During the apparitions, Our Lady entrusted secrets to the shepherd children. Lúcia did not talk about these for a long time, and then in the 1940s, on the instructions of her bishop, she wrote down the secrets.
The first of the three secrets is the vision of hell and the prediction of the punishments that await the world if it does not listen to Mary's admonition; the second secret is the revelation of the veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is a star of hope for the peace of the world and the salvation of souls. These secrets were made public in 1942.
Sister Lúcia delivered the third secret in a sealed envelope to XXIII in 1959. to Pope John, who after reading it decided not to reveal its contents. On making it public II. Pope John Paul decided in 2000.
Excerpt from the secret: “[…] we saw a bishop dressed in white, whom we felt was the Holy Father. […] he went with stumbling steps […], reaching the top of the mountain, he fell on his knees at the foot of the great cross, and a group of soldiers, shooting at him with firearms and arrows, killed him.”
II. On May 13, 1981, an assassination attempt was committed against János Pál in Szent Péter Square. Regarding the coincidence between the first day of the Fatima apparitions and the date of the assassination, he said: "I don't know who put the gun in the hands of the killer, but I know who deflected the bullet, an invisible hand, a mother's hand guided him."
A year after the assassination, the Holy Father made a pilgrimage to Fatima to give thanks to the Virgin. The bullet that wounded him is still kept in the crown of the statue of Mary in Fatima.
Fulfilling the request of the Holy Virgin II. Pope John Paul II offered humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984.
Francisco and Jacinta died as children in 1919 and 1920. II. Pope John Paul II canonized them on May 13, 2000, on his third trip to Fatima, and Pope Francis canonized them in 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition in Fatima. Their liturgical holiday: February 20.
Sister Lúcia died on February 13, 2005, at the age of ninety-seven.
Source: Hungarian Courier
