Miracle At Fatima
May 13, 1917:
Three children, Jacinta, aged 7, her brother Francis, aged 9 and their cousin, Lucy, aged 10 in the parish of Fatima as the Angelus bell sounded, knelt down by some evergreen oaks, two miles from their home to say the Rosary. In a bright sky, and with not a single cloud, in the brilliance of the midday sun, they were interrupted by a blinding flash of lightning. On the foliage of an evergreen oak, they saw a "beautiful Lady". The apparition asked them to come there for six months in succession, on the 13th of each month, at the same hour. In the month of October, 'I will tell you what I want" the beautiful Lady told the children.
She asked them to offer themselves to God, to make sacrifices and accept willingly all the sufferings God may send them in order to make reparation for many sins which offend God and obtain the conversion of sinners and make amends for all the blasphemous things committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Lady recommended them to recite the Rosary devoutly every day to obtain peace for the world. Contradictions began in the path of the children everywhere. On the 13th of June, the children returned to the oak tree. There was a flash of lightning and the Lady appeared. From this day onward the apparitions at Cova da Iria became the inevitable subject of conversation. Some believed, others jeered.
On the 13th of July, 1917, as the Lady appeared Lucy asked, "what do you want of me?" "You must recite the Rosary every day, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary to obtain the end of the war through Her endeavor, for only She can help you. Say after each decade, "Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy."
The church feigned ignorance of the events. The civil authorities arrested the children who were threatened with death. On August 13, there was an estimated crowd of 18.000 people. The flash of lightning was seen. The sun lost its brilliance. A white cloud appeared above the tree of the apparitions. But no one saw the Heavenly Lady. The children had been prevented from coming!
The fourth apparition appeared on August 19, 1917 at Valinhos as the children tended the sheep. "Pray, pray, very much, make sacrifices for sinners. Remember that many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. The fifth apparition, September 13, 1917, the Lady repeated the promise to work a great miracle on the 13th of October 1917 in order that all may believe the apparitions.
The Great Day, October 13, 1917:
The day was wet and gloomy and cold. The crowd grew to an estimated 70.000. 'I am The Lady of the Rosary. I want a chapel built here in my honor. The Rosary must be recited every day," Our Lady told the children. She predicted that the war (W.W. 1) would end soon. Men must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.
The sun had not appeared all morning. Suddenly the clouds opened wide with the sun at is zenith. The sun trembles, is shaken, makes some abrupt movements and finally begins to turn giddily on itself like a wheel of fire casting in all directions, like an enormous lamp, great beams of light, After four minutes it stopped, resuming a second time; gorgeous display of fireworks. After a short stop and for the third time, as to give them an opportunity to examine the facts carefully, the sun takes up again more varied and colorful than before, its fantastic display of fireworks, without a doubt the most glorious and most moving that has ever been seen on earth. All through these unforgettable 12 minutes the enormous multitude is there in suspense, immovable, almost in ecstasy, breathless, contemplating this moving drama, which was seen distinctly within a radius of more than 25 miles.
This was the great miracle promised which took place precisely at the time promised to compel mankind to believe in the reality of the apparitions, to obey the message which our Lady of the Rosary brought from heaven.
The terrible fall of the sun was the culminating point of the great miracle. The sun left its place in the firmament, falling from side to side, plunged zig-zagging upon the crowd below sending out a heat of increasing intensity. It was as if the Gospel prediction had occurred whereby the sun and the stars will fall in disorder upon the earth. With one accord, falling on their knees in the mud, the spectators, in a voice choking with sobs, made the most sincere act of contrition that had ever come from their hearts. Finally the sun stopping short of its vertiginous fall, climbed back to its place zig-zagging as it had come down, gradually recovering its usual brilliance to sit in a limpid sky.
The wonderful apparitions of Fatima have been confirmed by ecclesiastical approbations. (They have Church approval.)
It has been said it was no coincidence that in the year of the Great Prodigy of the Sun, Communism was launched upon the world. Our Lady had come to remind us of the unique and infallible means of salvation, strengthening our faith, inviting us to prayer and to flee sin, asking us to recite the Rosary daily and to consecrate ourselves to Her Immaculate Heart.
The grandeur of the wonderful Prodigy of Fatima is in proportion to the greatness of the dangers that threaten the world.
"HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL NOT PASS AWAY."
Source: Fatima, A Sign Post for the World.