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In October 1930 Bishop da Silva declared that the apparitions at Fátima were "worthy of belief," and approved public devotion to the Blessed Virgin under the title Our Lady of Fátima. The Vatican granted indulgences and permitted special Liturgies of the Mass to be celebrated in Fátima.
In 1939, Eugenio Pacelli, who was consecrated as a bishop on 13 May 1917 — the day of the first apparition — was elected to the papacy as Pius XII. He is considered to have become "the Pope of Fátima.”
In 1940 after World War II had started, Sister Lúcia asked Pope Pius XII to consecrate the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On 31 October 1942, Pope Pius XII, in a radio address to the people of Portugal, discussed the apparitions of Fátima and consecrated the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin, with specific mention of Russia. On 8 December 1942, the Pontiff officially and solemnly declared this consecration in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
At the end of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI renewed the consecration of Pius XII to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the final and historic consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pope John Paul II on 25 March 1984 consecrated Russia and the world in a public ceremony at St. Peter's in Rome; the consecration was in the form of a 'whole-world consecration' carried out in union with the Catholic bishops throughout the world. Pope John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life following an assassination attempt on 13 May 1981, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima.
Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
13 May
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima in honor of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto at the Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal. The series of apparitions began on 13th May 1917 and were repeated on the 13th of every month till 13th October 1917. During these apparitions, Our Lady gave them several important messages on making reparation for the offenses committed by mankind against God, to pray the Rosary every day and practice devotion to her Immaculate Heart in order to have world peace.
Apparitions of the Angel of Peace:
A year before the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the children witnessed three apparitions of the ‘Angel of Peace’ who appeared to them for the first time in the Spring of 1916. The Angel taught them prayers and prepared them for their upcoming mission.
At the first apparition the angel told them “Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” As he bowed down and prayed three times “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You!.” Then he told the children “Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.”
At the second apparition, he asked them “What are you doing?” “Pray! Pray very much! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High. Make everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission, the suffering which the Lord will send you.”
At the third apparition he was holding a chalice in his hands, with a host above it from which some drops of blood were falling into the sacred vessel. Leaving the chalice and the host suspended in the air, the Angel prostrated on the ground and repeated this prayer three times “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.” Then rising he took the chalice and the host and gave the host to Lucia and the content of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco saying “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God. He again repeated three times the prayer he taught them “Most Holy Trinity...”
Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Almost a year later, on May 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to them in the first apparition. She said “Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm! I am from heaven.” She asked them to come to the same site on the 13th of every month at the same hour for the following six months. Then she asked them if they were willing to offer themselves to God and bear all the sufferings He wills as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended and for the conversion of sinners. When the children, who were already prepared by the Angel of Peace for this mission, agreed to submit themselves, the Mother Mary said “then you are going to have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort” and as she said this she opened her hands. A light so intense streamed forth from her hands and its rays penetrated their hearts and the innermost depth of their souls, making them see themselves in God, who was that light. Then they spontaneously prayed the prayer taught to them by the Angel “O Most Holy Trinity, I adore You, My God, my God, I love You in the most Blessed Sacrament!” The Blessed Virgin told them “Pray the Rosary every day, in order to obtain peace for the world, and the end of the war.”
In the second apparition, Lucia asked Our Lady if they would go to heaven to which she replied that she would take Jacinta and Francisco soon to heaven whilst Lucia would have to stay a longer time on earth as Jesus wished to use Lucia to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She assured Lucia “I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.” Again as the Blessed Virgin spoke her hands radiated the intense light. In front of her right palm was a heart encircled by thorns which pierced it. This was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity and seeking reparation.
At the third apparition In July 1917, Our Lady asked them to continue praying the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary for world peace and end of war. She told them that in October she would perform a miracle for all to see and believe. She again told them “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice ‘O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” She then gave them a vision of hell saying “you have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.“ She asked for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. She promised saying “If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
After this vision of hell, Lucia writes in her Memoirs, “At the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: ‘something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in white; ‘we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross, he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.}” Our Lady then told Lucia, “When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: “O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need.”
At the fourth apparition Our Lady asked that the Rosary be prayed at Cova Da Iria on the 13th of every month. Then, looking very sad, Our Lady said:
- "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them”
At the sixth apparition on 13 October 1917, Lucia writes in her Memoirs, Our Lady asked that “a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect on the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself. After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Dolours. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel. Thousands came to Cova Da Iria to witness the miracle promised by Our Lady in the third apparition."
The Visionaries:
Two years later, the visionaries, Jacinta and her brother Francisco died of influenza as prophesied by Our Lady. They are buried at the Sanctuary of Fátima. They were beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 May 2000 and canonized by Pope Francis on 13 May 2017.
Lúcia was sent to the school of the Sisters of St. Dorothy. She later joined the Discalced Carmelite Order in a monastery in Coimbra, Portugal in 1949 taking the name, Sister Mary of the Sorrowful Mother. Lúcia died on 13 February 2005, at the age of 97 and is entombed. Lucia wrote about all the visions they saw and the messages given by Our Lady during the apparitions in her Memoirs.