Our Lady of Fatima
May 13
The Blessed Virgin Mary is venerated under this
title following apparitions to three shepherd children — Lucia,
Jacinta and Francisco — in Portugal in 1917. The message of Fatima
includes a call to conversion of heart, repentance from sin and a
dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially through praying
the Rosary. This optional memorial is new to the USA liturgical
calendar and is inscribed on May 13.
Today is also the feast of
Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
This title was given to our Blessed Mother in May 1868 by Saint
Peter Julian Eymard to honor her relationship to the Holy
Eucharist and to place her before us as a model in our duties and
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine. He was famous throughout Europe as a theologian, and as a strenuous defender of the Faith in controversy with Protestants. He joined the Society of Jesus, and was later made Cardinal and Archbishop of Capua. His numerous writings include works of devotion and instruction, as well as of controversy. He died in 1621, and was canonized and declared Doctor of the Church in 1931. His feast in the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite is celebrated on September 17.
Our Lady of Fatima
The famous apparitions of the Virgin Mary to the children of
Fatima took place during the First World War, in the summer of
1917. The inhabitants of this tiny village in the diocese of Leiria (Portugal) were mostly poor people, many of them small
farmers who went out by day to tend their fields and animals.
Children traditionally were assigned the task of herding the
sheep.
The three children who received the apparitions had been brought up in an atmosphere of genuine piety: Lucia dos Santos (ten years old) and her two younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta. Together they tended the sheep and, with Lucy in charge, would often pray the Rosary kneeling in the open. In the summer of 1916 an Angel appeared to them several times and taught them a prayer to the Blessed Trinity.
On Sunday, May 13, 1917, toward noon, a flash of lightning drew the attention of the children, and they saw a brilliant figure appearing over the trees of the Cova da Iria. The "Lady" asked them to pray for the conversion of sinners and an end to the war, and to come back every month, on the 13th.
Further apparitions took place on June 13 and July 13. On August 13 the children were prevented by local authorities from going to the Cova da Iria, but they saw the apparition on the 19th. On September 13 the Lady requested recitation of the Rosary for an end to the war. Finally, on October 13, the "Lady" identified herself as "Our Lady of the Rosary" and again called for prayer and penitence.
On that day a celestial phenomenon also took place: the sun seemed to tumble from the sky and crash toward earth. The children had been forewarned of it as early as May 13, the first apparition. The large crowd (estimated at 30,000 by reporters) that had gathered around the children saw the phenomenon and came away astounded.
Official recognition of the "visions" which the children had at
the Cova da Iria came on October 13, 1930, when the bishop of
Leiria - after long inquiry - authorized the cult of Our Lady of
the Rosary at the site. The two younger children had died:
Francisco (who saw the apparition but did not hear the words) on
April 4, 1919, and his sister Jacinta on February 20, 1920. Sister
Lucia died on February 13 at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra,
Portugal, after a long illness.
Excerpted from Dictionary of Mary,
Catholic Book Publishing Company.
The Message of Fatima
The public message of Fatima recalls that of Lourdes. Through the
children Mary urges prayer for sinners, recitation of the
Rosary,
and works of penance. On October 13 she said: "I have come to
exhort the faithful to change their lives, to avoid grieving Our
Lord by sin; to pray the Rosary. I desire in this place a chapel
in my honor. If people mend their ways, the war will soon be
over."
But Mary also confided several "secrets" to the children, some of which Lucy subsequently transmitted. Presumably there was prediction of another war in the near future and a request for special veneration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The final secret Lucy is thought to have entrusted to Pope John XXIII.
As at Lourdes, the "apparitions" of Fatima have brought crowds of visitors. Pilgrimages, which began in the summer of 1917, have experienced growing success, not only among the Portuguese themselves but also among people from other countries, including the United States. The national pilgrimage following ecclesiastical recognition of the apparitions (May 13, 1931) is said to have drawn more than a million participants.
Popes have shown exceptional favor toward Fatima,
Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II in particular making a visit
to the shrine. The papal interest has helped to swell the summer
pilgrimages to Fatima and the basilica built at the site of the
apparitions. Crowds comparable to and sometimes larger than those
at Lourdes are not uncommon. In a rustic setting, pilgrims hear
the message repeated that Mary spoke to the children: prayer,
works of penance, recourse to her Immaculate Heart.
Excerpted from
Dictionary of Mary, Catholic Book Publishing Company.
Things to Do:
Visit Catholic Culture's special section on
Our Lady of Fatima.
