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Notre-Dame de Fatima
Apparitions de la Sainte Vierge à François né en 1908 (+4 avril 1919) et Jacinthe sa soeur née en 1910 (+20 février 1920) béatifiés par Jean-Paul II le 13 mai 2000 ainsi qu'à leur cousine Lucie née en 1907 (+13 février 2005) au Carmel de Sainte-Thérèse à Coimbra.
- Pèlerinage du pape François au sanctuaire de Notre Dame de Fatima à l'occasion du centenaire des Apparitions de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie à la Cova da Iria, 12-13 mai 2017
- Homélie de sa sainteté le pape Jean-Paul II pour la béatification des vénérables Jacinthe et François, pastoureaux de Fátima, au sanctuaire de Notre-Dame du Rosaire de Fátima, Samedi 13 mai 2000.
"Je te bénis, Père, d'avoir caché cela aux sages et aux intelligents et de l'avoir révélé aux tout-petits.
Je te bénis, ô Père, pour tous tes tout-petits, à commencer par la Vierge Marie, ton humble Servante, jusqu'aux pastoureaux François et Jacinthe.
Que le message de leur vie reste toujours ardent pour illuminer le chemin de l'humanité!"
- Dans le passage du deuxième au troisième millénaire, le Pape Jean-Paul II a décidé de rendre public le texte de la troisième partie du 'secret de Fatima'.
Fatima
est sans aucun doute la plus prophétique des apparitions modernes.
Mémoire de Notre-Dame de
Fatima au Portugal. La contemplation de cette mère très bonne dans l'ordre de
la grâce, inquiète de tout ce qui s'oppose aux hommes, rassembla, au lieu dit Aljustrel,
des foules de fidèles, dans la prière pour les pécheurs et dans une conversion
profonde des coeurs.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/2011/Notre-Dame-de-Fatima.html
« Statue pèlerine » ayant parcouru le monde depuis les années 1950
NOTRE-DAME de FATIMA
Apparition au Portugal
en 1917
Le pape Benoît XV
organisait une croisade de prières à Marie Médiatrice de toutes grâces, en vue
de sauver le monde alors dévasté par la première Guerre Mondiale. Une semaine
plus tard, son appel angoissé recevait une réponse des lèvres mêmes de la divine
Médiatrice.
Un dimanche, 13 mai 1917,
trois enfants gardent leurs brebis sur les collines de Fatima, au Portugal.
Lucie, âgée de 10 ans et ses cousins François et Jacinthe âgés respectivement
de le 9 et 7 ans sont les heureux choisis de la Vierge.
En entendant sonner midi
au loin, ils s'agenouillent et récitent le chapelet. Leur prière est
interrompue par la vue d'un éclair, puis d'un second plus brillant que le
premier. Le ciel est cependant sans nuages. Ô merveille! à quelques pas, sur
les branches d'un chêne vert, ils aperçoivent une belle Dame plus étincelante
que le soleil. Eblouis autant que terrifiés, les trois enfants veulent
s'enfuir, mais la mystérieuse apparition les rassure par un geste de maternelle
bonté et leur dit: «N'ayez pas peur, Je ne vous ferai pas de mal.»
Après quelques minutes
d'un silence extatique, Lucie ose demander: «Qui êtes-vous? -- Je suis du ciel,
répond la céleste vision, Je suis descendue pour vous demander de venir ici,
six mois de suite, le 13 de chaque mois.» La Vierge leur recommande de réciter
souvent le chapelet. «Vous ajouterez cette prière après le Gloria Patri: «Ô mon
Jésus, pardonnez-nous nos péchés, préservez-nous du feu de l'enfer, et
conduisez au ciel toutes les âmes, spécialement celles qui ont le plus besoin
de Votre miséricorde.» Puis, Elle Se tait et S'éloigne doucement, comme poussée
par un zéphir et disparaît dans la lumière du soleil.
À tous les 13 des cinq
mois suivants, les enfants ont la joie insigne de revoir la belle Dame. La
nouvelle des apparitions se répand rapidement dans la région. Le 13 juillet, la
foule des curieux atteint cinq mille et en août, elle se chiffre à près de
vingt mille. Enfin, le 13 octobre, environ soixante-dix-mille personnes
accourent malgré la pluie.
Tout à coup, le ciel
s'éclaircit, le soleil tremble... se secoue... et se met à tourner sur lui-même
à une vitesse vertigineuse, lançant d'énormes faisceaux lumineux et
multicolores. Les nuages, les arbres, les rochers prennent les teintes les plus
variées. Pendant que la foule haletante contemple ce saisissant spectacle, les
trois enfants voient la Très Sainte Vierge accompagnée cette fois de Jésus et
de saint Joseph. Ce prodige inouï dura une douzaine de minutes et fut aperçu
distinctement à plus de quatre milles à la ronde.
Ce miracle se réalisait
exactement au jour, à l'heure et à l'endroit annoncés, pour inciter les hommes
à croire à la réalité des apparitions et à obéir au message que la Très Sainte
Vierge apportait du Ciel. À Fatima comme à Lourdes, Notre-Dame recommandait la
pénitence et la récitation du rosaire. «Si l'on répond à Ma demande de faire
pénitence et de prier, la Russie se convertira et vous aurez la paix,» a promis
la Vierge Marie. «...Sinon, elle répandra ses erreurs dans le monde, suscitant
des guerres et des persécutions à l'Église. Les bons seront martyrisés, le
Saint-Père aura beaucoup à souffrir, plusieurs nations seront anéanties.» Mais
n'oublions pas que Notre-Dame de Fatima a ajouté: «À la fin, Mon Coeur Immaculé
triomphera.»
Tiré du Message Marial
par F.E.C., édition 1947, p. 82-90
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/notre-dame_de_fatima.html
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Anniversaire des
apparitions de Notre-Dame à Fatima
Homélie du Cardinal
Secrétaire d’Etat, Mgr Sodano
pour le
soixante-quinzième anniversaire
des apparitions de Fatima (13 mai 1992)
Messieurs les Cardinaux et vénérés confrères dans l'épiscopat, illustres
autorités, frères et sœurs dans le Seigneur !
« Mon âme exalte le Seigneur, et mon esprit tressaille de joie en Dieu mon
Sauveur, parce qu'il a jeté les yeux sur son humble servante. Oui, désormais,
toutes les générations me diront bienheureuse.[1] »
C'est avec une grande joie et une grande émotion que le Pape Jean-Paul II
s'unit à vous en ce glorieux 13 mai 1992 « pour louer et glorifier le Seigneur,
donateur de tout bien et pour bénir et remercier celle à travers les mains de
qui la munificence divine nous communique des torrents de grâces.[2] »
La Bienheureuse Vierge Marie a réservé à cette noble terre portugaise, « Terre
de Sainte Marie » parce qu'elle est consacrée depuis ses origines à la Mère de
Dieu, un rôle particulier, la favorisant par sa présence maternelle, ses dons
extraordinaires et ses messages de foi et de paix.
Le charisme de Fatima
Il y a désormais soixante-quinze ans que Marie éduque, de Fatima, non seulement
les simples croyants mais tous les peuples et toutes les nations de la terre à
la conversion, à la concorde, à la communion, à la solidarité, à la fraternité,
à la paix synthèse de tout bien, qu'il faut implorer comme don précieux de Dieu
à l'humanité.
Voilà le « charisme de Fatima », transmis par Marie à trois simples et pauvres
enfants, interlocuteurs privilégiés des merveilles du royaume de Dieu. C'est le
message évangélique qui voit dans la conversion et dans la prière les
instruments efficaces pour obtenir la paix dans la charité et dans la liberté,
comme horizon de l'existence quotidienne des peuples. rassemblés dans l'unique
famille de Dieu sous le Dieu sous le patronage de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie,
Mère de Dieu et Mère de l'Eglise et de l'humanité.
Après soixante-quinze ans, Fatima n'a non seulement pas perdu de son actualité,
mais a développé sa voix prophétique exceptionnelle. Les Souverains Pontifes
romains, qui au cours des années ont recueilli et médité avec foi l'exhortation
de Marie, en enrichissant l'attrait de cette terre bénie de leur parole
inspirée et de leur présence encourageante et bienfaisante, en sont un
témoignage précieux et qui fait autorité.
Pie XII et Fatima
En 1942 pour le vingt-cinquième anniversaire des apparitions, Pie XII (qui par
une mystérieuse disposition de la Providence avait reçu son ordination
épiscopale précisément le 13 mai 1917) alors qu'en Europe et dans le monde
entier sévissait la tragédie de la guerre fratricide, éleva à la Bienheureuse
Vierge de Fatima, reine de la paix, une supplique ardente et confiante pour
implorer du Père riche de miséricorde, à travers l'intercession maternelle de
Marie, la concorde entre les nations et la liberté pour l'Eglise. A cette
occasion, il confia pour la première fois tout le genre humain au Cœur immaculé
de Marie, afin que l'amour et le patronage de la Mère de Dieu hâte le triomphe
du royaume de Dieu, de sorte que tous les peuples, d'une extrémité à l'autre de
la terre, puissent entonner avec Marie « l’éternel Magnificat de gloire,
d'amour, de reconnaissance envers le Cœur de Jésus, le seul en qui ils puissent
trouver la Vérité, la Vie et la Paix.[3] »
Paul VI et Fatima
Paul VI, le 21 novembre 1964, dans le discours de clôture de la troisième phase
du Concile Vatican II, en rappelant la consécration solennelle au Cœur immaculé
de Marie faite par Pie XII, promit d'envoyer « la rose d'or » à ce sanctuaire
qui lui était très cher, en signe de consécration aux soins de la céleste Mère
de toute la famille humaine avec ses problèmes et ses peines, avec ses
aspirations légitimes et ses espoirs ardents[4]. Le même Paul VI, le 13 mai
1967, pour le cinquantième anniversaire des apparitions, vint ici humblement et
en pèlerin confiant, en signe de grande dévotion à Marie, vénérée par de nombreuses
foules de fidéles pour son cœur « maternel et plein de compassion.[5] » Il pria
avant tout pour « l’Eglise une, sainte, catholique, apostolique », pour sa paix
intérieure et pour sa renaissance spirituelle, implorant de Marie une « Eglise
vivante, une Eglise vraie, une Eglise unie, une Eglise sainte.[6] » La prière
du Pape Paul VI devint plus triste au souvenir de l'Eglise du silence et des
chrétiens martyrisés.
La deuxième intention de sa prière aux pieds de la Reine de la Paix fut
l'imploration du don de la paix à l'humanité entière, continuellement menacée
dans son existence même que ce soit par des guerres continues et par un
terrible arsenal d'armes mortelles, ou par la faim et l'indigence dans
différentes régions de la terre. Le caractère dramatique de l'heure faisait
croître la confiance du Pape en l'intercession de Marie, Mère de l'Eglise et de
l'humanité, et en l'efficacité de la prière et de la pénitence, comme moyens
adaptés pour invoquer de Dieu la concorde entre les nations.
Jean-Paul II et Fatima
Recueillant ce précieux héritage marial, le Souverain Pontife Jean-Paul II a
manifesté plusieurs fois sa reconnaissance filiale envers la Bienheureuse
Vierge de Fatima, pour la remercier de sa protection maternelle au moment du
danger et pour répondre par la prière et les actes à son message de paix. Son
premier pèlerinage ici à Fatima, le 13 mai 1982, eut lieu exactement un an
après l'attentat de la place Saint-Pierre, qui coïncida mystérieusement avec le
Jour anniversaire de la première apparition de Marie, le 13 mai 1917. Le Pape,
élevant avec gratitude son hymne de louange à sa Mère et Maîtresse, proposa à
nouveau à toute l'Eglise et à toute l'humanité le message de la conversion, de
la pénitence et de la prière surtout avec le saint rosaire. Ce message
constitue en effet le centre de l'annonce faite par Marie dans le « Cova da
Iria », avec un langage simple et compréhensif, aux trois jeunes, Lucie,
François et Jacinthe, avec un message spécifique pour les hommes du vingtième
siècle. Soixante-cinq ans après les apparitions (disait alors le Pape) « il
n'est pas difficile de découvrir que cet amour salvifique de Mère comprenne
dans son ampleur, de façon particulière, notre siècle.[7] »
A la même occasion, le Pape renouvelait la consécration de l'humanité au Cœur
immaculé de Marie, confiant à son intercession maternelle ces peuples et ces
populations ayant plus particulièrement besoin de cette offrande et de cette
consécration[8]
Cet acte fut répété par le Pape sur la place Saint-Pierre devant la statue de
la Madone de Fatima et, sur son invitation par tous les fidèles chrétiens lors
de la solennité de l'Annonciation du Seigneur au cours du Carême 1984, année
jubilaire de la Rédemption. Le fait de renouveler la consécration à Marie
(disait le Pape) correspond « aux attentes de nombreux cœurs humains, désireux
de renouveler à la Vierge Marie le témoignage de leur dévotion et de lui
confier les afflictions et les multiples maux du présent, les craintes des
menaces qui pésent sur l'avenir, les préoccupations pour la paix et la justice
au sein des nations et dans le monde entier[9]. »
Marie dans l’histoire contemporaine
Cette invocation ferme et répétée de la protection de Marie, reine de la paix,
dont les Souverains Pontifes se sont faits les porte-parole, a trouvé une
réponse historique éclatante dans les événements extraordinaires de
réconciliation et de liberté politique et religieuse qui se sont vérifiés en
Europe et dans de nombreuses parties du monde ces derniers temps. Cette
transformation de la scène internationale a poussé l'année dernière le
Souverain Pontife Jean-Paul II à revenir ici à Fatima, pour rendre encore une
fois grâce, publiquement et solennellement, au Seigneur de l'histoire pour les
merveilles réalisées dans le monde par l'intercession de Marie.
I1 y a exactement un an, le 13 mai 1991, c'est encore ici à Fatima que le Pape
renouvelait une nouvelle fois l'acte de consécration de l'humanité entière à
Marie avec une invocation inoubliable : « Une fois encore, nous nous tournons vers
toi, Mère du Christ et de l'Eglise, rassemblés à tes pieds dans la Cova da
Iria, pour te remercier de ce que tu as fait pour l'Eglise, pour chacun de nous
et pour l'humanité entière, au cours de ces années difficiles. ‘ Monstra te
esse Matrem ! ’, tant de fois nous t'avons invoquée ici pour te remercier, car
tu nous a toujours écoutés.[10] »
Le Pape supplia la Mère de l'espérance de bien vouloir continuer à concéder sa
protection maternelle et à cheminer avec l'Eglise et l'humanité en cette fin de
vingtième siècle. De Fatima, presque une deuxième Nazareth pour Marie sur terre
et demeure de consolation et de lumière pour les peuples, le Pape lança un
nouvel appel à l'Eglise : ouvrir son cœur avec humilité et courage non
seulement à la conversion et à la prière, mais à l'œuvre de la nouvelle
évangélisation du continent européen et du monde sous la protection de Marie, «
Mère de l'Eglise, missionnaire sur les chemins de la terre dans l'attente du
troisième millénaire chrétien.[11] »
Un regard sur l'avenir
Dans cet ensembe de témoignages des Souverains Pontifes, Fatima apparaît non
seulement comme une noble et véritable expression d'authentique dévotion
mariale, mais aussi comme une merveilleuse et prophétique page d'histoire de
toute l'humanité, illuminée et guidée vers la pleine liberté et vers la vraie
vie par la présence prévoyante de Dieu soutenue par l'intercession maternelle
de Marie. La Bienheureuse Vierge, continuant sa médiation de Mère, répéte
encore aujourd'hui : « Faites tout ce qu'il vous dira.[12] » Elle nous invite
donc à l'écoute et à la réalisation de la parole du Christ ressuscité qui, en
montant vers le Père, dit à ses disciples : « Allez donc, de toutes les nations
faites des disciples, les baptisant au nom du Père et du Fils et du Saint-Esprit
et leur apprenant à observer tout ce que je vous ai prescrit. Et moi, je suis
avec vous pour toujours, jusqu'à la fin du monde.[13] »
Marie invite les chrétiens à réaliser le commandement de Jésus et à poursuivre
avec courage la construction d'une nouvelle civilisation de l'amour fondée sur
l'annonce de Jésus-Christ, unique sauveur du monde[14]. En nous approchant du
seuil du troisième millénaire, Fatima, cénacle de spiritualité mariale et phare
de spiritualité missionnaire nous incite à entreprendre avec courage et
espérance le chemin de la nouvelle évangélisation avec l'engagement de remettre
aux nouvelles générations le don de la bonne nouvelle de Jésus, en tant
qu'héritage humain et spirituel très précieux capable d'illuminer et de guider
le nouvéau millénaire d'histoire de l'humanité dont nous sommes désormais
proches.
De cette noble terre portugaise, d'où partirent il y a plusieurs siècles les
pionniers de mémorables découvertes géographiques et d’extraordinaires
entreprises missionnaires, et de cette maison de Marie sur l'Atlantique,
ouverte sur les horizons illimités du monde, le Cœur immaculé de Marie continue
à être le cœur d'une mère qui prend soin non seulement des individus, mais
aussi des peuples et des nations avec un dévouement total à la mission
rédemptrice de son Fils.
Une prière à Marie
O Marie, en te rendant grâces pour les dons abondants que tu nous a concédés en
ce siècle béni, nous désirons faire nôtres les sentiments de ton Cœur immaculé
et chanter avec toi le Magnificat de la plus profonde reconnaissance au
Seigneur. Oui, chacun de nous sent aujourd'hui le devoir de répéter : « Mon âme
exalte le Seigneur et mon esprit tressaille de joie en Dieu mon Sauveur ! »
O Mère du Christ, veille sur toute l'humanité ; toi qui es miséricordieuse,
penche-toi surtout sur ces nations qui sont déchirées par des guerres
fratricides et prépare-leur des jours meilleurs !
O Mère de l'Eglise, assiste tous les enfants dispersés dans le monde et veille
avec la tendresse d'une mère, sur notre Saint-Père Jean-Paul II, sur les
pasteurs et les fidèles, sur les religieux et les religieuses, pour que le nom
du Christ ton Fils soit toujours plus glorifié parmi les peuples du monde
entier.
O Etoile de l'évangélisation, illumine ceux qui n'ont pas encore la chance de
connaître le Christ, ton Fils, qui est pour tous « la Voie, la Vérité et la
Vie.[15] »
O Mère de l'unité rassemble tous les chrétiens dans la pleine communion
ecclésiale, afin que l'Eglise du Christ soit comme un drapeau lumineux élevé
parmi les peuples et que le monde croie en ton Fils Jésus !
O Mère de Miséricorde, réconforte en particulier ceux qui souffrent à cause de
la maladie, de la pauvreté, des épreuves de la vie !
O Marie, Aide des chrétiens, prends-nous par la main et guide-nous dans notre
pèlerinage terreske, jusqu'à la rencontre avec ton Fils Jésus !
Nous nous en remettons à toi, ô Mère ô clémente, ô pieuse, ô douce Vierge Marie
!
[1] Evangile selon saint Luc, I 46-48.
[2] Pie XII : Message radiophonique du 31 octobre 1942 aux fidèles portugais, à
l'occasion des célébrations en l'honneur de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie de
Fatima.
[3] Pie XII : Message radiophonique du 31 octobre 1942 aux fidèles portugais, à
l'occasion des célébrations en l'honneur de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie de
Fatima.
[4] Paul VI : discours de clôture de la troisième phase du Concile.
[5] Paul VI : Exhortation apostolique « Signum magnum ».
[6] Paul VI : « Summi Pontificis Peregrinantis iter in Lusitaniam »
[7] Jean-Paul II : homélie à Fatima.
[8] Jean-Paul II : Acte d'offrande à la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie.
[9] Jean-Paul II : Acte de consécration au Cœur immaculé de la Mère de Dieu.
Lettre à tous les évêques.
[10] Jean-Paul II : Acte d'offrande et de consécration à Marie.
[11] Jean-Paul II : discours aux évêques de la Conférence épiscopale
portugaise.
[12] Evangile selon saint Jean, II 5.
[13] Evangile selon saint Matthieu, XXVIII 19-20.
[14] Jean-Paul II : Encyclique « Redemptoris missio », n° 4.
[15] Evangile selon saint Jean, XIV 6.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/05/13.php
« La bataille finale entre le Seigneur et le royaume de Satan portera sur la famille et le mariage. N’ayez pas peur, car quiconque œuvre en faveur du caractère sacré du mariage et de la famille sera toujours attaqué et vilipendé de toutes les manières possibles, car c’est là le point crucial. »
Sœur Lucie de Fatima, carmélite, lettre au Cardinal Carlo Caffarra
Also
known as
Lady of the Rosary (she
called herself that when Lucia asked her name)
Article
Commemorates the
apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to
three children in
Fatima, Portugal on
the 13th of each month from May to October in 1917. Our Lady appeared
to Lucia,
age 9, Blessed Francisco
Marto, age 8, and Blessed Jacinta
Marto, age 6, while they were tending sheep;
they described her as “a woman all
in white, more brilliant than the sun”, and her message was to do reparation for
sins that offend God, and to pray constantly
for the conversion of
sinners. She asked for devotion to the Holy Trinity, and for praying the
Rosary daily for world peace. Word spread, and by the final apparition on 13 October,
70,000 people showed up to witness the Lady and the
sign that she had promised; they witnessed the sun make three circles and
zigzag around in the sky.
Approved
Leiria–Fátima, Portugal, diocese of
Storefront
Additional
Information
Fatima,
by Father Robert
J Murphy
Our
Lady of Fatima, by Father Bernard
O’Connor
Our
Lady of Fatima, by Father John
Bernard Kelly
Fatima
and the Five First Saturdays, by Father F.
P. O’Shea, C.SS.R.
The
Story of Fatima, by Father Joseph
Cacella
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
About.Com: First Apparition at Fatima
Catholic
Online: Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima
Catholic Culture: Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic Ireland: Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic News Agency: Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic World Report: Fatima at 100
CRadio: Our Lady of Fatima
Father Raymond J. de Souza: Saint Joseph’s Appearance at
Fatima
Integrated Catholic Life: Prayers of Fatima
Michael Ogunu: 4 Ways to Honor Her Request
uCatholic:
Miracle of the Sun
uCatholic: Our Lady of Fatima
Wikipedia:
Our Lady of Fatima
images
Wikimedia Commons: Our Lady of Fatima
Wikimedia Commons: Children of Fatima
video
YouTube Playlist: Our Lady of Fatima
YouTube Playlist: Fatima, Heaven’s Peace Plan
Catholic
Online: First Apparition of Fatima and the Call to Pray the Rosary
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
Fête des prénoms: Notre Dame de Fatima
fonti
in italiano
Santi e Beati:
Our Lady of Fatima
MLA
Citation
“Our Lady of
Fatima“. CatholicSaints.Info. 24 October 2022. Web. 13 May 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-fatima/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-fatima/
Our Lady of Fatima
Between May 13 and
October 13, 1917, three Portuguese children, Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia,
received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles
north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace,
for the end of World War I, for sinners and for the conversion of Russia.
Mary gave the children
three secrets. Since Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta the following year,
Lucia, who later became a Carmelite nun, revealed the first secret in 1927,
concerning devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a
vision of hell.
Pope John Paul II
directed the Holy See’s Secretary of State to reveal the third secret in 2000;
it spoke of a ‘bishop in white’ who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired
bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination
attempt against Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. The
feast of Our Lady of Fatima was approved by the local bishop in 1930; it was
added to the Church’s worldwide calendar in 2002. Sister Lucia died in 2005 at
the age of 97.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/fatima/
Statue
du Cœur immaculé de Marie
sous
le visuel de Notre-Dame de Fátima
(paroisse
d'Amtzell, Allemagne)
Our Lady of Fatima
May 13 is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd
children in the small village of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She appeared six
times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6,
between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917.
The story of Fatima begins in 1916, when, against the backdrop of the First
World War which had introduced Europe to the most horrific and powerful forms
of warfare yet seen, and a year before the Communist revolution would plunge
Russia and later Eastern Europe into six decades of oppression under militant
atheistic governments, a resplendent figure appeared to the three children who
were in the field tending the family sheep. “I am the Angel of Peace,” said the
figure, who appeared to them two more times that year exhorting them to accept
the sufferings that the Lord allowed them to undergo as an act of reparation
for the sins which offend Him, and to pray constantly for the conversion of
sinners.
Then, on the 13th day of the month of Our Lady, May 1917, an apparition of ‘a
woman all in white, more brilliant than the sun’ presented itself to the three
children saying “Please don’t be afraid of me, I’m not going to harm you.” Lucia
asked her where she came from and she responded, “I come from Heaven.” The
woman wore a white mantle edged with gold and held a rosary in her hand. The
woman asked them to pray and devote themselves to the Holy Trinity and to “say
the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”
She also revealed that the children would suffer, especially from the unbelief
of their friends and families, and that the two younger children, Francisco and
Jacinta would be taken to Heaven very soon but Lucia would live longer in order
to spread her message and devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
In the last apparition the woman revealed her name in response to Lucia’s
question: “I am the Lady of the Rosary.”
That same day, 70,000 people had turned out to witness the apparition,
following a promise by the woman that she would show the people that the
apparitions were true. They saw the sun make three circles and move around the
sky in an incredible zigzag movement in a manner which left no doubt in their
minds about the veracity of the apparitions. By 1930 the Bishop had approved of
the apparitions and they have been approved by the Church as authentic.
The messages Our Lady imparted during the apparitions to the children concerned
the violent trials that would afflict the world by means of war, starvation,
and the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father in the twentieth century
if the world did not make reparation for sins. She exhorted the Church to pray
and offer sacrifices to God in order that peace may come upon the world, and
that the trials may be averted.
Our Lady of Fatima revealed three prophetic “secrets,” the first two of which
were revealed earlier and refer to the vision of hell and the souls languishing
there, the request for an ardent devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the
prediction of the Second World War, and finally the prediction of the immense
damage that Russia would do to humanity by abandoning the Christian faith and
embracing Communist totalitarianism. The third “secret” was not revealed until
the year 2000, and referred to the persecutions that humanity would undergo in
the last century: “The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to
suffer; various nations will be annihilated'”. The suffering of the popes of
the 20th century has been interpreted to include the assassination attempt on
Pope John Paul II in 1981, which took place on May 13, the 64th anniversary of
the apparitions. The Holy Father attributed his escape from certain death to
the intervention of Our Lady: “... it was a mother's hand that guided the
bullet's path and in his throes the Pope halted at the threshold of death.”
What is the central meaning of the message of Fatima? Nothing different from
what the Church has always taught: it is, as Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope
Benedict the XVI, has put it, “the exhortation to prayer as the path of
“salvation for souls” and, likewise, the summons to penance and conversion.”
Perhaps the most well known utterance of the apparition of Our Lady at Fatima
was her confident decalaration that “My Immaculate Heart will triumph”.
Cardinal Ratzinger has interpreted this utterance as follows: “The Heart open
to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of
every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, has changed the history of
the world, because it brought the Saviour into the world—because, thanks to her
Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time. The Evil
One has power in this world, as we see and experience continually; he has power
because our freedom continually lets itself be led away from God. But since God
himself took a human heart and has thus steered human freedom towards what is
good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that time
forth, the word that prevails is this: “In the world you will have tribulation,
but take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn 16:33). The message of Fatima
invites us to trust in this promise.
SOURCE : http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=485
The
Story of Fatima, by Father Joseph Cacella
Place: Fatima, Portugal
Participants: An Angel,
Lucy and her cousins, Francis and Jacinta.
The beginning of the
wonderful story of Fatima goes back to the second year of World War I
(1914-1918).
And these wondrous events
to be related herein occurred in a place adjacent to the village of Fatima in
the diocese of Leiria, Portugal, about 60 miles distant from Lisbon. Here lived
three little children: Lucy, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, the Future
Seers of Fatima.
It is 1916, and the world
is in the throes of World War I. It was a war of devastation, destruction and
death. The sins of a modern world had become too great and had provoked Divine
Justice. But Mary, Our Mother, moved with pity, interceded with her Divine Son.
She deigned to visit this war-stricken world, to admonish and warn it that it
must return to God.
Angelic Reparation
Ever solicitous for the
welfare of her earthly children, Mary wished to prepare the way for her
apparitions by sending an Angel to the scene that she had elected to visit. The
intended scene of her visitations was Fatima. Thus, in the second year of the first
World War, the future Seers of Fatima were attending to the sheep of their
parents on a nearby hill called Cabego. They could neither read nor write, but
they knew their prayers through the constant teachings of truly Christian
parents.
On this spring day as the
noon-day Angelus bell tolled, they knelt, as was their custom, and recited the
Rosary. A violent gust of wind caused them to raise their heads, and they
beheld a beautiful white cloud approaching. Suddenly it assumed a human form,
resembling a statue of snow, which the sun made transparent, like crystal. As
the form drew nearer, the children recognized it to be a young man of
superhuman beauty. It was the Angel of Peace – the advance guard of Our Blessed
Mother’s apparitions with her Message to the world.
The Angel calmed the
frightened children, telling them not to be afraid: “I am the Angel of Peace”,
he said, “Pray with me.” Then kneeling, he placed his forehead on the ground,
repeating the following prayer three times: “MY GOD I BELIEVE, I HOPE, I LOVE
THEE. I ASK PARDON FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE, NOR ADORE, NOR HOPE, NOR LOVE
THEE.”
Rising the Angel said:
“PRAY THUS, THE MOST HOLY HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY WILL ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE
TOUCHED BY YOUR PRAYERS.” The Angel then disappeared.
Subject to a supernatural
impulse, the children imitated the Angel, and repeated the words that they had
heard him say. So impressed were they, that they remained prostrated in prayer
for many hours. This apparition was kept a strict secret by the children. It
remained a secret until it was revealed by Sister Lucy a few years ago.
Second Angelic Apparition
In July or August of
1916, as the three shepherd children were playing near the well in Lucy’s
Garden, the Angel suddenly appeared to them saying: “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?
PRAY, PRAY MUCH! THE HOLY HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY HAVE DESIGNS OF MERCY ON
YOU… CONTINUALLY OFFER UP PRAYERS AND SACRIFICES TO THE LORD.”
Lucy then asked the Angel
how they would make sacrifices, to which he replied: “YOU CAN MAKE SACRIFICES
OF ALL THINGS. OFFER THEM IN REPARATION FOR ALL THE SINS THAT OFFEND GOD, AND
BEG OF HIM THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS. IN THIS WAY, TRY TO DRAW DOWN PEACE UPON
YOUR COUNTRY. I AM ITS GUARDIAN ANGEL, THE ANGEL OF PORTUGAL, ABOVE ALL, ACCEPT
AND BEAR ALL THE SUFFERINGS WHICH THE LORD WILL WISH TO SEND TO YOU.”
The Angel then
disappeared. From that moment, Lucy, Francis and Jacinta undertook to offer to
the Lord all that they could suffer for His sake. Their favorite penance was to
remain prostrated for hours, repeating the Prayer of the Angel.
Third Angelic Apparition
A few months later,
probably about the end of September or the beginning of October, the three
shepherds were tending their flock at the foot of the Cabego hill. Having
partaken of a modest lunch. They started to say the Rosary, and repeat the
Angel’s prayer. Suddenly they found themselves surrounded by a wonderful
brightness, and the Angel appeared to them for the third time.
The Angel held in his
hand a Chalice, above which was a Host. From the Host drops of blood were
flowing. Leaving the Chalice, and Host mysteriously suspended in the air, the
Angel knelt beside the children and made them repeat the following prayer three
times.” “MOST HOLY TRINITY, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST, I ADORE YOU PROFOUNDLY!
I OFFER YOU THE MOST PRECIOUS BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST, PRESENT IN ALL TABERNACLES OF THE WORLD, IN REPARATION FOR ALL
THE OUTRAGES WHEREWITH HE HIMSELF IS OFFENDED, THROUGH THE INFINITE MERITS OF
HIS SACRED HEART, AND THE INTERCESSION OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, GRANT
ME THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS.”
Rising the Angel gave the
Host to Lucy, and the contents of the Chalice he divided between Francis and
Jacinta, saying: “RECEIVE THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, CRUELLY OUTRAGED
BY UNGRATEFUL MEN, ATONE FOR THEIR CRIMES AND CONSOLE YOUR GOD.”
Prostrating himself on
the ground, the Angel repeated the prayer: “MOST HOLY TRINITY, ETC.” The
children remained prostrated, the Angel having disappeared, and continued to repeat
over and over again the Angel’s prayer. It was Francis that first recovered
from the ecstasy. Realizing that evening was fast approaching, the children
decided to return home. And deep in their hearts they kept these events a
sacred secret.
It is evident that these
angelic apparitions were but an orientation and preparation for the great and
wondrous events that were to follow in the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima in
1917. Assuredly they directed the three children in prayer against future assaults
of that impious modernistic movement – communism – which professes “not to
believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love.”
THE APPARITIONS OF OUR
LADY OF FATIMA
Place: Fatima, Portugal
Participants: A Beautiful
Lady from Heaven, Lucy and her cousins, Francis and Jacinta
The Facts
The events just related
occurred during the second year of World War I. As the world struggled through
a third year of devastation, destruction and death, His Holiness Pope Benedict
XV issued an earnest appeal for a world crusade of prayer to Our Blessed
Mother. The appeal was issued on 5 May 1917. Heaven heard and answered this
appeal in a truly wonderful manner, just eight days after it was issued.
First Apparition
It is noonday, 13 May
1917. The three shepherd children, Lucy, Francis and Jacinta, were tending
their parents flocks at the Cova da Iria, Fatima, and had just completed
reciting their Rosary as was their daily custom, learned through the teaching
and training of truly Christian parents, when sudden flashes of lightning gave indications
of a storm. The children prepared to shelter the sheep in a nearby cave.
Suddenly, another flash of lightning, brighter than the first brought them to a
standstill, frightened and trembling. On the foliage of an evergreen oak tree
there appeared a “Beautiful Lady”, all luminous and more resplendent than the
sun. With a gesture of motherly kindness she assured: “FEAR NOT, I COME FROM
HEAVEN, COME HERE ON THE 13TH OF EACH MONTH, IN OCTOBER I WILL TELL YOU WHO I
AM AND WHAT I WANT. CONTINUE TO SAY YOUR ROSARY DEVOUTLY AS YOU HAVE JUST
DONE.”
The “Beautiful Lady” –
Our Blessed Mother – Our Lady of Fatima, insisted on the recitation of the
Rosary. She even instructed the three shepherd children on how to say the
Rosary properly. The Rosary is very dear to the Heart of Mary.
Second Apparition
13 June 1917 – The
Beautiful Lady again appeared to the children as she had promised. She asked
them to return on July 13, and again insisted on the recitation of the Rosary
every day. She revealed that she would soon take Francis and Jacinta, but that
Lucy would have to remain longer on earth and God would use her to establish
the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout the world.
As before, the Heavenly
Lady extended her hands and brilliant rays shone forth from them. In front of
her, to the right, the children saw a heart surrounded with thorns, and they
understood that the Immaculate Heart of Mary was demanding penance and
reparation. The apparition lasted about ten minutes, when the Lady disappeared.
Third Apparition
13 July 1917 – The
Heavenly Vision appeared for the third time to the children, at the appointed
time and place. Again for the third time she insisted on the recitation of the
Rosary every day, saying: “YOU MUST RECITE .. THE ROSARY EVERY.. DAY.”
“CONTINUE TO COME EVERY
MONTH, IN OCTOBER I’LL TELL YOU WHO I AM AND WHAT I WANT, AND I SHALL PERFORM A
GREAT MIRACLE SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD MAY BELIEVE YOU.”
Our Lady then confided a
secret to them, a part of which Lucy, now a Carmelite Nun has revealed, and
which concerns the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Continuing the
Beautiful Lady said: “WHEN MAKING SACRIFICES YOU MUST SAY, OH JESUS, IT IS FOR
LOVE OF YOU, AND IN REPARATION FOR THE OFFENSES COMMITTED AGAINST THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.'”
The Lady from Heaven then
opened her hands and a great ray of light seemed to pierce the ground. The
children beheld a great fire, in which were plunged black and burning demons
and souls in human form, resembling live, transparent coals. Lifted up into the
air by the flames, the demons and souls fell back on all sides, like sparks in
a conflagration, with neither weight nor balance. The children could hear their
screams of pain and despair, which made them shudder. The devils were
distinguished from human beings by their forms of horrifying and disgusting
animals.
The three children were
terrified by the vision of hell, and they would have probably died of horror
had they not already been assured by the Lady that they were going to heaven.
After the vision of hell, the Lady revealed to the children a secret, a part of
which is as follows: “YOU HAVE SEEN HELL WHERE SOULS OF POOR SINNERS GO. TO
SAVE SINNERS, OUR LORD WISHES TO ESTABLISH IN THE WORLD DEVOTION TO MY
IMMACULATE HEART. IF THEY DO WHAT I TELL YOU, MANY SOULS WILL BE SAVED AND
THERE WILL BE PEACE.”
Then the Lady from
Heaven, continued: “THE WAR IS ALMOST OVER (World War I). BUT IF PEOPLE DO NOT
STOP OFFENDING GOD, ANOTHER WAR, FAR WORSE THAN THIS ONE, WILL OCCUR DURING THE
NEXT PONTIFICATE.
“WHEN YOU SEE A NIGHT
LIGHTED UP BY A BRILLIANT UNKNOWN LIGHT, YOU WILL KNOW THAT THIS IS THE
PUNISHMENT OF THE WORLD BY WAR, FAMINE, AND PERSECUTIONS AGAINST THE CHURCH AND
THE HOLY FATHER IS AT HAND.
“TO PREVENT THIS, I SHALL
COME TO ASK, FIRST, FOR THE CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA TO MY IMMACULATE HEART, AND,
SECOND, TO ASK FOR HOLY COMMUNIONS ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH IN
REPARATION FOR SIN….
“IF THE WORLD WILL LISTEN
TO MY REQUESTS, RUSSIA WILL BE CONVERTED AND THERE WILL BE PEACE. IF NOT,
ERRORS WELL BE DISSEMINATED OVER THE WORLD, CAUSING WARS AND PERSECUTIONS
AGAINST THE CHURCH. MANY GOOD PEOPLE WILL BECOME MARTYRS ; THE HOLY FATHER WILL
HAVE MUCH TO SUFFER; SEVERAL NATIONS WILL BE WIPED OUT.
“BUT, FINALLY MY
IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH, RUSSIA WILL BE CONVERTED AND AN ERA OF PEACE
WILL BE CONCEDED TO HUMANITY.”
She cautioned the
children to keep these matters a secret, and said: “WHEN YOU RECITE THE ROSARY,
SAY AT THE END OF EACH DECADE: “O MY JESUS FORGIVE US OUR SINS, PRESERVE US
FROM THE FIRE OF HELL, AND BRING ALL SOULS TO HEAVEN, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHICH
MOST NEED YOUR HELP.” Then the Heavenly Lady disappeared.
The Frustrated Apparition
The news of these
heavenly visits to the children was being spoken of publicly. The Civil
Administrator of Ourem definitely anti-clerical, caused the three children to
be kidnapped, and kept them imprisoned till after the date set for the next
apparition – August 12. Even under the threat of tortures and death in boiling
oil, the children refused to reveal the secret confided to them by the Lady
from Heaven.
Meanwhile, an assemblage
of people, estimated at eighteen thousand, had gathered at Cova da Iria, the
scene of the expected apparition. While there, their attention was drawn to a
white cloud usually seen at the other apparitions. It waited a little while and
then disappeared. The assemblage, hearing of the kidnapping and imprisonment,
was indignant. Defeated in his purpose, the Administrator was forced to release
the children.
The Fourth Apparition
The little Seers did not
expect to see the Lady from Heaven until the following month. They were sad and
disappointed not to have been able to keep their appointment. They returned to
tending their flock. On Sunday, 18 August 1917, they were caring for the sheep
at Valinhos.
Suddenly she appeared to
them and complained of the action of the civil authorities, stating that the
miracle planned for October 13 would be less spectacular on that account. She
exhorted the children to recite the Rosary every day and to keep their
appointments for the following months.
Continuing to urge the
children to practice prayer and penance, the Blessed Lady said: “PRAY, PRAY
VERY MUCH, MAKE SACRIFICES FOR SINNERS, REMEMBER THAT MANY SOULS ARE LOST
BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE TO PRAY AND MAKE SACRIFICES FOR THEM.”
The Fifth Apparition
13 September 1917. Again
the Lady from Heaven insisted on the daily recitation of the Rosary. She
renewed her promise to work a great miracle on October 13. She said that Saint
Joseph and the Infant Jesus would be there too, and that Our Lord would bless
the world. The Lady from Heaven added that the Blessed Mother would also appear
as Our Lady of the Dolors and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This was the shortest
conversation held during the apparitions. The Lady, having completed her
mission, departed.
A Vicar General was
present incognito at this apparition. He saw the white cloud that heralded the
arrival of the Lady from Heaven; also the miracle in the form of a shower of
white flowers, which, on coming near the earth, vanished without touching it. A
repetition of this miracle at a later date was seen by the Bishop of Leiria.
The Sixth Apparition
As was to be expected,
news of the miracle announced for the sixth and final apparition of Our Lady on
October 13, 1917, caused a flurry of excitement all over Portugal. For days
before, all roads and byways were thronged with people using all modes of
conveyance, while crowds of people traveled on foot. Over 70,000 persons were
gathered at Fatima on 13 October 1917, to see the fulfillment of the Beautiful
Lady’s promise to work a stupendous miracle. The great day dawned
disappointingly. It was raining. The day was cold and dismal. Yet, the
assembled Crowd was not to be dismayed. The Rosary was continually recited.
There was an attitude of sacrifice and piety.
Shortly before noon the
children arrived, dressed in their best clothing. Noticing that the crowd was
using umbrellas, Lucy cried out: “Put down your umbrellas.” Why she said this,
to this day, she does not know. Looking up to the sky she said: “She is
coming.”
For the sixth and final
time at Fatima, the Beautiful Lady appeared to the three shepherd children.
“I Am the Lady of the
Rosary”
As soon as the Beautiful
Lady, appeared, Lucy asked her whom she was and what did she want: “I AM THE
LADY OF THE ROSARY”, she answered. And again, as in the other apparitions, she
insisted on the daily recitation of the Rosary.
Giving the Message of
Penance, the “LADY OF THE ROSARY” said: “MEN MUST AMEND THEIR LIVES, AND ASK
PARDON FOR THEIR SINS, MEN MUST NO LONGER OFFEND OUR LORD WHO IS ALREADY TOO
MUCH OFFENDED.”
The Lady of the Rosary
indicated her desire that a Chapel be built in her honor at Fatima.
The Great Miracle – The
Solar Prodigy
13 October 1917. As the
apparition was about to end Our Lady of the Rosary pointed to the heavens. Lucy
cried out: “Look at the sun”. Seventy thousand pilgrims raised their eyes to
look at the sky. As if by magic, the rain ceased and the sky became dear and
blue. The sun shone forth in all its brilliance, dazzling the perplexed
pilgrims. Our Lady of Fatima was about to fulfill her promise. The SOLAR
PRODIGY was on. The sun trembles, shakes, makes abrupt movements and then
starts to spin giddily on its axis, like a wheel of fire.
As the sun spun on its
axis, huge shafts of multi-colored rays of light – blue, red, green, violet –
beamed – on the upturned faces of the multitude, and on the rocks and trees,
giving a fantastic tint to the surroundings.
The spectacular feat,
which lasted four minutes, held the assemblage spellbound. It eased as suddenly
as it had begun, as if to give the crowd a rest. Again for a second and third
time the sun repeated this extraordinary performance, which was also witnessed
by persons located as far as twenty-five miles distant.
This wonderful miracle
had disposed the hearts of those who had witnessed it to greater fervor and
devotion. Yet, the miracle was far from over – the culminating point of this
great spectacle was about to come.
In the midst of this
fantastic and spectacular dance of light and color, the sun left its place in
the firmament, tumbled from side to side, and plummeted toward the earth and
the assembled pilgrims, emitting increasing rays of heat. Finally it stopped
short in its fall and climbed back to its place in the sky, zig-zagging, as
when it had descended, and resumed its normal brilliance.
Cries of faith and
repentance were heard on every side, as the terrified throng thought that the
end of the world was nigh. Cries of: “GOD, MV GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME.” were
heard, while others on bended knees implored God for forgiveness of their sins.
The Multiple Vision
Meanwhile, as the
pilgrims were being entranced by the great miracle of the Solar Prodigy, the
three shepherd children, Lucy, Francis and Jacinta were witnessing a multiple
vision. This multiple vision took place near the sun, as it was performing its
spectacular feat, a feat which was not recorded in any observatory and was not
therefore of the natural order.
The first of these
visions witnessed by the children of Fatima was a distinct representation of
the Holy Family, Our Lady was garbed in white with a mantle of blue; Saint
Joseph in white, held the Child Jesus, dressed in bright red, on his arm.
Lucy alone saw the next
vision of Our Lady of Sorrows without the sword in her breast, and beside her
stood her Divine Son. With a look of pity on His Countenance, He raised His
hand to bless the world.
Next, Our Lady appeared
as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as Queen of Heaven. On her knee was the
infant Jesus.
Here we might ask the
question: Why did Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of the Rosary, appear under
these aspects in the multiple vision. We may answer that she wished to impress
more deeply on the minds of the faithful the mysteries of the Rosary. The scene
of the Holy Family recalls the Joyful Mysteries. The scene of Our Lady of
Sorrows represents the Sorrowful Mysteries, whereas Our Lady of Mount Carmel
reminds us of the Glorious Mysteries.
Recapitulation
The Beautiful Lady – Our
Blessed Mother – Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, had fulfilled her promise.
She had returned on 13 October 1917; she had told her name – “I AM THE LADY OF
THE ROSARY”; she had delivered her Message – “PENANCE, DAILY ROSARY, and
DEVOTION TO HER IMMACULATE HEART”; and she had confirmed her message by an
outstanding and stupendous miracle before a multitude of 70,000 persons.
Let us recall the various
parts of the three fold Message of Our Lady of Fatima: PENANCE: “MEN MUST NO
LONGER OFFEND OUR LORD WHO IS ALREADY TOO MUCH OFFENDED . . . MEN MUST AMEND
THEIR LIVES AND ASK PARDON FOR THEIR SINS.”
DAILY ROSARY: “I AM THE
LADY OF THE ROSARY . . . YOU MUST RECITE THE ROSARY EVERY DAY.”
IMMACULATE HEART
DEVOTION: “OUR LORD WISHES THAT THE DEVOTION TO MY IMMACULATE HEART BE
ESTABLISHED IN THE WORLD … I SHALL COME TO ASK FOR THE CONSECRATION OF. RUSSIA
TO MY IMMACULATE HEART AND OF REPARATION ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH, IF
MY REQUESTS ARE GRANTED RUSSIA WILL BE CONVERTED AND THERE WILL BE PEACE …”
Our Blessed Mother, Our
Lady of Fatima, continued: “OTHERWISE, AN IMPIOUS PROPAGANDA WILL SPREAD ITS
ERRORS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, RAISING UP WARS AND PERSECUTIONS AGAINST THE CHURCH,
MANY WILL BE MARTYRED, THE HOLY FATHER WILL HAVE TO SUFFER MUCH, SEVERAL
NATIONS WILL BE WIPED OUT . . . BUT IN THE END MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL
TRIUMPH.”
The Triumph Of The
Immaculate Heart Of Mary
WHEN WILL THE IMMACULATE
HEART OF MARY TRIUMPH? Sister Lucy answers that question thus: “WHEN A
SUFFICIENT NUMBER IS MAKING SACRIFICES AND COMPLYING WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS
OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA.”
WHAT ARE THOSE
RECOMMENDATIONS? They are threefold: PENANCE DAILY ROSARY, AND DEVOTION TO THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY.
PENANCE: An amendment of
life by way of fidelity to daily duty – offering of sacrifice.
ROSARY: Daily recitation
of the Rosary, especially the Family Rosary.
DEVOTION TO THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: Personal Consecration and Communion of Reparation on
the first Saturday of the month.
The Great Promise
Associated with the
devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the devotion of FIVE FIRST
SATURDAYS. To those who will practice this devotion Our Lady has made what is
known as the GREAT PROMISE, as follows:
“MY CHILD, BEHOLD MY
HEART SURROUNDED WITH THE THORNS WHICH UNGRATEFUL MEN PLACE THEREIN AT EVERY
MOMENT, BY THEIR BLASPHEMIES AND INGRATITUDE, YOU, AT LEAST TRY TO CONSOLE ME
AND TELL THEM THAT I PROMISE TO HELP AT THE HOUR OF DEATH, WITH THE GRACES
NECESSARY FOR SALVATION, WHOEVER, ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF FIVE CONSECUTIVE
MONTHS, SHALL CONFESS AND RECEIVE HOLY COMMUNION, RECITE FIVE DECADES OF THE
ROSARY AND KEEP ME COMPANY FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES WHILE MEDITATING ON THE
MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY, WITH THE INTENTION OF MAKING REPARATION TO ME.”
Conditions For Making The
Five First Saturdays
1. CONFESSION. Confession
may be made eight days prior to or after the First Saturday, provided that Holy
Communion is received in the state of grace.
2. COMMUNION. Holy
Communion to be received on the first Saturday of five consecutive months.
3. ROSARY. Recitation of
five decades of the Rosary.
4. MEDITATION. Meditation
on one, several or all of the Mysteries of the Rosary for a period of at least
fifteen minutes’ duration.
5. All these exercises
must be offered up with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary.
– text taken from the
book The Story of Fatima, by Father
Joseph Cacella, 1949;
it is dedicated to and has the Imprimatur of Cardinal Francis Spellman,
Archdiocese of New York, New York
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-story-of-fatima-by-father-joseph-cacella/
Our Lady of Fatima, by Father John
Bernard Kelly
Cosmopolitan America’s
interest in the story of Lourdes as presented by Franz Werfels “to magnify the
divine mystery and holiness of man,” is a welcome forecast of the acclaim that
may one day greet a like best-seller presenting equally memorable events that
transpired in Fatima, Portugal, twenty-six years ago. The Vatican’s May 1942
release of the official record, when the reigning Pope Pius XII dedicated all
war-stricken humanity to Our Lady of Fatima’s Immaculate Heart, can merely be
intimated in this limited presentation of the momentous events attested.
It was Our Blessed Lady’s
month of May in 1917 (the 13th, to be exact) that ten year old Lucia Santo, who
is a nun today, was murmuring the Rosary with her two cousins amid a flock of
sheep that grazed upon a plateau in Fatima, a town about 75 miles from Lisbon.
At noon of this thirteenth day the heavens suddenly opened to reveal a
beautiful Lady to the fascinated eyes of the trio.
Seven-year old Jacinto
Marto and her eight-year-old brother Francisco were one with Lucia in
symbolizing war-torn, bewildered humanity at prayer for the dawn of peace with
justice. Symbolically, too, the three children were a miniature mirror of the
Blessed Trinity’s devotion to the Mother of the Prince of Peace, being one in
transported love of the unknown Lady’s celestial beauty. “Be not afraid, my
little ones,” she said in the tone of the one Maiden in whose gladsome voice is
also the soothing assurance of a mother.
Visible to the three,
only the girls heard her voice, and to Lucia alone was it given to converse
with her. She thrilled them with the assurance that she had just come from the
heaven of their dreams to tell them the secret of obtaining and maintaining
peace on earth. It would take six lessons to impart the story in full: she
would come to them on the thirteenth day of the next five months, the last
being October, the month of the Rosary. They could then tell all she said to
their sad-eyed Holy Father, Benedict XV, who was weeping on the Vatican Hill as
he echoed His divine Master’s words: “Hadst thou known – and that in this day,
the things that are to thy peace!” With an au revoir until June 13th, she
retired into the invisible.
The folks at home
received the account of the Lady’s visit with indulgent scepticism.
Nevertheless, they went with the children and a few intimate friends to meet
the unknown Lady on June 13th. At noon, the Lady again captured and held the
gaze of the three for about twelve minutes of mysterious conference. After this
second visit they reported to their parish priest the Lady’s plea to them to
give good example by saying the Rosary more attentively and devoutly, always
adding at the end of each decade the words: “Dear Jesus, forgive us our
trespasses!” When the local clergy insinuated with kindliness that they were
probably imagining all they reported, the children assured their mentors that
the Lady had promised to present a great miracle in the skies of October that
would convince the world of their truthfulness.
After a month of heckling
and persecution by the village authorities, many of whom were disciples of
newborn Communism, the three children kept their July thirteenth tryst with the
Lady. Five thousand people, mostly curiosity-seekers, saw the little ones at
the stroke of noon come to the same rapt and concerted attention as before.
After twelve minutes of communing they reported the Lady as saying that a worse
war would follow the one then in progress (World War I) and that the spectacle
promised for October 13th would do much to teach its beholders God’s solution
of the peace problem. She said that all the world, including atheistically
dominated Russia, could be brought to practice the true faith by the faithful
offering up their Rosary daily for that intention. The more the world learned
of the love for everybody that throbs in her own maternal heart, the more they
would want to be members of her great world-family that goes on through the
ages, and in Heaven. Her motherly chats with the little ones always left the
impression that as the world had been one in the common belief in one God, Whom
it calls Father, so would mankind be strengthened in that unity by permitting
the hand of the Mother that rocked the cradle of the Prince of Peace, to rule
its heart with the Father.
Years later, when Lucia
was a professed nun, her report of the July meeting was given in more detail.
“The present war will cease,” the Lady had said, “only to begin again in the
next Pontificate when there will be a more terrible conflict begetting famine,
persecution of the faithful and the Pope. Many nations will be martyred. It is
my Son’s wish that the world be consecrated to my Immaculate Heart to avert
such dire calamities. He wishes the faithful to receive Holy Communion on the first
Saturday, as on the First Friday of each month, for the triumph of truth and
the conversion of Russia.”
In August the children
were kidnapped by the local police, so that they could not keep their
appointment with the Lady on the 13th. Nevertheless, about eighteen thousand
persons on the scene of the tryst were given a preview of the promised October
pageant when a flash of lightning burst from a clear sky and overshadowed the
noontide sun. Immediately popular clamor obtained the children’s release after
the trio had undergone a cruel inquisition. Grueling threats had failed to
change their individual and concerted reports of the miraculous happenings to
date. Moreover, their ingenuousness gave evidence of God’s wisdom in making the
three little ones His Blessed Mother’s confidants. It was becoming clearer that
their juvenile minds could not conceive these startling statements without
divine assistance.
On August 19th the
children met the Lady at Valentos. Again she told them of the Rosary’s mission:
to present daily the life of the Holy Family to the learned and illiterate who,
as they gradually learned to know her through meditation on its mysteries,
would want to be children of the one Blessed Mother, as they already were of
the Eternal Father.
Promptly at noon of
September 13th the thirty thousand people present saw a sudden dimming of the
sun, followed by a swirling globe of light which just as suddenly dispelled the
resultant gloom. A shower of mysterious objects said to resemble illuminated
petals of roses fell from the sky. Investigators, given full approval of the
Church and state, attest that the globes of light, visible to the thousands
present, were not to be identified as units of the solar system.
All Portugal was tense
when the great day arrived, October 13th, that would settle the question of the
children’s veracity and soundness of mind. The little trio appeared to be all
but nonchalant as they emerged from under the trees in their newly consecrated
pastureland. While they were murmuring their Rosary word was spread among the
seventy-five thousand people crowded into the environs of the village that the
children were in person-to-person communication with the Lady. The Mediatrix of
Heaven pointed to the sky where, as the secular press of Portugal reported it,
a sun that seemed at first a dull silver disc gradually threw out immeasurable
waves of rainbow hues for ten minutes. The spellbound thousands were moved to a
mingling of astonishment, terror, and trembling prayer for an interpretation of
what the people for the most part now believed to be a miracle.”
There are preserved today
in the files of “Illustrada Portuguesa” and many other Lisbon news organs,
action photographs of the startling scene. One descriptive line in the
Ecclesiastical Commission official report reads: “Thousands saw the Monarch of
the stars doing homage to the Queen of heaven.” It intimates its own
interpretation of the supernatural message given when it refers to the
coincidence of the promised and inexplicable display of nature in the year now
accepted as Communism’s birth. Only a few years had elapsed when Pius XI wrote
in his encyclical on Communism: “This modern revolution has actually broken out
or threatens everywhere. It exceeds in amplitude and violence anything yet
experienced in preceding persecutions of the Church. Entire peoples find
themselves falling back into barbarism.”
The reader is undoubtedly
wondering why this amazing record of contemporary miracles, so vitally
significant to this age, has not been given to the world at large years ago.
The answer may be found in the established policy of the Roman Catholic Church
that ascertains the truth of the last detail involved in claiming the
miraculous character of any event or personal experience before committing
itself officially to its credibility. The Portuguese hierarchy appointed a
committee of scholars to investigate the matter five years after the event, the
intervening period being given to the study of it as an historical occurrence.
Only ten years after the apparitions was the first national pilgrimage endorsed
by the same body. The Portuguese nation was officially dedicated to Our Lady of
Fatima fifteen years after the story broke.
It was our blessed
privilege personally to hear Archbishop Cicognani, the present Papal Delegate
to America, report the nun-like devotion of the present Pontiff, Pius XII, to
the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and her message to the world through the children
of Fatima. It was no coincidence, therefore, but further proof of his devotion,
that on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of his own elevation to the
episcopacy, 13 May 1942, that he placed the warring world officially under the
protection of Our Lady of Fatima.
Archbishop Finbar Ryan’s
scholarly account of Our Lady’s appearances in Fatima is confirmed by official
releases from the Vatican in the last few years. In these days of atheistic propaganda
so destructive to the ideals of childhood and youth, it is inspiring to study
the truth and beauty of contemporary revelations declaring humanity’s kinship
with the divine King of Kings through His Immaculate Mother and the divine
Flesh and Blood shared with man in the Eucharist. It was with Saint Joseph and
her Divine Son that Our Lady appeared in her final visit to the children. In
accordance with this setting was the contemporary plea of Pope Benedict XV:
“May all men, children of the same Father in Heaven, greet each other as
brothers. We charge you, Lord Cardinal (Gasparri), to communicate to all the
bishops of the world our ardent desire that recourse be made to the Heart of
Jesus, the throne of grace, and that to this throne recourse be made through
Mary.”
Pope Pius XII today
echoes his predecessor’s words of 1917: “The law of God is neglected and the
Christian conscience is weakening, and in many places faith is languishing.
There is a growing violence in class warfare. The abominable tenets of
Communism are being propagated. The defense of the family is in the Rosary.” It
is the love of the perfect Mother that inspires the heart to virtue and
reinforces the world unity in religion that is born of monotheism’s compelling
call.
Militancy today is
showing marked signs in Christian nations of returning to the standard of the
Crusaders. Womanhood, especially, must not be brutalized by contact with the
primitive demands of war. But to avoid divorce of Christian ideals from service
to God in the home there must be an hourly inspiration. Meditation on the
historic epic of Our Lady of Fatima and daily recitation of the Rosary is the
answer.
Let all, therefore,
attentively and devoutly murmur the Rosary’s true story in our churches and
homes so that the globe may be one great white expanse in which there are no
dividing lines, national or racial—a world that is a white Christmas
perpetuating childhood’s laughter, with the nations ruled by Wise Men bowing
down before the Infant King of Kings, the Divine Subject of Joseph and Mary of
the Immaculate Heart.
Summary
The final summing up of
the major features in the official account of Our Lady of Fatima’s six
appearances in the world, so recent that one of the principals is still living
in a convent in Portugal, is as follows:
Portugal’s outstanding
record of devotion to the Mother of God made that “Land of Mary” a natural
selection for the Fatima appearances.
The Prince of Peace
conveyed the secret of permanent peace on earth through His Blessed Mother who
reminded our contemporary world that just as the self-evident doctrine of one
God, the Father, did more than any other Truth to unify humanity’s all but
universal, intellectual assent, so the consecration of mankind’s universal love
of motherhood is the most direct reinforcement of that unity. Hence, the
universal Mother appeared in person to remind groping humanity that she, the
Mother of God, offers her heart to all who will accept it in exchange for their
own.
To reveal her nearness to
Time and her heart’s personal concern for contemporary conditions, she presents
the antidote to the Russian rulers’ evident determination to breed world
atheism.
To three devout children
repeating their Rosary and symbolizing her Child teaching His elders in the
Temple She counsels and promises: “So that all mankind may know who I am even
as you do* now that I have revealed myself as the Lady of the Rosary, let them
study the life of the Holy Family by daily meditating the mysteries of the
Rosary they recite…. I shall give evidence of my Divine Son’s readiness to
exercise His omnipotence at my request even as He did at Cana. I shall have Him
present a miracle on 13 October 1917 at noon which will convince all who
exercise their reason that a Mother’s heartfelt prayers rule the Sacred Heart,
and must rule all mankind’s hearts as the Father rules their minds.”
If the spectacle, termed
“a phenomenon” by the secular press, is now an officially attested miracle. The
revolving globe of light symbolizes the Divine Source of all knowledge. The
downpour of rain, gradually dispelled as a rainbow arched the sky, is symbolic
of the blackout of war with its hail of death-dealing missiles followed by the
sign of peace coming through prayer. The appearances to the children of their
Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, representative of the Father, and the Prince
of Peace as Child and Man, while seventy-five thousand spectators beheld the
miraculous pageant in the sky, is convincing evidence of the Divine Desire to
convert all humanity into one great holy Family through the Eucharist and the
Rosary.
– text taken from Our Lady of Fatima, by Father John Bernard
Kelly; it has the Imprimatur of Cardinal Francis
Joseph Spellman, Archbishop of New
York, New
York, 30
August 1943;
it was published by The Catholic Information Society
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/our-lady-of-fatima-by-father-john-bernard-kelly/
Statue
de Notre-Dame de Fátima devant la chapelle des apparitions
Beata Vergine Maria di
Fatima
- Memoria Facoltativa
Il 13 maggio si celebrano
le apparizioni della Vergine Maria a Fatima, in Portogallo nel 1917. A tre
pastorelli, Lucia de Jesus, Francesco e Giacinta Marto, apparve per sei volte
la Madonna: lasciò loro un messaggio per tutta l’umanità, centrato soprattutto
sulla penitenza e sulla devozione al suo Cuore Immacolato. Il 13 ottobre 1930
il vescovo di Leiria dichiarò degne di fede le visioni dei tre bambini,
autorizzando il culto alla Madonna di Fatima. Sul luogo delle apparizioni è sorto
un santuario, che comprende la Basilica di Nostra Signora del Rosario di
Fatima, dove sono venerati i resti mortali dei tre veggenti.
Martirologio Romano:
Beata Maria Vergine di Fatima in Portogallo, la cui contemplazione nella
località di Aljustrel come Madre clementissima secondo la grazia, sempre
sollecita per le difficoltà degli uomini, richiama folle di fedeli alla
preghiera per i peccatori e all’intima conversione dei cuori.
La prima apparizione mariana del XX secolo
Dopo tre apparizioni di rilievo della Vergine Maria, verificatesi durante il XIX secolo, a La Salette nel 1846, a Lourdes nel 1858, a Castelpetroso nel 1888, la Madonna apparve nel 1917, per la prima volta nel XX secolo, a Fatima in Portogallo.
In tutte queste apparizioni, come pure nel 1432 a Caravaggio e nel 1531 a
Guadalupe in Messico, la Vergine si rivolse a ragazzi o giovani di umili
condizioni sociali, per lo più dediti alla pastorizia. Indicava in tal modo la
sua predilezione per le anime semplici e innocenti, a cui affidare i suoi
messaggi all’umanità peccatrice, invocandone il pentimento ed esortandola alla
preghiera.
Il contesto storico
Si era in un tempo di affermazione di un diffuso materialismo, sia ideologico,
sia politico, il cui maggior filone era il bolscevismo sovietico; inoltre il 5
maggio 1917, quindi otto giorni prima, papa Benedetto XV, visto il perdurare
della sanguinosa Prima Guerra Mondiale, scoppiata nel 1914 in Europa, aveva
invitato i cattolici di tutto il mondo ad unirsi in una crociata di preghiera,
per ottenere la pace per intercessione della Madonna.
I luoghi e i veggenti
Fatima era allora un villaggio della zona centrale del Portogallo (Distretto di Santarém) sugli altipiani calcarei dell’Estremadura, a venti chilometri a sud-est di Leiria. Una leggenda narra che avesse preso il nome, che era anche quello della figlia di Maometto, da una ragazza musulmana andata sposa, nel XII secolo, al nobile cattolico don Gonçalo Hermigues.
Nella frazione di Aljustrel, a un chilometro e mezzo dal centro abitato, nacquero e vissero i tre protagonisti della storia di queste apparizioni: Lucia (in portoghese Lúcia) Dos Santos, nata nel 1907, e i suoi cugini Francesco (Francisco) Marto, nato nel 1908, e Giacinta (Jacinta) Marto, nata nel 1910. Le due famiglie erano numerose: i Dos Santos avevano 5 figli, mentre i Marto 10.
Come molti ragazzi del luogo, i tre cugini portavano a pascolare le piccole
greggi delle rispettive famiglie, verso i luoghi di pascolo dei dintorni, dove
trascorrevano l’intera giornata. A mezzogiorno consumavano la colazione
preparata dalle loro mamme e dopo recitavano il Rosario, seppure in forma
abbreviata.
Il “Ciclo Angelico”
Nel 1916, fra aprile ed ottobre, i tre bambini furono testimoni di un fenomeno prodigioso: apparve loro un angelo sfavillante di luce, che si qualificò come l’Angelo della Pace e che li invitò alla preghiera.
Queste apparizioni, classificate come il “Ciclo Angelico”, furono in tutto tre:
due alla “Loca do Cabeço” e una volta al pozzo nell’orto della casa paterna di
Lucia.
Il “Ciclo Mariano” - Prima apparizione: 13 maggio 1917
Domenica 13 maggio 1917, i tre cuginetti dopo aver assistito alla Santa Messa nella chiesa parrocchiale di Fatima, tornarono ad Aljustrel per prepararsi a condurre al pascolo le loro pecore.
Il tempo primaverile era splendido e quindi decisero di andare questa volta fino alla Cova da Iria, una grande radura a forma di anfiteatro, delimitata verso nord da una piccola altura.
Mentre giocavano, nel cielo apparve un bagliore come quello dei fulmini. Perciò, preoccupati per un possibile temporale in arrivo, decisero di ridiscendere la collina per portare il gregge al riparo.
A metà strada dal pendio, vicino ad un leccio, la luce sfolgorò ancora. Pochi passi più avanti videro una bella Signora vestita di bianco, in piedi sopra il leccio, che emanava una luce sfolgorante. I bambini rimasero stupiti a contemplarla, stando a poco più di un metro di distanza. La Signora quindi parlò rassicurandoli:
- Non abbiate paura, non vi farò del male.
Il suo vestito, bianco con fregi dorati, aveva per cintura un cordone d’oro; un velo, anch’esso con bordi d’oro, le copriva il capo e le spalle, scendendo fino ai piedi come un vestito. Dalle sue dita, portate sul petto in atteggiamento di preghiera, pendeva un Rosario coi grani bianchi.
A quel punto Lucia chiese alla Signora:
- Da dove venite?
- Vengo dal Cielo.
- Dal cielo! E perché è venuta Lei fin qui?
- Per chiedervi che veniate qui durante i prossimi sei mesi ogni giorno 13 a questa stessa ora; in seguito vi dirò chi sono e cosa desidero, ritornerò poi ancora qui una settima volta
- E anch’io andrò in cielo?
- Sì.
- E Giacinta?
- Anche lei.
- E Francesco?
- Anche lui, ma dovrà dire il suo Rosario.
La Vergine poi chiese:
- Volete offrire a Dio tutte le sofferenze che Egli desidera mandarvi, in riparazione dei peccati dai quali Egli è offeso, e per domandare la conversione dei peccatori?
Lucia rispose:
- Sì, lo vogliamo.
- Allora dovrete soffrire molto, ma la Grazia di Dio sarà il vostro conforto.
E dopo avere raccomandato ai bambini di recitare il Rosario tutti i giorni, per
ottenere la pace nel mondo e la fine della guerra, la Signora cominciò ad
elevarsi e sparì nel cielo.
La scoperta dell’apparizione
Tutti e tre i pastorelli avevano visto la Signora, ma solo Lucia la sentì parlare. Giacinta, invece, la vide e udì, ma non parlò con lei. Infine Francesco la vide senza percepire la sua voce. Avvenne così anche nelle apparizioni successive.
Al ritorno dalla Cova da Iria, Lucia raccomandò ai due piccoli cugini di non dire nulla a casa, ma Giacinta si lasciò sfuggire il segreto.
Da allora la loro vita quotidiana cambiò: nell’alternarsi delle notizie e delle
relative valutazioni, i tre bambini subirono sgridate, opposizioni, incredulità
e prese in giro, prima dagli spaventati genitori, poi dalle autorità
ecclesiastiche e politiche.
Seconda apparizione: 13 giugno 1917
Comunque all’appuntamento del 13 giugno i tre veggenti non erano soli: già una sessantina di persone curiose li avevano accompagnati.
Dopo aver recitato il Rosario, la Signora apparve di nuovo: raccomandò di recitare il Rosario tutti i giorni e chiese a Lucia d’imparare a leggere e scrivere, per essere così in grado di trasmettere i suoi messaggi.
Rivelò le sofferenze del suo Cuore Immacolato per gli oltraggi subiti dai
peccati dell’umanità. Disse poi che Giacinta e Francesco sarebbero andati in
cielo a breve, mentre Lucia sarebbe restata nel mondo per far conoscere e amare
il suo Cuore Immacolato.
Terza apparizione: 13 luglio 1917
Il 13 luglio 1917, dopo avere affrontato ogni tipo di disprezzo e scherno da parte dei loro concittadini, Lucia, Francesco e Giacinta ritornarono alla Cova da Iria per il terzo incontro con la Signora: quella volta erano in compagnia di più di duemila persone.
Dopo la recita del Rosario, la Signora apparve di nuovo e Lucia le chiese di dire chi fosse e di compiere un miracolo affinché tutti potessero credere. La Signora assicurò:
- Continuate a venir qui tutti i mesi: Ad ottobre dirò chi sono, quel che voglio, e farò un miracolo che tutti potranno vedere bene per credere.
La Signora, come le altre volte, aprì le mani, da dove uscì un raggio di luce, che penetrò nella profondità della terra. I veggenti impallidirono, mentre Lucia esclamò: “Ahi! Nostra Signora!”.
A quel punto la Signora confidò ai tre bambini un segreto, vietando espressamente loro di rivelarlo a nessuno. Concluse dicendo:
- Quando recitate il Rosario, dite alla fine di ogni decina: «O Gesù mio,
perdonate le nostre colpe; preservateci dal fuoco dell’inferno; portate in
cielo tutte le anime e soccorrete specialmente le più bisognose della Vostra
misericordia».
L’arresto dei veggenti
Il 13 agosto 1917 un gran numero di fedeli radunato alla Cova da Iria udì il tuono e vide il lampo che accompagnavano le apparizioni, ma i tre veggenti non c’erano.
Erano infatti stati impediti di andarci dal sindaco, o meglio dall’amministratore della municipalità di Vila Nova de Ourém, sotto cui ricadeva Fatima, fortemente anticlericale: con un inganno, li aveva trasferiti da Aljustrel alla Casa Comunale di Fatima. In seguito, visto che non volevano ritrattare nulla sulle apparizioni né svelare eventuali trucchi, li fece mettere in prigione per intimorirli.
Nel carcere, Giacinta scoppiò a piangere per la paura e rivelò a Lucia:
- Io vorrei almeno vedere la mamma.
Francesco la incoraggiò:
- Sarebbe peggio se la Madonna non tornasse più.
Poi tutti e tre, seguiti dagli altri carcerati, recitarono il Rosario.
La quarta e la quinta apparizione: 19 agosto e 13 settembre 1917
La domenica successiva, 19 agosto, i tre ebbero la sorpresa di vedere la Signora nel luogo chiamato Valinhos, Ella volle placare la loro angoscia per aver saltato l’appuntamento del 13 alla Cova da Iria e chiese che fosse eretta una cappella sul luogo delle apparizioni con le offerte lasciate dai pellegrini.
Il 13 settembre la Signora apparve di nuovo ai tre pastorelli, che erano
circondati da una folla di circa 30.000 persone. Anche quella volta promise che
il 13 ottobre avrebbe fatto un miracolo per tutti, poi sparì in un globo
luminoso che, partendo dal leccio, si elevò verso il cielo.
La sesta apparizione: 13 ottobre 1917
La notizia di un miracolo visibile a tutti, fece il giro del Portogallo. All’appuntamento di ottobre ci fu così una folla valutata sulle 70.000 persone, provenienti da tutto il Paese, con giornalisti e fotografi della stampa nazionale ed internazionale inviati per registrare l’avvenimento.
Non mancavano fra loro gli scettici ed i beffardi, pronti ad assaporare la cocente delusione di quanti erano in preghiera, se non fosse avvenuto nulla. Il tempo, da parte sua, non prometteva niente di buono: quel giorno era scuro e freddo, la pioggia cadde copiosamente, mentre la gran folla di pellegrini cercava di ripararsi alla meglio.
Anche questa volta, appena apparsa la Signora, Lucia domandò:
- Signora, chi siete e cosa volete da me?
- Io sono la Madonna del Rosario; voglio una cappella costruita qui in mio
omaggio; che continuino a recitare il Rosario tutti i giorni. La guerra finirà
e i soldati torneranno presto alle loro case; gli uomini non devono offendere
il Signore, che è già troppo offeso.
Il prodigio del sole
La Vergine a questo punto aprì di nuovo le mani e indicò il sole. Così il giornalista e libero pensatore Avelino de Almeida, direttore del giornale di Lisbona «O Século», descrisse il fenomeno nell’edizione del mattino di lunedì 15 ottobre 1917:
- L’astro sembra una placca d’argento opaco ed è possibile fissarlo senza il
minimo sforzo. Non scalda, non acceca. Si direbbe che sia in fase di eclissi.
Ma ecco che si alza un grido possente e agli spettatori che son vicini giunge
la voce: – Miracolo, miracolo! Meraviglia, meraviglia! – Agli occhi sbarrati di
quel popolo, la cui attitudine ci trasporta ai tempi biblici, e che, pallido di
terrore, con la testa scoperta, fissa l’azzurro, il sole tremò, il sole ebbe
movimenti bruschi, non mai visti e contro tutte le leggi cosmiche; – il sole
ballò – secondo la tipica espressione dei contadini...
L’ultima visione
Quando tutto ciò finì, gli abiti di tutti prima bagnati dall’insistente pioggia, erano perfettamente asciutti. Fu quindi evidente che alla Cova da Iria la Madonna era veramente apparsa e si era manifestata con un miracolo visto dai presenti stupiti e terrorizzati.
Mentre la Signora si elevava verso il cielo, i tre veggenti poterono vedere
accanto al sole Gesù Bambino, San Giuseppe e la Madonna. In pochi attimi ebbero
anche la visione di un uomo adulto che benediceva il mondo e la Madonna che a
Lucia parve essere la Madonna Addolorata. Infine una terza scena: la Madonna
del Carmelo con lo Scapolare in mano.
La conferma della Chiesa
Il 28 aprile 1919 si diede inizio alla costruzione della Cappellina delle Apparizioni. Il 13 ottobre 1930 il vescovo di Leiria dichiarò «degne di fede le visioni dei bambini alla Cova da Iria», autorizzando il culto alla Madonna di Fatima.
La prima pietra della chiesa più grande venne benedetta il 13 maggio 1928 dall’arcivescovo di Evora, mentre la dedicazione, col titolo di Nostra Signora del Rosario, avvenne il 7 ottobre 1953. Il titolo di basilica venne concesso da papa Pio XII col Breve «Luce Superna» l’11 novembre 1954.
Il 13 maggio 1946 il cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella, in qualità di legato
pontificio, incoronò la statua della Vergine di Fatima davanti a una folla di
ottocentomila pellegrini.
I tre veggenti dopo le apparizioni
Come aveva predetto la Madonna, prima Francesco Marto, poi la sorellina Giacinta morirono prestissimo, vittime della terribile epidemia di febbri influenzali detta “spagnola”, che desolò l’Europa negli anni 1917-20.
Francesco morì il 4 aprile 1919 nella sua casa di Aljustrel a dieci anni e nove mesi, mentre Giacinta morì il 20 febbraio 1920 nell’ospedale «Dona Estefânia» di Lisbona, a nove anni e undici mesi. I resti mortali di entrambi sono stati traslati negli anni ’50 del secolo scorso presso la Basilica di Nostra Signora del Rosario di Fatima. Beatificati il 13 maggio 2000 da san Giovanni Paolo II, sono stati canonizzati il 13 maggio 2017 da papa Francesco.
Lucia Dos Santos invece proseguì la sua missione di veggente-confidente della Vergine e custode del suo messaggio al mondo. Inizialmente religiosa delle Suore di Santa Dorotea, a 41 anni entrò nel Carmelo di Coimbra col nome di suor Maria Lucia di Gesù e del Cuore Immacolato; ritornò varie volte per brevi visite a Fatima sul luogo delle apparizioni. Ulteriori comunicazioni soprannaturali da lei ricevute formano il terzo ciclo delle vicende di Fatima, col nome di “Ciclo Cordimariano”.
Suor Lucia morì il 13 febbraio 2005, a 98 anni, nel convento carmelitano di
Coimbra. Dal 19 febbraio 2006 riposa nella stessa cappella dove sono conservate
le spoglie di Giacinta Marto. Il suo processo di beatificazione, ottenuta la
dispensa dai cinque anni dalla morte, è iniziato nel 2008 e si è concluso nel
2017.
I Papi e Fatima
Numerose sono state le visite dei successivi Pontefici a Fatima, come anche gli invii di legati speciali. Il primo Papa a recarsi lì fu il Beato Paolo VI il 13 maggio 1967, in occasione del cinquantesimo anniversario delle Apparizioni.
Le visite di san Giovanni Paolo II sono avvenute in due date: la prima fu il 13 maggio 1982, un anno esatto dopo l’attentato subito in piazza San Pietro (il cui proiettile fu incastonato nella corona della statua in segno di riconoscenza), rinnovando i due atti di consacrazione operati da Pio XII. Tornò a Fatima nel 1991, a dieci anni dall’attentato, e il 13 maggio 2000, per procedere alla beatificazione dei fratelli Marto.
Per il novantesimo anniversario delle apparizioni, nel 2007, papa Benedetto XVI
inviò come legato il cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. Il Pontefice di persona visitò
il santuario nel 2010, in occasione del decimo anniversario della
beatificazione di Giacinta e Francesco Marto. Il 2017, anno del primo
centenario, ha invece visto la venuta di papa Francesco.
Gli atti di consacrazione al Cuore Immacolato di Maria
Il 13 maggio 1931 l’episcopato portoghese, secondo il messaggio di Fatima, compì la prima consacrazione del Portogallo al Cuore Immacolato di Maria.
Il 31 ottobre e l’8 dicembre 1942 papa Pio XII consacrò il mondo al Cuore Immacolato di Maria e il 7 luglio 1952 consacrò a Maria in maniera speciale i popoli della Russia, come aveva chiesto la Celeste Signora a Fatima.
Papa Paolo VI, al termine della terza sessione del concilio Vaticano II (21
novembre 1964), rinnovò la consacrazione dell’umanità al cuore immacolato della
Beata Vergine. Giovanni Paolo II, il 24 marzo 1984, in comunione spirituale con
tutti i vescovi del mondo, consacrò solennemente l’intera umanità alla Madonna.
Il “Terzo segreto di Fatima”
Al termine della beatificazione dei pastorelli, l’allora Segretario di Stato vaticano, il cardinal Angelo Sodano, diede lettura della comunicazione in lingua portoghese sul cosiddetto terzo segreto di Fatima, in realtà terza parte della visione ricevuta da Lucia e dai santi Francesco e Giacinta nell’apparizione del 13 luglio 1917. Appena un mese dopo, il 26 giugno 2000, san Giovanni Paolo II ne autorizzò la divulgazione pubblica da parte della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, che fino ad allora ne aveva custodito il testo.
In estrema sintesi, la prima parte tratta della visione spaventosa dell’inferno o, per meglio dire, dell’autocondanna delle anime peccatrici. Nella seconda, invece, la Signora affermò che per contribuire alla salvezza delle anime bisognava diffondere nel mondo la devozione al suo Cuore Immacolato. Il testo noto fino al 2000 si fermava qui e risaliva al 1941, quando suor Lucia rivelò per obbedienza le prime due parti.
Quanto alla terza, la mise per iscritto il 3 gennaio 1944 in un documento poi inviato in Vaticano. Il suo soggetto è la persecuzione della Chiesa in tutti i suoi membri, compreso il «vescovo vestito di bianco» che i veggenti ebbero l’impressione che fosse il Santo Padre.
L’allora Prefetto della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, il cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger, scrisse nel Commento teologico che accompagnava il testo
della terza parte del “Segreto”: «La parola chiave di questo “Segreto” è il
triplice grido: “Penitenza, Penitenza, Penitenza!”… A suor Lucia appariva
sempre più chiaramente come lo scopo di tutte quante le apparizioni sia stato
quello di far crescere sempre più nella fede, nella speranza e nella carità –
tutto il resto intendeva portare solo a questo...».
In conclusione
L’autorità della Chiesa, a più riprese, ha ravvisato in Fatima un faro che ancora oggi continua a gettare la sua luce, per richiamare il mondo disorientato verso l’unico porto di salvezza.
Gli avvertimenti della Vergine Maria, dunque, non costituiscono tanto uno spauracchio per l’umanità, né un’occasione forte per gente morbosamente curiosa e assetata di catastrofi, quanto un invito alla speranza, che nasce dalla certezza che Dio vuole il nostro bene ad ogni costo.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli ed Emilia Flocchini
Note: Per approfondire: Cristina Siccari - Fatima e la Passione della
Chiesa - Ed. Sugarco, 2012
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/53050
Voir aussi : http://www.fatima.be/
http://www.santuario-fatima.pt/portal/index.php?lang=FR
http://jesusmarie.free.fr/apparitions_fatima.html
http://www.culturalcatholic.com/LadyFatima.htm
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_fr.html
