Our Lady of Fatima
“Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”
Our Lady’s appearances at Fatima called the Church to prayer, penance, conversion, and confidence in her Immaculate Heart.
The story
In 1917, three shepherd children from Aljustrel in Portugal reported a series of apparitions at the nearby Cova da Iria. They were Lúcia dos Santos, aged ten, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged eight and seven. The children had already reported appearances of an angel in 1916. On May 13, 1917, they said that a lady clothed in light appeared while they were tending sheep.
The children reported six monthly apparitions from May through October, with the August meeting delayed because local officials detained and questioned them. The lady urged daily prayer of the Rosary, penance, reparation for sin, and conversion. The message also included a vision of hell and requests concerning devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart and Russia. These elements belong to an approved private revelation. They do not add to the deposit of faith or require the assent owed to public revelation.
On October 13, a large crowd gathered despite heavy rain. Many witnesses reported an extraordinary solar phenomenon, later called the Miracle of the Sun. Newspapers published accounts from both believers and skeptics. The Church does not teach that the sun literally left its place in the solar system. It recognizes the event within the broader judgment that the apparitions are worthy of belief.
Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920 after illness during the influenza pandemic. Pope Francis canonized them at Fatima on May 13, 2017. Lúcia became a religious sister, lived for many years in Coimbra, and died in 2005. After a formal inquiry, Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 1930. The observance of Our Lady of Fatima was added to the General Roman Calendar as an optional memorial in 2002. Its enduring message is the Gospel call to repentance, prayer, and trust in God’s mercy.
What Our teaches
Fatima directs attention to Christ through prayer, repentance, and concern for the salvation of souls. Approved private revelations can help Christians live the Gospel more fully, but they do not complete or correct Christ’s definitive revelation, as CCC 67 teaches.
Patronage
Portugal, world peace, conversion of sinners, devotion to the Rosary.
Prayer
God of mercy, you gave the Church a call to prayer and conversion through Our Lady of Fatima. Through her intercession, grant peace to the world, bring sinners home, and teach us to ponder the mysteries of Christ with faithful hearts. Amen.