The Message of Hope and Devotion
Our Lady of Fatima
"Our Lady of Fatima" appeared to three young shepherd children—Lucia dos Santos, Jacinta Marto, and Francisco Marto—in the town of Fatima, Portugal, in a series of apparitions in 1917. The message of Our Lady of Fatima emphasized prayer, repentance, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The apparitions culminated as the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917, witnessed by thousands of people, where the sun appeared to dance in the sky.
The events of Fatima have had a profound impact on the Catholic Church, and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal has become a major pilgrimage site for Catholics worldwide. The story of Our Lady of Fatima is often seen as a call to prayer, repentance, and devotion to Mary as a means of seeking peace and salvation.
Devotion to Our Lady of Fatima includes the recitation of the Rosary, which is central to the messages conveyed during the apparitions, as well as the Five First Saturdays devotion and other prayers associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Story
The story of Fatima begins in 1916, when, against the backdrop of the First World War, and a year before the Communist revolution would plunge Russia and Eastern Europe into six decades of Communist rule, the Angel of Peace 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 that offend Him, and to pray constantly for the conversion of sinners.
Beginning on May 13th, 1917, Our Lady appeared to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun, and asked them for prayer, fasting, penance and to “say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”
In homage to Our Lady’s message to pray the Rosary, the Basilica features fifteen altars that are dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
Some pilgrims crawl 600 feet (182 meters) from the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity to the Chapel of Apparitions on their knees as an act of penance. Then they circle around the Chapel on their knees too, while praying the rosary.
Many pilgrims make walking pilgrimages from all over Portugal, some from as far as Lisbon.
The Via Sacra or “Sacred Way” marks the path taken by the children to the first apparition. Pilgrims can walk along this path and pray at the Stations of the Cross at fifteen small Chapels before arriving in Valinhos, the site of Our Lady’s August 1917 apparition and the first and third apparitions of the Angel.
Feast and Procession for Our Lady
The feast day for Our Lady of Fatima, also known as the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, is celebrated on May 13th each year. Catholics and many other devotees worldwide observe this feast day by attending special Masses and devotional services, particularly in locations with a strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, such as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. The Rosary is often recited, as it was central to the messages conveyed during the Fatima apparitions.
During these celebrations, people from all over the world participate in processions, offer prayers of thanksgiving, and reflect on the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, which emphasize prayer, penance, and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as a means of seeking peace and salvation.
The Prayer
O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the most holy Rosary, you were pleased to appear to the children of Fatima and reveal a glorious message. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled therein may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
Credit: Venisha Gonsalves, a longstanding member of OITS