Discover Duhallow Issue 64

The Message Of Fatima

By TOM DENNEHY

One hundred and five years have passed since Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in a small village called Fatima in Portugal. In May 1917, the world was at war and the Portuguese government had declared that God didn’t exist. Churches were closed, and priests and religious were expelled from the country.

At the first apparition, the Blessed Virgin Mary told three little children - Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia that she had come from Heaven and asked them to pray the rosary for peace and to offer sacrifices for sinners to atone for their sins which had offended God so much. She appeared to them five more times. During her final apparition, she revealed herself as Our Lady of the Rosary. 70,000 people attended this apparition. Our Lady had promised the little children a sign to show those present that she was really appearing to them. The great Miracle of the Sun was witnessed by all present and could be seen for more than twenty miles away. We live in a time when more and more people have forgotten or are denying the reality of Heaven and Hell. Our Lady reminds us of the reality of both. She has told us that if we offer up our sufferings and our rosaries, we can win graces which can help those who are far from God to have a profound conversion. This can be seen when people go to confession for the first time in many years, they encounter the merciful love of their Heavenly Father. He always welcomes back his Prodigal Son or daughter with open arms and great love. They experience divine grace and forgiveness and can then forgive themselves. Many Catholics today do not recognise that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist so the message of Fatima helps us to believe in the great miracle performed at every Mass when the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.

Of great significance in the message of Fatima were- - The preparation of the three little children by the Angel of Peace who taught them how to pray. - The visit of the Guardian Angel of Portugal, who appeared to them in 1916 holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which some drops of blood fell into the chalice.

The Angel then taught the children how to adore and reverently receive the Real presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion.

The message of Fatima is as relevant today as it was in 1917. The Blessed Virgin – Our Blessed Mother came as a messenger of peace, her presence transforming the lives of these children. They in their turn became beacons of light and love from the turbulent secular society in which they lived. The Blessed Virgin spoke not of an angry God but a loving and compassionate God who loved and cared for His children like any parent. God wished to save all His children so Our Lady came to lead all of us to have a personal relationship with her son Jesus. Fatima calls us to love and to trust our faith, to repent of our sins, to adore Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist, to pray daily for conversion. The message also reminds us of the need to pray daily for the holy souls who rely on our prayers and sacrifices. May we discover the beauty and truth of our faith and come to know the God who loves us unconditionally and forgives us daily.

Our Lady of Fatima Queen of Peace, pray for us and enfold us in your mantle of mercy. Both Jacinta and Francesco were canonised as saints in 1917 on the centenary of Our Lady of Fatima. We ask them to pray and intercede for all of us.