“Mary is the Star of the Sea. She never forsakes those who trust in her, so let us get under her protecting mantle. She will lead us out of the danger and guide us safely to port.” ~ St. John Bosco
True devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is crucial to both personal conversion and the conversion of the entire world to Jesus Christ, which is the ultimate goal of our missionary efforts as new evangelizers. Popes Pius IX, Leo XIII, Saint Pius X, Pius XII, and John Paul II all stressed true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and Mother to us all.
Pope Francis consecrated his pontificate to Our Lady of Fatima and will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 13 as part of the Marian Day celebration, which will include the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
October 13 is a significant date, as it was on that day in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal that the sixth apparition of Fatima occurred – the Miracle of the Sun. The Miracle of the Sun was attended by approximately 70,000 people, who were gathered in a field called Cova da Ira near Fatima, Portugal. The people had gathered because three shepherd children had predicted that at high noon the “lady” who had already appeared to them several times previously would perform a great miracle there.
When Our Lady appeared, she warned that people must change and repent: they should say the Rosary and do penance. In addition to seeing the Blessed Virgin, the children also had a panorama of visions, including: St. Joseph, the grown Christ standing beside the figure of Our Lady of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel with the scapular. The visions were seen only by the children, and the messages were given to them alone.
However, while the children listened enraptured, the crowd observed something else. After the Rosary was recited, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared in a clear blue sky, began to tremble and shake. Then it started spinning like a wheel of fire, casting off long shafts of multicolored lights across the landscape. This continued for ten minutes and was observed at a distance of twenty-five miles. The sun was then reported to have sped towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, terrifying those below who thought it a sign of the end of the world. The people fell to their knees, weeping and asking for forgiveness of their sins.
Witnesses testified that their previously damp clothes became “suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain that had been falling.”
News reporters witnessed this event and took photos of the crowd and the entire spectacle.
The apparition at Fatima was officially accepted as a miracle by the Roman Catholic Church on October 13, 1930. The message of Fatima was a direct message from God via Our Lady and was a call to prayer and penance. She told us to pray the rosary daily, to offer prayer and sacrifice for sinners, to consecrate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart, and to pray for the conversion of Russia.
Are we doing as Our Lady of Fatima requested?
As new evangelizers, it is important that we:
- Pray the Rosary daily. If you are not used to praying the entire rosary, start with a decade or two.
- Consecrate ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. There are different ways to do this. You can either do it online, with a parish group, or with a religious community.
- Pray our Marian consecration prayer daily.
- Pray for an end to the ideas of formerly Communist Russia which have spread to the US and other countries – atheism and relativism.
- Make small sacrifices every day for the conversion of sinners. For example, perform that extra chore, do without that extra treat, spend fifteen minutes less time on social networking but instead spend that time in prayer or interacting with family.
Isn’t it worth it to spend a little extra time in prayer and offer up small things for someone else’s conversion? Reflecting on the great sacrifice of Christ’s love for us will surely motivate each of us to exert extra effort in exchange for another’s eternal salvation.
Recommended Reading
- Fatima for Today, by Father Andrew Apostoli, Ignatius Press, 2010.
- Those Who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary, by Catherine M. Odel, Our Sunday Visitor, 2010.
- Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, by Sister Lucia, Louis Kondor, Joaquin M. Alonso and Dominican Nuns of Perpetual Rosary, 2000.
- The Immaculate Heart (The True Story of Our Lady of Fatima), Farrar, Straus and Young, 1952.
Copyright © 2013, Jean Heimann
Jean Heimann
Jean M. Heimann has been involved with adult faith formation for 23 years. She has an M.A. in Theology and is a new evangelizer, freelance writer, and oblate with the Community of St. John. Jean blogs at Catholic Fire.
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