FESTIVAL OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
PARTY - MAY 13
May 13 is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the small town of Fátima, Portugal, in 1917. She appeared six times to Lúcia, 9, and her cousin Francisco, 8, and her sister Jacinta, 6, 13 in between. May 1917 and October 13, 1917.
The story of Fatima begins in 1916 against the backdrop of World War I, which presented Europe with the most horrific and powerful forms of warfare ever seen, and a year before the communist revolution engulfed Russia and later Eastern Europe in six decades of war. . Oppression by godless militant governments.
A luminous figure appeared to the three children who were in the field taking care of the family's sheep. “I am the angel of peace”, said the figure who appeared to them twice more that year, urging them to accept the sufferings that the Lord allowed them to suffer as an act of reparation for the sins that offended him and to accept constant prayer. for them, the conversion of sinners.
Then, on the 13th of the month of Our Lady, May 1917, an apparition of "a woman all in white, brighter than the sun" appeared to the three children and said, "Please don't be afraid of me, I no I don't want you." does not hurt. Lucia asked where she came from and she replied, "I came from heaven". The woman wore a white robe decorated with gold and held a rosary in her hand. The woman asked him to pray and consecrate himself to the Holy Trinity and "pray the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and an end to war".
He also revealed that the children would suffer, mainly from the unbelief of their friends and family, and that the two youngest children, Francisco and Jacinta, would be taken to heaven very soon, but Lucia would live longer to be able to spread her message and devotion. to the Immaculate Heart. In the last apparition, the woman revealed her name to Lucia's question: "I am the Lady of the Rosary".
On the same day, 70,000 people turned out to witness the apparition after following the woman's promise to show people that the apparitions were true. They saw the sun make three circles and move in an amazing zigzag motion across the sky in a way that left them in no doubt as to the authenticity of the apparitions. In 1930, the bishop approved the apparitions and the Church recognized them as authentic.
The messages that Our Lady conveyed to the children during the apparitions were related to the violent trials the world was being subjected to through war, famine and the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father in 20 sins. . He urged the church to pray and offer sacrifices to God so that peace would come to the world and trials would be avoided.
Our Lady of Fatima revealed three prophetic "mysteries", the first two of which were previously revealed and concern the vision of Hell and the souls that languish there, the request for passionate devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the prophecy of the Second World War and, finally, the prediction of the immense harm that Russia would do to humanity if it abandoned the Christian faith and embraced communist totalitarianism.
The third "mystery" was only revealed in 2000 and is related to the persecutions that humanity would suffer over the last century: "The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be destroyed.'” The suffering of the popes of the 20th century has been interpreted to include the 1981 assassination of Pope John Paul II, 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 path of the bullet, and in his torment the Pope stopped at the gates of death." What is the central meaning of the Fatima message? Nothing more than what the Church has always taught: it is, like Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. said, "the exhortation to prayer as a way of 'healing souls' and the call to repentance and conversion".
Perhaps the best-known expression of Our Lady's apparition at Fatima was her confident declaration that "My Immaculate Heart will triumph." Cardinal Ratzinger interpreted this statement as follows: "The heart open to God, purified by the contemplation of God, is stronger than weapons and weapons of any kind. Mary's fiat, the word of her heart, changed the history of world because she brought the Redeemer into the world, because thanks to her God was able to become man in our world and remain forever.
Evil has power in this world, as we continually see and experience; it has power because our freedom can always turn away from God. But since God himself took a human heart and directed human freedom towards good, the freedom to choose evil no longer has the last word. From that moment the following word applies: “You will have tribulations in the world, but be of good courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Message of Fatima invites us to trust this promise.
Today's funeral service honors the greatest saint of all, Saint Mary, as she manifested herself before humble children in the Portuguese city of Fatima. Our Lady, the only chosen mother of her Son, appeared in a specific place, at a specific time, to a specific people, to meet a specific need. He spoke to the children about profound theological truths about heaven, hell and purgatory.
She performed a publicly witnessed miracle that made the sun dance, asked for greater devotion to her son Jesus Christ and asked for reparation for the many sins committed against him. A shrine in honor of Our Lady was built on the site of her apparitions. , which for decades has received millions and millions of pilgrims, including popes. Our Lady, of course, is for the whole Church, but she is closer to the believers.
Especially when she approaches them on their own terms: in their own language, skin and clothes, floating on their own ground. There is one Mary, historically and theologically. There are many Marys, culturally and symbolically. Pope John Paul II was shot dead in St Peter's Square, Rome, on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, 1981.
He was seriously injured, but survived. He later said that one hand pulled the trigger, but the other hand guided the bullet. He made a pilgrimage to Fatima to give thanks for this saving hand. The bullet that pierced his torso, which was removed by doctors, was placed in the silver crown of Our Lady of Fatima. There he rests today.
We honor Mary for many graces, we ask her many favors and we thank her for many gifts: for the battle won, for the abundant harvest, for the healthy son, for the calm sea and for the lives dramatically saved from a murderer, or mundane, from everything else.
THE FIVE PRAYERS OF FATIMA
THE PRAYER OF THE DECADE OF THE ROSARY
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need your mercy. Amen."
THE PRAYER OF FORGIVENESS
"My God, I believe, adore, hope and love you. I ask your forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore you, do not hope and do not love you. Amen."
ANGEL'S PRAYER
“Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, as reparation for the crimes, sacrileges and indifference with which he is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I implore you for the conversion of poor sinners. Amen."
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
“Holy Trinity, I adore you! My God, my God, I love you in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen."
THE SACRIFICIAL PRAYER
“O my Jesus, I offer this for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and as indemnity for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen."
PRAYER
Our Lady of Fatima, your miraculous appearances fill us with hope that you will hear our concerns, intervene in our lives and demand greater fidelity from us. May we heed your words and warnings and fulfill God's will with your own life as our example.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
Source:
Catholic News Agency
my catholic life