Fatima and the World Today

FATIMA - OCTOBER 13th -   "Then, suddenly, one heard a clamor, a cry of anguish breaking from all the people. The sun, whirling wildly, seemed all at once to loosen itself from the firmament and, blood red, advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge and fiery weight. The sensation during those moments was truly terrible. All the phenomena, which I have described, were observed by me in a calm and serene state of mind without any emotional disturbance. It is for others to interpret and explain them. Finally, I must declare that never, before or after have I observed similar atmospheric or solar phenomena."

This firsthand account by a man of science, Professor Garrett, describes what in fact thousands of ordinary people also witnessed at Fatima, Portugal ninety  years ago on October 13, 1917, which according to the three children who could see and hear her was the day  that the beautiful lady from heaven had  indicated would be her final apparition to them. The Miracle of the Sun as it is widely known did lend credibility to their accounts of their visions, which many had previously received with great skepticism.  In this final year leading up to the  hundredth anniversary of the  apparitions of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at Fatima - we might revisit her concerns for the world and her requests.   At that time World War I was raging and the Communist Revolution in Russia had brought a policy of atheism to what formerly was a predominantly Christian culture, the Lady asked prayers for the end of war and the conversion of the nation of Russia.

Nearly a century later while Christianity is now tolerated again in Russian society, there is a new godlessness pervading the Western World not enforced by totalitarian states but as the freely chosen outlook of many in what is now a thoroughly a materialistic and secular culture.  Meanwhile the Middle East is suffering the ravages of war and upheaval and many conflicts there are rooted in misinterpretations of the Islamic religion and misunderstandings of others, in particular Christianity.  Indeed, reading or listening to the news each day it should be more than obvious that the world is still very much in need of conversion through prayer, so as we move closer to the observance of the hundredth anniversary of the apparitions and miracle at Fatima let us prepare ourselves by making a commitment to pray for our troubled world in particular perhaps by offering the rosary daily for world peace, a peace that will not ever be possible unless individual people turn their hearts back to God.

Fr. Edward Healey