A photostatic copy of a page from Ilustracao Portugueza, October 29, 1917, showing the crowd looking at the Miracle of the Sun during the Fatima apparitions. (Source:Wikipedia)
The story is familiar to most of us. In the summer of 1917, Our Blessed Mother, introducing herself as "Our Lady of the Rosary" (Nossa Senhora do Rosário), appeared to three shepherd children -- Lucia Dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto -- in Cova da Iria, near Fatima, Portugal.
A year before the apparition, the "Angel of Peace" (believed to be St. Michael the Archangel) appeared to the children and invited them to pray with him. During a later apparition, St. Michael held a Host in one hand and a Chalice in the other. The children saw blood dripping from the Host into the Chalice. The Angel of Peace then lay prostrate on the ground leaving the Host and Chalice suspended in midair. After praying, the Angel took the Host and gave it to Lucia; he gave the Chalice to Francisco and Jacinta to drink.
For six consecutive months in 1917, beginning on May 13 and on each 13th day of the month until October, Mary gave the world, through these three innocent visionaries, a "peace plan from heaven". Calling the world to conversion, penance, and prayer, Our Blessed Mother told the children that if people heeded her invitation, many sinners would be converted and "my Immaculate Heart will triumph and a period of peace will be granted to the world".
"Pray, pray a great deal", she asked the children, "and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them".
On October 13, 1917, so that many would believe that the apparition was true, she brought forth the famous "miracle of the dancing sun" which was witnessed by a hundred thousand spectators, including skeptical journalists and photographers who acknowledged the phenomenon in the Portuguese press, including the avowedly anticlerical newspaper, O Seculo.
As in previous and subsequent Marian apparitions, those of Fatima came with Our Blessed Mother's special requests. Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fatima specifically asked us to sanctify our daily work and duties, to pray the rosary daily and to consecrate ourselves, our families, and our communities to her Immaculate Heart.
She also requested that we faithfully practice the First Saturday Devotion, which includes the Sacrament of Reconciliation, reception of the Holy Eucharist, five decades of the rosary, and fifteen minutes of meditation and adoration.
In 1930, Fatima was officially declared "worthy of belief" by the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima. The late Pope John Paul II attributed his surviving the assassination attempt on his life in 1981 to Our Lady of Fatima.
What may not be too familiar is that years after the apparition, the local Bishop had a statue of Our Lady of Fatima sculpted and blessed. He directed that the statue be transported to far-flung parishes in Portugal to spread the message of Fatima.
Pilgrims to Fatima, however, complained about the absence of the venerated image so that another statue was made. The Pilgrim Virgin has been traveling the world, visiting more than 100 countries, since 1947. Along the way, numerous reports of conversion, cures, and miracles have occurred.
Currently, through the effort of San Diego resident Thomas McKenna, who is on the board of the pilgrim statue organization, the Pilgrim Virgin, accompanied by Carl Malburg from Indiana, is visiting San Diego. It was in the Philippines in January 2007. The current itinerary may be found by linking to Tour Calendar in www.pilgrimvirginstatue.com.
It is not too late to avail of the opportunity to see the Pilgrim Virgin. The San Diego tour started in St. Mary Star of the Sea in Oceanside on January 4. The remaining schedule is as follows:
January 16, St. Mark in San Marcos
January 17, St. Mary's in Escondido
January 18, St. Patrick in San Diego
January 19, Our Lady of the Rosary in San Diego
January 20, St. Joseph Cathedral (2:30 PM Procession to be led by Auxiliary Bishop Salvatore Cordileone)
January 21, St. Elizabeth Seton in Carlsbad
January 22, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lakeside
January 23, St. Pius X in Chula Vista
January 24, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Ukrainian in La Mesa
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