October 13,1917: The Last Apparition of the Lady of Fatima

The children,Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco had foretold the day and hour at which the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima would occur. So, in spite  of the bad weather , thousands congregated at the spot.

"Look at the sun !"the ten-year-old Lucia cried.Together with her even younger cousins ,Francisco and Jacinta Marto, she stood beside a small oak tree in the middle of the vast crowd_as many as 70,000 people on that day in Portugal gathered in a hollow of rock strewn field and pastureland called Cova da Iria .They witnessed the great miracle at noon of Oct.13,1917.,the manifestations of the sun which paid homage to the Queen of Heaven and earth.

What happened,men and women had never seen and may never see again.The phenomenon was not registered in any astronomical observatory and could not therefore have been of natural origin,was witnessed by tens of thousands of people of every category and class, believers and unbelievers, journalists and newspapermen, a fact which destroys the theory of collective hallucination. Whatever it was, in the verdict of believers and unbelievers, there is no denying that something most unusual and astonishing occurred that noonday at Fatima; an event moreover that remains one of the most documented in our insatiably curious and crowded century..

Don Jose Correia da Silva, Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria, which included the parish of Fatima, Described the event as"the most marvelous nature of the solar phenomenon of Oct. 13 "The rain stopped .The clouds parted and the sun appeared,like a pale, metallic disc that everyone could gaze at without being blinded.

As published by a journalist, Avelino de Almeida ,in the anti-clerical government newspaper,  O   

Seculo, "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, the sun trembled,made a sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws_the sun "danced"and whirled on itself like a giant catherine wheel and it lowered itself to the earth as if to burn it in its rays. They saw it change colors successively...".

Another corespondent's in the Lisbon paper, O Dia, told how the sky "illuminated the vast landscape with a strange light. The grey mother-of-pearl tone turned to silver as the clouds were torn apart and the silver sun , enveloped in the same grey light, whirled and turned in the circle of broken clouds....The streaks of light turned blue as if coming through the stained glass windows of a cathedral and spread over the people. The blue light faded and turned to yellow that fell on the white handkerchiefs of the women."

Dr. Domingos Pinto Cuello, an eye specialist, wrote in the newspaper, Orden :"The sun at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another, aureole in yellow and deep purple,seemed to be moving  whirling rapidly, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat.".

Dr. Almedia Garrett, a professor of the University of Coimbra, saw, "the sun's disc spinning round on itself in a mad whirl.It seemed to break loose from the firmament and advance threateningly upon the earth as if to crush us with its huge and fiery weight"

Said Maria da Capelinha,, a devout woman from Aljustrel :"The sun turned everything into different colors. Then it shook and trembled . It looked like a wheel of fire that was going to fall on the people.."

Said Manuel Marto, father of Francisco and Jacinta,:" What was most extraordinary was that the sun did not hurt our eyes. Then it stopped spinning. It began to move and dance in the sky until it seemed to detach from the sky and fall upon us. It was such a terrible moment." 

Wrote Fr. Manuel Perrera da Silva :" The sun appeared with its circumference well-defined. It came down as if to the height of the clouds and begun to whirl giddily like a captive ball of fire which lasted for about eight minutes." 

Then, suddenly Lucia cried: "The Lady is here! Put down your umbrellas !" They saw her uplifted face turn rapturous , radiant as if reflecting. Witnesses saw a white light shining from an invisible source. Such was the brightness of light that the witnesses could not directly see the face of the Virgin Mary. The Lady asked Lucia to tell the people to pray for the conversion of sinners for the salvation of the world from destruction through a world war.

Fr. Horacio de la Costa, Jesuit scholar and historian,said that the Mother of God revealed herself to the three children, as a "Lady of Light" as Lucia described her as "all of light, wearing a tunic and mantle that were like "waves of light". The folds of her dress were not really folds but " undulated light" and what appeared to be the gold edging of her mantle was an 'intenser light'...".

Each of the monthly apparitions, from May to October 1917, _"was announced by a flash of light, accompanied by unusual changes in the color of sunlight". Such was the brightness that Jacinta and Francisco at times could not look directly on the face of the Blessed Virgin . The multitude  present at the last apparition of the Lady of Fatima saw with their own eyes the "great miracle of the sun".

In 1943, Pope Pius XII consecrated the whole world with special mention of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, heeding the message of the Lady of Fatima to Lucia, that..."If my demands are listened to, Russia will be converted and there will be a period of peace . Otherwise, Russia will spread terror throughout the world,stirring up wars and persecutions of the Church".

The power of community prayers took effect when the cold ,war between the U.S. and Russia melted away during the era of Gorbachev and the communist block was dismantled  granting independence to the members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 

Tragically, however, another anti-Christ has risen in Russia  in the person of , Puten ,who manifests that the peace of the world depends to a great extent on Russia. 

In the contrary, peace in the world is a moral problem ;the problem of sin. , not only of those who wage war, but OUR sin too _ we are in part responsible.  Through our social injustices, heartless exploitation of the workingman, and of colonial peoples, the mad pursuit of sinful pleasure while the less fortunate are dying of hunger and disease. 

To dispel the darkness that engulfs the world, the people must solve the problem of sin _ so nations will be strong and Russia under Puten will have no power over the whole world. To achieve this, the people should go back to "Our Lady of the Light" The power of collective prayer of the holy rosary,in homes, churches, communities, everywhere all over the face of the earth, shall be our weapon to cast out idolatry, pride, hypocrisy , greed, lust, falsehood, hatred, violence,and indifference to the sufferings of others.

("Our Lady of Fatima and her Son need not come down to earth again ; we should storm heaven with our collective ardent prayers.From there, They can  hear our pleas and smother the flame of war ,so that world peace will reign ."_Maria Luisa )

Reference :  Sunday Inquirer Magazine _October 16, 1988