Our Lady of Fatima
Feast Day: May 13
In 1917, the world was at war.
Millions had died in the trenches of Europe.
Revolution was about to explode in Russia.
And in a small village in Portugal, three shepherd children were watching their sheep.
Lucia was ten.
Francisco was nine.
Jacinta was seven.
What they saw that day would make their village famous around the world.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
May 13, 1917
On May 13, 1917, near the village of Fatima, the three children saw a flash of light.
Above a small tree, they saw a Lady dressed in white, brighter than the sun.
She told them not to be afraid.
She asked them to come back to the same place on the 13th day of each month for six months.
And she asked them to pray the Rosary every day for peace in the world.
The Message
Over the following months, the Lady spoke to the children about prayer, penance, and conversion.
She asked people to stop offending God.
She asked for prayer and sacrifices for sinners.
She asked for devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
And again and again, she asked for the daily Rosary for peace.
“Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”
— Our Lady of Fatima
Doubt and Pressure
Not everyone believed the children.
Their families doubted them.
Local officials, hostile to the Church, threatened them and even locked them up for a time to make them deny what they had seen.
They refused to change their story.
The Miracle of the Sun
The Lady promised a sign in October so that people would believe.
On October 13, 1917, a crowd of tens of thousands gathered in the pouring rain.
Many witnesses, including newspaper reporters and skeptics, described the sun appearing to spin and plunge toward the earth.
Their soaked clothes were suddenly dry.
It became known as the Miracle of the Sun.
The Children
Francisco and Jacinta died young, in the flu epidemic that followed the war, in 1919 and 1920.
Both offered their sufferings for sinners.
Pope Francis canonized them on May 13, 2017, exactly 100 years after the first apparition.
They are among the youngest non-martyr saints in the Church.
Lucia became a Carmelite nun and lived until 2005.
Approved by the Church
In 1930, after careful investigation, the local bishop declared the apparitions worthy of belief.
Popes have visited Fatima and honored Our Lady there.
On May 13, 1981, Pope St. John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square.
He believed Our Lady of Fatima saved his life, and the bullet was later placed in the crown of her statue at Fatima.
Private Revelation
The Church teaches that approved apparitions like Fatima are private revelations.
Catholics are not required to believe them the way they believe the Gospel.
But the Church recognizes that the message of Fatima calls us back to the heart of the Gospel: prayer, conversion, and trust in God’s mercy.
What Our Lady of Fatima Teaches Us
Fatima teaches us that prayer changes the world.
It teaches us that even children can be great saints.
And it teaches us to take sin, conversion, and the salvation of souls seriously.
When Is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima?
The Catholic Church celebrates the optional memorial of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13.
Prayer Inspired by Our Lady of Fatima
Lord Jesus Christ,
through Your Mother at Fatima, You called the world to prayer and conversion.
Help us pray faithfully every day.
Bring peace to a world torn by war,
convert sinners, and lead all souls to You.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us. Sts. Francisco and Jacinta, pray for us. Amen.
