Within the dozens of invocations of the Virgin Mary such as the Virgin of Guadalupe or the Virgin of Chapi, this month is special for the Virgin of Fatima. Popular for its first appearance in Portugal, the time he made the Sun ‘dance’ and the fervor that the popes have for it, this May 13 is commemorated once once more. But how was this devotion born and why the date? here the story.
It was in 1917 when the Virgin appeared before Lucia, Jacinta and Franciscothree little shepherds who were in charge of their sheep in the area of Cova da Iria. These, encountering a rain, looked for a place to shelter. Great was their surprise when, in the middle of the work, they ran into a white light between trees and it was even greater when they realized the image they saw.
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It was the Virgin Mary, the same one who wore a white dress and carried a rosary in her hands. So, she asked the children to return every 13th of every month and they, between astonishment and emotion, ran to the town to tell what had happened. Of course, they did not miss her word and attended the place, where they reported that there were more apparitions, in June and July.
However, on the second of these visits, in June, the Virgin announced that Francisco and Jacinta would soon die. Thus, in December 1918, due to the so-called “Spanish flu”, both fell ill and it was the first of them who succumbed in April of the following year. For her part, she improved, but a new illness would cause her departure on February 20, 1920.
THE VIRGIN WHO MADE THE SUN ‘DANCE’
The last apparition of the Virgin took place on October 13, 1917. According to witnesses that day, it was following a drizzle that the Sun emitted a different light than usual. Among those who witnessed the event believed that it was a kind of ‘end of the world’, but nothing might be further from the truth.
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There were also those who relate that that followingnoon, the wet clothes from the rain had miraculously dried. However, what caught the most attention was what Juan de Machi commented: “before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was almost biblical, waiting and anxiously looking at the sky, the Sun trembled, made unexpected and incredible movements outside all cosmic laws. The Sun danced, according to a typical expression of the people”.
THE FERVOR OF THE POPES FOR THE VIRGIN OF FÁTIMA
Nearly a decade later following his first appearance, the Pope Pius XI granted a special indulgence to the pilgrims of Fatima, on October 1, 1930. In 1942, Pius XII consecrated humanity to the Immaculate Maria’s heart and went John Paul II who visited the place of the apparitions on three occasions. In fact, in one of them he went to leave the Virgin with the bullet that was shot at her in Saint Peter’s Square, in what was an attempted attack once morest the Supreme Pontiff.
Other of the most recent actions were carried out by Benedict XVI, who personally went to the place of the apparitions, where he consecrated all the priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In addition the Pope Francisco he consecrated his pontificate to the Virgin of Fátima and, in May 2017, he visited the Sanctuary to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the visit.
It is worth mentioning that, in each of her apparitions, the Virgin has asked in a special way that, during the recitation of the rosary, following each mystery it is said: “O Jesus, forgive us for our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of your Divine Mercy.”. For this reason, every year thousands of people visit the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in search of pilgrimage.