LAST MARIAN APPARITION IN FATIMA

Day 154: October 13

The Last Apparition of Our Lady of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima



Sister Lucia , in the memoirs she wrote by order of the Bishop, recalls that Our Lady told her on July 13th: "I want you to come here on the 13th of the coming month. Continue to recite the rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, to obtain peace for the world and an end to the war, because only she can help them." Lucia, with her usual confidence, asks, "I would like to ask you to tell us who you are; and to perform a miracle so that everyone will believe that you are appearing to us." Our Lady, with maternal kindness, promises "Keep coming here every month. In October, I'll tell you who I am, what I want, and I'll perform a miracle that everyone will see and believe."

On August 13th the visionaries missed their appointment because they were prevented from doing so by the civil authorities, but on the 15th, having returned from "prison" as Lucia calls it, they met with their flock in the Valinhos area, near the town and Our Lady renewed her promise: "Continue going to Cova da Iria on the thirteenth; continue praying the rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that everyone will believe."

In the September apparition, Our Lady once again announces the miracle for the month of October, indeed she assures that Saint Joseph will also be there with the Baby Jesus, but maternally forbids the three children from certain penances. "God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He doesn't want you to sleep with the rope on. Wear it only during the day."

October 13th was a rainy day, but the torrential rain didn't stop the crowds from flocking to the shrine. Even the muddy paths didn't stop the faithful from kneeling in humble reverence. "When we arrived at Cova da Iria," Lucia recounts, "near the holm oak, moved by an inner impulse, I asked the people to close their umbrellas so I could recite the rosary. Shortly afterward, we saw the reflection of the light, and immediately afterward, the Madonna on the holm oak."

Lucia asks confidently: “What do you want from me?” and Our Lady answers: "I want to tell you that they should build a chapel here in my honor; that I am Our Lady of the Rosary; that you continue to recite the Rosary every day. The war will end and the soldiers will soon return to their homes." “I had many things to ask you: if you healed some sick people and the conversion of some sinners, etc.” Some yes, others no; it is necessary that they correct themselves; that they ask forgiveness for their sins;– and taking on a sadder aspect –"that they no longer offend our Lord God, who is already greatly offended."

“And, opening his hands, he caused them to reflect in the sun; and as he rose, the reflection of his own light continued to project itself against the sun. This, Your Excellency, is why I called out to them to look toward the sun. My purpose was not to draw the people's attention to that direction, for I was not even aware of its presence. I did so only because I was carried by an inner impulse that urged me to do so.”

"When the Madonna disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we saw, near the sun, Saint Joseph with the Child and the Madonna dressed in white with a blue cloak. Saint Joseph and the Child seemed to bless the world, with gestures they made with their hands in the shape of a cross."

“Shortly after this apparition vanished, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady, who gave me the impression of being Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord seemed to bless the world, as Saint Joseph had done. This apparition vanished and I seemed to see Our Lady again in the guise of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

While Lucia, Francisco, and Giacinta gaze in ecstasy at the celestial figures, the announced and long-awaited miracle begins; more astonishing than anyone would have dared to hope. Lucia announces it with the cry: "Look at the sun!"

Giacinta's father's testimony is interesting: “We looked at the sun without difficulty and it didn't blind us. It seemed to turn off and on a little this way, a little that. It threw rays of light from one side and the other and colored everything in different colors, the trees and the people, the earth and the air. But the most amazing thing was that the sun didn't hurt the eyes.

Everything was quiet and peaceful. Everyone kept their eyes turned towards the sky, when at a certain point the sun stopped and then began to dance and jump: it stopped again and again began to dance, until it seemed to detach itself from the sky and come above us. It was a terrible moment!…”


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Since everything depends on our acceptance and cooperation with grace, it is important to know that God wants us to depend on the Virgin Mary in the transmission of his grace, and consequently, our acceptance and cooperation with grace greatly on our union with Mary"

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, New Jersey, 1997, p. 374)

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