On May 13, 1917, three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal received a visit from the Blessed Virgin Mary who told them that she would return on the 13th of each month. The story spread and the crowds of pilgrims grew. Mary told the children, “In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.” A crowd of about 70,000 people came—a mix of believers and hardened skeptics—and stood in thick mud and pouring rain. At noon the rain stopped and the miracle began. Eyewitnesses said that for ten minutes the sun danced, changed colors, spun, and then plunged toward the crowd. People screamed in fear, and there were instantaneous conversions and prayers of repentance. Then the sun returned to the sky, and the ground and everyone’s clothes were dry.
CHALLENGE
While some interpret the story of Fátima as a sign of the end times, the message of Fátima is clear: stop sinning, do penance for the salvation of souls, and pray the Rosary. So today pick one of your habitual sins to work on, do penance for the conversion of one person you know, and pray the Rosary for peace.
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