The 100th Anniversary of Fatima: Our Lady’s Warning and Promise
In 1917, Our Lady appeared to three young shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. These apparitions—which have been approved by the Catholic Church—took place on the 13th of each month from May to October and were concluded with the famous Miracle of the Sun, an extraordinary event witnessed by 70,000 people, believer and non-believer alike.
Since Our Lady concluded these apparitions with the greatest pre-announced public miracle in the history of the world, it is safe to say that the message she came to bring was important. We should therefore listen to what she had to tell us. Among other things, she asked for the following:
- That we cease to offend God.
- That we do prayer and penance in reparation for the sins of the world.
- That we make the First Saturday devotions in reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart.
- That we pray the Rosary every day.
- That the pope, in union with all of the Catholic bishops of the world, consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
All of us can undoubtedly do a better job of fulfilling Our Lady’s requests, but this is especially true of the Holy Father and the bishops of the Church.
Several popes over the last few decades have made various consecrations to the Immaculate Heart. Most notable among these was Pope St. John Paul II’s consecration of the entire world in 1984. However, no pope has specifically fulfilled Our Lady’s request, and as a result, the world today is moving ever closer to the fulfillment of her dire prophecies:
“If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
Today, on the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s first apparition at Fatima, her message there is more pertinent than ever before. With heresy and heterodoxy threatening to swamp the Church, and with the world teetering on the edge of another major war, our shepherds can no longer delay in fulfilling Our Mother’s urgent request.