ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER
Saints celebrated on the 13th of October
FATIMA, 13 OCTOBER
"DOING EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO AVOID EVERY SINGLE SIN FOR LOVE OF OUR JESUS"
Our Lady of Fatima said on October 13, 1917, the day of the great Miracle of the Sun, ‘People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord, Who is already deeply offended.’ Our Lady is telling us that amendment of life is necessary. Mary our Mother is reminding us that sin really offends Jesus our God.
The Holy Bible tells us that ‘He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins’ (Isaiah 53:3). Saint Alphonsus, Doctor of the Church, says that each one of us can truly say that if I sinned just one sin less, then Jesus would have less to suffer in His Passion and Death.
The Blessed Virgin then tells us that we must pray because she knows, and the Catholic Church teaches, that without the grace of God no one can always keep the Ten Commandments and all God’s laws, because it is impossible to always resist the world, the flesh and the devil without God’s help. As Jesus says, ‘Without Me you can do nothing.’ But in order to have the grace of God, we must pray for it. This is why Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church, says ‘He who prays will be saved, and he who does not pray will be damned.’ Thus the Blessed Virgin was sent by God to remind us of the necessity of prayer.
AVOIDING THE OCCASIONS OF SIN FOR OURSELVES AND OTHERS
Also necessary for the forgiveness of sins is the firm purpose of amendment. In order to be forgiven by God, a person who has sinned must not only confess all his mortal sins personally and directly to a priest in the Sacrament of Confession, but also the penitent must be sorry for having offended God by his sins, and with a firm will, he must resolve to not commit those same sins. A person, then, who resolves to avoid sin, must of course resolve also to take all the means necessary in order to not commit those same sins.
For example, a man who decides to go to another city must also take the means necessary (bus, car, walk) to attain his objective. Thus besides praying for the grace necessary to avoid sin, we must also resolve to avoid the occasion of sin. Saint Alphonsus says that if men and women avoided the occasion of sin, almost all the sins now committed would not be committed.
We have a strict obligation to not only avoid sin, but also to avoid as far as possible those persons, places and things (such as shows, magazines, books, and fashions) which would be an occasion whereby we would likely fall into sin. We also have the obligation to see to it that we are not an occasion of sin for others.
Our Lady gave a specific warning about fashions which would cause people to sin. When she appeared at Fatima she said: ‘Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.’ She also mentioned that more souls go to hell for sins of the flesh, than any other sin. Let us then repent of our sins, make a good confession, and resolve to avoid all sin and unnecessary occasions of sin.
(From the booklet “Our Lady’s Urgent Appeal” published by the Fatima Centre in 1982)
⬅️ Fatima Apparitions - The Beginnings
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THE MIRACLE OF THE SUN
AHEAD OF THE PROMISED MIRACLE, THE ROADS BECAME CLOGGED WITH PEOPLE MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARD FATIMA
In July, August, and September, our Lady had promised a miracle in October. Lucia had told a number of people about this promise, and the word spread rapidly through Portugal. Unbelievers scoffed at the idea and waited confidently for October 13. They were sure that there would be no miracle and that the entire story of Fatima would be exposed as a hoax. Those who believed talked the matter over excitedly. Think of it! A miracle promised in advance and in their own country of Portugal!
Several days ahead of the promised date, the roads became clogged with people making their way toward Fatima. “Nearby communities, towns and villages, emptied of people,” said the Lisbon newspaper O Dia.“… They came on foot, by horse or by carriage. They travelled the highways and the roads, between the hills and pine groves. For two days these came to life with the rolling of the carriages, the trot of the donkeys and the voices of the pilgrims.”
Lucia’s mother tried to get the girl to retract her story. Other people warned her that something very serious would happen if there were no miracle. It was said that there would be bombs in the crowd. The families of the children were very much frightened, but the children themselves were calm and serene.
“There will be a miracle, because our Lady promised it,” Lucia said.
On the night of the twelfth, a cold wind came out of the north bringing with it a chilling rain. This caused the most acute discomfort to the pilgrims who had to sleep in the open, but it did not dampen their ardour.
THE COLD RAIN DID NOT DAMPEN THE PILGRIMS’ ARDOUR
The next day was cold and rainy, but the pilgrims were not daunted. By 11:30, more than 70,000 of them had gathered at the Cova. They sang hymns, recited prayers and said the Rosary. Seldom has there been a more striking demonstration of faith. Our Lady must have been very much pleased with the Portuguese people that day.
A path had to be cleared through the throng for Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. “Put down your umbrellas,” Lucia said. The word spread throughout the crowd, and all umbrellas were lowered. Lucia does not know now why she made this request.
At two o’clock wartime, noon sun time, Lucia saw the flash of light that always preceded our Lady’s appearances.
“Silence, silence, our Lady is coming,” Lucia cried.
Our Lady came out of the east and again stopped above the holm oak.
“Who are you, Madam, and what do you want of me?” Lucia asked.
“I am the Lady of the Rosary, and I desire a chapel built in my honour in this place.
“People must continue to say the Rosary every day. The war will end soon, and the soldiers will return to their homes.”
“I have so many things to ask you,” Lucia said.
“I will grant some of them, the others, no.”
“MEN MUST OFFEND OUR LORD NO MORE, AND ASK PARDON FOR THEIR SINS”
Assuming a sadder air, the Lady said, “Men must offend our Lord no more, and they must ask pardon for their sins, for He is already much offended.” It was the same as the message of La Salette but in different words: “If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the hand of my Son. It is so strong, so heavy, that I can no longer withhold it.”
Our Lady stretched forth her hands, and the light again shone from her palms. She pointed toward the sun which seemed dim in comparison with the light from her hands. Then she seemed to disappear in her own radiance.
High up in the sky appeared a representation of the Holy Family. St Joseph held the Child Jesus on his left arm. To the right was the Blessed Virgin dressed in the blue and white robes of Our Lady of the Rosary. St Joseph and the Child Jesus made the Sign of the Cross over the world three times.
The vision faded, and then Lucia alone beheld our Lord dressed in red as the divine Redeemer. He blessed the world. Beside him stood Mary dressed in the purple robes of Our Lady of Sorrows.
In the third and last of those visions, Lucia saw the Blessed Virgin clothed in the brown robes of Our Lady of Carmelite.
The 70,000 pilgrims did not see any of this, but they were seeing something very spectacular. Our Lady did not forget that she had promised them a miracle.
"LOOK AT THE SUN!"
The crowd heard Lucia shout, “Look at the sun!” (She does not remember saying this.) At that moment, the clouds parted suddenly and revealed the sun which looked like a phosphorescent disk. Everyone could look at it without blinking, although there was no fog and the clouds no longer obscured it.
The testimony as to what happened after that differs greatly. Most persons saw the sun spin about in the sky, throwing off rays of light in all directions like a gigantic pinwheel. This light, they say, was yellow, red, green, blue and violet successively. The people stood spellbound as they beheld this manifestation of God’s power.
Then the sun suddenly detached itself from the sky and plunged toward the earth. The terrified people thought they would be crushed by it. Most of them fell to their knees in the churning sea of mud.
“Save us, Jesus!” went up the cry from hundreds of throats. “Our Lady, save us!”
Many fervently said the Act of Contrition.
Just when it seemed certain that the world would be destroyed, the sun stopped its downward plunge and climbed back to its accustomed place in the sky. It again became the brilliant sun of every day.
Some witnesses declare that the sun spun in the sky, stopped for an instant, then spun in the other direction and that this process was repeated. Others say its spinning was one continuous motion with no stopping. Many are sure that the sun plunged toward them in a straight line; many are equally sure that it came toward the earth in a zigzag path. Estimates of the length of time the display lasted vary from a few seconds to twelve minutes.
When a number of people have seen a very important event, it is only natural to expect some variations in their stories. Carlos de Azevedo Mendez, however, has an account that is at complete variance with most of the others. Here is his version as told to Father McGlynn: “The rain stopped; the clouds split open into tatters – thin transparent strips. The sun was seen as a crown of fire, empty in the middle. It went round on itself and moved across the sky. It could be seen behind the clouds and in between them, rolling around and moving horizontally. Some cried, ‘I believe’; others ‘Forgive!’ The crowd prayed in terror.”
Senhor Mendez saw clouds, while practically all the others declare the sun spun around in a cloudless sky. For him the sun moved horizontally across the sky; for others it came rushing toward the earth. To him the sun was a crown of fire, empty in the middle, to others it was a disk. He did not see the coloured lights mentioned by others.
One woman to whom Father McGlynn talked did not see the sun at all. She saw nothing unusual except the sudden stopping of the rain. She was a rare exception. Practically everyone else in that crowd of 70,000 persons agree that something wonderful and awe inspiring happened to the sun although they do not agree as to the details of what happened. It seems that each person saw what God deemed best suited to his particular needs. The fact that impressions were so different ferestalls any interpretation if the miracle as a natural phenomenon. So does the fact that it was not registered on any scientific instruments anywhere.
Was it mass hypnosis? Did the people just think they saw the sun behave in such peculiar manner? This is rendered extremely unlikely by the fact that the rain had been pouring down until the minute the miracle occurred. In that cold drenching rain, a solar display is the last thing the people would have imagined.
If the mass hypnosis idea is rendered unlikely by the rain, it is rendered impossible by the fact that people as far as twenty miles away from the Cova da Iria saw the phenomena.
One of the best proofs of the reality of the miracle is the space given to it by the Portuguese newspapers. The intellectuals of Portugal were infected by the same materialism as their counterparts in other countries. They had declared that miracles were impossible. But there was no denying what they had seen with their own eyes. Page after page in the daily newspapers was devoted to the wondrous occurrence.
PAGE AFTER PAGE IN THE DAILY NEWSPAPERS WAS DEVOTED TO THE WONDROUS OCCURRENCE
Lucia dose Santos, a poorly educated ten-year-old girl, had announced three months in advance that a miracle would take place at noon on October 13, 1917, and that miracle had taken place. This was God’s sign that the message of Fatima was genuine, a message that should be studied and carried out by everyone.
“I shall perform a miracle so that all will believe,” our Lady had said to Lucia, and she had carried out her promise.
From: “The Woman Shall Conquer” by Don Sharkey, Prow Books/Franciscan Marytown Press, Libertyville, IL, 1954
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