1. What Is The Message of Fatima?
Blessed Mary’s apparitions at Fatima occurred during a time of turmoil. World War I was raging throughout Europe, and the threat of atheism and Russian communism taking over parts of the world was a great concern to Mary. Mary’s message to the world was to pray the Rosary, make amends for sins, and to become devoted to her Immaculate Heart. She wanted to make known that God grants graces through her Immaculate Heart, and that they can ask them from her. Mary made a number of predictions, requests, warnings and promises concerning the Faith and the world to the three shepherd children– Lucia dos Santos, age ten, Francisco Marto, age nine, and Jacinta Marto, age seven.
2. What Does The Message of Fatima Promise?
Blessed Mary promises that if her requests at Fatima are carried out there will be peace in the world, an end to wars, and souls will be saved. Mary told the three shepherd children, “My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father (pope) will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to mankind.”
3. What Does The Message of Fatima Warn?
The Blessed Lady warns the shepherd children that if her requests aren’t honored, many souls will be lost, “the Holy Father (pope) will have much to suffer,” there will be further wars, “a worse one will break out during the reign of Pius XI,” the Church will suffer persecutions, and “various nations will be annihilated.”
4. What Did The Message of Fatima Predict?
As Mary predicted, the following came true:
The end of World War I
The emergence of Russia as a world power which would “spread its errors (including communism) throughout the world …raising up wars and persecutions against the Church.”
The start of the Second World War under the pontificate of Pius XI.
5. How Can We Fulfill Mary’s Request?
Blessed Mary’s request at Fatima is simple: pray the Rosary daily, abandon sin, and fulfill Jesus’ wish for the world (especially Russia) to become devoted to her Immaculate Heart. Mary instructed that the faithful can devote themselves to her Immaculate Heart by doing the following on the first Saturday of five consecutive months:
- Confess their sins
- Receive Communion
- Recite the Rosary
- Keep her company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.
6. Why Should I Believe What Happened at Fatima is true?
Many of the predictions Blessed Mary made at Fatima came true. In addition to the prediction of the end of World War I, the rise of communism in Russia, and the start of the Second World War, a public miracle, witnessed by 70,000 people on October 13, 1917, the Miracle of the Sun, occurred at precisely the moment Mary said it would. During the miracle, the people saw the sun twirl in the sky and shoot off colors.
All of the Popes since the Fatima Miracle have recognized that the message is authentic. John Paul II said at Fatima in 1982 that “the Message of Fatima imposes an obligation on the Church.”
7. Have The Requests of Our Lady of Fatima Been Honored?
No, not all of them. Blessed Mary instructed that Russia must be officially consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a public ceremony conducted by the pope with the world’s Catholic bishops present. Although Pope John Paul II consecrated the world to Mary in 1984, he did not specifically mention Russia.
8. Doesn’t The Fall of Communism Prove That The Consecration Was Effective And That Russia Is Now Converting?
Since the fall of communism, there have been few conversions to Catholicism in Russia. It’s estimated that about one percent of the population is Catholic.
9. Why is the message of Fatima important to me and my family?
While Fatima happened almost 100 years ago, the message of Mary to pray for the salvation of souls and for peace in the world still applies today. In fact, with the current situation in Ukraine, and the threat of Russian military troops taking over Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, the message of Fatima to pray for peace is important now more than ever.
10. What Became of Lucia do Santos?
After the Fatima apparitions, Lucia dos Santos became a nun first in Spain and later, in 1948, as a Carmelite in Portugal. Sr. Lucia died on February 13, 2005 at the age of 97.
Our Lady of Fatima Gifts
Is she the daughter of Muhammad? Maybe she could appear in Colorado, maybe Pueblo. I have a friend in Pueblo that could use the business of selling items if she comes. Why should Europe get all the business?