When Jesus saw His mother

and the disciple whom He loved standing there, 

He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” 

(John 19:26-27)

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Our Lady of Fatima

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Our Lady, who Catholics believe is the Mother of God, is believed to have appeared to three children in 1917. She appeared six times in Fatima, in Portugal. Her main messages focused on requesting people to pray much (including praying the rosary daily) and to do much sacrifice for sinners. Many Catholics see Our Lady’s apparitions as a loving intervention from heaven. 

 

 

The Miracle of the Sun 
 

On 13 October 1917, at the final apparition of Our Lady, 70,000 people gathered at Fatima and were witnesses to a miracle in the sky where the sun appeared to dance for about ten minutes. Many others, up to 30 miles away also claimed to have witnessed this miracle. Many journalists were present and so the event was reported in a number of newspapers. One skeptical, anti-religious journalist reported in the pro-Atheistic government paper O Seculo, that the sun ‘trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws’.  
 

Just before the miracle, the ground had been muddy and all gathered were soaking wet due to the rain. Following the miracle, the witnesses found that their clothes and the ground was completely dry.  

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Healings 
 

Several healings were reported during the year of 1917 related to the apparitions. There have also been alleged healings more recently. In 2023 a young Spanish girl called Jimena was almost blind and doctors had deemed her condition incurable. On 5 August, 2023, she was visiting Fatima for World Youth Day and went to confession and also received communion. After receiving Holy Communion, she opened her eyes and began to see clearly. As with all miracles declared by the Church, her healing is undergoing a period of investigation. 

 

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Lucas Batista 

In March 2013, a five year old Brazilian boy called Lucas, fell from a window and shattered his skull. He was in a coma and suffered two cardiac arrests. His doctors considered that he had almost no chance of survival. As the days went by, his condition worsened. However, his family were devoted to Our Lady of Fatima so on 7 March, they asked some religious sisters to pray for their son. The religious sisters as well Lucas’ family invoked the intercession of two of the shepherd children who had received the vision of Our Lady in 1917. Two days later Lucas woke up. A few days later and just twelve days after the accident, Lucas was able to leave the hospital completely recovered. The doctors, which included non-believers could provide no scientific explanation for the healing.  
 

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Fatima and Akita

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Our Lady of Akita (Japan), is another apparition of Mary, the Mother of God, which has been approved by the Catholic Church. (Private revelations approved by the Church are considered by the Catholic Church as worthy of belief but are not part of the deposit of faith that all Catholics are required to believe).  

This apparition is often seen as linked to Fatima as both places had apparitions on the date of 13 October. Furthermore, the third secret of Fatima is sometimes considered linked to the messages at Akita. Our Lady requested prayer (especially the Holy Rosary), and the offering of sufferings and sacrifice for sinners, for the ungrateful, and to avoid potentially severe punishment on the world. Further details here. 

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