October 13, 1917 was the Miracle of the Sun. On this day the sun danced about the sky bringing to conclusion the apparitions in Fatima. It was here that our Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd children (Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta). These apparitions began on May 13, 1917 and continued on the 13th of every month through October.
The children reported seeing a woman who was “brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal goblet filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun.” She asked that they pray “the rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” This past Monday we observed the Memorial of the Most Holy Rosary where we were reminded of the importance of taking up this prayer.
The rosary becomes an answer to the spiritual combat that takes place in the midst of our daily life. We are to go unto the Lord with the desire to inherit eternal life. This is not simply a question of how we are to obtain it, but how we are to embrace the answer that the Lord gives in its entirety. This spiritual battle can be won if we stay on guard and remain open to the gift of God’s grace.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary marks the battle that was won in Lepanto where victory was won over the invading Turks. This victory was attributed to the faithful taking up the rosary. Think of the battles that can be won, personally and culturally, if we faithfully take up the rosary that was asked by our Blessed Mother at Fatima to be prayed. As is promised to those who pray the rosary, “The rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.”
There are so many who allow themself to go through this life living as if in a slumber. They invest practically nothing to their life of faith and simply, if at all, just go through the motions of what is obligated. We must be stirred out of this slumber and be put into action. As the sun danced about the sky those many years ago many came to be stirred into action when it pertained to living out a life of faith.
In being stirred out of this slumber we must be moved to repentance and the infinite mercy of God. A camel passing through eye of a needle is to say that one’s baggage needs to be removed if one is to pass through. Therefore, we must let go of all that keeps us from entering into union with God through a spirit of repentance.
Through the apparitions that took place in Fatima we can see that God desires to have mercy of the whole world. Let us turn toward this mercy and be lifted out of our slumber and placed into action by taking up the rosary and remaining faithful to the message of the gospels.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
