Our Lady of Fatima, the Miracle of the Sun, and the Power of the Rosary
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In 1917, the world was at war and people everywhere were suffering. Right in the middle of all of that, a lady believed to be the Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children: Lucia dos Santos, age 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, ages 9 and 7, in a field in Fatima, Portugal. She came not once, but six times. And every single time, her message was the same: ‘Pray the Rosary’.
She promised that God would grant peace to the entire world if her requests for prayer, reparation, and consecration were heard and obeyed. She also told the children that during the last of her six appearances, she would provide a sign so people would believe in the apparitions and in her message.
That day came on October 13th and it was a very rainy day, yet this did not keep believers and non-believers from coming. Some estimated the crowd at around 70,000. Our Lady came and gave her final message: “I want to tell you to have them build a Chapel here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Let them continue to say the Rosary every day.“
Then God showed the world He meant it. After the Rosary had been recited by the crowd, the dark sky opened, and the sun suddenly began to tremble and shake, then spin like a great wheel of fire, casting off long shafts of colored light. This went on for ten minutes and was seen from twenty-five miles away. Then the sun broke loose and seemed to plunge toward the people, who fell to their knees crying out for forgiveness.
The first newspaper to report the miracle on a full front page was an anti-Catholic, Masonic newspaper. Even those who wanted nothing to do with God could not deny what they saw. The miracle of the sun was understood by the people to be the seal and guarantee that the three children were telling the truth.
Thirteen years later, in 1930, after the most careful investigation, the bishops of Portugal declared that the veneration of Our Lady of Fatima was officially authorized.
What is the Rosary?
It is not just beads. Every prayer walks us through the life of Jesus: His birth, His suffering, His rising from the dead. Mary herself shows us how it is done: “She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). When we pray the Rosary, we sit with Mary and think about Jesus together.
Think about that for a moment. No one in human history was closer to Jesus than His mother. She carried Him, raised Him, watched Him die, and rejoiced when He rose. When we pray the Rosary, we are not just reciting prayers, we are asking the person who knew Jesus best
to walk us through His life, mystery by mystery, and bring us closer to Him. It is the most personal kind of prayer imaginable.
Our Lady also gave us a short prayer to add after each mystery: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of your mercy.” Those words carry the weight of the whole mission of the Church: love for God, love for neighbor, and a burning desire that no soul be lost.
This past May, on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13), Pope Leo XIV recalled Our Lady’s message, saying: “I would like to reiterate the invitation of the Virgin of Fatima: ‘pray the Rosary every day for peace.'” And this October, Pope Leo has invited all the faithful to pray the Rosary throughout the entire month of October, with the particular intention that wars may cease, and that peace may be established among peoples in conflict. The message has not changed in over a hundred years and neither has the need.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking to children gathered to pray the Rosary, called it “a simple prayer that everyone can recite.” He described the sight of a million children praying the Rosary across the world as “fifty million Hail Mary’s rising to heaven from every corner of the earth and in every language, asking for peace.” That is what the Rosary does. It binds the whole world together in one prayer, at the feet of one mother, before one Lord, Jesus Christ.
St. John Paul II who credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life after the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981, urged every soul to rediscover the Rosary, calling it the work of “contemplating the face of Christ along with Mary” and urging that we rediscover “the mystical depth contained in the simplicity of this prayer, so much loved by popular tradition.”
Friends, on October 13th, after urging the daily praying of the Rosary and repentance for sins, God provided the Miracle of the Sun to confirm faith in the message Our Lady brought to the world at Fatima. Heaven went to extraordinary lengths to get our attention.
As a parish, we gather to pray the Rosary on October 14 at 5.30pm at Sacred Heart Church in Merrill for ‘Beads & Brats’. The world is still loud, anxious, and desperate for peace. And the answer offered by Heaven itself is not a program, a politician, or a plan. It is a mother. It is her Son. And it is 15 to 20 minutes, a set of beads, and a willing heart.
Our Lady is still asking. Will you say yes?
Reflective If God backed up this message with a miracle seen by 70,000 people, including skeptics and non-believers, what does that say about how seriously Heaven wants us to pray the Rosary?
- Mary “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). When was the last time you truly sat in silence and thought deeply about the life of Jesus and what might change if we did that every day?
- Our Lady’s request at Fatima was simple: pray, repent, and return to God. Is there one area of your life where you know God is calling you to turn back to Him and are you ready to bring it to Him through the Rosary this week?