OUR LADY OF FATIMA – PART 14

A hostel for the sick was begun at the site in Fatima in 1924.  In 1927, the Stations of the Cross were built on the mountain road.  And then in 1928, a foundation stone was laid for the basilica that has since been built.  There are also more chapels, hospitals and other facilities there.

Thousands of pilgrims come to Fatima every year.  In 1930, the Catholic Church officially recognized the apparitions ofOur Lady and granted a papal indulgence to those who come to Fatima.  There was such a large crowd in 1946 for the coronation of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima that the entrance had to be closed.

The two youngest children of the Marto family, Jacinta and Francisco, both died from the influenza epidemic.  Francisco was the 8th child in the family and Jacinta the ninth.  Francisco died at home after much suffering.  Jacinta died in a hospital, also after much suffering.  When asked if she would like to see her mother before she died, Jacinta replied that her family would not live long and they would all meet in Heaven soon.  Our Lady had wanted two of her sisters to become nuns.  But her mother did not want it and Jacinta had said that Our Lady would soon take them to Heaven.  Shortly after that, her two sisters died.

In 1935, the bodies of Jacinta and Francisco were reinterred in the basilica.  Both Francisco and Jacinta were declared venerable by Pope John Paul II in a Fatima ceremony on May 13, 1989. The Pope also declared them ‘blessed’ on May 13, 2000.  Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified.

Lucia dos Santos was the youngest of seven children in her family.  Our Lady had told Lucia that she wanted her to remain in this world in order to spread the devotion to The Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Sister Lucia became a member of the Sisters of St. Dorothy.  In 1948, Lucia left the Dorothean order and joined the Discalced Carmelite Order in the convent of Santa Teresa in Coimbra, Portugal.  She was given the name of Lucia of  The Immaculate Heart.  She had been deaf, blind and ailing for several years before she died in her room at the convent at the age of 97 on February 13, 2005. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ordered her cell sealed off. It is said this was because Sister Lucia had continued to receive more revelations and any evidence of this would be needed if she was canonized.

Before this, Pope Paul VI made a fiftieth anniversary pilgrimage on the date of the first apparition of Our Lady.  He and Sister Lucia prayed together at the shrine at that time.  In 1987 on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope John Paul II came to the shrine to thank the Virgin Mary for saving his life in the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981.  He also visited with Sister Lucia at the convent in 2000.

Lucia was buried on the convent grounds, but her body was expected to be reinterred at the basilica along with her cousins.

As Our Lady had promised Lucia, she never left her alone.  Our Lady visited Lucia many times, both in the Dorothean monastery and the Carmelite convent.  Most details of the visits have been written down by Lucia as instructed by various church officials.  She spent several years detailing all the facts of Our Lady’s apparitions and the lives of her cousins to be written into a book in order to tell the true story of Our Lady of Fatima and Her promises and instructions to the three children.

Our Lady has given to the world the plan for peace as given by Our Lord.  We have only to follow His instructions to obtain that peace.  Consecrating ourselves to The Immaculate Heart of Mary will allow Our Lady to lead us along the way of Grace, Penance, The Rosary, and Reparation to fulfill the requests by Our Lord.