Our Lady of Fatima: The Virgin Mary and the Miracle of the Sun

Tens of thousands of people saw the Sun dancing across the sky, after the Virgin Mary had promised to show a sign of her presence.

The story of Our Lady of Fatima begins in the village of Fatima, Portugal, in the Covia da Iria quarter, on May 13, 1917. On that day near that tiny village, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, appeared to three young peasant children: Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia; ages 10, 9 and 7. These youngsters were tending their family’s sheep when “a Lady all in white, more brilliant than the sun… indescribably beautiful,” standing above a bush, became visible to the youngsters, much to their delight and surprise

This was to be only the first of many visits. From May through October 1917, the Lady appeared and spoke to the children on the 13th day of each month.

News of these appearances began to spread throughout the region. The children recounted that the Virgin told them that God had sent her with a message for every man, woman, and child living in the early part of the 19th century, when virtually all of Europe was being torn asunder by the most catastrophic and deadly war the Earth had ever seen. The Lady promised that God would grant peace to the entire world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed by all the faithful, and it would be up to Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia to spread that message.