Feast Day Rosary for Our Lady of Fatima

May 13 marks the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the  anniversary of the first encounter in 1917 of the Blessed Mother with the children at Fatima, our sister world Marian Apparition Site in Portugal.  In remembrance and honor of Our Blessed Mother’s encounter, we will pray the rosary at 10:30 AM for Our Lady of Fatima. We also honor Our Lady of Fatima at our outdoor grotto which is the center of the reflection pond in front of the historic Schoolhouse building at Champion.

The following is excerpted from an article from the Diocese of Lansing about this Feast Day:

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, celebrating the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three Portuguese shepherd children upon this day in 1917. Happy Feast Day!

“Periodic supernatural appearances of the Mother of Our Lord Jesus in our earthly reality are tangible reminders of our ultimate home: the heavenly Kingdom of God,” writes Deb Amato, Chief of Staff of the Diocese of Lansing, in an article to mark today’s feast day, May 13.

“It is our beloved, gentle, loving Mother arriving on the scene to remind us that her Son, Jesus, has already won for us an eternal victory. The suffering and pain endured in this life is but a momentary precursor to the peace and joy of the beatific vision.”

The Marian apparitions in Fatima took place between May 13 to October 13, 1917, when the Virgin Mary appeared to Francisco de Jesus Marto; his sister Jacinta de Jesus Marto; and their cousin Lúcia Santos.

Our Lady told them of a coming upheaval in the world, linked especially to Russia, which would cause terrible suffering. She also reminded the children of the danger of hell, and asked them to pray the rosary and make sacrifices for sinners.

“Pray the rosary today for our troubled world, for an end to the suffering attributed to the coronavirus, and for the salvation of souls,” encourages Deb Amato.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled as Our Lady of the Rosary confidently declared, ‘My Immaculate Heart will triumph!’. ‘My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, I love Thee! I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love Thee. Amen.” Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

• Deb Amato’s article on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is reproduced in full below:

“Mothers have the uncanny ability to show up just when their children most need them. This is true of our Blessed Mother, Mary, who makes herself visible to us in times of great human strife. Today, May 13th, we remember and recognize one of those occasions: The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three young shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal over the course of six months in 1917. The apparitions began on May 13th and culminated with the great miracle of the sun in October 1917.

Her message to those three shepherd children, the war-torn world of the twentieth century and the world today is quite simple: PRAY. Most especially, pray the rosary everyday specifically offering your prayers for peace in the world and for conversion of hearts to God. How appropriate and timely a message for us today in May 2020! Are we not fighting a war against an invisible enemy, coronavirus, right now?

Periodic supernatural appearances of the Mother of Our Lord Jesus in our earthly reality are tangible reminders of our ultimate home: the heavenly Kingdom of God. It is our beloved, gentle, loving Mother arriving on the scene to remind us that her Son, Jesus, has already won for us an eternal victory. The suffering and pain endured in this life is but a momentary precursor to the peace and joy of the beatific vision.