It has taken us a long time to absorb the miraculous events of Fatima, Portugal. The Catholic Church moves slowly with such events, but every Pope since 1917 has acknowledged the events of Fatima and Pope Francis I canonized the Marto children
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Imagine 50 to 70 thousand people coming out to the event, including scientists and sceptics. A miracle had been forecast. This was the event of the century!
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It had been raining, but that stopped as the sun came out. People looked directly at the sun and it did not bother them. The sun began to move, then to spin, throwing off colours. It approached the earth. To everyone鈥檚 amazement their clothes became completely dry.
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Today our world is turning to the Rosary as the weapon to end wars and to help God鈥檚 Kingdom to come.
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Witness: On October 7, 2017, on the 100thanniversary of Mary鈥檚 apparitions at Fatima, 听people lined Poland鈥檚 borders and prayed the Rosary for Poland and the world, an action supported听 by the Polish Bishop鈥檚 Conference.
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Witness: October 14, 2017 鈥� a Public Square Rosary Rally in the United States. For the first time in history at 21,570 locations, the Rosary was prayed devoutly in a public place.
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Witness: Every Pope since the 13thcentury has talked about the Rosary. Pius XI said, "Tell your priests to pray as much as possible. As long as the Pope has not said his Rosary, his day is not over...鈥� (from A Moment with Mary).
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Aleteia, the world wide Catholic news network gives us this perspective on the significance of the miracle of the sun. It was 鈥溾� day when God shouted, and with great humility reached out to us through children...
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鈥淔irst: The miracle told the world of God鈥檚 huge humility鈥� The Creator God does not need to make a display to prove himself, the cosmos is big enough,鈥� Aleteia records. 鈥淏ut God stoops to earth to win our love鈥�
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鈥淪econd: He [God] made it clear that we can trust Mary. Fatima is not the first time heaven and earth have been moved by Mary鈥� the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1, the start of God鈥檚 redemption of man hangs on a word from Mary鈥�
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鈥淭hird: God showed the importance of the family. While onlookers saw the Miracle of the Sun, the three shepherd children saw something different: They saw the image of a father and son. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appear in the sky, with Jesus blessing the whole world鈥�
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鈥淔ourth: She showed that children 鈥� and each of us 鈥� can change the world鈥� It all started because Our Lady of Fatima reached out to three children, and they told the world that the fate of mankind rests not on presidents and international councils, but on each of us, praying and sacrificing for sinners.鈥�
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We have come a long way since the shepherds in Luke鈥檚 Gospel bowed before a manger holding Jesus, with Mary and Joseph standing by. We are still learning. Some of the facts of Fatima Portugal have only become clear to us after 100 years.
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Our God who will stop at nothing to win our hearts still leans out from heaven with love, not judgement. We are caught with 鈥溾�he image of a father and son. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appear in the sky, with Jesus blessing the whole world.鈥�
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It is as if Mary, after drawing the world鈥檚 attention to God鈥檚 call for repentance and to prayer, wanted to showcase what was most important. Not herself, not hell, and not the Holy Father or the hierarchy, all of which appeared in earlier visions 鈥� the most important thing was Jesus, the son God entrusted to the care of Joseph. The most important thing is the human family.
