to heal, teach, and guide her children, to the sure harbor of her Son
~ Fatima ~
Fatima, Portugal 1917: World War I brought a massive loss of life with a death toll of 38 million lives. Russia was approaching a revolution that would bring about the rise of Communism, atheism, and the persecution of the Church. As the war raged on, Pope Benedict XV made a great plea for all to join him in a novena to the Queen of Peace beginning on May 5, 1917. With the confidence and trust of a son, he placed the peace of the world in her hands. On the 8th day of the novena, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal. She came bearing a plan for peace: prayer, penance, and conversion of life. During one of the apparitions, the children asked Our Lady to perform a miracle so that all would believe. On October 13th, 1917 nearly 70,000 people gathered in the pouring rain to see the promised sign. In an instant, the rain suddenly stopped, the sun came out flashing colorful lights and seeming to dance or zig zag across the sky. Even atheist newspaper reporters were astounded by the indisputable miracle. For the last 100 years, Our Lady of Fatima’s radiant light has enchanted the world and turned the most hardened skeptics into believers in the message of her Son. to heal, teach, and guide her children, to the sure harbor of her Son.
My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph
“The heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind. The fiat of Mary has changed the history of the world, because it brought the Savior into the world – because, thanks to her Yes, God could become man in our world and remains so for all time.” -Pope Benedict XVI
Great read: Fatima for Today by Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR
~ Kibeho ~
Kibeho, Africa 1981: Our Lady of Kibeho appeared to three school girls beginning in November 1981 carrying a message of prayer, repentance, forgiveness, and conversion of heart. Our Lady showed the girls a vision of the coming violence if the people did not repent of the hatred in their hearts. In 1994, in just over three months, up to a million Rwandans were killed by their neighbors, friends, and even family members, in the fighting between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. The best known ‘apostle’ of Our Lady of Kibeho is Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Rwandan Catholic. She survived the genocide by hiding in a pastor’s bathroom with seven other women for three months, praying the rosary unceasingly. Her father, mother, and two brothers were killed. Immaculée shares her story and her journey of healing and forgiveness in the book Left To Tell.
Words from Alphonsine (One of the children who spoke to Mary)
“She loves us – that’s what I feel the most when she’s with me. Her love is so powerful that it could lift you up and carry you to heaven. When I see her, I can’t see anything else.” -Alphonsine Kibeho, Africa
Great read: Left to Tell and Our Lady of Kibeho by Immaculée Ilibagiza
~ Our Lady of Guadalupe ~
Mexico 1531: In 1531, the Aztec’s in Mexico were practicing human sacrifice to such a degree that the bishop wrote that if God Himself did not intervene with a miracle, the entire continent would be lost. To this desperate plea, God responded not with military force, but by sending His mother with the transforming power of maternal love. Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego, a humble peasant man, leaving her image on his tilma. In the ten years following the apparition, the brutal pagan practices ceased, and over ten million people were baptized and converted to Christ. Her miraculous image hangs in the Basilica in Mexico City and is visited by more than six million pilgrims a year.
Miraculous facts about Mary’s image:
The tilma is made of cactus fibers which should have turned to dust after 20 years. It has remained intact for centuries. The way the image was produced on the tilma can not be replicated; there are no brush strokes, and the pigments have not been identified. Scientific tests have shown that the tilma maintains a continuous temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, the same as that of a living human being. Examinations of the eyes have shown the reflection to be the moment St. Juan Diego unfurled the image before the bishop; when magnified, the reflection of the bishop and others in the room can be seen. It has survived assaults! Acid was accidently spilled directly onto the image nearly destroying it; but the image was self-restored over the next 30 days. In 1921, an anti-clerical group hid a bomb in a vase of roses that was placed before the image. When the bomb exploded, marble and glass nearby shattered, but the glass case containing the image remained intact.
Great read: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Carl Anderson
Originally printed in IMPRINT Magazine Fall 2017.
