13/05/2026
Feast of the Day
OUR LADY OF FATIMA
The apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima represent one of the most prominent supernatural events in modern Catholic history. Between May and October 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared six times to three illiterate shepherd children—Lúcia dos Santos (10) and her cousins Francisco (😎 and Jacinta Marto (6)—in the rural area of Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.
The visitations occurred on the 13th day of each month, mirroring the geopolitical turmoil of World War I raging across Europe.
May 13: First apparition. Mary appeared "brighter than the sun" over a holm oak tree. She asked the children to return monthly and pray the Rosary daily for world peace.
June 13: Mary predicted the early deaths of Francisco and Jacinta. She stated Lúcia would live longer to establish global devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
July 13: The most critical theological encounter. Mary revealed the Three Secrets of Fátima and taught the "Fatima Prayer".
August 13: The local anti-clerical government administrator imprisoned the children to force them to confess the secrets. They refused. Mary appeared to them days later on August 19 in nearby Valinhos.
September 13: A crowd of roughly 30,000 witnessed white petals falling from the sky that dissolved before hitting the ground.
October 13: The final apparition. Mary identified herself as the "Lady of the Rosary". This day culminated in the heavily documented atmospheric event known as the Miracle of the Sun.
During the July 13 apparition, Mary entrusted a three-part prophetic message. Lúcia committed these to writing decades later:
First Secret: A Vision of HellA terrifying glimpse of a sea of fire filled with demons and human souls. Given to stress the urgent need to pray and make sacrifices for sinners.
Second Secret: Prophecy of World War II & RussiaForetold that WWI would end, but a worse war would begin if humanity didn't cease offending God. She requested the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart to prevent the spread of atheistic errors.
Third Secret: Persecution of the ChurchA symbolic vision of a "Bishop dressed in White" walking through a ruined city of corpses, who is shot down by soldiers. Kept secret by the Vatican until 2000. Pope John Paul II famously linked it to his survival of the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt.
