BY CEDRIC SILVEIRA
The Catholic community the world over celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Fatima today. To celebrate the significance of the event, The World Apostolate of Fatima’ will hold a programme at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, at Don Bosco, Panaji.

The programme which starts at 2.50 p.m. include talks, presentations, recitation of the rosary, Holy Hour, mass at 6 p.m. followed by a candle lit procession.
The devotion to Our Lady of Fatima started when Our Blessed Mother appeared six times from May 13 to October 13 in the year 1917 to three shepherd children at Cova da Iria, near Fatima. Fatima is a small village in central Portugal, 110 miles north of Lisbon. She appeared to Lucia dos Santos, and her cousins Francisco Marto and Jacinta. They saw a figure of a lady, brighter than the sun, standing on a cloud in an evergreen tree.
Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for world peace, for the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia. In essence, her message to the world was to pray. She also revealed to the children three secrets. In a conversation that Francisco alone did not hear, although he saw the figure, the lady asked them to return to the place of the apparitions on the 13 of each month until October when she would disclose her identity and reveal what she desired. In August when she appeared she promised a great miracle in October.
On October 13, 1917, a wet day, great crowds came to witness the miracle which was promised. Suddenly the sun appeared and began to tremble, rotate violently and finally fall, dancing all over the heads of the people before it returned to normal. Many people reported having seen this ‘Miracle of the sun’ which was reported twice.
Lucia revealed the first secret in 1927 concerning the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second secret was a vision of hell.  In 2000, the third secret too was revealed which spoke about a ‘bishop in white’ who was shot by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows into him. Many people linked this to the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. The feast of Our lady of Fatima was approved in 1930 and was added to the church’s worldwide calendar in 2002. Fatima in Portugal is now the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima where millions of pilgrims gather each year to offer their prayers and show devotion to Our Blessed Mother.