The event was very appropriately held at the Our Lady of Fatima church in Tawa and organised by the Centre for Marriage and Family (CMF). Read more

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And so, let's play the game to the extremes, and ask: What happened in the coming week a hundred years ago?

Among a few things, three poor shepherd children in Portugal received a visitation from a woman clothed in light.

They were confused by her presence but over the course of several monthly encounters, came to understand that the heavenly woman was the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.

The location was the small city of Fatima, which was named after the favored daughter of the Prophet Mohammed during the Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.

The timing was during the Great War, an event of massive destruction to human life and well-being.

The religious sentiment was atheistic, the political environment communistic, and nihilism was quickly growing as the air breathed by many.

In summary, therefore, it would seem that Fatima in 1917 would have been an uncommon place in an unlikely time for the Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ to make a house call.

Before diving into those state of affairs, we should probably ask the obvious question: Are visits like this common?

I mean, we did just say that the Blessed Virgin Mary, who historically lived in the first century of the common era, came and appeared to three children in the early twentieth century. Do things like this happen?

For those who have no faith or spiritual openness, very few things can be said to convince them that such occurrences are possible.

For persons of faith, there is at least the acceptance that such apparitions could happen. Usually, the believer's own temperament and history, combined with the actual story and message of the spiritual event, usually determine whether she will accept this specific supernatural event or not.

And so, did Mary make a visit to Fatima one hundred years ago? Continue reading

Sources

• Crux article by Fr Jeffrey F Kirby, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina.
• Image: Republika

The Mass will mark the 100 years since Our Lady is said to have appeared in a series of visions at Fatima, Portugal.

The Vatican office which governs the use of the traditional Latin Mass gave permission for "a votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary" to be celebrated on May 13, 2017.

Gregory DiPippo, who is the editor of New Liturgical Movement, explained why the the decision to celebrate the traditional Latin Mass was made.

He says it was because "many of the Christian faithful who are attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite have a particular and fervent devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima".

DiPippo says out of a wish "to encourage the devotion of the faithful to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Fatima" the Latin Mass was approved.

The Fatima apparitions are well known. Our Lady first appeared on 13 May 1917 to siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto - age 9 and 7 - and their cousin, 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos.

She then allegedly appeared to the children on the 13th of every month until October. Her message was a call to repentance and prayer.

Francisco and Jacinta died in 1919 and 1920. They have been beatified and their cause for canonisation was opened in March.

Lucia, a Carmelite nun, died in 2005. Her cause for beatification is open.

Pope Francis will visit the Fatima shrine for the centenary.

Source

• Crux
• Herald Malaysia
• Exploring Upstate