Aug
10
2017
By Anonymous (not verified)
One hundred years ago in August, the three shepherd children were as brave as martyrs. Father Robert Fox, a renowned expert on Fatima, explains:
The Mother of God appeared to the three little shepherd children of Fatima at noon on the 13th day of each month from May through October in 1917.
But there was one exception in August. On that 13th, the administrator of Ourem deceived the children and took them away by horsecart. He claimed that he had been converted and would take the children to the Cova da Iria. Instead, he took them to Ourem. He placed them in jail with male prisoners, threatening to throw them into boiling oil if they did not recant or tell the secret they had learned from Our Lady.
Despite all the threats of being killed, the three shepherd children remained loyal to Our Lady. They refused to reveal anything to the administrator, and they even got the men in prison to kneel in prayer with them. Seven-year-old Jacinta was especially courageous. Lucia wrote years later that she believed Jacinta received special graces to understand devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Even in prison, the little shepherds offered sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father, as they had been instructed to do from the Angel at Fatima and Our Lady.
In prison, Jacinta prayed, "O my Jesus! This is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, for the Holy Father, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." By remaining loyal under the threat of death, the children can be considered "dry martyrs."
A crowd of people gathered at the holmoak tree in the Cova on Aug. 13, even though the children were not there. The people saw mysterious signs, such as a pillar of blue cloud over the holmoak. They saw this as an indication that Our Lady had nonetheless kept her appointment.
After the children were released from prison on Aug. 19, Our Lady appeared to them at a place called Valinhos, which is near Aljustrel, the village within the parish of Fatima, where the children lived with their families. ?As at the Cova da Iria, Our Lady appeared standing on a meter high holmoak tree. Lucia asked, as she did each time Our Lady appeared, "What do you want of me?"
"I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, and to continue saying the Rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe." It was the second time Our Lady had promised a miracle in October. During each of the six apparitions, she requested that the Rosary be prayed every day.
Sister Lucia said she could never forget the sadness with which Our Lady in August said: "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them."
Father Robert J. Fox was founder and director of the International Fatima Family Apostolate.
The Mother of God appeared to the three little shepherd children of Fatima at noon on the 13th day of each month from May through October in 1917.
But there was one exception in August. On that 13th, the administrator of Ourem deceived the children and took them away by horsecart. He claimed that he had been converted and would take the children to the Cova da Iria. Instead, he took them to Ourem. He placed them in jail with male prisoners, threatening to throw them into boiling oil if they did not recant or tell the secret they had learned from Our Lady.
Despite all the threats of being killed, the three shepherd children remained loyal to Our Lady. They refused to reveal anything to the administrator, and they even got the men in prison to kneel in prayer with them. Seven-year-old Jacinta was especially courageous. Lucia wrote years later that she believed Jacinta received special graces to understand devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Even in prison, the little shepherds offered sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father, as they had been instructed to do from the Angel at Fatima and Our Lady.
In prison, Jacinta prayed, "O my Jesus! This is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, for the Holy Father, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary." By remaining loyal under the threat of death, the children can be considered "dry martyrs."
A crowd of people gathered at the holmoak tree in the Cova on Aug. 13, even though the children were not there. The people saw mysterious signs, such as a pillar of blue cloud over the holmoak. They saw this as an indication that Our Lady had nonetheless kept her appointment.
After the children were released from prison on Aug. 19, Our Lady appeared to them at a place called Valinhos, which is near Aljustrel, the village within the parish of Fatima, where the children lived with their families. ?As at the Cova da Iria, Our Lady appeared standing on a meter high holmoak tree. Lucia asked, as she did each time Our Lady appeared, "What do you want of me?"
"I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, and to continue saying the Rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe." It was the second time Our Lady had promised a miracle in October. During each of the six apparitions, she requested that the Rosary be prayed every day.
Sister Lucia said she could never forget the sadness with which Our Lady in August said: "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them."
Father Robert J. Fox was founder and director of the International Fatima Family Apostolate.
FAMPK
