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"I am the handmaid of the Lord." - Luke 1:38
She Came
Because She Loves Us
On
May 13, 1917, three shepherd children were tending their flock in a hollow of
land in Portugal called the Cova da Iria, the Cove of Peace, when a woman
appeared above a small oak tree. She was clothed in white and gold, more
brilliant than the sun, and she looked at Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta with a
love that silenced every fear.
She asked if they were willing to offer themselves to God, to accept suffering
as reparation for sin and for the conversion of sinners. These three children,
ages seven to ten, said yes on the spot. That is what innocence does in the
presence of grace.
Our Lady told them she would return on the thirteenth of each month for six
months. She asked them to pray the Rosary daily. She spoke of peace, of
penance, and of the dangers ahead for the world if people did not turn back to
God. And then she rose into the sky and was gone.
She kept every appointment across those six months. And on October 13, in the
presence of roughly 70,000 people, believers and skeptics alike, the sun danced
in the sky, witnessed from miles around, and was reported the following day in the
secular press. The Church approved the apparitions in 1930. Francisco and
Jacinta were canonized in 2017. Sister Lucia lived to 97 and left behind
writings of extraordinary depth.
Mary
came because she loves us. Love always tells the truth.
Today's Gospel - John 16:12-15
Jesus
promised His disciples: "When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide
you to all truth."
Our Lady of Fatima carried that same kind of truth, urgent, tender, necessary.
She did not come to frighten. She came to warn, to invite, and to point
straight back to her Son. The message across those six apparitions was
consistent: Pray the Rosary, do penance, trust in the Immaculate Heart.
Everything she said pointed toward Jesus.
The Spirit of truth does not need credentials or a platform. He moves where He
wills, and He chose three children in a sheep field to carry a message for the
entire world. Our Lady carried it with them. She is still carrying it.
A Prayer
Our
Lady of Fatima, you came to the Cova da Iria with a message born from a
Mother's love, and we are listening.
We will pray the Rosary. We offer our daily sacrifices, small as they are. We
pray for the conversion of sinners, knowing we number among them.
You promised that in the end, your Immaculate Heart would triumph. We hold that
promise on the days when the world feels dark and hope runs thin. Your promise
does not rest on our worthiness. It rests on God alone, and God does not break
His word.
Obtain for us the peace you promised. Lead all your wandering children home to
the Sacred Heart of your Son.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us. Amen.
Reflection
The
Spirit of truth guides us into what we are not yet ready to receive alone. Our
Lady has been carrying those truths to us for over a century.
Is
there something she has been placing on your heart that you have not yet been
willing to act on? What is one small yes, one Rosary, one act of sacrifice, one
moment of surrender, you could offer her today?
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
