By Kathy Tretter
Editor, The Ferdinand News
Special to The Message
Christ the King Parish held a Marian Procession Oct. 13 in honor of Our Lady of Fatima.
The procession gathered in front of the Spiritual Life Center after the 10 a.m. Mass. Groups walked together through St. Ferdinand cemetery praying the rosary. In addition, those unable to walk in the procession gathered to pray the rosary in church.
The procession included decorated “floats” with statues of the Blessed Mother, servers carrying streamers, the processional cross and candle bearers, as well as rosary and song leaders.
Donut Sunday was also celebrated at St. Ferdinand following the procession.
Why Oct. 13?
On Oct. 13, 1917, three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal — (Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto) were purportedly visited by Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Blessed Virgin is said to have revealed three secrets to the children.
The first time she came to them was on May 13 of that year. According to Catholic doctrine, on her first visit she did not reveal her identity but told them in part: “Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm. I am from Heaven. I came to ask you to come here on the thirteenth day for six months at this same time, and then I will tell you who I am and what I want. And afterwards, I will return here a seventh time.”
On each visit (always the 13th of the month) she shared a little more until Oct. 13 she said: “I am the Lady of the Rosary, I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day. I would like a chapel built here in my honor. The war will end soon.”
After some newspapers reported that the Virgin Mary had promised a miracle for the last of her apparitions on Oct. 13, a huge crowd, possibly between 30,000 and 100,000, including reporters and photographers, gathered at Cova da Iria. What happened then became known as the “Miracle of the Sun.”
Various claims have been made as to what actually happened during the event. The three children reported seeing a panorama of visions during the event, including those of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and St. Joseph blessing the people. Father John De Marchi, an Italian Catholic priest and researcher wrote several books on the subject, which included descriptions by witnesses who believed they had seen a miracle created by Mary, Mother of God. According to accounts, after a period of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was said to be significantly duller than normal, and to cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the people, and the surrounding clouds. The Sun was then reported to have careened towards the Earth before zig-zagging back to its normal position.
Witnesses reported their previously wet clothes became “suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been soaked by the rain that had been falling.”
Not all witnesses reported seeing the sun “dance.” Some people only saw the radiant colors, and others, including some believers, saw nothing at all. No unusual phenomenon of the sun was observed by scientists at the time.
Skeptics have offered alternative explanations that include psychological suggestibility of the witnesses, temporary retinal distortion caused by staring at the intense light of the sun, and optical effects caused by natural meteorological phenomena.
Whatever one believes, Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta Marto on May 13, 2017, during the centennial of the first apparition. The case for Sister Lucia’s canonization is still pending, but she was declared Venerable by Pope Francis last year.
