A Chronology of the Fatima Appearances of Our Lady IS THE STORY OF FATIMA FOR TODAY? Take a moment and read through the following article, it is not very long and at the end you should be able to answer the question to the title of this leaflet yourself. 1. 1916, SPRING: The Angel of Peace appears to Lucia, Jacinto and Francisco. 2. 1916, MID-SUMMER:The Guardian Angel of Portugal appears to the children and tells them to submit with patience to the sufferings that will come to them. He tells them to pray and offer sacrifices in reparation for the conversion of sinners. 3. 1916, FALL: The Angel appears with a Chalice and Host and the children could see drops of blood falling from the Host into the Chalice. The Angel gave Communion to Lucia only, as she was the only one of the three children who had made her first Communion but he allowed Jacinta and Francisco to drink from the Chalice. 4. 1917, MAY 13th:A Beautiful Lady, all of brilliant white, appears to the children at Cova de Iria. Her hands were together as in prayer and Rosary beads hung down between the fingers of her right hand. The Beautiful Lady asked the children to return to the same place, at the same time and date for the next five months. The children were instructed to: say the Rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world and the end of war. (At this time World War I was in progress.) Lucia asked the Lady about two girls, friends of the family, who had died recently, as she wanted to know whether they had gone to heaven. The Lady replied that one of the girls was in heaven but that the other girl would be in Purgatory until the end of the world. 5. 1917, JUNE 13th: The Lady appears to the children and when asked by Lucia what it was that she wanted of them, the Lady replied that she wanted them to come to the same place on the thirteenth day of the coming month, to recite five decades of the Rosary every day and for Lucia to learn to read. The children understood from this vision that the Immaculate Heart of Mary was outraged by the sins of humanity, for which there must be reparation. Francisco and Jacinta were told that they would soon be leaving for heaven. 6. 1917, JULY 13th:W hen the Lady appeared this time her first request was for the children to say five decades of the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Lady promised the children that in October she would tell them who she was and perform a miracle that everyone would have to believe. During this vision the children were shown hell and it left a deep and lasting impression on them. The children were told that to save sinners God wanted to establish a devotion in the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They were also told that World War I would soon end but that a worse one would come in the reign of Pope Pius XI, if the offenses of the world continued. The signal that this new war was going to come would be when the night is lit by an unknown light. This light would announce a punishment of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. (This light was seen in many countries on January 25th, 1938. On March 12th, 1938, German troops occupied Austria.) To prevent these punishments the Lady asked for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a Communion of reparation on the First Saturday of each month. If these requests were not granted, Russia would scatter her errors throughout the world. (The Second or Communist Revolution in Russia began under the leadership of N. Lenin and L. Trotsky on November 7th, 1917.) Even if Russia did spread her errors, the children were told that the Immaculate Heart of Mary would triumph in the end, but only after terrible hardships and persecutions of the Church and Nations and that some of the Nations would simply disappear. The children were given the prayer that most of the Faithful now recite after each decade of the Rosary: "O my Jesus, pardon us and save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who most need your mercy". Just before the Lady left she told the children a final secret that has never been revealed. Lucia wrote the secret out and Pope John XXIII opened this letter in 1960 but he decided that it would better not to reveal its contents to the general public. 7. 1917, AUGUST 13th: 15,000 people had gathered but the children were in jail. 8. 1917, AUGUST 19th:The Lady appeared on this day instead and told the children to recite the Rosary every day. The children were also told to pray for sinners and to make many sacrifices for them as many souls go to hell because there is nobody to sacrifice and pray for them. 9. 1917, SEPTEMBER 13th: More than 30,000 people had gathered at the site. The Lady appeared and told the children to continue praying the Rosary to bring about the end of World War I. The children were also told that in October Our Lord and St. Joseph would come also. 10. 1917, OCTOBER 13th:W hen the Lady appeared more than 70,000 people had gathered at the site. She told Lucia that she was the Lady of the Rosary. Our Lady told Lucia that she wanted a chapel built on the site and that she also wanted the Faithful to say the Rosary every day. Lucia was told that World War I would end soon and as Our Lady left, the children were shown further visions that included Our Lord and St. Joseph. As these visions were being seen by the children, the sun began its well documented "Dance" that was seen by thousands of people present at the site. Our Lady had performed the miracle that she had promised. 11. 1930:T he Bishop of Leira-Fatima declares in a Pastoral Letter, that the apparitions at Fatima are `devotions worthy of belief'. 12. 1942, OCTOBER 31st:The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is instituted by the Church. The world is consecrated to the Most Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Pius XII. 13. 1952, JULY 7th: Russian People dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Pius XII. 14. 1982, MAY 13th: After Pope John Paul II finished celebrating Mass, on his visit to Fatima, the Holy Father reconsecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In the light of recent events that has seen the collapse of the Communist system within Russia and its satellites, with the consequent anarchy and suffering that has come to that area of the world, it might be wise for us to refresh our memories with the warnings that Our Lady gave us at Fatima. For just as there still has to be the conversion of hearts in Russia, our own hearts have cooled and many hundreds of thousands, even millions, in North America have turned away from the Holy Mother Church. We need to begin again, if we have not already done so, to have recourse to the Most Immaculate Heart of Mary which is outraged at the sins of `humanity' and for which there must be reparation. (See June 13th, 1917) Throughout the narrative of the Fatima events, the emphasis given to the Rosary by Our Lady cannot be overlooked. It takes no more than ten to fifteen minutes to recite five decades of the Rosary and yet this small effort seems to be of significant importance for it to have been given the prominence it has in the Fatima visions. So if the Rosary is not a part of your regular prayer life, may be the time has come for you to consider it? If you do not know how to pray the Rosary, write to us! We will be happy to send you a Rosary and instructions on how to pray it. William J. Bradley