The second Miracle of Fatima that hardly anyone knows about By Mary Ann Kreitzer for Life Site News
‘Catholics devoted to Fatima are aware of the period of the apparitions, but how many know what happened after the October miracle?’
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A new movie about Fatima, opening in theaters on August 28th, is expected to renew interest in the apparitions of our Blessed Mother to three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Most Catholics know the story of the six apparitions, but how many recognize the full impact of the Fatima events including what happened after Mary’s visitation ended with the miracle of the sun in October? Over 70,000 witnessed the miracle, some many miles away and headlines all over the globe announced it. Other personal miracles of healing and conversion occurred at Fatima, but the miracle of the sun was for everyone, a public witness to the power of Mary’s intercession. It makes Fatima unique among the many appearances of Mary throughout history.
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Our Lady promised a miracle during the July apparition responding to Lucia’s request for “a sign” saying, “Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe.” During that same visit, Mary showed the three children a terrifying vision of hell and repeated her urgent plea to “pray for sinners.” The vision of hell and the promise of a miracle, so all might believe, did not occur during the same apparition by coincidence. Throughout history, Jesus has sent His Mother to warn her children to repent. The October miracle was to be a mass wakeup call for all people. Mary wanted to show us the reality of sin’s consequences and magnify her message of repentance. Announcing the miracle ahead of time drew many to Fatima out of piety or curiosity or even to prove the message was a hoax.
As word of the visions spread, the Masonic government and secular press called it a Jesuit conspiracy and tried to stop it. Their debunking and threats actually helped to spread the message more widely and brought many people to the Cova de Iria, the site of the apparitions, for the October event. The devout, skeptics, scoffers, even atheists swarmed to Fatima. A pouring rain failed to suppress the tens of thousands gathered to witness the astounding moment when the sun, like a wheel of fire, danced and spun in the sky shooting out flashes of varying colors like a heavenly fireworks display. When the sun appeared to plunge toward the earth, most in the crowd feared it was the end of the world and fell to their knees. Some confessed their most hidden sins out loud and begged for forgiveness. When the apparition ended, everyone, despite being soaked and muddy minutes before, found themselves clean and dry.
But there is a lesser-known miracle of Fatima that also carries a message for the world, a miracle with a backstory. It begins with the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, a Moorish Princess named Fatima was captured in battle by a Portuguese officer, Goncalo Hermingues. He fell in love with her and asked King Alfonso for permission to marry her that was given provided Fatima convert to Christianity. The couple lived happily for only a short time when Oureana, Fatima’s Christian name, died and Goncalo, in sorrow, entered a Cistercian monastery. Later, Goncalo was named superior of a neighboring community, where he built a chapel and relocated Fatima’s remains. The chapel became the site of the parish church of Fatima, the same parish where the Santos and Marto families would worship eight centuries later.
