Pope Francis: Fatima reminds us to care for the faith of children

Lúcia Santos, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, the three children whom the Virgin Mary revealed her famous “three secrets” in Fátima, Portugal in 1917. Jacinta and Francisco were canonized on May 13.

Joshua Benoliel
http://www.santuario-fatima.pt

Pope Francis reflected on the May 13 canonization of the child visionaries St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto, saying that their faithfulness—despite their young age—reminds us to pay special attention to children in the ministry of the Church.  

The message of Our Lady of Fatima was not forgotten in the Diocese of Corpus Christi with several events being observed throughout the diocese. 

The Message

“In Fatima, the Virgin chose the innocent heart and the simplicity of little Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia, as guardians of her message. These children received it worthily, so to be recognized as reliable witnesses to the apparitions and to become models of Christian life.”

“With the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta, I wanted to propose to the whole Church their example of adherence to Christ and of evangelical witness, and I also wanted to propose to the whole Church to take care of children,” he said.

The holiness of these children is not a consequence of the apparitions they received, he said, but of the “fidelity and ardor with which they returned the privilege they received of being able to see the Virgin Mary.”

“After the encounter with the ‘beautiful lady,’ as they called her, they frequently recited the rosary, they did penance and offered sacrifices for the end of the war and for the most needy souls of divine mercy.”

This is what made them saints, he said.

On the day after the canonization, Pope Francis addressed some 25,000 people in St. Peter’s Square before praying the Regina Coeli.

In his greeting, he expressed his gratefulness to God for the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Fatima May 12-13 for the centenary of the apparitions, going “to the feet of the Virgin Mother as a pilgrim of hope and peace.”

He also thanked the bishops of Portugal, and in particular the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, António Augusto dos Santos Marto, as well as the local authorities and everyone who helped to organize the visit.

“Last night I returned from the pilgrimage to Fatima,” he said, pausing to add a greeting to “the Madonna of Fatima!” followed by cheers from those present.

“In Fatima, I was immersed in the prayer of the holy faithful people, a prayer that flows there for a hundred years as a river, to beg Mary’s maternal protection on the whole world,” he said.

“From the very beginning, when in the Chapel of the Apparitions I stayed for a long time in silence, accompanied by the prayerful silence of all the pilgrims, a together and contemplative climate was created where the various moments of prayer took place,” the pope said.

And at the center of all of this, he said, was the Risen Lord present in the Eucharist.

Even 100 years after the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima there is still a great need for prayer and penance for the grace of conversion, Pope Francis said. “Let us be guided by the light coming from Fatima. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is always our shelter, our consolation, and the way that leads us to Christ,” he said.

The Our Lady of Fatima float made by Helpers of God’s Precious Infants won the most prestigious award at the The Buc Days Illuminated Night Parade on May 6. This was one of several events held in the Diocese of Corpus Christi to commemorate the centennial of Our Lady’s apparition in Portugal to three young children. Donna Fiarkoski for South Texas Catholic

Remembered in Corpus Christi

The message took on special significance at The Buc Days Illuminated Night Parade in Corpus Christi on May 6 when a float depicting her apparition elicited reverence from members of the public observing the parade. As the float passed by, men took off their hats and put them over their hearts. Other onlookers knelt, asked for prayers and were given rosary beads. Some parade goers, as young as four-years-old, knelt down with their hands in prayer.

The Our Lady of Fatima float, built by volunteers with the pro-life group “Helpers of God’s Precious Infants” won the Sweepstakes Award, considered the most prestigious award at the parade. It was built to honor the 100th Anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to three children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. 

“Helpers of God’s Precious Infants” is committed to saving unborn children from abortion and sees Our Lady of Fatima’s appearance before children as a message about the value of every human life. The group meets every third Saturday at 8 a.m. at St. Joseph Parish in Corpus Christi for Mass, Rosary and Adoration.

About 30 youth and young adults, some from the Newman Center at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, helped build the float and walked behind the float during the parade, praying the rosary. The float took three weeks to build at Frank and Sharon Longoria’s house with a budget of $350. The Longorias belong to St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Parish and are members of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. 

Lindsay Gilbert portrayed Mary on the float while Damien, Emily and Kiera Bueno played the part of the three children of Fatima. The Longorias’ seven children worked alongside youth from different parishes to build the float. 

“Some of our helpers did not know the story of Our Lady of Fatima, so it was a great opportunity to share our faith,” Sharon Longoria said. “Building the float was a labor of love. It was a beautiful way to minister to our community.”

More than 250 of the faithful also filled the Our Lady of Corpus Christi Chapel to capacity as the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity observed the 100th anniversary of the apparition at Fatima with a procession and Mass on Saturday, May 13.

Under a clear Texas blue sky, a Pilgrim Virgin statue of Our Lady of Fatima led the faithful into the chapel while they sang Marian hymns to Our Lady. The procession circled St. Joseph’s fountain and then  around the Chapel.  

Knights of Columbus help carry statute of Our Lady of Fatima as a large crowd of the faithful leave Our Lady of Corpus Christi after celebrating Mass in honor of the centennial of Our Lady’s appearance in Portugal to three young children, all of which have been canonized. See more photos at southtexascatholic.com/Fatima. Ervey Martinez for South Texas Catholic

After re-entering the Chapel, Our Lady was crowned by two young girls, Alexandra and Mary Ann. Father Brady Williams, SOLT presided over the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Father James Kelleher, SOLT proclaimed the bread of life discourse from the Gospel of John and gave a homily. Father Kelleher said that the message of Fatima has profoundly shaped history.

The Virgin Mary, he said, told the three little shepherds to pray the Rosary daily for World Peace.  They faithfully fulfilled her request and at the last apparition on October 13, 1917, Our Lady said that World War I would now come to a quick end and it did in 1918.  

Pope John Paul II invoked Our Lady after being shot in St. Peter’s Square in 1981. “One hand fired the bullet and another guided it,” so that it was not fatal, he said. In 1984, the future St. John Paul II consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary—as requested by Our Lady of Fatima—and on Christmas Day 1991 the Soviet Union Fell. 

Youth and adults from Sacred Heart in Odem, Immaculate Conception in Gregory, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Portland, St. Anthony in Robstown and Christ the King in Corpus Christi formed the living beads for the recitation of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. Deacon Wayne Lickteig, SOLT read the scriptural meditations.

Our Lady of Fatima requested that the faithful “confess, receive Holy Communion, pray a Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour meditation on the fifteen mysteries with the intention of offering me reparation” on first Saturday for five consecutive months.