Pope Benedict XVI

"Beauty... is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action, since it is an attribute of God Himself and His revelation."
(Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 35)

13 October 2015

The Miracle of the Sun

Today marks the 98th anniversary of  The Miracle of the Sun. The Miracle of the Sun was an event which occurred just after midday on Sunday 13 October 1917, witnessed by around 70,000 gathered at the Cova da Iria near Fatima, Portugal. It was seen by people up to 40km away.

Some of the thousands who witnessed the miracle




                                                                       

The people gathered because the three shepherd children: Lucia, Francesco and Jacinta had said that Our Lady had promised a miracle at noon on the 13th day of that month. At the appointed time, in the middle of a rainstorm the clouds broke up and the sun was seen as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky, throwing off great rays of fantastic colours. It then careened towards the earth, madly zig-zagging, much to the terror of the crowd below. Many feared that it was the end of the world. Witnesses said their previously wet clothes became "suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain. The event lasted approximately ten minutes.





                                  



The event was officially accepted as a miracle by the Church on 13 October 1930, exactly 23 years later.
On 13 October 1951, the papal legate, Cardinal Tedeschini, told the million people gathered at Fatima that on 30 October, 31 October, 1 November, and 8 November 1950, Pope Pius XII had witnessed the miracle of the sun from the Vatican gardens.

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us!

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