Priest calls for penance to mark 104th year of Fatima apparitions

MANILA – A Catholic priest on Thursday called for penance, conversion, daily praying of the Rosary, and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the occasion of the 104th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Rev. Fr. Carlos Reyes of the Diocese of Our Lady of Fatima in Mandaluyong City urged Catholics to “go to confession, do penance, undo damage to their sins, promise not to sin again, amend their life, pray the Rosary, consecrate to the Heart of Jesus, and Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The Blessed Mother appeared six times before Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, in Cova da Ira in Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

The apparitions happened every 13th of the month from May to October, except in August, which happened on the 19th as the children were detained to prevent them from going to the cove.

According to historical records, the trio was playing near the cove “when they saw two flashes like lightning, after which they saw the Mother of God above a holm oak.”

She was, according to the description of Lucia, “a Lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the sun… Her face, indescribably beautiful, was neither sad nor happy, but serious, with an air of mild reproach. Her hands, joined together as if she were praying, were resting at her breast and pointing upward. A rosary hung from her right hand.”

The three secrets of Fatima revealed to the children were a vision of the souls in hell; prediction of the end of World War I and a prediction of the beginning of World War II, as well as a request to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and a vision of the Pope, along with other bishops, priests, and religious and laypeople, being killed by soldiers.

St. John Paul II, the pope then, survived an assassination attempt at St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City on May 13, 1981.

Reyes cited the importance of praying the Rosary every day for the conversion of sinners so “they can go back to God” now, not later.

Quoting Pope Francis, Reyes said the pandemic is the consequence of man’s abuse of nature, wildlife, environment, and sinfulness, especially abortion.

“You reap what you sow,” he said.