The Miracle of the Sun took place at Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal on Oct. 13, 1917.
It was to be the heavenly sign that would convince skeptics of the authenticity of a series of apparitions of angels and the Virgin Mary to three Portuguese shepherd children.
Today, Catholic Christians honor those visionaries as Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto and Venerable Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart.
Film portrayals of the miraculous event circulate on social media each year in October. A clip that I viewed yesterday reflected key elements but also included embellishments:
A disbelieving crowd surrounded the visionaries in the rain. In spite of the mockery they went through, the children kept praying. The Virgin appeared to them to announce that the First World War was ending. She introduced herself as the Lady of the Rosary.
When Lucia asked the Virgin for the sign that she had promised, the apparition pointed to the sun. Lucia told the assembly to look at it. In a moment, it appeared to take on different colors and to fall to the earth.
Many were frightened and ran away in different directions. Others knelt and prayed more fervently. Clothing and the earth became dry all of a sudden. A blind woman regained her sight. A lame young man threw away his crutches and began to walk.
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Historical documents pertaining to Oct. 13, 1917, show that the healings depicted in the movie did not happen in the course of the wondrous event. In this sense, the movie portion that I saw did not faithfully reconstruct history. However, the clip does reflect the overall experience of Fatima pilgrims across time, not a few of whom attribute to God, through the Lady’s intercession, their healing from one or another disease.
The baptized are not under obligation to believe the apparitions and revelations at Fatima and elsewhere. But while, in the words of Pope Benedict XIV (1675-1758), these visions and messages are not obligatory for Catholic faith, they can be given, says the same pontiff, the assent “of human faith, in conformity with the dictates of prudence, which presents them to us as probable and worthy of pious belief.”
In 2024, the Vatican updated its criteria for discerning the authenticity of allegedly supernatural phenomena. According to the criteria, they can be declared:
(1) nihil obstat, which means signs of the action of the Holy Spirit are acknowledged and the visions and messages are promoted; (2) prae oculis hebeatur, when important positive signs are recognized but potential risks are observed and doctrinal clarifications are needed; (3) curatur, which means critical elements are noted, but the devotion is widespread so a ban is not encouraged but the phenomenon is not to be encouraged; (4) sub curatur, which means critical issues are not connected to the phenomenon but to its use for instance for financial gain, or (5) prohibetur et obstruatur, when there are very serious critical issues and risks in the phenomenon.
Previously, the Church was to declare if apparitions:
(1) were not of supernatural origin, (2) could not be determined to be of supernatural origin or otherwise, or (3) were of supernatural origin and therefore worthy of belief.
In 1930, the Fatima apparitions and messages were deemed of supernatural origin and worthy of belief.
In August 2023, Jimena, a Spanish teenager who was 95 percent blind regained her vision after attending a World Youth Day Mass in Fatima.
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Rarely discussed in the Church’s commemoration of the apparitions of Oct. 13, 1917, are the showings of Jesus Christ and St. Joseph that day.
Catholic internet usually focuses on this day on the Miracle of the Sun and on commemorating the Virgin’s final apparition to the trio of seers.
Here is the account of the apparitions from Venerable Lucia, as posted on EWTN:
“After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun.
“St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors).
“Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel.”
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We, in our hypertechnological and atomized age, would perhaps gain much were our spiritual mentors to speak more to us of the multiple Oct. 13, 1917 apparitions.
Why did Our Lady bring with her the Christ-child and her husband? What message is being brought here to every human family? What does this say about the love of husband and wife? What does this say about the way of spiritual childhood, the importance of fatherhood, and the defense of the Church? What does this say about being a layperson such as Mary or Joseph?
How come Venerable Lucia saw the Nazareno and Mater Dolorosa? How does this speak to our life on earth, which is described in the Salve Regina as this valley of tears?
What is the meaning of the apparition to Venerable Lucia of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who always brings with her the Christ-child and the scapular? Does this say anything related to the importance of hidden sacrifice, contemplation, and imitation of the Beloved Son?