Our Lady Of Fatima Statue On Display At St. Luke Church

[Henry]

Our Lady of Fatima statue is on display at St. Luke Church for one week - The statue is a wooden statue made in Portugal and is moved from parish to parish for one week.  Booklets about the apparition and what happened back in 1917 are shared with parishioners to enlighten them if they are not already aware.  Father Rome took the photos in this photo album. Children & adults alike, learn about her apparition from the following story:

Fatima, Portugal " Our Lady of Fatima " The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared 6 times to 3 sheperd children; Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta; between May 13 and October 13, 1917. She came to the little village of Fatima which had remained faithful to the Catholic Church during the recent persecutions by the government. Our Lady came with a message from God to every man, woman, and child of our century. Our Lady of Fatima promised that the whole world would be in peace, and that many souls would go to Heaven if Her requests were listened to and obeyed. She told us that war is a punishment for sin; that God would punish the world for its sins in our time by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and persecution of the Holy Father, the Pope, unless we listened to and obeyed the command of God. At Fatima, Pope John Paul II said on May 13; " the message of Fatima is more relevant and more urgent " then when Our Lady first appeared. The message is an anguished appeal of our Heavenly Mother, Who sees us in great danger and Who comes to offer Her help and advice. Her message is also a prophesy, a clear indication of what was about to transpire in the 20th century, and what is still going to happen infallibly in the near future, depending on our response to Her requests.

THE MIRACLE As a great sign of the whole message truly coming from God, a marvelous miracle was worked in the sky above Fatima before 70,000 witnesses on October 13, 1917 at the time, date and place that Lucy and the other two children had prophesised in the name of Our Lady of Fatima. The children were told by Our Lady that God would perform a miracle so that people would believe in the apparitions. The date the children was October 13, 1917, in Fatima. On that date, 70,000 people came to see the phenomenon. The miracle occured with the sun. All could stare perfectly at the sun without blinking, or even hurting heir eyes. While all were watching the sun, it rotated, got large and small, got close to the people, and got far away from them. The sun " danced ". Every single person who was there testified to seeing the sun dance, even non- believers who immediately dropped onto their knees and begged for forgiveness.

MIRACLES TODAY Our Lady of Fatima continues to work miracles today through Fatima water which is sent from Fatima, Portugal around the world. This Fatima water sprang up in Fatima at the spot the Bishop told people to dig, very near where Our Lady appeared at the Cova de Iria (the Cove of Peace) in Fatima. The water is known to cure people with sicknesses and poor health. Still, other people are cured when they go on pilgrimage to Fatima, which is about 90 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal.

A MESSAGE OF WARNING AND HOPE If we do not heed Our Lady's warnings soon, the Her horrible prophesy may well be realized in the near future, even in our own back yards. She told us that God had chosen to use Russia as the instrument of chastisement to punish the whole world if we did not, by our obedience, prayers, and sacrifices, obtain conversion of Russia to the Catholic faith. She promises us: " If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. " But She also warned us: " If My requests are not granted, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world raising up wars and persecutions against the Church, the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. " She has told us that the whole world (the part surviving) will be enslaved by the atheistic tyrants of Russia.

To view the photos that Father Rome took, click on the following link:

http://www.vtgrandpa.com/photos/fatima_080208

[Henry]

The traveling statue of Our Lady of Fatima visited our parish for a week. She travels state wide. She came to us from Hinesburg and goes on to Milton this Thursday.

The statue is carved from wood & made in Portugal. The Blue Army of Vermont takes care of the statue and escorts it throughout the state.

This statue is a replica of the original statue that is at the grotto in Fatima.

After the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II, who was spared his life when he bent over to talk with a child and the close range bullet by a marksman just missed his heart, the Pope traveled to Fatima and prayed in front of the statue, thanking our Blessed Mother for her intercession in saving his life. He placed the spent bullet into the crown of the Virgin Mary.

She instructed the 3 children at Fatima to pray the rosary during her appearances to them in May, June, July, August, Sept. & October of 1917.