World Apostolate of Fatima England and Wales
Russia and Portugal: Two Spiritual Symbols in the Message of Fatima
This summer I visited my nephew and his family, partly to help with childcare for their 5 year-old-son and 3 year-old-daughter. I quickly learnt that the school summer holidays can be something of a marathon for many parents! I visited just a few days after the partial solar eclipse seen in the skies over Britain on 12th August. My nephew’s son had obviously been wonder-struck by this experience and so most of the games he invented for us to play were all about the eclipse (or the ‘calypso’ as he called it!). For example, we set out all his toys on the carpet – a surreal selection of plastic dinosaurs, rubber snakes and cuddly toys – so that they were all facing the same direction, with me sat in the middle. Then the toys were all given imaginary protective glasses (I got the real ones) and my nephew’s son turned on his big torch shining into all of our eyes, before he moved an orange slowly across the beam thus creating his own ‘calypso’ in his living room. It was quite a sophisticated scientific experiment for a 5-year-old! I thought of this little boy’s awe and wonder, when I sat down to write this article. The extraordinary phenomenon of the solar eclipse had awakened in him a whole new imaginative universe, transporting him out of the everyday and the familiar. How much more so the 70,000 plus people who witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima on 13th October 1917! So powerful and life-changing was their shared experience, that many present that day immediately saw the need to record the testimonies of different eye-witnesses, so that their vivid accounts could convey to others something of what they had all witnessed. Over a century later, their words bring alive for us the miracle they experienced. Firstly, the words of one who already had faith in the truth of the 3 shepherd children’s stories of the apparitions of the beautiful Lady – Ti Marto, father of Jacinta and Francisco and often called “the first believer” of Fatima:
LETTER TO ALL THE LEADERS OF THE WORLD APOSTOLATE OF FATIMA OF ALL NATIONS
A global week of prayer, from the 1 st to the 7 th of October, launched by the Foundation Aid to the Church in Need”, will gather one million children praying the Rosary for peace and unity in the world.
The 28th edition of the Worldwide Children’s Holy Hour is taking place on October 13, anniversary of the last apparition of Our Lady in Fatima.
“My Soul Magnifies the Lord”: A Life Shaped by the Rosary
The parish community—richly multicultural and deeply welcoming—responded with heartfelt devotion. Around 150 parishioners gathered on Saturday for the day’s celebrations, demonstrating a warm and sincere openness to the message of Our Lady of Fàtima. A profound sense of reverence for the Immaculate Heart of Mary permeated the day, as individuals shared their intentions, hopes, and desires to learn more, live faithfully, and help spread Our Lady’s call for conversion and peace in our times. Many were enrolled in and invested with the Brown Scapular, embracing this sign of Marian protection with gratitude. Others renewed or undertook the consecration of oneself to Jesus through Mary, committing themselves more deeply to a life shaped by prayer and trust. Items of piety were eagerly received—rosaries, medals, books, and devotional aids—each one a practical means of living out Our Lady’s appeal for prayer, reparation, consecration, and conversion. The visit of the Statue and Relics became a moment of grace for the parish, strengthening unity, deepening devotion, and inspiring renewed commitment to the Fatima message. Our Lady of Fàtima, pray for us Saints Francisco and Jacinta, pray for us St Helen, pray for us **
Rev Fr Matthew Carney, OSB, parish priest, received, crowned and blessed the NPVS and the Relics. The day was attended by at least 100 including those from neighbouring parishes. The requirements of the Five First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation were duly fulfilled by all: confession, receiving Holy Communion, recitation of the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, and 15 minutes meditation on the Joyful Mysteries. Each of these was done in reparation to the offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Veneration of the Relics, short documentary-film, and the talk on the message of Our Lady were well received by those who came. The Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation was recited beautifully by all lead by the volunteers of the WAF in E&W. ๏ปฟ The weather was sunny at times with no rain. This encouraged people to participate in one or more of the segments of the visitation. There was fellowship with the parish having prepared refreshments for all at various times of the day.
