Jordan Blanton

"Lucia looked toward the east and cried: 'Jacinta, kneel down, for now I see Our Lady there. I can see the flash!' Those near her noticed that her face had become flushed and transparently beautiful. She was gazing rapturously now at the Lady herself. . . 'What do you want of me?' 'I want to tell you to have them build a chapel here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Let them continue to say the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.' 'I have many things to ask of you,' said Lucia. 'The cure of some sick persons, the conversion of some sinners. . . .' 'Some yes, others no. It is necessary that they amend their lives, and ask pardon for their sins.' Her face became graver as she continued, 'Let them offend Our Lord God no more, for He is already much offended' . . . Perhaps it was at this moment that the crowd saw the clouds separate like two vast curtains rolled apart, and the sun appear between them in the clear blue, like a disk of white fire. As Our Lady disappeared in the very radiance that came from her outstretched hands, there stood out in the zenith above three tableaus which symbolized, one after another, the Joyous, the Sorrowful and the Glorious mysteries of the Rosary. The first was a distinct representation of the Holy Family: Our Lady herself in her traditional dress of white with a blue mantle, and Saint Joseph beside her holding the Child Jesus on his arm - Saint Joseph in white, the Infant in bright red. Lucia was heard to say, 'Saint Joseph is going to bless us!' All three of the children saw the Saint make the sign of the cross three times over the crowd. The holy Child did likewise. The next vision, seen by Lucia alone, was one of Our Lady of Sorrows in the sombre garb assigned to her by tradition, the Mater Dolorosa of Good Friday, but without the sword in her breast; and beside her stood her divine Son grieving as when He met her on the way to Calvary . . . He looked pityingly on the crowd for whom He had died, and raised His hand to make the sign of the cross over them. Our Lady then appeared in a third vision of glory, as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as queen of heaven and of the world, her Infant Son upon her knee. The crowd saw nothing of all this: What they all did see, however, was something stupendous, unheard of, almost apocalyptic. The sun stood forth in the clear zenith like a great silver disk which, though bright as any sun they had ever seen, they could look straight at without blinking. . . While they gazed, the huge ball began to 'dance' - that was the word all the beholders applied to it. Now it was whirling rapidly like a gigantic fire-wheel. Then it rotated again, with dizzy, sickening speed. Finally there appeared on the rim a border of crimson, which flung across the sky, as from a hellish vortex, blood-red streamers of flame, reflecting to the earth, to the trees and shrubs, to the upturned faces all sorts of brilliant colors in succession. . . Madly gyrating in this manner three times, the fiery orb seemed to tremble, to shudder, and then to plunge precipitately, in a mighty zigzag, toward the crowd. A fearful cry broke from the lips of thousands of terrified persons as they fell upon their knees, thinking the end of the world had come. Some said that the air became warmer at that instant; they would not have been surprised if everything about them had burst into flames. 'Ai Jesús, we are all going to die here!' 'Save us, Jesus! Our Lady, save us!' 'Oh, my God, I am sorry!' And one began the Act of Contrition. Some who had come to jeer fell on their faces and broke into sobs and abject prayers. 'Oh my God, how great is Thy power!' This had lasted about ten minutes, perhaps. Then all saw the sun begin to climb, in the same zigzag manner, to where it had appeared before. It became tranquil, then dazzling. The people stared at one another in joy and amazement. 'Miracle! Miracle!'" - Our Lady of Fatima, William Walsh