It was his First Holy Communion! (Although he did receive from the chalice which the angel offered him in apparitions before Our Lady appeared.)įact #3. His big wish of receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist was granted just before he died the following day. “It was most important, then, for Lucia to learn to read and write.” In later years she even used the word processor.įrancisco died in 1919 at age 11 at home, peacefully despite suffering terribly from the influenza epidemic of 1918. Why the directive to this 10-year-old? In his book Fatima for Today, Father Andrew Apostoli, host of EWTN’s Sunday Night Prime, explains that it was Lucia’s mission to spread this Fatima message to the whole world. The request was unusual since girls in her situation didn’t learn to read. During Mary’s second appearance on June 13, 1917, she gave one part of a directive to Lucia alone: “I want you to come on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. We should know that Mary identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary and at each apparition told the children to pray the Rosary daily for peace - a message that was meant for every single person.īut there is so much connected with the Fatima apparitions and story that is fascinating, often surprising, yet little-known or forgotten.
13 apparition that was witnessed by at least 70,000 people. We should know about the Miracle of the Sun during that Oct. We should know that our Blessed Mother appeared there six times, once a month from May through October. Many Catholics should know at least some of the basic facts about Our Lady of Fatima.