On October 13, 1917, in Fatima, Mary kept her promise (I)

In July 1917, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, the three visionary children of Fatima, Portugal, announced Our Lady's promise to give a public miracle in Fatima on October 13th—that everyone would see and could believe in. This prediction spread rapidly throughout Portugal, so that on October 13, at noon, a crowd estimated at between 50,000 and 70,000 people was gathered.

The weather was rainy and the onlookers got soaked. At noon the rain stopped, and the children went into ecstasy, but the crowd did not hear the Blessed Virgin talking to Lucia:

"I want a chapel built here in my honor. I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day. The war will be over soon, and the soldiers will return to their homes… I am the Lady of the Rosary. People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already offended too much!"

Then the Lady opened her hands and made them reflect on the sun, which Lucia pointed out to the crowd, turning round: "Look at the sun!"  

At that moment thousands of individuals witnessed a miraculous vision. According to a local newspaper, “Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws—the sun ‘danced’ according to the typical expression of the people.” 

Although the sky had suddenly turned clear and blue, the sun was not blinding and could be stared at. It shook, stirred, made sudden movements and finally began to spin, throwing beams of different colors on the crowd. The phenomenon stopped and resumed twice, before the sun seemed to zigzag over the earth, radiating an increasingly intense heat.

The people were awestruck. Many fell to their knees. An old atheist man waved his arms in the air and shouted: “Holy Virgin! Blessed Virgin!” And on all sides similar scenes took place. At the end, everyone was surprised to notice that their clothes had gone from being soaked to dry in the roughly 10 minutes that the miracle lasted.

The Marie de Nazareth editorial team

And Aleteia