Erin Fox
The Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is this weekend on May 13. This year, the feast day carries extra significance as it is the centenary and Pope Francis is preparing to canonise the three children Our Lady appeared to.
Between May 13 and October 13, 1917 she appeared to three shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco in the little village of Fatima in Portugal.
Her reason for appearing was to send a message from God for every man, woman and child living in the 20th Century. The Blessed Virgin told Jacinta, Franciso and Lucia that Heaven would grant peace to all the world so long as her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were obeyed. During her six visits to them, she also stressed the importance of reciting the Rosary.
May is the month of Our Lady, Queen of Heaven and it’s traditional to pray the Rosary daily throughout May. Our Lady of Fatima’s feast day falling on the middle of the month is like a reminder to us to keep praying the Rosary – much like Our Lady’s reminder to the three children each time she visited them.
Miracle
During the sixth and final apparition, the Blessed Virgin had promised to reveal who she was and to perform a great miracle to make all believe in her.
The final apparition took place on October 13, when she said to the children she wanted a chapel to be built on the land in her name. And as promised, she performed the miracle of the sun.
The sun appeared as a wheel of fire, spinning in the sky, flashing different colours. This was witnessed by around 35,000 people. While it may have happened on October 13, you can still make crafts this weekend related to the miracle.
You can even add the sun decoration to your May grotto with the portrait or statue of Mary.
Make the sun out of any materials of your choosing. If using card, pick a yellow tone as the base and then from the centre, draw spirals in different colours with your colouring pencils or felt tip pens.
Light card will make the sun sway in a light breeze and this will recreate the image of the spinning sun in the sky.
Pierce a hole in the card and hang this up above your May grotto.