Posted on 12/03/2009 7:07:02 AM PST by Gamecock
FORT COLLINS, Colorado, DEC. 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A new film about the Marian apparitions at Fatima is being released today, combining modern technology with a timeless message, only months before Benedict XVI's visit to the Portuguese shrine.
"The 13th Day" is the first major movie in over 50 years detailing Our Lady's apparition to three shepherd children in Fatima in 1917.
Filmed on location in Portugal, as well as in the United Kingdom, the movie weaves a story based on the memoirs of one of the children, who later became Sister Maria Lucia de Jesus, as well as thousands of eyewitness accounts of the events.
The film is a combination of "great entertainment, catechesis and evangelization," said Anthony Ryan, marketing director for Ignatius Press, the North American distribution company.
It is "a relevant wake-up call" for our culture today, he added at a press conference for the movie's release.
Ryan explained that The 13th Day is a "message driven film," about the power of Our Lady's promises that are still relevant.
Mark Brumley, Ignatius Press CEO, commented that the Pope's upcoming May visit to Portugal underlines the "ongoing importance of Our Lady of Fatima."
The Pontiff is "commemorating the true story of Fatima, but not just as something that happened in the past," Brumley said.
For all faiths
He affirmed that The 13th Day also underlines the "ongoing reality" of Fatima, with a message "everyone should hear," Catholics, Protestants and Muslims.
"We live in a time where there is a great searching for spirituality," Brumley affirmed. This movie "challenges people to be open to the message of transformation -- what we call repentance."
Ryan added that in this, Benedict XVI is continuing the work of his predecessor, John Paul II, underscoring the message of Our Lady of Fatima and its relevance for our times.
Its particular relevance, Ryan explained, can be seen in the connection between the story of Fatima and Muslims. He suggested that "one of the most important ways to reach Muslims is through Our Lady of Fatima."
Father Andrew Apostoli, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and a Fatima expert, explained that the Muslim people have a great love of Mary, and Our Lady of Fatima in particular. "Fatima" was the name of the daughter of Islam's prophet, Muhammad.
When statues of Our Lady of Fatima are brought into an Islamic country, Father Apostoli said, Catholics sometimes have a hard time finding room in the church where she is being honored, as it tends to be filled with Muslims.
The Franciscan noted that the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen of Rochester, New York, spoke about this connection. The words of the prelate are included in a 24-page bonus book in the film's package.
"Mary rises above the differences between Christians and Muslims," Father Apostoli said. "Both sides can go to Mary, and she becomes the link."
The producer of The 13th Day, Natasha Howes, announced that the movie will be showing in Tehran, Iran, in February, and that they expect a good response in the predominantly Muslim country.
The film has been showing at screening events in some 150 U.S. locations since Oct. 13.
Our call
Father Apostoli affirmed that The 13th Day makes a powerful impact. He noted that he was particularly struck by the courage of the children to accept this request of Our Lady, "Would you suffer?" She asked them to sacrifice and pray to save souls, he said.
This is the basic message that the Blessed Virgin calls us all to, the priest explained, to bring the message of Christ's salvation and its merits to others through the Church.
She calls us all to prayer and to sacrifice, he said. When the children are shown a vision of hell, it "makes its impact," Father Apostoli stated, and it has a powerful meaning for all of us.
Our Lady asks these children to be a part of God's plan, he said, and we are also called to this; "the peace of the world depends on this."
"I think this is going to affect young people," the priest said. "I was a child when I saw the first film, and Fatima has made an impact on my life."
The DVD is being sold in a package aimed at making an evangelization impact through a bonus documentary video on Our Lady's message, a companion booklet, a prayer card and rosary.
Evangelization
The team who worked on the film affirmed that they were the first to be evangelized through Mary's message. Howes explained that she had been brought up Catholic, but was lapsed until she began working on this project. Now, she said, "my faith has certainly been strengthened."
Ian and Dominic Higgins, two brothers who worked together to write and direct the film, affirmed that they too were brought up Catholic, but making this film has "made us more spiritual."
"It speaks to you regardless of your faith or your belief system," they said. "In Fatima, you may find a way to peace."
Father Apostoli concluded, "The world is on the brink of catastrophe if we don't work for peace."
Shortly after Pope John Paul II was shot on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the priest said, the Pontiff made the statement that the Marian message from those apparitions is more important now than it was back then.
She spoke about the conversion of Russia back then, but we suffer from the residue of communism still today, the Franciscan said, or secularism as it has become in the United States.
He noted that Benedict XVI also emphasizes this message, urging Catholics to honor Our Lady of the Rosary, as the one who can truly help us.
"That's what makes this message timeless," Father Apostoli said. "This film is a great gift from God."
Gee, I thought Jesus fulfilled that role.
False premise. It is not either/or. It's both/and. Mary, Jesus' mother always points to Him. It is God's plan that the Mother of Jesus also has a role in reaching all mankind.
Merry Christmas!
Mary is a way of bringing people to Jesus. “To Jesus through Mary” was the slogan of St Louis de Monfort, a 17th century French saint who founded a religious order devoted to nursing and the eduction of poor girls.
Many people obviously find Mary more accessible. It’s very possible that Mary will help the average Muslim, especially women, to take a look at Jesus not as a prophet, which Islam calls him, but as the Son of God, a God who is entirely different from the Muslim abomination. So I don’t see anything wrong with this.
However, that said, there are some abuses at Fatima because the weak bishop of the diocese permitted some syncretist activities there, and modern-day Franciscans are notoriously bad in that area. Things have been cleaned up since BXVI took over, however, and I think Fatima will continue to improve.
Moslemism is the only great post-Christian religion of the world. Because it had its origin in the seventh century under Mohammed, it was possible to unite, within it, some elements of Christianity and of Judaism, along with particular customs of Arabia. Moslemism takes the doctrine of the unity of God, His majesty and His creative power, and uses it, in part, as a basis for the reproduction of Christ, the Son of God. Misunderstanding the notion of the Trinity, Mohammed made Christ a prophet announcing Him just as to Christians, Isaiah and John the Baptist are prophets announcing Christ.
The Christian European West barely escaped destruction at the hands of the Moslems. At one point they were stopped near Tours and at another point, later on in time, outside the gates of Vienna. The Church throughout northern Africa was practically destroyed by Moslem power, and at the present hour, the Moslems are beginning to rise again.
If Moslemism is a heresy, as Hiliaire Belloc believes it to be, it is the only heresy that has never declined. Others have had a moment of vigor, then gone into doctrinal decay at the death of the leader, and finally evaporated in a vague social movement. Moslemism, on the contrary, has only had its first phase. There was never a time in which it declined, either in numbers, or in the devotion of its followers.
The missionary effort of the Church toward this group has been at least on the surface, a failure, for the Moslems are so far almost unconvertible. The reason is that for a follower of Mohammed to become a Christian is much like a Christian becoming a Jew. The Moslems believe that they have the final and definitive revelation of God to the world and that Christ was only a prophet announcing Mohammed, the last of God's real prophets.
At the present time, the hatred of the Moslem countries against the West is becoming a hatred against Christianity itself. Although the statesmen have not yet taken it into account, there is still grave danger that the temporal power of Islam may return and, with it, the menace that it may shake off a West which has ceased to by Christian, and affirm itself as a great anti-Christian world power. Moslem writers say, "When the locust swarms darken countries, they bear on their wings these Arabic words: 'We are God's host, each of us has ninety-nine eggs, and if we had a hundred, we should lay waste the world, with all that is in it.'"
The problem is, how shall we prevent the hatching of the hundredth egg? It is our firm belief that the fears some entertain concerning the Moslems are not to be realized, but the Moslemism, instead, will eventually be converted to Christianity — and in a way that even some of our missionaries never suspect. It is our belief that this will happen not through the direct teachings of Christianity, but through a summoning of the Moslems to a veneration of the Mother of God. This is the line of argument:
The Koran, which is the Bible of the Moslems, has many passages concerning the Blessed Virgin. First of all, the Koran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also, in her Virgin Birth. The third chapter of the Koran places the history of Mary's family in a genealogy, which goes back through Abraham, Noah, and Adam. When one compares the Koran's description of the birth of Mary with the apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary, one is tempted to believe that Mohammed very much depended upon the latter. Both books describe the old age and the definite sterility of the mother of Mary. When, however, she conceives, the mother of Mary is made to say in the Koran; "O Lord, I vow and consecrate to you what is already within me. Accept it from me."
When Mary is born, the mother says: "And I consecrate her with all of her posterity under thy protection, O Lord, against Satan!"
The Koran passes over Joseph in the life of Mary, but the Moslem tradition know his name and has some familiarity with him. In this tradition, Joseph is made to speak to Mary, who is a virgin. As he inquired how she conceived Jesus without a father, Mary answered: "Do you not know that God, when He created the wheat had no need of seed, and that God by His power made the trees grow without the help of rain? All that God had to do was to say, 'So be it, and it was done.'"
The Koran has also verses on the Annunciation, Visitation, and Nativity. Angels are pictured as accompanying the Blessed Mother and saying: "Oh, Mary, God has chosen you and purified you, and elected you above all the women of the earth." In the nineteenth chapter of the Koran there are 41 verses on Jesus and Mary. There is such a strong defense of the virginity of Mary here that the Koran, in the fourth book, attributed the condemnation of the Jews to their monstrous calumny against the Virgin Mary.
Mary, then, is for the Moslems the true Sayyida, or Lady. The only possible serious rival to her in their creed would be Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed himself. But after the death of Fatima, Mohammed wrote: "Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary." In a variant of the text, Fatima is made to say, "I surpass all the women, except Mary."
This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima." Since nothing ever happens out of Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as "Our Lady of Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too.
Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he lived to Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.
The final evidence of the relationship of Fatima to the Moslems is the enthusiastic reception, which the Moslems in Africa and India and elsewhere gave to the Pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima, as mentioned earlier. Moslems attended the church services in honor of Our Lady, they allowed religious processions and even prayers before their mosques; and in Mozambique the Moslems who were unconverted, began to be Christian as soon as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected.
Missionaries in the future will, more and more, see that their apostolate among the Moslems will be successful in the measure that they preach Our Lady of Fatima. Mary is the advent of Christ, bringing Christ to the people before Christ Himself is born. In an apologetic endeavor, it is always best to start with that which people already accept. Because the Moslems have a devotion to Mary, our missionaries should be satisfied merely to expand and to develop that devotion, with the full realization that Our Blessed Lady will carry the Moslems the rest of the way to her divine Son. She is forever a "traitor," in the sense that she will not accept any devotion for herself, but will always bring anyone who is devoted to her to her divine Son. As those who lose devotion to her lose belief in the divinity of Christ, so those who intensify devotion to her gradually acquire that belief.
Many of our great missionaries in Africa have already broken down the bitter hatred and prejudices of the Moslems against the Christians through their acts of charity, their schools and hospitals. It now remains to use another approach, namely, that of taking the 41st chapter of the Koran and showing them that it was taken out of the Gospel of Luke, that Mary could not be, even in their own eyes, the most blessed of all the women of Heaven if she had not also borne One who was the Savior of the world. If Judith and Esther of the Old Testament were pre-figures of Mary, then it may well be that Fatima herself was a post-figure of Mary! The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge that, if Fatima must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.
ping
Interestingly, along those same lines, Mary’s House in Ephesus attracts as many if not more Muslims than Christians. Interesting article about the site is here: http://www.aboutkusadasi.com/ephesus/virgin-mary-house.html (of course, the fact that it’s in Turkey wouldn’t have anything to do with those statistics)
Ha ha ha! A muzzy listening to a women. That gets me laughing!
BOOKMARKED. Fascinating.
I’m honored that a prominent FReeper like you found my post “fascinating,” though I myself didn’t write it. Thanks!
Nowhere to be found. Is available on Amazon.com in DVD.
Bear in mind that imdb.com has the most obscure information about every "Gilligan's Island" episode and music video.
To not even mention this feature film is Stalinism at its finest on the part of the wonderful creatures of Hollywood.
Its particular relevance, Ryan explained, can be seen in the connection between the story of Fatima and Muslims. He suggested that "one of the most important ways to reach Muslims is through Our Lady of Fatima."
Father Andrew Apostoli, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and a Fatima expert, explained that the Muslim people have a great love of Mary, and Our Lady of Fatima in particular. "Fatima" was the name of the daughter of Islam's prophet, Muhammad.
On an highly emotional spiritual level there has been a great common-ground meeting place between Rome and Mecca in the town of Fatima in Portugal. To quote a Catholic news organization, "Our Lady of Fatima is really Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Mohammed." On October 23, 1995, Iranian television began running stories that the apparitions in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 were religious phenomena of Muslim origin.” Islam teaches that men can achieve favor with God by what a person does. On the Fatima site in Portugal May 13th 2000, the Pope proclaimed a message that could be readily accepted by both Muslims and Catholics. “‘Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them’....”
-- From the thread The Papacy and Islam
This brings us to our second point: namely, why the Blessed Mother, in the 20th century should have revealed herself in the significant little village of Fatima, so that to all future generations she would be known as "Our Lady of Fatima." Since nothing ever happens out of Heaven except with a finesse of all details, I believe that the Blessed Virgin chose to be known as "Our Lady of Fatima" as a pledge and a sign of hope to the Moslem people, and as an assurance that they, who show her so much respect, will one day accept her divine Son too.Related threads:Evidence to support these views is found in the historical fact that the Moslems occupied Portugal for centuries. At the time when they were finally driven out, the last Moslem chief had a beautiful daughter by the name of Fatima. A Catholic boy fell in love with her, and for him she not only stayed behind when the Moslems left, but even embraced the Faith. The young husband was so much in love with her that he changed the name of the town where he lived to Fatima. Thus, the very place where our Lady appeared in 1917 bears a historical connection to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed.
-- Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in the book The World's First Love
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
841 The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."
Self-ping for that article later. I visited the house when I was 17 and, although not particularly religious at the time, was swept away by the whole Ephesus thing.
My wife, a Catholic from India, does tend to affirm the stories that tell of Muslims venerating Miriam.
You’re married to a Catholic from India? Very neat! That sounds like my parents- my Mother, the daughter of a Polish immigrant and a man whose family has been here since colonial times; and my Dad, a Filipino who emigrated to the U.S. in 1975.
Her dad was a British soldier and she ended up being raised in a convent in Mumbai along with her sister; that’s how she became Catholic. She came to know many of the Goa Catholics and sisters from Portugal.
Many believe that the Holy Father, by his kissing of the Koran, and Vatican II have taught that all religions worship the one true God to a greater or lesser degree, and that Muslims are included in the plan of salvation and thus should not be evangelized. This is in fact not the case.
The Catechism, working from Vatican II's "Nostra Aetate," does say that, "the plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place among whom are the Muslims. These profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us adore one Merciful God, mankind's judge in the last day."
This is a carefully worded statement. It does not actually say that Muslims believe in Abraham's faith, but only that they profess to hold the faith of Abraham.
Professing and possessing are two different things: Certainly there are many more Christians who profess Christ than there are people who actually live for him. Nowhere does the Catechism say that Muslims are not eligible for the salvation that is in Christ, or that the Gospel should not be preached to them.
Islam is creepy and retarded. Arabs need to be told the truth as it is in order to be saved.
I do not recollect Fatima’s visions in the above light.
It’s Mary who was conceived by Christ, just as the burning bush was what made it the self-denied power house.
Thanks, Pyro.
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