Posted on 06/18/2017 2:47:29 PM PDT by narses
Fatima, Portugal, May 12, 2017 / 05:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On “the day the sun danced,” thousands of people bore witness to a miracle that not only proved the validity of the Fatima Marian apparitions, but is also said to have shattered the prevalent belief at the time that God was no longer relevant.
What crowds witnessed the day of the miracle was “the news that God, in the end, contrary to what was said in the philosophy books at that time, was alive and acting in the midst of men,” Dr. Marco Daniel Duarte told CNA in an interview.
If one were to open philosophy books during that period, they would likely read something akin to the concept conceived by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who died in 1900 and boldly made the assertion in his 1882 collection “The Gay Science” that “God is dead.”
Yet as this and other philosophies like it were gaining steam in the life and thought of society, the Virgin Mary appears and tells three small shepherds that “God is alive and still attentive to humanity, even though humanity is waging war with one another.”
Duarte, a theologian and director of the Fatima shrine museums, spoke about the cultural significance of the Miracle of the Sun given the atheistic thought prevalent in Portuguese society at the time.
In 1917, Portugal, like the majority of the world at the time, was embroiled in war. As World War I raged throughout Europe, Portugal found itself unable to maintain its initial neutrality and joined forces with the Allies, in order to protect colonies in Africa and to defend their trade with Britain. About 220,000 Portuguese civilians died during the war; thousands due to food shortages, thousands more from the Spanish flu.
Compounding the problem, government stability in the country had been rocky at best following the revolution and coup d’état that led to the overthrow of the monarchy and subsequent establishment of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910.
A new liberal constitution separating Church and state was drafted under the influence of Freemasonry, which sought to omit the faith – which for many was the backbone of Portuguese culture and society – from public life.
Anti-Catholicism in Portugal had initially begun in the 18th century during the term of statesman Marquês de Pombal, and flared up again after the drafting of the new constitution.
Catholic churches and schools were seized by the government, and the wearing of clerics in public, the ringing of church bells, and the celebrating of popular religious festivals were banned. Between 1911-1916, nearly 2,000 priests, monks and nuns were killed by anti-Christian groups.
This was the backdrop against which Mary, in 1917, appeared to three shepherd children – Lucia dos Santos, 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 – in a field in Fatima, Portugal, bringing with her requests for the recitation of the rosary, for sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a secret regarding the fate of the world.
To prove that the apparitions were true, Mary promised the children that during the last of her six appearances she would provide a “sign” so people would believe in the apparitions and in her message.
What happened on that day – Oct. 13, 1917 – has come to be known as the “Miracle of the Sun,” or “the day the sun danced.”
According to various accounts, a crowd of some 70,000 people – believers and skeptics alike – gathered to see the miracle that Mary had promised. After appearing and speaking to the children for some time, Mary then “cast her own light upon the sun.”
The previously rainy sky cleared up, the clouds dispersed and the ground, which had been wet and muddy from the rain, was dried. A transparent veil came over the sun, making it easy to look at, and multi-colored lights were strewn across the landscape.
The sun then began to spin, twirling in the sky, and at one point appeared to veer toward earth before jumping back to its place in the sky.
Duarte said the miracle was a direct, and very convincing contradiction to the atheistic regimes at the time, which is evidenced by the fact that the first newspaper to report on the miracle was an anti-Catholic, Masonic newspaper in Lisbon called O Seculo.
The Miracle of the Sun, he said, was understood by the people to be “the seal, the guarantee that in fact those three children were telling the truth.”
Even today, “Fatima makes people change their perception of God,” he said, explaining that for him, one of the most important messages of the apparitions is that “even if man has separated God from his existence, God is present in human history and doesn’t abandon humanity.”
With World War I raging, a war the likes of which the world had never seen, Mary appeared to tell the children that “that story can have another ending, when the power of prayer is stronger than the power of bullets.”
The Miracle of the Sun is also the heart of a special exhibition called “The Colors of the Sun” the shrine is offering for the duration of the centenary year of the apparitions, which focuses on the symbolic nature of the miracle and its cultural significance.
Displayed are “various objects, some older, others more contemporary, some more modern, some made of textile, others of organic materials, paintings, sculptures,” but which are all “placed with a narrative,” he said.
Beginning with a set of black umbrellas used by people who had gathered at the Cova de Iria (Cave of Iria) where Mary appeared Oct. 13, the exhibit aims to build a narrative of what people saw that day, and is supplemented with different works that express the various elements of Mary’s message to the children.
It also shows developments of how the shrine developed over the years, showing the transformation of what used to be a small, simple chapel into what is now two basilicas: the Basilica of Nossa Senhora do Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary) and Basilica da Santissima Trindade (Basilica of the Holy Trinity), with an open chapel in between where the statue of Our Lady of Fatima resides.
Pieces come from all over the world – some from the Fatima shrine, some from the State of Portugal, and some even hail from Germany and France.
One of the highlight pieces is a giant heart made by Joana Vasconcelos, a well-known Portuguese artist who crafted the piece entirely out of red plastic ware, such as spoons and forks.
“It’s material that isn’t important for anyone, but which after everything is united, forms the image of a heart and can be the image of reparation,” Duarte said.
The exhibit closes with white parasols, rather than umbrellas, in order to show the fruit of the miracle, Duarte said, adding that it can also signify “the presence of God, the Eucharistic Christ.”
In this sense, the parasols “can be for us a symbol that also we can be God’s tabernacles and can be the place where God dwells,” he said. “This is the true shrine that God wants. The shrine of Fatima is precisely the image of what God wants: to dwell among men.”
I’ve answered it.
Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. And I’ve provided biblical quotes.
Now answer two simple questions:
Is Mary the Mother of Jesus? Yes or No.
Is Jesus Christ God? Yes or No.
Or does the devil have your tongue?
Yes.
Yes.
Appears to be Yes.
[31] Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. [32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. [33] And of his kingdom there shall be no end. [34] And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? [35] And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Luke Chapter 1
Do you still deny Mary is the Mother of God?
Nonsense.
Your pathological hatred shows in your repeated use of the phrase “the Roman Catholic” as though you were lecturing on Catholics as some sort of criminal type.
You put forth no argument—just a couple of irrelevant photographs. So there was no “argument” that was “going against” me.
You have demonstrated to me and countless others that you are obsessed with bashing Catholicism, endlessly repeating stock Protestant distortions and lies.
Catholics do not worship Mary. They DO make requests for her assistance. This is because Catholics do not subscribe to the irrational, baseless, ugly Protestant notion that the blessed in heaven are inert doorstops.
The notion that my mother could pray for me when she was in Baltimore, but cannot pray for me in heaven, is too preposterous to be believed by any but an imbecile.
Good for you, narses.
I’m glad to see the devil doesn’t have your tongue, as he does others.
If you think that the sun’s moving and the ground’s drying out are “contradictory,” then you are beyond reason.
The children saw the Lady, and no one else did. Francisco saw her, but never heard her.
Nobody ever asserted that this was a normal event, perceived exactly the same by everyone. It was a miraculous event.
But the overwhelming part of 70,000 people witnessed the miracle.
You can choose to be like those who witnessed the cure of the man born blind and the man with the withered arm, or the raising of Lazarus, and rejected the evidence. Free will, you know.
True. But did you know that the Church at one time considered adding a fourth person to the Trinity, namely Mary?
70,000?
There were 30-40,000 people, and even believers claim to have seen nothing.
:)
+
Trinity implies only three persons.
Where do come up with such nonsense?
I guess you didn’t read the verse that says
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 1:43 And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 1:44 For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Anyone who believes any apparitions is deceved already.
ebbtide: Yes.
ebbtide: "And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him."Matthew 17:5
10 posted on 6/18/2017, 6:33:00 PM by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies | Report Abuse]
ealgeone to ebb tide:
>>Is there any Biblical evidence regarding Mary as anything other than Jesus’s mother?<<
Yes.
"And as he was yet speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him."Matthew 17:5
We're waiting to hear your explanation as to how this verse has anything to do with Mary.
20 posted on 6/18/2017, 6:41:54 PM by ealgeone
We're still waiting, and I guess we will be waiting a long time, for your explanation as to how the verse you quoted from Matthew 17:5 has anything to do with Mary.
I am very puzzled by people who are not bothered by speaking ill of the mother of Jesus.
He chose her. He was in her womb for nine months. He was under her care for most of his life. She suffered when he suffered, more so than any other mother.
If I were Jesus and somebody wanted to infer that my momma was not worth honoring I would punch them hard in the face.
The phrase "Roman Catholic" is used in accordance with keeping the guidelines against making personal attacks. The RM has posted examples of what is or is not making something personal. You may want to acquaint yourself with them.
From the RM's page:
For something to be "making it personal" it must be speaking to another Freeper, personally.
"Protestants are heretics" is not making it personal. "You are a heretic" is making it personal. "Catholics worship Mary" is not making it personal. "You worship Mary" is making it personal. "Mormons worship many gods" is not making it personal. "You worship many gods" is making it personal.
I guess Peter, James and John were deceived also.
[1] And after six days Jesus taketh unto him Peter and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: [2] And he was transfigured before them. And his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow. [3] And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elias talking with him. Matthew Chapter 17.
Or how about Moses and the burning bush?
[2] And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt. [3] And Moses said: I will go and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. Exodus Chapter 3.
For the record.
Christians do count Mary as blessed as recorded by Luke. She was chosen among all women to be the mother of Jesus.
She raised Him, saw Him grow into a young man, then an adult, watched His ministry and watched Him get crucified and then saw Him again as the risen Savior.
Dude. Seriously. When you can engage in a mature conversation get back to us.
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