A few days ago, May 13, 2013, was the 96th anniversary of when Our Lady came down to earth in Fatima, Portugal. Back in 1917, it was an ordinary day in May for three little children, Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta, when suddenly the Mother of God appeared to them and their lives changed forever. However, it was not only their lives that were affected, but the lives of everyone of the whole world, both at that time and in the time that has followed. It impacts us, we who are living over nine decades later, what the Blessed Virgin told those three children, ages 10, 9 and 7. Our Lady had very important messages for the whole world. Some warned of severe punishments from God because of the many horrible sins throughout the whole world. But others were filled with hope. She explained what we could do to save souls, especially our own, and to help soften God’s anger at the sinful world.

In all, Our Lady appeared six times at the Cova de Iria, on the thirteenth of each month, beginning in May and ending in October. She had promised a miracle for the world, so that everyone would know that it was really She who had come, and so that they would understand the importance of Her message.

On October 13, 1917, about one hundred thousand people had gathered at the Cova, as all eagerly awaited the promised miracle. It had been raining hard and the roads and fields were deep pools of mud. Everyone and everything was soaked. Lucia asked everyone to close their umbrellas and to pray the Rosary, which they did. Shortly afterwards, Our Lady appeared. As before, only the three children could see Her, and She announced, "I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the Rosary every day." Many people who had come for the apparition had begged Lucia to ask Mary for help with all of their problems. When Lucia asked Our Lady to help them, Mary replied that the people who wanted God to help them needed to stop sinning and go to Confession; asking God to forgive them their sins.

Looking out over the crowd, the Blessed Virgin spoke very sadly, as if talking to the whole world: "Do not offend the Lord Our God any more, because He is already so much offended!" Our Lady then began to leave for the last time. As She ascended She opened Her hands and light poured out; She directed the light towards the sky, filled with storm clouds. Suddenly, at the spot where Her light struck the sky, the dark clouds parted and the sun was seen. Lucia called out, "Look at the sun!"

It was then that three remarkable visions occurred. All three children saw the Holy Family, with Saint Joseph holding the Christ Child. Both of them blessed the crowd three times while Our Lady stood beside Them wearing a white dress and blue mantle. Then, only Lucia saw the next two visions. Our Lady was dressed as Our Sorrowful Mother - the way She looked when She followed Jesus during His passion and death. Jesus was with Her, but only the upper part of His body could be seen. He looked with pity on the crowd and made the Sign of the Cross over them. Finally, Our Lady appeared in glory as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as the Queen of Heaven and Earth and holding a Brown Scapular in Her hand. Jesus appeared as an Infant, seated upon Her knee.

No one else had seen these visions. But the huge crowds were given their own miracle to witness. While they were watching the sun, it unexpectedly began to dance and spin in the sky. It appeared completely out of control, zigzagging three times across the sky. In the meantime, bright colors of the rainbow were flashing around and reflecting on the trees, plants, ground and even the people. The final time a blood-red border appeared on the sun’s edges and bright red flames were flung out across the sky. Then, after spinning madly like this, the sun seemed to tremble and all of the sudden begin to fall towards the earth cutting across the flame-filled sky. At that moment, the huge crowd seemed to cry out with one voice. The air was getting alarmingly warmer and everyone thought that the end of the world had come.

Everywhere, people fell to their knees, begging God to forgive them their sins. Many people who had come didn’t believe in the Catholic Faith, and some even hated Christ publicly. These had been certain that nothing was going happen and wanted to be able to mock those who did believe. But now, even these poor creatures were on their knees, crying and begging God’s mercy. Then, the sun abruptly stopped and slowly ascended to its original position in the sky. It stopped spinning and throwing off colors. People knew that the miracle was over because they were no longer able to look at the sun (which was a miracle in itself). The sun had returned to normal. Shouts of joy and sighs of relief filled the air, as thousands of people sent up grateful prayers to God and His Mother for the mercy they had been given.

But almost immediately, it was noticed that, in that short period of time – less than ten minutes - everything was completely dry. The people, their clothes, even the ground had been dried. It had been raining the previous night, and all during the morning. Scientists have said that the amount of heat necessary to so thoroughly dry the ground in that short a time would be equal to the power of an atomic bomb. But that much energy should have destroyed everything and all the people. It was another miracle.

God was showing the world once more that He is all powerful. There is nothing He cannot do. He wanted all of us to know that it was really Him who had sent His Mother to earth with these messages, and He wanted to show us that if we do what She said we would have nothing to worry about.

Mary told us at Fatima that God wished the establishment of devotion to Her Immaculate Heart throughout the world. Jesus also desired sacrifices to be offered up to make reparation for the countless sins against the Immaculate Heart of His Mother, as well as sacrifices and prayers for the conversion of poor sinners.

During Her visits, Mary told the children "Pray, pray very much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and sacrifice for them… I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If My requests are done, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors (communism) throughout the world, causing many wars and persecutions of the Church… in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph." And one of the clearest messages that Mary gave was, "Pray the Rosary every day in order to obtain peace for the world!"

Here we are 96 years later…and it is undeniable that there is no world peace. Naturally speaking, everyone can see that everywhere things only continue to get worse. What can be done? What can we do? More importantly…what can you do?

God told us through Mary at Fatima. Pray the Rosary, every day. Offer sacrifices and prayers for the conversion of sinners. Make the Five First Saturdays Devotion in the spirit of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and offer up other acts of reparation as well. Consecrate ourselves and those we love - our families, our communities, etc. - to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Click here to learn more about these devotions.) If we don’t do our part, how can we ever hope for world peace? How much happier would so many people be, would we ourselves be, if we did what we can to help God save the world through Mary? It is not impossible, or God would not have asked for it.

Let every one of us see what it is that we can do. In this life and in the next, you will see the immense gratitude of God, Jesus and Mary, that someone actually made the effort to listen to Them and to Love Them.