While I was giving a presentation on Our Lady’s requests at Fatima and its relevance in our modern age, I was struck by the presence of young children with their mother in the front pew. They were the ages of Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia at the time of the apparition.Two girls and a boy!
The venue was a merger parish of St. Mary’s which is now even a smaller community so I had to give a talk during a prayer service with a smaller crowd than usual. It was an intimate scenario for a teaching mission.
I began by telling them that the message is so simple and easily understood by most people of all cultures, ages, and the time we are living in. One does not need a theological background to grasp the meaning of the requests made by the “Lady dressed in white”. In fact, the young shepherds of Fatima did not know how to read nor write at the time of the apparitions. (Sister Lucia had to learn later to spread the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
The moment I moved my lips about the Fatima story the crowd became very attentive and this young girl showed her interest in the story, feeling every bit of a scenario I was trying to paint. But, my crowd was mostly people in their mid 60s to late 70s with the exception of these young children in front of me, while gazing at the statue, glancing at me every so often, listening intently.
I began to steer the presentation in a way they could interact with me by asking simple questions, answerable by nodding their heads or a vocal YES or NO. Sure enough, these kids were with me. It was so simple and easy to talk with them. They understood right away. They showed no signs of hesitations, but simply absorbed in the interactions between the beautiful statue, the message I was trying to teach, and my poor self in front of them. Now the whole crowd was an ensemble.
I was interacting with people from as young as 7 years to 70 years old as one crowd without haste. I could tell they were savoring each word, coming from Our Blessed Mother. As I often casually mention, they could just ignore me, but look into Her eyes and listen to Mary.
After the presentation, most people came to thank us in appreciation for our work and mission. Including the family with children. Interestingly, the mother came to tell me that her 7 year old daughter “happened” to pick up the video of the animated film about the story of Fatima ‘The Day the Sun Danced”. That was the night before when they had no plans of going to church on a Monday evening, and see the statue. Well, that would explain their interest, but that would mean also that “something could not be explained with a little coincidence” that evening she watched the movie. Her guardian angels must have been working to prepare her before she meets the “beautiful Lady”. They were so glad they did!
We had a lot of floral offerings this season in the Diocese of Buffalo. They turned summer into “May-flowers” where children of Mary, young and old, offered roses and rosaries in their parish churches; another prayerful experience for me in this pilgrimage accompanying the world-famous International Pilgrim Statue! I bet there were similar stories during her visit in 1947.
