Stories from Fatima

In September of 1986, Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin and then Ambassador to the Vatican Howard Dee organized a symposium at Fatima in Portugal. Fatima, as most Catholics know, is the town where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared to three children, two of whom, Francisco and Jacinta, were canonized by Pope Francis last May 13, the 100th anniversary of the apparitions.

According to Jesuit priest Father Catalino Arevalo, Cardinal Sin made a side trip to a Carmelite convent in Coimbra to visit the third visionary, Lucia, who, by then, was known as Sister Lucia dos Santos.

Known as “the last seer of Fatima,” Sister Lucia “was really happy to talk with the Cardinal,” according to Arevalo.

According to an article Arevalo had written in 2012 for mariansolidarity.com, Sister Lucia had been told of the “People Power” events and she assured the Cardinal that she and the other sisters had been praying for the Filipino people.

Then Sister Lucia did something the Cardinal did not expect. She took out a rosary that she said she herself made, bead by bead.

“She wanted Cardinal Sin to give it as her personal gift to Mrs. Aquino, and she said, somewhat surprisingly: ‘Tell her to take good care of it’,” Arevalo revealed.

He quotes Cory as having said, “Sister Lucia sent me this rosary, which she herself made, with the message that I would be supported and protected in my presidency. She added, however, that more suffering would come my way. I now know that it was a prophetic message, as I had to fight back seven coup attempts to save my administration from power-grabbers in uniform. With Our Lady’s protection, I stood my ground and never left Malacañang, even when it was being attacked.”

(Cory also suffered from physical pain in the last few weeks before she succumbed to colon cancer in 2009. But she is said to have offered her pain to God for the good of the Filipino people.)

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In 1992, the 75th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, private citizen Cory, with daughter Kris and friends Bea Zobel and Mercy Tuason obtained permission to visit Sister Lucia in Coimbra.

The first question Sister Lucia asked the former president was, “Do you still have the rosary I sent you?”

Cory replied that she had lent the rosary to a niece in Boston, who was trying to conceive. (The niece now has two grownup kids!)

“I feel so blessed and privileged to have this bond with Fatima and so I shared this rosary with relatives and friends,” she told Sister Lucia.

Father Arevalo once asked Cory the names of some of the people who had borrowed her rosary, usually at a time of crisis or health challenges. Some of whom she had lent the rosary to were Teddy Benigno, Chino Roces, Ed Angara, Bea Zobel, Titoy Pardo, Sasa Lichauco, Meldy Cojuangco, Mercy Tuason, Howard and Dodo Dee, Arben Santos and Bettina Osmeña, to name a few.

When former Press Undersecretary Deedee Siytangco had a brain operation a couple of years ago, the Aquino sisters lent her the rosary. Early this year, they lent the rosary to Cory’s former Appointments Secretary Margie Juico, who also underwent surgery. Both ladies are now doing good.

Cory Aquino once told me that her favorite form of prayer was the rosary. This was one of the Virgin Mary’s requests relayed through Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia.

“Definitely, Mom and Dad (the late Sen. Ninoy Aquino) were both Fatima devotees,” says Viel Aquino-Dee, who was assigned by the Aquino siblings as custodian of the rosary given by Sister Lucia to their mother. “Dad ended his 40-day hunger strike and had his triple heart bypass done in Dallas on May 13.”

“Mom treasured the rosary made for her by Sister Lucia and we’d see her praying it especially during her trying times,” adds Viel.

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Siblings Francisco and Jacinta, who tended to their family’s sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, witnessed the apparitions of Mary, now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

According to the children, who never recanted their testimony of the apparitions despite threats from local officials, Mary brought with her requests for conversion, prayer (particularly the recitation of the rosary), sacrifices on behalf of sinners, and a three-part secret regarding the fate of the world.

According to published sources, the children followed Mary’s requests, praying often, giving their lunch to beggars and going without food themselves. They offered up their daily crosses and even refrained from drinking water on hot days.

Jacinta and Francisco both died before age 12 and became the youngest non-martyrs to be canonized. Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta last May 13, showing the faithful that even children can become saints. Sister Lucia, the third visionary, died in 2005 at the age of 97. The Church is currently examining documents and collecting testimonies for her beatification cause.

The miracle attributed to Francisco and Jacinta was the complete cure of a Brazilian boy named Lucas Batista who fell 20 feet from a window, losing part of his brain upon impact and falling into a deep coma. His parents asked the intercession of the two shepherd children of Fatima and soon after, the boy woke up. His intelligence has not been diminished and his doctors say they have no explanation for his complete recovery.

 “We thank God for the cure of Lucas and we know with all the faith we have in our hearts, that this miracle was obtained through the intercession of the little shepherds Francisco and Jacinta,” the parents were quoted as saying by the Catholic News Agency.

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My husband Ed and I were fortunate to have visited the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal in 2004. The pilgrimage site includes a cathedral, a small chapel, and a square that is even bigger than St. Peter’s Square in Rome. I don’t know why, but I broke away from the tour group and my feet just led me to the small simple chapel, where I was simply overcome by the power of my faith that tears sprung unbidden from my eyes. I found myself kneeling in praise, sobbing and grateful.

I was to find out later that the small chapel that I was drawn to was the exact same spot where Mary appeared to the three little children 100 years ago this month.

Hail, Mary!  (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)