Fatima: The Miracle of the Sun Was a Warning

More than 70,000 people witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima — but Heaven was not putting on a spectacle.
According to Sister Lucia, Fatima was a warning: a call to repentance, conversion, and prayer meant for the world today.

On October 13, 1917, believers, skeptics, journalists, and government officials gathered at Cova da Iria in Portugal. In pouring rain, they witnessed the sun move, spin, and plunge toward the earth — an event now known as the Miracle of the Sun, one of the most documented supernatural events in modern history.

But while the crowd watched the sky, the children of Fatima saw something more — visions that revealed why Our Lady came and what Heaven was urgently asking of the world.

What Our Lady of Fatima Was Warning Us About? The Miracle of the Sun was not the message. It was meant to confirm the message.

Our Lady of Fatima came with a maternal warning:

• A call to repentance and conversion
• A summons to pray the Rosary daily
• An invitation to penance and sacrifice
• A plea to console the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• A sobering revelation of the reality of sin, judgment, and hell
  
  

As Sister Lucia later wrote,
“The message of Fatima is in its entirety a call to conversion — and that call is for us today.”

Transcript

70,000 people stared at the sky and the sun began to move. But what most people don't know is that the children saw something else that day, something that the crowd never witnessed. This is part two of the Fatima story and the incredible miracle of the sun. Welcome to episode 14 of Aendan Daily where we are exploring Mary and apparitions in preparation for Christmas. But to understand what happened on October 13th, we have to begin with something darker. A moment when the miracle almost didn't happen at all.

Word was spreading across Portugal. Each month, more people gathered at the Kova to see the lady from heaven. But on August 13th, the children never arrived. They had been taken, seized by the local administrator, Arthur Santos. He was a political man, a fierce opponent of the church, determined to stop the apparitions. He interrogated the children, threatened them, tried to force them to reveal the lady's secrets. Lucia wrote that they were even told they would be boiled in oil if they didn't confess, but the children refused. Lucia was only 10. Franchesco just nine and little Justinta only seven stood firm. Meanwhile at the Kova, thousands waited. No children, no apparition. But suddenly the crowd saw a flash of light. A small cloud descended and rested over the home oak. Mary had come even though the children were missing. 3 days later, the children were released and heaven was waiting for them.

On August 19th, the lady appeared again. This time while the children were pasturing sheep. Lucia wrote that she seemed saddened. The lady said, "If they had not taken you, the miracle would be greater." Her words reminded the children of what she had told them in July, that in October a miracle would come. She again asked for sacrifices, small acts of love offered to God. She promised to heal a sick man and she asked the children to continue praying the rosary every day. After August 19th, the situation intensifies. The crowds grow louder. The opposition grows harsher and month by month, heaven draws nearer to a miracle that would shake Portugal and echo far beyond it.

By September, the crowds had swelled to more than 30,000. People walked for miles, driven by hope. They filled the hillsides, waiting for the moment the children had foretold. At noon time, silence fell on the crowd and a low whispering of prayers could be heard. Then came a moment of grace. Witnesses reported a flash of light, a small shining cloud resting over the home oak, and white luminous particles falling from the sky. Not snow, not petals, but something unearly. Meanwhile, the children saw the lady herself. She said, continued to pray the rosary to obtain the end of the war. Then Mary addressed their hidden penance. She said, "God is pleased with your sacrifices, but he does not want you to sleep with the rope. Wear it only during the day. The rope had been their quiet offering, a small act of love the world never saw." As she had said in July, Mary repeated her promise, "A miracle would come in October, so that all may believe." And then it came. The month everyone had been waiting for. October.

The storm was relentless. Rain soaked the fields. Mud swallowed the pilgrims feet. But still they came. 70,000 people, believers, skeptics, journalists, professors, waiting in the rain. Then just afternoon, the rain stopped. Instantly, completely, people looked towards the sky, not knowing what would come next. Then the clouds broke open. The sky brightened. The sun appeared. At first, nothing seemed unusual, just thousands of eyes fixed on the sky. Then it happened. The sun began to move. It spun like a great wheel of fire, casting colors across the sky. rippling over the crowd, washing everything in reds, blues, and golds. Gasps went through the crowd. People cried out, others fell to their knees. For some, the sun danced in wild, fiery circles, and for others, it broke loose. Eyewitnesses said it fell like a burning wheel, zigzagging toward the earth in a terrifying descent. People screamed, others fainted, some begged God for mercy. And then, as suddenly as it began, it stopped, lifted, rose steadily back into the sky. As the sun returned to its place, a strange calm fell over those gathered. Moments earlier, the ground had been soaked. Mud everywhere, clothes dripping, but now everything was dry instantly, completely. Eyewitnesses said the soaked earth had turned solid beneath their feet, and their clothes felt as though they'd been warmed by the sun itself. But while the crowds absorbed the miracle, the children were seeing something more. First they saw the holy family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, blessing the world. Then they saw our lady of sorrows, her heart encircled with thorns. And finally, our Lady of Mount Carmel appeared, holding the brown scapular, a call to devotion and a sign of her protection. In that moment, heaven spoke, and what happened next was only the beginning.

The miracle of the sun was not a spectacle. It was a summons to prayer, to sacrifice, to repentance, to the rosary, and to console the heart of Jesus and Mary just as the angel had taught the children one year earlier. And in the end, Sister Lucia herself summed up the whole message. She wrote, "The message of Fatima is in its entirety a call to conversion and that call is for us today."

So, you have some strong thoughts here on on the Fatima story. Well, I was just thinking Ken was asking me what stood out to me and I said, "Well, if the mother of God shows up with the scapular, everybody should be wearing one." Right.

Well, I'm going to Okay, cuz that's that that's what really convicted you. That was one thing that stood out to me. Well, I did find Miraculous Metal. It was missing and I found it. So, that's that's fun stuff up here. That's good. Yeah. Good news. Is there anything else that grabs you from this? I mean, this is really such a a gift to the world. This the mother of a god coming to Fatima. So many things could be said. Yeah. And well, actually, so what stands out to me is what could the miracle have been like had the children not been kidnapped? That's what I was thinking. Mhm. Yeah. So, here we have a local administrator, Arthur. He's anti-church. He gets in the way of what God wants to do. Think about this. He kidnaps these three little kids. They're young. And then he threatens to boil them in oil. Like, you get arrested for something like that now. That just seems I guess that's how they did things back then. I just can't believe it. And these kids given the grace to remain firm. Mhm. In the face of this authority. And I think wise because they've seen a higher authority, the mother of God. They're not shaken. They're they're unmoved. I I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience, but but our lady's words saying the miracle would have been greater. Mhm. What would have that looked like? So this is a serious sin here. This man gets in the way of this great miracle and his actions affect millions. It it would be affecting us right now and what we are sharing. Mhm. Uh what would have happened? We don't know. Now how does this I always think how does this relate to me? How does this come back to my life? I'm convinced that me as a father, if I get in the way of God's grace, it just doesn't affect me. It affects those who are in my authority. And it has a compounding effect. Just like this act of disobedience had us a compounding effect to us today. We don't know what that miracle could have looked like. My disobedience as a father has a compounding effect just not in my own life but those who are in my care with my wife and with my children. So I would challenge you and just ask yourself or challenge you and just say your acts of disobedience or obedience just don't affect you. Mhm. They have a greater implication. And the good news is I I think is also true that when we act in obedience, there's a compounding effect with that and that grace spills over to those who have been placed in our care. So I look at Fatima and I think I don't want to be a stumbling block for people. Mhm. I'd like to be a stepping stone lifting people up to the fullness of grace. Mhm. So, it's funny this this administrator uh I thought a lot about him the last couple days and I could do a whole episode on this point, but he later says he came into faith, but he never went to confession. Uh so, and then he later wrote a letter justifying his actions. So, it's kind of confusing, but don't we all have those letters written? Our excuses for the things we've done. Anyways, anything else? I also like how the children aren't afraid to do little penences and things that are uncomfortable like the rope, like wearing the rope. And I know like there's other parts of the story that we haven't touched on, but like they would go without food and water. Um I think they would even give their water to the animals just to increase their own little sufferings. Um or even like I think they would like go on their knees. They just weren't afraid to do hard things um and add things to their life. I think this is a reminder to us that that penance really does have value. We don't hear this message very much. I'm guessing you you're not wearing a rope today. Or maybe you are. Maybe you are, but not at night. According to the mother of God, two children, just just during the day, that's enough. But maybe for adults it would be okay. This is this is what I find so amazing. The mother of God says, "Well, you know, get rid of the rope. Yeah, that's that's that's you've gone too far." No, just not at night. So, this challenges me, maybe this challenges you about just practical penences in life. Um, I'm not saying you have to wear a rope, by the way, but what are those things that you can offer for reparation for sin, for the conversion of sinners, particularly those who are close to you? Uh, the last thing we haven't touched on is this vision of hell that the children have. And our lady didn't come with a message. A message that says, "Guess what children? Hell is empty." That's not the message. But this is the impression sometimes that we have in this modern world that everybody goes to heaven. This is not what our lady showed. And so our lady um comes with a really it's a hard message. Mhm. But I think she comes because she speaks like a mother who sees danger for her children and and wants to for all to be saved. Any closing thoughts? No, I was just picturing the snowflakes falling into like the great abyss. Like, isn't that what she said? That souls were falling into hell like snowflakes. So, so much more that could be said about Fatima. Thanks for watching today. Uh maybe share with us below what stood out to you and why. And we'll see you tomorrow. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.