The woman of her word.

The woman of her word.
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Yesterday we celebrated the 101st anniversary of the Fatima apparitions of Our Lady.

Devotion to Our Lady of Fatima continues to grow

ever since her appearance

to the three shepherd children,

Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia.

101years ago

During her apparitions

Our Lady   revealed not only to the children

but to all of us

that besides being  the Queen of the Rosary,

  she is also  a woman of her word.

Mary invited the children

at the end of each apparition

to return to the Cova

on the 13 th of the following month.

When  giving such an invitation
Mary promised the children

she would return the next month

if they kept their promise to return.

Mary kept her promise,

except for August,

when she appeared on a later date

because of the children’s imprisonment.

Another promise Mary made to the children was

that  she would reveal who she was

if they continued to return each month until October.

Every month the children asked who she was.

  She  repeatedly  promised to reveal  her name in October.

Mary kept her promise.

On October 13, 1917, Mary told the children she was the Lady of the Holy Rosary,

In each of the apparitions Mary had requested the children to recite  the rosary.

Another promise Mary made to the children was

the promise of a sign  in October

which would make many people

believe in the supernatural events.

Mary fulfilled that promise also.

On a rainy day,

the sun emerged in the sky

and began to dance,

as if it was going to collide with the earth.

People refer to the event as the Miracle of the Sun.

Now many people came to believe in the children’s accounts of the apparitions.

Mary requested the children during each apparition:

"pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world."

This promise  was fulfilled with the cessation of the First World War.

Now too the world is full of disturbances everywhere, unsettling its peace.

Rosary is a powerful weapon against all the quarrels of the world.

The means for the peace of the world is in our hands,

the Rosary,

which if recited regularly,

will work  wonders.

Every time we pray the Hail Mary,

we ask Mary to pray for us

“now and at the hour of our death.”

This prayer,

which hails our Mother whenever we recite it,

is our faithful friend and companion

not only while living

but also at the hour of our death.

Our  Mother appeared in 1925 to Sister Lucia

and 

explained to her

the First Saturday devotion.

She said,

“I promise to assist at the hour of death

with the graces necessary for salvation of all those

who,

on the first Saturday of five consecutive months

go to confession

and

receive Holy Communion,

recite the Rosary

and

keep me company for a quarter of an hour

while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.”

Mary promised to pray for those

who are devoted to her during their life.

Mary is a woman

of not only giving promises

but also of keeping them.

Her  promises are not merely words

but powerful weapons that can protect the world.

When  our first parents fell,

God promised to right the wrong

by sending His son into the world.

The prophets foretold

that a virgin would give birth our Saviour.

Mary is the virgin foretold by the prophets.

She fulfilled God’s promise to the world

by giving birth to Emmanuel.

As the mother of all believers, she has made promises to her sons and daughters.

She fulfilled the promises she made in Fatima.

She will be with us all our life

helping us with her Rosary,

which will open the doors of heaven for us

to enter into everlasting life with her Son.

Lourdu Selvam.