Friday Messages: Truth behind ‘Lady of Fatima’ Part 2

Contributed by bineshan on 02 Oct 2010 - 09:59 AM

Truth behind ‘Lady of Fatima’

Part 2



Now let us explore other aspects of the Fatima story; in order to do that understanding sister Lucia’s background may be quite helpful:


It is important to mention that it has been said: “Private revelations do not form part of the deposit of faith of the Catholic Church and its members are not bound to believe in any of them. However, as a matter of prudence, assent would normally be expected of a Catholic based on the discernment of the Church and its judgment that an apparition is worthy of belief … The visions of Fatima were officially declared "worthy of belief" in October 1930 by the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, on behalf of the Catholic Church.” (The Wikipedia, and from the Encyclopedia Britannica).


Lucia’s (the narrator of the Fatima apparitions) First Communion occurred at 6 years of age … and after her First Confession she prayed before the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary and saw the statue smile at herLúcia's First Communion left a deep impact on her so much so that she said that she lost the taste and attraction for the things of the world, and only felt at home in some solitary place … Lúcia moved to Oporto in 1921, and at 14 was admitted as a boarder in the school of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Vilar, on the city's outskirts … On October 24, 1925, she entered the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy as a postulant in the convent in Tuy , Spain, just across the northern Portuguese border … Lúcia made her first vows on October 3, 1928. (From the Wikipedia Encyclopedia)


I.e. by 1930 -when the Catholic Church officially declared the Fatima apparitions as worthy of belief- Lucia, the narrator of the Fatima story, was a full-fledged nun under the vow of total submission to the Vatican. Webster dictionary defines a nun as: a woman member of a religious order, esp. one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.


At this point, let us first consider the “Miracle of the Sun” and then we shall look at “Secrets of Fatima”:



The Wikipedia Encyclopaedia states that as early as July 1917 it was claimed that the lady had promised a miracle for the last of her apparitions on 13 October, so that all would believe. It is said that a crowd gathered to observe the alleged miracle known as "Miracle of the Sun”. As indicated by De Marchi, John (1952) in the book, The Immaculate Heart, New York: Farrar, Straus and Young, an eye witness estimated the crowd to be about 30,000 while another eye witness estimated it at about 100,000. But it is usually repeated that they were about 70,000.



According to the Wikipedia and the StateMaster Encyclopaedias, different observations were reported of what happened on 13 October 1917; one report was that “the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements … the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people” while another report said that “The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceeding fast and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat” and … .



According to contemporary reports from poet Afonso Lopes Vieira and schoolteacher Delfina Lopes with her students and other witnesses in the town of Alburita, the solar phenomenon was visible from up to forty kilometers away. Despite these assertions, not all witnesses reported seeing the sun "dance". Some people only saw the radiant colors, and others, including some believers, saw nothing at all. (Jaki, Stanley L. (1999). God and the Sun at Fátima. Real View Books; …)



As stated by De Marchi, John in the aforementioned book: “No movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time.”



Since no scientifically verifiable physical cause can be adduced to support the phenomenon of the sun, various explanations have been advanced to explain the descriptions given by numerous witnesses. A leading conjecture is a mass hallucination possibly stimulated by the religious fervor of the crowds expectantly waiting for a predicted sign. Another conjecture is a possible visual artifact caused by looking at the sun for a prolonged period. As noted by Professor Auguste Meessen of the Institute of Physics, Catholic University of Leuven, looking directly at the Sun can cause phosphene visual artifacts and temporary partial blindness. He has proposed that the reported observations were optical effects caused by prolonged staring at the sun. Meessen contends that retinal after-images produced after brief periods of sun gazing are a likely cause of the observed dancing effects. Similarly Meessen states that the colour changes witnessed were most likely caused by the bleaching of photosensitive retinal cells.” (Auguste Meessen 'Apparitions and Miracles of the Sun' International Forum in Porto "Science, Religion and Conscience" October 23–25, 2003)



Allah knows best what really happened on that 13 October 1917 … .



According to Lúcia's account, in the course of her appearances, the woman confided to the children three secrets, now known as the Three Secrets of Fátima.” (The Wikipedia)


Let us keep in mind that 1917 was the date of the alleged three secrets of Fatima, but:


Lucia described in her Third Memoir, written in 1942, i.e. 25 years after 1917, that the first secret was a vision of Hell, and that the second secret had included a prophecy regarding the start of word war II; i.e. three years after the world war II had already started, then, and not before that, Lucia, under total submission to the Vatican, stated that the second secret had included a prophecy about world war II. (From Wikipedia and StateMaster Encyclopedias)


The Vatican withheld the Third Secret until 26 June 2000, despite Lúcia's declaration that it could be released to the public after 1960. Some sources, including Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani, said that Lúcia insisted to them it must be released by 1960 … When 1960 arrived, rather than releasing the Third Secret, the Vatican published an official press release stating that it was "most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal.” … After this announcement, immense speculation over the content of the secret materialized … Some sources claim that the four-page, handwritten text of the Third Secret released by the Vatican in the year 2000 is not the real secret … In particular, it is alleged that Cardinals Bertone , Ratzinger [now Pope Benedict XVI] and Sodano engaged in a systematic deception to cover-up the existence of a one-page document … Along with the text of the secret, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [now the Pope Benedict XVI] published a theological commentary, in which he states that: "A careful reading of the text of the so-called third 'secret' of Fatima ... will probably prove disappointing or surprising after all the speculation it has stirred. No great mystery is revealed; nor is the future unveiled." (The Wikipedia)


And the StateMaster Encyclopedia has listed some of the excuses given for not revealing the secret, such as: “On November 11, 1984, as reported in the Pauline Catholic magazine Jesus, Cardinal Ratzinger [now the Pope Benedict XVI] stated that he had "read the text of the Third Secret." When asked why he had not revealed it, he replied that "in the judgment of previous Popes, it adds nothing to what Christians must know respecting what is stated in the Book of Revelation." [Let us keep in mind that the so called book of revelation is supposed to be mainly prophecies about the Last Days.]


SO IF THE SO CALLED SECRET WAS NOT SO IMPORTANT, CRITICAL AND CRUCIAL, THEN WHY DID THE VATICAN WITHHOLD IT FOR 83 YEARS!!! AND THEN WHY, THAT WHICH WAS RELEASED WAS NOT THE ORIGINAL TEXT EITHER?!!! IT SEEMS THAT THE VATICAN CONVENIENTLY HID THE TRUTH, BEHIND ALL THE SECRECIES.


Furthermore, the StateMaster Encyclopedia discloses: “There have been accusations of a campaign to cover up the message of Fatima by ecclesiastical authorities within the Catholic Church, including the motivation behind imposing an order of silence against Sister Lúcia. Lúcia was already under orders of silence as a Carmelite sister, giving no interviews or statements to the public without permission … However, when journalists sought out Sister Lúcia after the Vatican refused to release the Third Secret in 1960, they found it had become increasingly difficult to see her. She was forbidden not only to reveal the Secret but also to speak about the Third Secret at all. She could not, from 1960 forward, receive any visitors except close relatives. Even her confessor of many years, Father Aparicio, who had been in Brazil for over twenty years, was not permitted to see her when he visited Portugal. He stated: "I have not been able to speak with Sister Lúcia because the Archbishop could not give the permission to meet her. The conditions of isolation in which she finds herself have been imposed by the Holy See [The Office of the Pope]. Consequently, no one may speak with her without a license from Rome." More than forty years later, Sister Lúcia remained under the imposition of silence. Only Pope John Paul II or Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) could grant the permission necessary for her to speak openly or to be visited [which was never granted].” (Cited from Church Approval and Attack on Fatima (1930-2004). Retrieved on 2007-05-13.)


The StateMaster Encyclopedia, citing from the same source, continues: “ On November 15, 1966 Pope Paul VI revised the Code of Canon Law, striking down canons 1399 and 2318, which among other things had prohibited and penalized the publication of any material concerning any apparitions (approved or not) without beforehand obtaining a bishop’s imprimatur. After the revision, therefore, anyone in the Church was permitted to publish freely on Marian apparitions, including those at Fatima. Yet Sister Lúcia was still forbidden to reveal the Fatima Secret. She remained under an order of silence until her death in February 2005, unable to speak freely about Fatima without special permission from the Vatican.”


SO ALTHOUGH “ANYONE IN THE CHURCH WAS PERMITTED TO PUBLISH FREELY ON APPARITIONS … YET SISTER LUCIA WAS STILL FORBIDDEN TO REVEAL THE FATIMA SECRET. SHE REMAINED UNDER AN ORDER OF SILENCE UNTIL HER DEATH …” THIS IS SO THOUGHT PROVOKING CONSIDERING THAT THERE WERE THOSE WHO REPORTED THAT THE LADY OF APPARITION HAD SAID: “I AM FATIMA, DAUGHTER OF THE PROPHET OF ISLAM.”


To be continued …


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