Jean Heimann - Fatima: The Apparition that Changed the World

1916

The three shepherd children of FatimaLucia dos Santos and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Martoare visited three times by the Angel of Peace.

1917MAY 13

Our Lady appears to the three children at the Cova da Iria and asks that they return for five more months in succession, on the thirteenth day, at the same hour.

JUNE 13

Our Lady tells the children that God wants to establish in the world devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. About seventy people come to the Cova da Iria to witness the apparition.

JULY 13

Our Lady shows the children a vision of hell and tells them that she will return at a later date to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. She tells the children three secrets (also referred to as a secret with three parts) and promises to prove her appearances with a miracle on October 13, 1917. About four thousand people come to witness the apparition.

AUGUST 13

The children are kidnapped by the mayor of Ourm and miss their appointed meeting with Our Lady. About eighteen thousand people come to the Cova and many witness mystical phenomena indicating Our Ladys presence.

AUGUST 19

Our Lady visits the children in nearby Valinhos and again prophesizes the working of a miracle in October while telling the children to pray and make sacrifices for sinners.

SEPTEMBER 13

Our Lady tells the children that Our Lord will come in October, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Also, St. Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus in order to bless the world. About thirty thousand people come to the Cova, and, again, many witness mystical phenomena representing Our Ladys presence.

OCTOBER 13

Our Lady announces, People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended. She tells us to continue to pray the Rosary every day. More than one hundred thousand people witness the Miracle of the Sun.

1919APRIL 4

Francisco dies in Aljustrel at age eleven during an influenza epidemic.

1920FEBRUARY 20

Jacinta dies in Lisbon at age ten of complications from influenza.

1925DECEMBER 10

Our Lady, with the Child Jesus by her side, appears to Lucia in her room at the convent of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Pontevedra, Spain. Our Lady requests the First Five Saturdays devotion in reparation to her Immaculate Heart.

1929JUNE 13

Our Lady of Fatima appears to Sister Lucia at Tuy, Spain, in the visible presence of the Holy Trinity and asks for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.

1930MAY 2930

Sister Lucia has a mystical experience while speaking with Our Lord in the chapel at Tuy, Spain. He reveals five kinds of blasphemies and offenses spoken against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

OCTOBER 13

The bishop of Fatima declares the supernatural origin of the Fatima apparitions worthy of acceptance.

1938JANUARY

Sister Lucia views the extraordinary lights that illuminate the skies of Europe on the night of January 2526, 1938, during the hours of 8:45 p.m. to 1:15 a.m., as the great signthe unknown light that Our Lady of Fatima predicted and which would serve as a signal that war was near.

1939SEPTEMBER 1

World War II begins and lasts until September 2, 1945. Marked by the death of civilians on a monumental scaleincluding the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfareit was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in more than seventy million fatalities.

1940DECEMBER 2

Sister Lucia writes a letter to Pius XII asking the Holy Father for blessing and extending this devotion [to the Immaculate Heart of Mary] to the whole world and for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with special mention of Russia.

1942OCTOBER 31 AND DECEMBER 8

Pope Pius XII consecrates the Church and the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, he does not specifically consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart.

MAY 4

Pope Pius XII institutes the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

1946MAY 13

Pope Pius XII crowns the image of Our Lady of Fatima and proclaims her Queen of the World.

1952JULY 7

Pope Pius XII consecrates the Russian people to the Immaculate Heart.

1962DECEMBER 13

Pope John XXIII institutes the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary in honor of Our Lady of Fatima.

1964NOVEMBER 21

Pope Paul VI renews Pius XIIs consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, speaking to the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.

1981MAY 13

Pope John Paul II is shot and seriously wounded by an assassin.

1982MARCH 21

Sister Lucia informs the papal nuncio of the requirements for a valid consecration of Russia according to the request of Our Lady of Fatima.

MAY 13

Pope John Paul II makes his first pilgrimage to Fatima to pray in thanksgiving for his surviving the attempted assassination on May 13, 1981. He consecrates the world, but not Russia, at Fatima. The Catholic bishops of the world do not participate.

1984MARCH 25

Pope John Paul II, before 250,000 people in Rome, and in union with the bishops throughout the world, consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Immediately after he pronounces the words of consecration, he departs from his prepared text and prays, Enlighten especially the peoples of which You Yourself are awaiting our consecration and confiding. Sister Lucia would later confirm that this consecration was acceptable.

1989NOVEMBER 9

The fall of the Berlin Wall.

1991MAY 12 AND 13

Pope John Paul II makes his second pilgrimage to Fatima.

DECEMBER 26

The USSR is dissolved. The Cold War ends, and religious freedom is returned to the Russian people.

2000MAY 13

Pope John Paul II makes his third pilgrimage to Fatima, and the visionaries Jacinta and Francisco Marto are beatified.

JUNE 26

The Vatican publishes the third part of the secret of Fatima.