Catholic Fire

Today is the 91st anniversary of the first appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the three shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco in 1917. Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, the three children received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. Mary asked the children to pray the rosary for: world peace, the end of World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia. Here is a description of that event in Lucia's own words: High up on the slope in the Cova da Ira, I was playing with Jacinta and Francisco at building a little stone wall around a clump of furze. Suddenly we saw what seemed to be a flash of lightning. "We'd better go home," I said to my cousins, "that's lightning, we may have a thunderstorm." "Yes, indeed!" they answered. We began to go down the slope, hurrying the sheep towards the road. We were more or less halfway down the slope, and almost level with a large hol...

A great dramatization of the Marian apparitions at Fatima and one of my favorite films.

From Yahoo News: A Roman Catholic bishop said Sunday that the church has officially recognized that the Virgin Mary appeared to a 17th-century shepherd girl in the French Alps. Speaking at Mass in remarks broadcast nationally on France-2 television, Monsignor Jean-Michel di Falco Leandri said he recognized the "supernatural origin" of the apparitions to 17-year-old Benoite Rencurel from 1664 to 1718. The bishop, in an interview on France-Info radio, said the decision meant the church "has committed itself in an official way to say to pilgrims 'you can come here in total confidence.'" The recognition process involved a panel of experts including two theologians and an investigating judge, he said. Officials at Notre-Dame-du-Laus church say that after four months of daily apparitions starting in May 1664, the Virgin Mary asked Rencurel to build a church and a house to receive priests. The sanctuary, which was founded by Rencurel, today welcomes some 120,000 pi...

I first saw The Song of Bernadette when I was a child, growing up in the 1950's and I have loved it ever since. It is the true story of St. Bernadette and her apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Song of Bernadette stars Jennifer Jones, William Eythe, Charles Bickford, Vincent Price, Lee J. Cobb,and Gladys Cooper. The Song of Bernadette opened in late December of 1943 to qualify for the Academy Awards. It was an immediate critical and commercial success and Jennifer Jones was a new star. It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards When the award were announced on March 2, 1944, the film won 4 awards (Actress, Cinematography, Interior Decoration, Scoring). Related Posts: 150th Anniversary of Our Lady of Lourdes The History of Our Lady of Lourdes FEBRUARY 11th HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART

Peoria Journal Star, Saturday, January 12, 2008: A Vision of Mary by Michael Miller The name Ivan Dragicevic may not be familiar, but his story probably is. He is one of six people who claim that the Virgin Mary started appearing to them in 1981 in the then-Yugoslavian village of Medjugorje. MORE

Today is the 90th anniversary of the sixth apparition of Fatima. On October 13, 1917, the three children Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, went to the field called the Cova da Iria as Our Lady had instructed. There was a huge crowd gathered even though it was pouring rain. They were there to see the miracle. They had come from all over Portugal. The press was covering this story and it appeared in the European papers. Our Lady spoke "I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes. Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended." Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect on the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself. At this time the sun began to spin in the sky and started to plunge towards the earth. The people be...