On May 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children as they were grazing their sheep in Fatima, Portugal. Their names were Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta. She appeared "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal goblet filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." The Virgin Mary identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary. She taught the children to recite the rosary daily, to pray for the conversion of sinners, to make small sacrifices as penance in reparation for sin, and to honor her Immaculate Heart. She also prophesied about the World Wars, showed the children a frightening vision of hell, warned of the spread of ideological errors from Russia, and asked that the Holy Father solemnly consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart in union with the world's bishops. Our Lady appeared at Fatima on the 13th day of the month from May to October of that year. The final apparition was the well-documented celestial phenomena of the "Miracle of the Sun" witnessed by tens of thousands of people, believers and unbelievers alike. After investigation, the apparition at Fatima was declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church. The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is May 13th.
