Feast Day – May 13
20th Century
Mary appeared to three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917, and asked for prayers for world peace and an end to World War I, for sinners, and for the conversion of Russia.
She entrusted the children with three secrets, regarding devotion to her Immaculate Heart, a vision of hell, and a “bishop in white” shot by soldiers firing bullets and arrows.
Many connect the third secret to the attempted assassination of Blessed Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981, and the pope thanked Mary for guiding the bullet and saving him.
At the Vatican last October 13, Pope Francis stood before the statue of Our Lady from the Fatima shrine and formally entrusted the world to Mary.
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