This Week in Christian History: Pope John Paul II, 'Godspell,' Fatima

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, May 13, 2018

The First 'Our Lady of Fatima' Sighting Reported - May 13, 1917

Lúcia Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto, and , the three children who claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to in a series of visions in Fátima, Portugal during the First World War. | (Photo: public domain)

This week marks the anniversary of when three children in Portugal claimed to have had their first encounter with an apparition of the Virgin Mary.

Lucia Santos, Francisco Marto, and Jacinta Marto explained that they were playing on a property located near Fatima named Cova da Iria when the Virgin Mary appeared to them, describing her as "a Lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the sun."

The children claimed that during the visitations from Mary, the Virgin called for the world to repent and that they received three visions of death and destruction.

These "secret" visions have been the subject of many theories, with some claiming that they hold the keys to predicting the end of the world.

Later that year, the children encouraged a large crowd to come to the location of their visions, with many reporting that they saw a miracle in which the Sun "danced" in the sky.