THE SUN AT FATIMA

The Miracle of the Sun

On October 13, when the crowds saw the ball of fire leave its orbit and race down towards them, their reaction was immediate. They didn't go into a subtle exegesis to convince themselves that this « sign in the sky» was purely symbolic. Instead, they realized that this fire, if it approached only a second longer, would annihilate them.

Just as the people of Israel had seen the fire from heaven race down over Elijah as its holocaust and consume him in the blink of an eye, these people fell on their knees and cried out: « My God, I believe in you! » And they asked for forgiveness, pity and mercy. In their own way they were saying anew: « It is Yahveh who is God! It is Yahveh who is God! » (1 Kings 18: 39).

Through their conversion and their supplication, they obtained that the chastisement be averted: the sun resumed its place in the sky. And they found, along with faith, the peace and the joy of being reconciled with God.

The miracle done for the entire population manifested what must be Mary's victory: the sun leaves its orbit, spins on itself like a wheel of fire, rushes down on the crowd and then finally regains its normal place and state.

Let us understand these three signs, or rather, the three moments of this sign. The sun that exhibits these disorderly movements means that the order of divine Wisdom has been disrupted in the cosmos by human sin. When it races down like a destructive fire upon humanity, it manifests the punishment chastisement that sin attracts from divine justice.

By stopping its deadly course, it shows that God wants to be merciful and not to destroy, and that this sign is a warning and a call (like the drought and famine sent to Israel by the prophet of Mt Carmel). In the end, for those who hear this message, mercy wins--the sun regains its proper place, humanity is spared, and after its conversion, order is restored.


The Virgin of Mt Carmel, by Joseph de Sainte Marie, Lethielleux, 1985