1. THE VISITATION: A Divine message from Mary was given to the world in 1917
CLAIM #1: The Message of Fatima is true and authentic prophecy of vital importance for the Church and the world
This is actually 3 claims:
1. The Message is true and authentic
Evidence #1 It was delivered in person by the Mother of God.
My comment: This is an acceptable means to deliver, according to the Church. However, being an acceptable method doesnt automatically make the messages true. There have been many Marian apparitions shown to be false, the result of hoaxes and/or hallucinations. So, the means of delivery COULD be a sign of truth, but doesnt guarantee it.
Evidence #2 It was unique in that it was authenticated by indisputable public miracles witnessed by tens of thousands of people, a unique event unlike any other
My comment: This is strong evidence, on the surface. However, the book doesnt make clear or mention several very important things:
1. Different people saw different things. Some only saw the dancing. Others only saw the colors. Others saw the sun come toward them. This is clearly documented in the evidence, although the book presents the events as though they had a definite sequence that everyone saw.
2. No where in the book does it mention that not everyone saw the miracle. The book implies that everyone saw it, calling it on pg 5 a public miracle witnessed by 70,000 people. This clearly was not the case. The book doesnt include this part of the O Secular article: "And next they ask each other if they have seen or not seen. Most confess that they have seen the dancing of the sun; others, however, declare they have seen the smiling face of the Virgin herself."(1) Most is not all. According to another source, about half of the people there saw nothing unusual with the sun that day at all. (2) Included in the list of those who saw nothing are Sister Lucia herself(3), and Judah Ruah, the photographer for the OSecular newspaper(4). Senhor Mendes, the man who carried Sister Lucia on his shoulders after the event, reported only seeing the sun move horizontally across the sky for a few seconds. If such main personalities in the event didnt see anything unusual with the sun, then it is reasonable to conclude that many people--maybe as many as half--really didnt see anything unusual at all.
3. People remember critical points differently: Although the book quotes the O Seculo, on pg 10 as saying the sun appeared at its zenith, clear of the clouds, the man who carried Sister Lucia on her shoulders afterward, Senhor Mendes, said that the sun was behind the clouds. (5)
4. No observatory in the world or even near Fatima reported anything unusual at all happening with the sun that day. If the sun had actually plunged toward the earth, this would have been recorded, as well as observed throughout the entire world, not just at Fatima and possibly the surrounding towns. So, it is most reasonable to conclude that if a miracle did happen, the part that includes the sun plunging toward the earth did not happen. Various alternative explanations have been offered, but none are discussed in the book at all.
5. Though unique for its time, the miracle of the sun is not a unique phenomenon. The book says nothing of these other similar situations which have been recorded since 1917:
"A more specific Fatimalike miracle recently occurred in the Dominican Republic. On March 29, 1972, a public Mass attended by more than a thousand people was held in the courtyard of Arroyo Hondo College. During the ceremony a dark cloud appeared and opened in the sky, revealing a glowing disc that illuminated the entire courtyard."(6)
A similar phenomenon occurred in 1988 at an outdoor Catholic service in Los Angeles; according to the Los Angeles Times, "..many in the crowd reported seeing a prism effect and brightness in the sky to the north. The reports by some of another sun or a rainbow or both prompted speculation about a supernatural sign But a meteorologist dismissed the phenomenon as a sundog, explaining: The sun passes through water droplets or ice particles high in the atmosphere or through high, thin clouds, which refract the light in such a way as to have a coloration effect. That area of the sky also looks brighter than the surrounding sky. It actually looks like the sun"(7)
"The true believers of Medjugorje..have acquired the habit of staring at the sun, which is bound to lead to all manner of visions and hallucinations...of the thousands, maybe millions of people who have witnessed this marvel...Some have seen not only the spinning sun, but a large heart with six small hearts beneath it"(8)
"6:10 P.M at June 18th, 1986 vigil,..over 1500 attendees saw the miracle of the sun spinning as occurred at Fatima in 1917. Thousands have witnessed this same phenomenon at various vigils in the past twenty-seven years"(9)
At one of the Conyers gathering in Georgia: "Soon the voice on the PA was shouting that the miracle of the sun was occurring at that very moment..as the miracle continued, people began swarming around my telescope. Everyone wanted to know what I had seen. They all said they had just seen the sun do miraculous things, and wanted a closeup look through the scope. I estimate that well over two hundred people viewed the sun through one our solar filters, and without exception they saw nothing unusual when looking through the mylar"(10)
Evidence #3. The day and time of the miracle was predicted months in advance.
my comments: That the day of the miracle was predicted is unmistakable. That is why the thousands (the estimated number varied) of people showed up expecting a miracle. According to the book, the time expected was around 12:00 noon solar time, the same time as the previous apparitions. Is that when things really happened? According to the Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol I, page 332, some were getting impatient because nothing had happened by around 1:30p.m., which was roughly noon solar time. The book quotes the following conversation between a priest and Lucy on that day: "Look, its midday now. Our Lady doesnt lie. Well! Well!...After a few minutes he said again: Its past midday. You see, its all a delusion!...Lucy who was nearly crying, said..If anyone wants to go they can go. I shall stay....At the same time she looked to the east and said to Jacinta: Jacinta, kneel down; Our Lady is coming. I saw the lightening." According to the the article in O Seculo, just before Lucy told people about some of the Virgins words regarding the war, it was about three in the afternoon.
So the time is a bit unclear. Solar noon seems to be subject to interpretation. When exactly is solar noon? Assuming it is around 1:30, what happened between 1:30 and 3:00, the time that the journalist had written down? These seeming discrepancies are not discussed in the book, and leave open the possibility that there was an unexplained delay between the expected time and the actual time of the event.
Evidence #4 . Many claimed when it was over their formerly very wet clothes were dry.
my comments: It is recorded that the rain stopped soon after Lucy had them shut their umbrellas, described in the book Miracles as "gigantic". Perhaps the combination of the umbrellas, the sunlight, and perhaps losing track of time given their excitement gave some the impression of a miraculous drying of their clothes. I find this evidence to be harder to examine than some of the other evidence.
Evidence #5 The phenomenon was witnessed the same things 10-25 miles away, in Alburitel, with consistent stories by witnesses.
my comments: I have not found anything which disagrees with this testimony.
Evidence #6 The content of the message was unique. According to the book: "Never before has a message of this kind been reported, either in public or in private, by any witnesses to an apparition. The message contained a request, as well as a warning of punishments to come if the request were not granted."
My comments: I dont know enough to judge this. However, one must keep in mind that the message containing the request wasnt revealed by Lucy at that time. Rather, it was revealed some 20 years later. .
What wasnt unique is this: An apparition with a secret. At Lourdes, prior to Fatima, there was a secret that was not to be revealed. Also, reported public miracles are not unique. And reported apparitions were not unique by 1917. They were almost unheard of prior to 1100. They died out for a couple hundred years prior to 1800, and then became frequent in the 1800s. Messages of requests and warnings of punishments by God were not unique--they have existed throughout all of Judaism and Christianity--the Old and New testament books are full of such messages. The book claims that it is the combination of the public event with the apparitions containing possible warnings that is unique. Since this does seem unique in modern times, I agree that it does deserve attention and study. Thats one reason I decided to look into the books claims.
Evidence #7 It has been pronounced worthy of belief by the Church, and has received the explicit endorsement of a series of Popes, including Pope John Paul II
My comment: This is actually evidence requiring faith in the analysis of the Church. It isnt real evidence. The Church can and has made mistakes in the past with regard to authenticating miracles. I dont mean to accuse the Church of negligence, but without knowing exactly how they examined this, I cant consider it to be strong evidence. I think it is more reasonable to review the actual facts of this case than accept the conclusion of any one party, either way.
I would like to point one more important discrepancy about what happened on that day, which the book also didnt mention:
It is well documented that after the sun event occurred, Sister Lucia clearly went around telling the crowd that in her vision Mary told her that the war would end that very day, even though it didnt end until months later. The book completely left that part out. The ending of the war was actually the miracle many thought would take place. Perhaps this influenced Sister Lucia. Here is Sister Lucias explanation: "It was possibly because I was so anxious to remember the innumerable graces that I had to ask of Our Lady, that I was mistaken when I understood that the war would end on that very 13th."(11) It seems odd that Sister Lucia, who is said to have an extraordinary memory, would have immediately forgotten what she was just told. Additionally, Sister Lucia has several times referred to a powerful inner impulse guiding her with regard to the apparitions and the revelation of information. Why didnt this impulse stop her from spreading a very false statement to everybody?
Another piece of evidence related to the authenticity of the event, is how well the 3 childrens account of the apparitions agree with each other:
"Even devotional accounts (such as Ryan, 1949:78) have recognized that there were discrepancies between the reports given by the different seers. Lucia, for instance, definitely saw earrings on the lady; the other two seers did not. Francisco definitely saw a rosary hanging on Marys right arm; Jacinta was not sure if it was the right of the left; Lucia reports that the lady wore stockings; Jacinta did not see any stockings, and so on. Still, the devotional accounts stress that for the most part the seers agreed on the main outlines of what they saw. This is correct, but only for the early occurrences. When we come to the sixth and final apparition, with its 70,000 onlookers, we find some very striking divergences between the reports given by the three seers..Lucia saw two images of Mary, one as she is portrayed on holy cards dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, and another as she is portrayed on those illustrating Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Lucia also saw a half-figure representation of Jesus Christ. Neither Jacinta nor Francisco saw any of these three images."(12)
(1)&(4)http://www.portcult.com/FAT.12.NEWSPAPER.2.htm
(2)http://www.suck.com/daily/2001/02/09/2.html
(3) Vision of Fatima, Monsigner Finbar Ryan, Titular Archbishop of Babula, 1939, pg 96
(5) Vision of Fatima, pg 185
(6) Miracles, D. Scott Rogo, pg 236
(7) Looking for a Miracle, Joe Nickell, pgs 177-178
(8)www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/BrianE.html
(9) www.roses.org/photos/mirphoto.htm
(10) www.linuxmafia.com/pub/skeptic/newsletters/georgia-skeptics/GS05-02.TXT
(11) Fatima, in Lucias own words 4th memoir, pg 173
(12) The Cult of the Virgin Mary, Michael Carrol, pgs 179-180
My point is that the book claimed or implied things that do not square with the facts, and that the book should have mentioned some of those things, if it was trying to give an honest appraisal of what happened that day. The facts lead one to conclude that if it was a miracle, it was not one like the book claims.
2. The Message is true and authentic prophecy
Evidence: Prediction of the following horrors in message two:
1. The War (I) will end
2. if people dont cease offending God a worse one (II) will break out during the reign of Pius XI
3. a night illumined by an unknown light will be a sign
4. God will punish the world by war, famine, and persecutions against the Church and the Holy Father
5. If Russia isnt consecrated, she will spread her errors throughout the world
6. The good will be martyred
7. Various nations will be annihilated
8. In the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph
9. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia, she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world
10. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved
My comment: Prophecy, by definition, occurs prior to the event predicted. Since Sister Lucia wrote down message #2 in 1941, there is no real proof that anything that is considered fulfilled by 1941 was really prophesied, because they were first written down AFTER the events happened. In particular, numbers 1 and 2 and maybe #6 had already occurred by 1941. #3 has been stated by Sister Lucia as referring to the aurora borealis in 1938. This would also have been prior to it being written down by Sister Lucia. #4 has occurred throughout history #5 is true but not surprising, as communism was a very feared philosophy, even in 1917. In fact, the communist revolution began prior to the apparitions in 1917, so there was a lot of fear then. #7, #8, and #9 is prophecy, but unfulfilled currently. #10 so far has been fulfilled, but is not surprising given the strong faith of its people, as a result of the sun miracle and a Catholic leader. Even if the message was written down in 1917, before #s 1 and 2 occurred, it is easy to predict that the war would end. All of them do. As for world war 2 beginning during the reign of Pope Pius XI, there are a couple of unusual things: First, Pope Pius didnt take office until 1922. It seems odd that Mary would have mentioned the Pope by name in 1917, since the current Pope in 1917 was not Pius X. (It was Benedict XV). It seems more likely that she would have said the next Holy Father than Pius XI. Could Sister Lucia have misremembered that? Second, WW2 actually broke out according to the history books in Sep, 1939, which was during the reign of Pius XII, not Pius XI. Sister Lucia says, however that it really begin in 1938 with the occupation of forces in Australia, and was during the reign of Pius XI. I guess I can accept that, but it seems a bit odd. However, if you take the view that Sister Lucias memory may have changed by 1941 and it wasnt really prophecy, why would Sister Lucia get it wrong in 1941, AFTER the war began?
My conclusion is that there is very little fulfilled prophecy in message 2, and that the most interesting possible prophecy (if really made in 1917--not 1941) that was fulfilled (WW2) has some interesting questions related to it in light of when it was supposed to have been prophesied, when it was actually written down, and the name of the Pope involved, which weaken the evidence for their authenticity.
IN THE SECTION TITLED "THE PROPHECIES" I FURTHER DISCUSS THE ISSUE OF THE MESSAGES REGARDING THE CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA, and the apparant changes to the messages over time. And, the inconsistencies in the messages apply to other areas also. Father Alonso, whom the book uses repeatedly to further its theories, wrote "The greatest difficulty that Fatima presents from the historical, critical and literary point of view for whoever studies it seriously is the progressive augmentation of the facts and the message"(14) Yet, the book does not address any of these issues. It doesnt even mention that this is an issue. This doesnt seem to be a fair presentation of the facts.
(14) The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol I, pg 381
3. The Message is of vital importance for the Church and the world
Evidence: nations will be annihilated, the Holy father will have much to suffer, etc.
My comment: I agree that this message, if authentic, is of vital importance.
Lastly, there are some interesting facts with regard to Sister Lucia that I think should be known: "Sister Lucia was the youngest of seven children..Five years younger than her next-oldest sibling, Lucia was a petted and spoiled child. Her sisters fostered in her a desire to entertain others and to be the center of attention by teaching her to dance and sing. At festival, Lucia would be placed on a crate where she would entertain an admiring crowd. Her other talents included a gift for telling stories--fairy tales, biblical narratives, and saints legends--that made her popular with village children...Lucia was also overtly religious and competitive, having learned the catechism and made her first communion by age six, although the usual age was ten. Her first confession taught her a lesson about secrecy, for she forgot to close the door and talked so loudly that, when she emerged, everyone laughed at her. However, neither they nor her mother had heard one segment of her confession, and her mother later tried, without success, to get the girl to tell the secret...Two years before the famous series of apparitions occurred at Fatima, eight-year-old Lucia was leading three girlfriends in praying the rosary when the children saw an apparition: a figure like a statue made of snow that was rendered almost transparent by the rays of the sun..reports of the sightings provoked derisive comments..Sister Lucia, who had been accustomed to nothing but caresses, was now stung by the taunts, but perhaps she felt this martyrdom was a path toward her desired goal of becoming a saint"(15)
and
"..it does seem reasonable to say that her sisters had acted as mother-surrogates while Lucia was young, and that as a result Lucia had developed a very warm and very intense relationship with her sisters...the events that immediately preceded Lucias first apparition...described by Lucia herself..First, a new parish priest arrived and promptly forbade any more community dances. Given her passion for dancing, Lucia was devastated...Third, Lucias two eldest sisters left home to get married. Finally, to make ends meet, Maria Rosa sent Lucias two remaining sisters out to work as servants. The only ones remaining at home, Lucia tells us, were herself, her mother, and her brother (she makes no mention of her father). in describing how her mother would often talk of her now-empty home , and then burst into tears, Lucia writes: "It was one of the saddest scenes that I have ever witnesses. What with longing for my sisters, and seeing my mother so miserable, I felt that my heart was breaking." And so what happened next? Sister Lucia had an apparition of a little woman. Additionally, Sister Lucia showed some initial reluctance to identify the lady in the first apparition as the Virgin Mary, saying I dont know if it was Our Lady. It was a very pretty little woman." (16) The author is suggesting that Lucia had a powerful psychological need for such an apparition.
These facts are not discussed in the book at all, but they do provide some possible alternative explanations for the apparitions that do not explain it as divine and authentic, but instead see them as possibly a creation of Lucias mind in order to fulfill deep psychological needs. This, of course cannot be proven..
To be fair, many of these issues mentioned here have been addressed by Sister Lucia and by others. However, the reader of this book should still know that they exist and that anyone wanting to know the truth about Fatima should be aware of them and their explanations so that they can make their own decision. Instead the book says nothing of them. This, to me is misleading the reader in order to make their point.
(14) The Whole Truth About Fatima, Vol I, pg 381
(15) Looking for a Miracle, Joe Nickell, pgs 179-180
(16) The Cult of the Virgin Mary, pg 127
Summary:
1. THE VISITATION: A Divine message from Mary was given to the world in 1917
CLAIM #1, The Message of Fatima is true and authentic prophecy of vital importance for the Church and the world:
CONCLUSIONS: The book limited its evidence for the authenticity of the messages to eyewitness reports of the sun miracle event. There are a number of related issues that should be reviewed further regarding the sun event in order to more clearly make a decision regarding its truthfulness and authenticity. It is clear that the book left out important facts about the sun event that cast some doubt on the authenticity of the event. Regarding the messages, there are a number of issues that cause one to question the authenticity of the prophecies, as those few that have been fulfilled were not clearly prophesied before their fulfillment and/or were not clearly fulfilled. In addition there are a number of issues that the book is completely silent about which are quite relevant: Issues related to Sister Lucias upbringing which provide evidence for a psychological explanation for her specific apparitions, differences in the accounts of the three seers of the apparitions, and changes to the messages over time--in particular changes with regard to the consecration of Russia, which are discussed further in the next section. I agree that if the Message is true and authentic and prophetic, it is of vital importance to the Church and the world. THE TRUTH IS that the book left out important facts, resulting in a distorted conclusion. The facts do not present a clear picture of the truthfulness and authenticity of the Messages of Fatima. There are many facts which shed a reasonable doubt on the authenticity of the messages. A clearer picture requires much more analysis than that given in the book.
Lasik Lansing |
