Fatima visionary Lucia has died

Sister Lucia, the 97-year-old Portugese nun who was one of the three children who experienced apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917, has died in her convent cell. May she rest in peace.

Her passing, on Sunday, Feb. 13, has barely drawn notice in the mainstream American press (why are we not surprised). Not even the reliable Drudge has mentioned it. But in Portugal a national period of mourning has been declared, and millions of Catholics around the world, including American Catholics, are praying for her soul.

Historically and religiously speaking, the events of Fatima in 1917, and the secret messages entrusted to the three children that later were revealed, are no small potatoes. For those who believe in the message of Fatima, had the world paid attention initially it might have avoided a second World War, the rise of the Soviet Union and the communist bloc countries, and the near apocalyptic rush to nuclear Armageddon in the second half of the 20th Century.

For those who are unacquainted with the events at Fatima, which include the famous Miracle of the Sun witnessed by perhaps as many as 70,000 people (including international reporters for such outlets as the New York Times), this would be a good time for a backgrounder. For this we would recommend Michael Brown's Spirit Daily website, and in particular the articles here and here.

A couple of excerpts:

She was arguably (with St. Bernadette of Lourdes) the most famous Marian seer in history, a 97-year-old who had first seen the Blessed Mother in 1917 at the age of 10, with cousins Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7 -- whose deaths preceded her own by more than eighty years.

In all that time she had been cloistered in convents, most recently in Coimbra, Portugal, a Carmelite who had lived out her vocation in stunningly successful fashion -- never desiring publicity, never making claims beyond what the Blessed Mother told her, never speaking in public -- not only the most famous seer of the twentieth century but with Mother Teresa of Calcutta the most famous nun in the world.
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John Paul II, whose departure will be seen as at least equally prophetic, has privately speculated that the fulfillment of Fatima is now at Medjugorje in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where seers have claimed to have received secrets since just after the 1981 shooting. Whether those secrets may soon begin to materialize, and whether Sister Lucia's death is a sign of the times -- an indication, along with major natural events, that the world is entering an exciting but precarious time -- are likely to preoccupy many of those who have followed the incredible story of Sister Lucia and her two cousins, who died in 1919 and 1920. Many are those who believe that her death will foretell of major events that may now be on the horizon, her passing on the 13th -- the anniversary day of those months when Mary did appear -- one more sign from Heaven.

Even if you are not Catholic we think you'll find the story compelling. Given the events of history that have borne out Sister Lucia's witness, there is considerably more strength in the Fatima message than in, for instance, the "Left Behind" books. But we'll let you be the judge of that, naturally.

Just don't let the MSM's news blackout keep you in the dark.