100 years ago today....The Great Miracle of the Sun at Fatima took place here in this plaza...which was then a field where the three children grazed their parents' sheep. You can see people doing the thanksgiving pathway on their knees...

"As the cloud gradually melted from sight Lucia cried out: 'Look at the sun!' Those within sound of her voice turned their gaze upward and soon seventy thousand pairs of eyes were scanning the Heavens. The vast crowd saw the sun change in color from golden to silver hue and also found that they could look without shading their eyes. The rain suddenly stopped and there, before the astonished gaze of that great concourse of people, the sun, like a gigantic magic lantern, began to emit long beams of multi-colored light, green, red, purple, yellow and blue. As they stood, awed by the incredible spectacle that painted earth, cloud and sky with sunshine such as human eye had never beheld before, the sun began to revolve speedily, performing a whirling dance in this maze of multi-colored light. Three times it paused and three times the whirling was resumed. For twelve minutes in all, that crowd of 70,000 people was privileged to witness the stupendous and incredible miracle of the sun...
"Then came the awe-inspiring finale. Like a gigantic wheel that had been torn loose by its dizzy whirling, the sun suddenly came hurtling towards the earth, closer and closer with every terrifying second. Down, down, towards the crouching and terror-stricken crowd from whom fervent acts of supplication and pleas for mercy were mingled with acts of genuine contrition. All thought that this was the end of the world but the end was not yet. Stayed by the Divine Hand, the sun suddenly stopped in its headlong flight to earth and, as the multitude looked on, resumed its accustomed place in the Heavens, whence it shone forth peacefully as before."

~ Rt. Rev. William C. McGrath, P.A., Fatima: Hope of the World, imprimatur 1945.

Now, thousands gather here for nightly processions...and we got to participate in one in June.

I would like to share the thought today, that, on October 13, 1917, Our Lady had utter confidence in Her Son's unlimited power. She couldn't make the sun twirl of her own human strength. But she leaned on His Omnipotence with perfect faith, and He performed this miracle through her.

We too, can lean on Him. He can do anything, and if it's for our ultimate good and happiness, He will do anything. Now, does that mean that I can go out in the backyard, point out the sun, and it will begin wildly flailing about the sky? Maybe not, but it would only be because God, in His Infinite Wisdom, knew that this was not what was best for me and my family.

St. Teresa of Avila tells us that we are assured of success in our search for Him and eternal life, as long as we (the weak link in this chain) never give up!