I must admit that I have always been fascinated by the story of the 1917 apparition of Mary at Fatima, Portugal to the three little Sheppard children, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco in the forest and I was excited that a film about the entire episode was released in August 2020. Though, a bit apprehensive about religious films, especially those that involve Angels and apparitions because somehow, Hollywood directors never seem to get the supernatural aura right, I finally get to watch the movie and I think it was a great movie. The children were perfect, though I think the woman that played the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary seemed to have a bit too much powder on her face. I guess when you have spent an entire life imagining how Mary looks like; no screen image ever gets close. How wonderful it is to see our Lady. I guess I will have to wait till heaven to find out.
In any case, the movie Fatima tells the story from the point of view of Sister Lucia; one of the surviving children who saw our lady and who later became a nun, as she was interviewed by a journalist (an Atheist)
I liked the banter between Lucia and the Journalist, during the interview. At one point the journalist asked her, “Do you have any regrets?”
Sister Lucia paused for a brief moment before replying, “Does it seem that the world has heeded the words of our Lady? My only regret is not doing enough to spread her message.”
And that message is to say the Rosary, daily for the conversion of sinners. Such a simple request but so important. According to Fr. Don Collaway, the rosary is so important, that Jesus sent his own mother to Earth to remind us earthlings to say the rosary, and yet many Christians are ever so forgetful of such a powerful weapon.
The rosary has been a bone of contention between Protestants and Catholics. Protestant claim that the rosary is not scriptural yet every single prayer of the rosary can be found in the bible. The Hail Mary is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary when he came to announce to her that she will be the mother of Jesus. Since the Angels are God’s messengers, then, it truth it is God who addressed Mary. Again, many find the repetitious nature of the prayer irksome, but the truth is that the recommended way to say the rosary is to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary which cover the entire life of Jesus from his birth to his death on the cross. Thus a Christian who says the rosary well each day would be meditating on the life of Christ each day, what better way to grow in love of God.
Nevertheless, this is not the forum to delve into all the polemic. If you wish to know more about the rosary, you can watch the video below where Fr. Don Collaway speaks about the Rosary as the sword of Christians.
I would say that watching the movie Fatima is the closest thing to being there at Fatima when all it happened, although the crowd at the apparitions sites (in the movie) where a bit too rowdy and perhaps not too prayerful (I wish the director had added more prayerful moments) but then, this was a country at the grip of communist at that time and.
There was another scene I found a bit disconcerting. When it was time for the second apparition, Lucia’s mother tried to stop her from going to the apparition site, but Lucia resisted her mother, snatching her hands away and retorting, “I have to go, Mama, because the lady told us to come.”
I thought God would not permit a child to disobey her mother, but then after due considerations, I think she (Lucia) did the right thing. Obedience to God supersedes obedience to parents and that’s what many parents perhaps nowadays fail to grasp. Children are a gift from God, and a parent is nothing but a God’s care taker for a while for the souls of children entrusted to them by God. Hence a parent’s authority ends where God begins. Parent must not stand between their children and God, but rather stand beside and support them. It’s always unfortunate when a parent is opposing God’s call. True, they have the duty to ensure that at least, the call is authentic, but once that is done, they must leave them free to follow their vocation, but even more, they should actively support them. This is common all over the world. In Africa, though Africans have lots of children parents sometimes oppose their children’s vocation simply out of self preservation, because children are a sort of pension scheme for parents due to lack of social security, a child’s vocation, especially when it limits their ability to contribute to parents upkeep can be a real problem. Nevertheless, at the bottom of such opposition lies a lack of faith in God. In Western countries, it is a bit different; parents resist their children vocation by not having children or limiting the number of children by birth control, again out of selfishness or misguided attempt to save the world from over population. In any case I love the movie Fatima and I encourage you to watch it.
Authors-choice: Hope & Revival 