Manila—In the face of the Coronavirus outbreak worldwide, the clarion call is for mankind to repent and stop offending God before it is too late.
It may be recalled that during the famous Fatima Apparition in Fatima, Portugal in 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary relayed an urgent message to the world through the three children—Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco—for man to repent and pray the Rosary or face chastisement.
At that time World War I was raging in Europe.
The Blessed Mother appeared before the three children six times. First on May 13, 1917 and every 13th month thereafter until Oct. 13 of the same year.
During the apparition, the Virgin Mary handed to Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco three messages known as the Secrets of Fatima, warning the world of chastisement if mankind would continue to sin and offend God.
Today, Coronavirus-19 is rapidly spreading the world over, including the United States, China, Italy, the Philippines, and many other countries.
Total number of death is 6,606 worldwide as of March 16, 2020, and counting with China posting the highest number of death at 3,218, followed by Italy 1,809.
The Philippines has recorded 14 fatalities as of Wednesday, March 18, 2020 with 187 afflicted, according to the Department of Health (DoH).
Governments around the world have taken step to stop the deadly disease that has claimed thousands of lives and afflicted thousands more.
Scientists are frantically trying to find a cure of the deadly Coronavirus-19.
Rev.Fr. Christopher “Kit” Ramirez, SVD of the Parish of St. Jude in Malacañang District, summed up the Fatima Apparition as “a call for mankind to repent for our sins now or face the consequence of chastisement such as when World War II broke out as prophesied in the first Fatima message in 1917.”
Fr. Kit also cited the importance of love quoting the verse in the Bible, John 13:34-35 which says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” for the world to have a lasting peace.
He also quoted John 15:5-8:”I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
Fr. Kit also reminded everyone not to separate himself from God and asked sinners to repent for “Jesus Christ is the way and the truth”
The apparition at Fatima is also referred to as Our Lady of the Rosary because the three children said the Blessed Mother called herself the "Lady of the Rosary."
It was also during the Fatima apparition that the Blessed Virgin Mary revealed the so-called Three Secrets, including the prediction of World War II more than two decades before it broke out in 1941 and other future disasters.
Fatima Apparition records show that Lúcia Santos (who later became a nun) and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto were herding sheep at the Cova da Iria near their home village of Fátima, Portugal.
“They claimed to have experienced the visitation of an angel on three separate occasions. The angel taught them prayers to pray, to make sacrifices, and to spend time in adoration of the Lord,” official records disclosed.
“On May 13, 1917, Lúcia described seeing a lady "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal goblet filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun". Astonished they ran back to their village and told everyone.[3] Further appearances were reported on June 13 and July 13. In these, the lady asked the children to do penance and Acts of Reparation and make personal sacrifices to save sinners. According to Lúcia's account, the lady also confided to the children three secrets, now known as the Three Secrets of Fátima.”
“The children subsequently wore tight cords around their waists, performed self-flagellation using stinging nettles, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance.”
“Thousands of people flocked to Fátima and Aljustrel in the following months, drawn by reports of visions and miracles. On August 13, 1917, the provincial administrator Artur Santos (no relation to Lúcia Santos), believing that the events were politically disruptive, intercepted and jailed the children before they could reach the Cova da Iria. The administrator interrogated and threatened the children to get them to divulge the contents of the secrets. Lúcia told him everything short of the secrets, and offered to ask the Lady for permission to tell the Administrator the secrets.[5] Prisoners held with them in the provincial jail later testified that the children led them in praying the rosary. That month, instead of the usual apparition in the Cova da Iria on the 13th, the children reported that they saw the Virgin Mary on 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption, at nearby Valinho.”
Thirty-six years ago, mankind witnessed the unfolding of cataclysmic events around the world starting with the near-fatal assassination of Pope John Paul II (now St. John Paul II) in 1981, the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Iraq war, the 9/11 terror attacks, the devastating earthquakes in various parts of the world, including the deadly 7.2 magnitude Bohol earthquake on Oct. 15, 2014, followed by the Super Typhoon “Yolanda” that wrought havoc Samar, Tacloban City and several Visayas islands on Nov. 8, 2013, volcanic eruptions, killer floods, the unrest in several countries in the Middle East, the Ukrainian crisis, and currently the rise of a new terror group called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that continues to wage terror in the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the world, particularly in what happened in Paris on Friday the 13th of November 2015 when terrorist suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a major stadium, restaurants and bars, almost simultaneously—and left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded.
These are clear discernment that the Third Secret of Fatima is fulfilled as foretold a century years ago.
It may be recalled that on Oct. 13, 1917 the Miracle of the Sun occurred in Fatima, Portugal which was witnessed by 30,000 to 100,000 people.
The rare solar activity was described by many witnesses who said that: “After a period of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was said to be significantly duller than normal, and to cast multicolored lights across the landscape, the shadows on the landscape, the people, and the surrounding clouds. The sun was then reported to have careened towards the earth in a zigzag pattern, frightening those who thought it a sign of the end of the world. Witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became ‘suddenly and completely dry, as well as the wet and muddy ground that had been previously soaked because of the rain that had been falling.’”
To be continued
Mr. Cal is the author of the book “Battle of Bessang Pass.”