About 150 people gathered at Our Lady of Angels Church in Cleveland’s West Park neighborhood for a Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost. The liturgy, which was followed by a Eucharistic procession to nearby St. Patrick Church, also in West Park, was organized by the World Apostolate of Fatima.
Father Rob Ramser, OLA pastor, and Father Bob Jasany, St. John Nepomucene Parish (Cleveland) pastor and local World Apostolate of Fatima chaplain, concelebrated the Mass. Assisting were Deacon Mark Yantek of OLA and Deacon Kyle Rosser, who is in formation for priestly ordination.
Bishop Woost shared the story of the three Portuguese children – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinto – who witnessed six apparitions of the Blessed Mother beginning on May 13, 1917 in Fatima.
(See photo gallery above.)
They were normal children who took the family’s flock of sheep to graze in the field after attending Mass that Sunday. He talked about how they opted for a shortcut while saying the rosary – reciting only the first two words of each prayer – to save time so they could play while the sheep grazed.
On that sunny Sunday, they saw a sudden flash of brilliant light. Believing a storm was coming, they gathered their belongings and the sheep and started for home. A short distance away, there was another flash of light, Lucia recalled in her memoirs.
She then described seeing a lady dressed in white who was “more brilliant than the sun and radiated a light more clear and intense than a crystal glass filled with sparkling water when the rays of the burning sun shine through it.” They were very close to the woman, who told them not to fear, she would not harm them.
Lucia asked her where she was from. “I am from heaven,” the lady answered.
“Lucia then asked – and this is the question to which we need to pay particular attention: ‘What do you want of me?’” the bishop said, noting she asked the same question at each of the lady’s six appearances, which took place at the same hour on the 13th day of each month.
“We can easily imagine Lucia’s question mirroring Mary’s own questioning when she was visited by the Archangel Gabriel. It is the same question that you and I need to be constantly asking in prayer. ‘What do you want of me?’” Bishop Woost said.
The lady also asked the children an important question: Are you willing to offer yourselves to God and bear all the sufferings he will to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which he is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?
“There you have it. Two really important questions. The first question was answered in part by the second; a question answered with a question. In a sense, these two questions brought us together this morning. In fact, these questions are the foundation of the whole worldwide Apostolate of Fatima,” the bishop said.
Those questions were never intended to shape only the lives of Lucia, Jacinto and Francisco, he said. “They are meant to shape our lives, as well.”
He said we shouldn’t be surprised that the three children answered the lady’s question with a joyful “Yes, we are willing.”
There was some physical suffering, the bishop noted, with the illnesses suffered by Jacinto and Francisco and the emotional suffering of Lucia when she was separated from her closest friends.
“Even at their young ages, they knew that what they endured was not suffering for suffering’s sake. It had a greater purpose,” he said.
“Should we not be willing to do the same?” the bishop asked, pointing out that like the three children, we all are called to be saints.
“The call to holiness necessarily means offering ourselves to God and, with God’s grace, to overcome every obstacle to having our lives conformed to Christ. Becoming saints isn’t impossible for us, but it also isn’t easy. It requires a willingness to let go of our self-centered, ego-driven attachments, to surrender every aspect of our lives to God’s will, and to learn to love and serve others with the mind and heart of Jesus,” the bishop said.
“This was certainly Mary’s hope at Fatima. Mary’s whole purpose is to lead people to her son,” he said, explaining that she doesn’t want people to make reparation for those who have offended her. Instead, she wants them to make reparation for the sins that have offended her son, Jesus.
“Mary’s whole desire is to draw us into an intimate relationship with Jesus.”
The lady’s response today is the same as it was in 1917, the bishop said. She still wants to know if we are willing to offer ourselves to God and to bear all the sufferings he wills to send to us as an act of reparation for the sins by which he is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners.
“United in prayer with the three children of Fatima, may we, too, joyfully respond, ‘Yes, we will,’” the bishop said.
After Mass, led by the Knights of Columbus, and the bishop carrying the Eucharist in a monstrance, the faithful processed south on Rocky River Drive to St. Patrick Church. Several men carried a large statue of Our Lady of Fatima. As they walked, they prayed the rosary. Cleveland police officers ensured the group was safe during the walk.
At St. Patrick, they prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the bishop conducted benediction. After devotions ended, the group moved to the gym for lunch before dispersing.
Click here to learn more about the World Apostolate of Fatima.