ninme

This actually makes me quite sad.

Last of 3 children who claimed to see Virgin Mary dies in Portugal

LISBON, Portugal (AP) – Sister Lucia Marto, the last of three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in a series of 1917 apparitions, has died, Portuguese media reported Sunday. She was 97.

Sister Lucia, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for the past three months and died at the Convent of Carmelitas in Coimbra, 188 kilometres north of Lisbon, TSF radio reported, citing family sources.

Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes called Lucia’s death “very emotional news.”

Lucia and two of her cousins, siblings Jacinta and Francisco, said in 1917 that the Virgin Mary had been appearing to them once a month and predicting events, such as world wars, the reemergence of Christianity in Russia, and one that Church officials say foretold the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul. The appearances took place on the 13th day of each month in Fatima, a town 110 kilometres north of Lisbon.

The first sighting was May 13, and the appearances took place for another five months, ending abruptly in October that year.

Shortly after, Both Jacinta and Francisco died of respiratory diseases. But Lucia became a nun and penned two memoirs while living in convents.

The Catholic Church later built a shrine in Fatima, which is visited each year by millions of people from around the world. More than 100,000 people from dozens of countries routinely attend the annual commemorations of the sightings.

The Pope has visited three times since becoming pontiff, spending a few minutes with Lucia during a 1991 trip to the site. He has claimed the Virgin of Fatima saved his life after he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter’s square in 1981. The attack, on May 13, coincided with the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul credit’s the Virgin’s intercession for his survival.

In 2000, he visited Fatima to beatify Jacinta and Francisco.

I think their story was the first “saint” story I remember hearing, mostly because of the movie. Sad, I know. No, actually that would have been Our Lady of Guadeloupe, just being in California. But at any rate.

I think the saddest thing of all is how it places a marker in history. Can you imagine what would happen in this day and age? If three little girls came running into class shouting that they’d seen the Virgin Mary? Assuming their teacher wasn’t busy gushing over some Bush=Hitler Diorama Project, they would probably be suspended for speaking of a religious matter at school, and censures placed on their permanent record for upsetting the atheists and making the non-Catholics feel excluded. Then there would be lawsuits.

It’s like she’s the last link to a western community of believers, living and sharing together, unafraid of insulting the tender soul of a nonbeliever. That sort of thing doesn’t exist anymore, really. Not for ages, and certainly not anywhere I can think of. That’s what saddens me. I’m not expressing myself very well tonight, but hopefully you’ll get the point.

Curtsy: Michelle Malkin. She has links to more.