The Miracle of the Sun

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The Miracle of the Sun is a miraculous event witnessed by as many as 100,000 people on 13 October 1917 in the Cova da Iria fields near Fátima, Portugal. Those in attendance had assembled to observe what the Portuguese secular newspapers had been ridiculing for months as the absurd claim of three shepherd children that a miracle was going to occur at high-noon in the Cova da Iria on 13 October 1917.

According to many witness statements, after a downfall of rain, the dark clouds broke and the sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It was said to be significantly less bright than normal, and 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 some of those present who thought it meant the end of the world. Some witnesses reported that their previously wet clothes became “suddenly and completely dry.”

Estimates of the number of witnesses range from 30,000-40,000 by Avelino de Almeida, writing for the Portuguese newspaper O Século, to 100,000, estimated by Dr. Joseph Garrett, professor of natural sciences at the University of Coimbra, both of whom were present that day.

The event was attributed by believers to Our Lady of Fátima, an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young shepherd children in 1917, as having been predicted by the three children on 13 July, 19 August, and 13 September 1917. The children reported that the Lady had promised them that she would on 13 October reveal her identity to them and provide a miracle “so that all may believe.

According to these reports, the event lasted approximately ten minutes. The three children also reported seeing a panorama of visions, including those of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of Saint Joseph blessing the people.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. When I was a little girl, I had heard this story (from my parents and family) and saw the movie that was made about the (true) story. To this day, I have never doubted it, and it did increase my faith in God so much. This year, I bought the movie and have watched it with my Granddaughter Macy. A beautiful true story, witnessed by believers and unbelievers. I pray that God will continue to send us outward signs of his purest love for all of us.

  2. i lve this story my daughters bday is on sep 13 and i am so happy that this was one of the days of the blessed virgin, yesterday when i was saying the rosary at church with a group of people a spcecial scent of jasmin flowers were in my nose strongly when i started saying the rosary it lasted a few seconds and left and when i finished it came again i am sure now it was the blessed virgin in some form i told this to my daughter and i feel so happy about this.

  3. Beautiful and Moving.
    It is a tragedy that modernity and secular society are moving increasingly away
    from spiritual and mystical realities the likes of which took place at Fatima when our Most Blessed Lady revealed herself.
    In my life I’ve been blessed with an unusual experience which has strengthened my Catholic faith and love for Christ and his Holy Mother, jeeping the event, for the most part, a secret.
    Catholics need to be vigilant of the pervasive forces of those who both doubt and hate our faith and in doing so we may truly live out our confirmation vows of becoming “Soldiers of Christ”.

    Defend our faith!

    • What is truly sad is that we have a beautiful friend in the Holy Mother, yet people prefer to ignore her. Simply asking her to walk with you every day will improve your life dramatically!

  4. “WHAT NERVE WE HAVE TO TURN A BLIND EYE AT OUR CHRISTIANITY. ” EVEN IF JESUS WOULD APPEAR ,FOR US TO PHYSICALLY SEE HIM,WE’D ,GO BACK TO OUR NOSES IN THE AIR ATTITUDES .OUR SOULS ARE IN US ,HOW CLOSE WILL GOD HAVE TO GET ,FOR WE HUMANS TO EMBRACE HIM .MOST OF US CAN’T EVEN SAY HIS NAME A LOUD IN PUBLIC.” ARE YOU ASHAMED TO BE SEE IN HIS HOLY SPIRIT?? GOD BLESS THOSE OF US WHO WILL HUG HIM ,WHOLE HEARTEDLY”

  5. I was privileged to concelebrate Holy Mass yesterday (13 October) in the Cova da Iria at the Sanctuary of Fatima – with several hundred priests, eight bishops, a cardinal, and an estimated 10,000 faithful. What a beautiful, moving experience, concluding with the return of the statue to the Chapel of Apparitions, accompanied by 10,000 waving handkerchiefs as the people bade her farewell. “Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!”

  6. This is a spectacular miracle and Im so glad I was born a catholic. I love our dear mother Mary as she has inteceded for me many times, She is the mother of the world. I wish that whe will show us a miracle in our times for all those who are straying away from the catholic faith, Holy spirit guide us and protect us and Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

    • Actually, logic and reason are essential to believing in miracles. You use logic and reason to determine if this was a normal occurrence or not. Believing in miracles is based on knowledge of the world and logic as to how things should happen. Noticing that there is a difference is the reasoning to be used with determining whether or not something is a miracle.

    • Premises:

      – Aliens with superior technology did not visit Portugal in 1917 and perform the miracle of the sun.
      – Organisations with superior secret technologies did not perform the miracle of the sun.
      – The witnesses of the miracle did not have occult, naturalistic powers not yet understood by science.

      Argument that naturalism is false:

      1) If naturalism were true there could be no miracles (in the sense of effects that transcend and naturalistic causes/explanations).
      2) The miracle of the sun has no naturalistic explanations that does not contradict known and verified scientific principles.

      Therefore,

      3) Naturalism is false.

      Why?

      1) The hostile witnesses were neither Christian nor supporters of Christian causes.
      1a) Therefore they had every reason to dispute the miracle and would not attest to the miracle unless they witnessed something they had good reason to believe were truly miraculous.
      1b) They were not bought or threatened by the Vatican. In fact, the ones in power in Portugal at the time were trying to eradicate the faith. It would be more dangerous to claim a miracle than not, as seen by the kidnapping of the seers.
      1c) To suddenly switch sides was not in their interests, as they built a career and reputation based on being secular.

      2) The miracle of the sun was not a made up story or tall tale.
      2a) It happened in a specific place and specific time and was published in a newspaper with accompanying photos of the crowd of witnesses before digital image editing was invented.
      2b) If the crowd photographed in the newspaper were not witnesses then it would be easy to expose the fraud by people in the region. They could either point out that no such crowd at the time or the those in the crowd did not witness the miracle.
      2c) A conspiracy of tens of thousands of people, including hostile members from other religions and faiths who came to mock Catholics, to support the narrative is not a plausible explanation.
      2d) Furthermore, many witnesses were interviewed long after the event, and they stuck to the story. If it was a fabrication the story should have changed substantially, but it didn’t.

      3) The miracle of the sun was not an optical illusion or mass hallucination.
      3a) 70,000 people and hostile witnesses who were anti-God having a mass hallucination is not credible, considering that men of all education levels and professions witnessed the miracles, including doctors, scientists and engineers.
      3b) The power needed to turn soaking wet surroundings into dry ground in a rainy day in about ten minutes is substantial–so where would the power come from if the miracle of the sun was just an optical illusion?
      3c) Witnesses miles away also witnessed the miracle of the sun–and these witnesses were busy with their day to day lives, not even looking for a miracle.
      3d) Even the fact that the miracle was not globally witnessed does not disprove this event as above natural. The Lady promised that she would perform a miracle at a given place and time and it happened, exactly as she promised. God can move the sun and prevent the destruction of the earth. In either case the power needed to dry the ground is consistent with the idea of heat source like the sun.

      If it is not of God it is from a different source. But however you want to explain it away, given the three premises, we have to resort to an above natural explanation.

  7. Beautiful. Gave me chills and almost brought me to tears. I pray that our Blessed Mother’s love with bring many souls back to God.

  8. This was a very good presentation. Thank you. I love the story of Fatima and I do believe this happened. It is a blessing that Sister Lucia was with us so long. I know our Lady intercedes prayers for me. I have been blessed by her prayers for me. Blessings, Mary Blevins

  9. This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I was born a Caholic and was forced to get baptize in the mormon church. I still wear my cross necklace and stay true to the Catholic religion. Thank you very much for this wonderful video and I continue to learn more and have faith in our Heavenly Father.

  10. @Stan, when it comes to theology, theres no question for Login just damn with your Phylosophy…. It can stumble you to escalate to heaven…
    God is beyond your logics
    God is not for logic but the vice versa is true… Got It????????????

    • …but I’m glad he is commenting on the site. We need to be challenged in our beliefs and when we can discuss issues like this in an intelligent loving way – then hopefully any sarcasm or disbelief will give way to the truth in Christ.

  11. I never doubted and this will last until the end of time for me. I love Christ, Mary and Joseph and see them every day at Mass. I will be the DC Basilica tomorrow to celebrate. I do believe.

  12. People like tricius and inge are, i think, the reason why atheists laugh at believers and hold them in contempt. All throughout human history there has been natural phenomena that humans not knowing what caused it attributed it to God. I am also a Catholic and I believe in God, but I believe because I think faith answers many important questions in life that would otherwise lead to despair and hopelessness. If there were not a God, the good and the bad, the heroes that go the one hundred extra miles to improve the lot of their fellow human beings and the rapists,thieves,and murderers that never receive any kind of punishment on earth, (and there are many) would all meet with non-existence at the end of their lives,and once those we loved died, we would never,ever see them again. Also, the 15 million children that die every year of hunger and those that are killed by other illnesses or in accidents or are murdered: their lives, as well as being short would also be meaningless. But because there is a God, there will ultimately be justice and those who serve and served God in word and deed throughout their lives will receive their reward. I think that stories like this should be subjected to the strictest examination and if they are authentic, they are proofs of God’s existence. If they are not, they are lies which we would have otherwise believed. And sometimes people will experience something to have an effect it hasnt because they believe it to have that effect. This was proven when scientists were investigating crop circles and the effects people alleged they had on them

  13. God occasionally give a chance to athiests to believe in HIM. This is one like that. This incident confirms God’s presence and the need to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

  14. I believe that is among the so much significant info for me. And i am glad reading your article. But want to remark on few normal issues, The website style is perfect, the articles is really nice : D. Good job, cheers

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  16. I am a believer of the Fatima Apparitions and I love the three visionaries Lucia , Jacinta and Francisco , I am a devotee of Dear Lady of Fatima . I encourage people to pray the Holy Rosary everyday .
    God is good all the time .
    Lucky are those who had not seen the Lord but believe and I am one of them . Praise the Lord Alleluia.???

  17. Elizabeth
    The Sisters used to tell us to pray to her for the freedom of Eastern Europe. A a child it seemed impossible, but when I saw that wall come down in Berlin I knew she had done this through her Son.

  18. My mom told me about this event. It is factual and witnessed by atheistic journalists, reporters, photographers AND skeptical clergy.

  19. Diana I have had such a wonderful life with so many blessings. I love you Jesus, I feel for the poor souls who do not believe. Without hope you are lost. God Bless you all.

  20. On 28th June 2016 in the town of Flint N E Wales, my son who is not a practicing catholic and has not accepted christ [yet] was at home with us and pointed his phone camera at an unremarkable sunrise at around 5am. He could not explain why he pointed the camera at the sun [outside smoking a ciggarette] and did not see anything other than a normal sun with his naked eyes, [which casts doubt as to some high profile explanations of same phenomena of retinal bleaching or other explanations given by looking to long at the sun]assuming a camera has no such retinal mechanisms. we saw [the immediate recording]of the sun identical as to that on devine mercy hills in 2014 in philipines, with sun flashing [looking remarkably like a very very large explosion] several times over just 35/38 seconds. met office and astrological entities had no explanation at all.

  21. this Ibelieve to be a miracle if i am honest,from a very cynical and regular doubting practicing catholic to a much more attentive yet still very sinful person trying to work out my and my families salvation.this miracle has yet to show its reasoning or at least we are not aware of its reason for the event.

  22. …and when we try and share the footage no one [unless we show direct from the phone can see it]exept a few people, [probably a perfectly reasonable explanation ] yet some have seen the footage even our priest with very little interest? yet it is as real as the event in the philipines witnessed by thousands and exactly the same event we saw this year.

  23. I believe wholeheartly in our Blessed Mother and all the stories down the ages – I wait with prayer and hope for the announcement of Our Lady of MEDJUGORJI who has been visiting us every 2nd and 25th of the month theCcHURCH HAS NOT YET APPROVED – I believe she has been with us every day for the last 30 years or more. She is ouuuuuother and wants to save us all., giving messages of love and hope for our trouble world and YES she promises a miracle so that others will believe

  24. On this day, October 13th. 1917, Our Heavenly Mother lifted the “Veil” of the world around us. For a brief moment “the Hologram” was shut off! Our eyes were opened to the world that lies hidden from what science would have us believe. Our Savior, Lord Jesus told us not to be anxious for the things of this world, for they are as illusions and fade like mist…that we should always seek God’s Kingdom in all things. Ignore anything that causes you to fall away from faithfulness in God… The teachings of Men or the Occult or UFO’s or any other Counterfeits of Satan. This world is not all there is, our destiny is far greater than anything we could imagine.
    Pray the Rosary…Believe and Honor God. Pray for Peace.. and Hope in Love. The Kingdom of Heaven is within you! Amen

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