The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima
Encyclopedia
The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima is a feature film made in 1952. It was promoted as a fact-based treatment of the events surrounding the apparitions of Our Lady of Fátima
in 1917.
It starred Susan Whitney as Lucia dos Santos, Sammy Ogg as Francisco Marto
, and Sherry Jackson
as Jacinta Marto
, with Gilbert Roland
as a fictional character named Hugo, a kindly but agnostic friend of the three children, who rediscovered his faith in God through the Solar Miracle of Fatima. The musical score by Max Steiner
received an Academy Award nomination. The film was released on DVD
on April 4, 2006.
Watching their flocks and playing in a field outside town on May 15 (the actual date of the first apparition was May 13), Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto decide to pray their version of the Rosary
by yelling out, "Hail Mary!" but not finishing the prayer. In the midst of this activity they hear a clap of thunder and see a flash of lightning. Thinking it is about to rain, the children gather their sheep and head for home. Another flash of lightning causes them to run straight into an unusual "cloud of light" surrounding a little tree on which a lady stands. Speaking slowly and gently, the lady asks them to return on the 13th of each month and to offer their sufferings to God for the salvation of sinners. She entreats them to say the Rosary
for world peace. Later, they encounter their agnostic friend Hugo who tells them it is best not to reveal the vision to anyone else, but of course on returning home, Jacinta immediately divulges her sightings.
Jacinta and Francisco's parents believe the story, but Lucia's mother reacts with disgust and subjects her daughter to emotional and physical abuse. She forbids Lucia to return to the Cova, but Lucia does so anyway on the next month's appearance (June 13), and is told then that her cousins will die and go to heaven "soon", while she will live a long life in holy service. The parish priest suggests the visions might be from Satan
. The local authorities close the Fatima church until the priest can convince the parishioners that no visions have or will happen. The next month, on July 13, the lady appears again, predicting "another and worse war" (World War II
) will happen if the world doesn't stop sinning. She also predicts evil will come from Russia
if that country is unconverted. Kidnapped by provincial administrator Arturo Santos, (who is not related to Lucia dos Santos), the children are threatened with death if they don't change their story. Trying to frighten them, he has first Jacinta, then Francisco dragged into another room. Jacinta's terrified screams convince Lucia that her cousins are dead, but she refuses to deny what she's seen. Warning her that she's about to experience "the full treatment", Santos re
unites her with her cousins, who are very much alive, then throws them all in jail. There they find Hugo, who stands by them as they convince all the prisoners to join in the Rosary.
Unable to find any prosecutable evidence, Arturo frees the children, who find that the entire population of Fatima has been standing outside waiting for them.
On October 13, when the lady promised "a sign that will make them believe," about forty thousand people arrive, waiting through a torrential downpour. At precisely noon the clouds part and the sun shines brightly upon all the people—then the sun shifts through a rainbow of colours and appears to drop toward the ground, in what many have described as the Miracle of the Sun. Many people panic, some pray or watch calmly, and a few disabled people are healed. As the sun returns to normal we see Hugo standing in the middle of the kneeling crowd, his hat still on. Removing it, he says "Only the fool sayeth there is no God." A short epilogue shows the huge basilica where the tree once stood. At the end of the movie, it is (around 1952) and they are in a big, new basilica (where the cova once was) Inside, Lucia is a nun praying before the tomb where her cousins are buried, with the converted Hugo at her side.
Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fátima is a famous title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared in apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. These occurred on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13...
in 1917.
It starred Susan Whitney as Lucia dos Santos, Sammy Ogg as Francisco Marto
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto , also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, together with their cousin, Lúcia dos Santos were the children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and...
, and Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson
Sherry Jackson is an American actress and former child star. She made her film debut at seven years old in the musical You're My Everything, starring Anne Baxter and Dan Dailey. During the course of appearing in several of the Ma and Pa Kettle movies during the 1950s as Susie Kettle, one of the...
as Jacinta Marto
Jacinta and Francisco Marto
Francisco Marto and his sister Jacinta Marto , also known as Blessed Francisco Marto and Blessed Jacinta Marto, together with their cousin, Lúcia dos Santos were the children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and...
, with Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland
Gilbert Roland was a Mexican-born American film actor.He was born Luis Antonio Dámaso de Alonso in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico and originally intended to become a bullfighter like his father. When the family moved to the United States, however, he became interested in acting when he was...
as a fictional character named Hugo, a kindly but agnostic friend of the three children, who rediscovered his faith in God through the Solar Miracle of Fatima. The musical score by Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Max Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
received an Academy Award nomination. The film was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on April 4, 2006.
Soap
It is 1917, and Portugal is feeling the aftereffects of a storm of Masonic, religious sentiment and the violent overthrow of the government by socialist forces in its October 6, 1917 evolution. Churches in Lisbon are boarded up. Many priests, monks and friars are shown being fingerprinted, photographed and registered as (possible) criminals before being jailed. The rural town of Fatima is small enough to have escaped much of this persecution; their church remains open, and most of the people are reasonably devout.Watching their flocks and playing in a field outside town on May 15 (the actual date of the first apparition was May 13), Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto decide to pray their version of the Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
by yelling out, "Hail Mary!" but not finishing the prayer. In the midst of this activity they hear a clap of thunder and see a flash of lightning. Thinking it is about to rain, the children gather their sheep and head for home. Another flash of lightning causes them to run straight into an unusual "cloud of light" surrounding a little tree on which a lady stands. Speaking slowly and gently, the lady asks them to return on the 13th of each month and to offer their sufferings to God for the salvation of sinners. She entreats them to say the Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
for world peace. Later, they encounter their agnostic friend Hugo who tells them it is best not to reveal the vision to anyone else, but of course on returning home, Jacinta immediately divulges her sightings.
Jacinta and Francisco's parents believe the story, but Lucia's mother reacts with disgust and subjects her daughter to emotional and physical abuse. She forbids Lucia to return to the Cova, but Lucia does so anyway on the next month's appearance (June 13), and is told then that her cousins will die and go to heaven "soon", while she will live a long life in holy service. The parish priest suggests the visions might be from Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
. The local authorities close the Fatima church until the priest can convince the parishioners that no visions have or will happen. The next month, on July 13, the lady appears again, predicting "another and worse war" (World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) will happen if the world doesn't stop sinning. She also predicts evil will come from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
if that country is unconverted. Kidnapped by provincial administrator Arturo Santos, (who is not related to Lucia dos Santos), the children are threatened with death if they don't change their story. Trying to frighten them, he has first Jacinta, then Francisco dragged into another room. Jacinta's terrified screams convince Lucia that her cousins are dead, but she refuses to deny what she's seen. Warning her that she's about to experience "the full treatment", Santos re
unites her with her cousins, who are very much alive, then throws them all in jail. There they find Hugo, who stands by them as they convince all the prisoners to join in the Rosary.
Unable to find any prosecutable evidence, Arturo frees the children, who find that the entire population of Fatima has been standing outside waiting for them.
On October 13, when the lady promised "a sign that will make them believe," about forty thousand people arrive, waiting through a torrential downpour. At precisely noon the clouds part and the sun shines brightly upon all the people—then the sun shifts through a rainbow of colours and appears to drop toward the ground, in what many have described as the Miracle of the Sun. Many people panic, some pray or watch calmly, and a few disabled people are healed. As the sun returns to normal we see Hugo standing in the middle of the kneeling crowd, his hat still on. Removing it, he says "Only the fool sayeth there is no God." A short epilogue shows the huge basilica where the tree once stood. At the end of the movie, it is (around 1952) and they are in a big, new basilica (where the cova once was) Inside, Lucia is a nun praying before the tomb where her cousins are buried, with the converted Hugo at her side.