Twelve apostles, and a few thousand area residents saw Jesus’s miracles. They saw the dead raised, the crippled and sick cured, and the prophecies fulfilled.
During the miracle at Fatima, on October 13, 1917, tens of thousands saw the sun repeatedly plunging out of the sky. Hardened atheists became believers. Officials, newspaper reporters, and anti-Catholic bigots had turned out to mock.
When the sun came plunging to earth, the mocking stopped. But, it soon started. After months and years, the miracle at Fatima was dropped down the memory hole.
Soon, references to the miracle at Fatima began to include phrases like “mass hysteria”.
As usual, believers believed and go on believing. Unbelievers didn’t, don’t, and probably wont’.
Some souls were saved by the miracle at Fatima. Some continue to be drawn into the mystery. They may be fortunate enough to understand that, in all creation, the only being able to cause such miracles is Mary. Happy souls realize that Mary caused the miracle at Fatima.
Over time, the effects of the miracle dimmed. But, then, and now, the faithful believed the evidence provided to so many eyes. At the same time, unbelievers chose to disbelieve. The miracle at Fatima is a dividing line between those drawn to truth, no matter how contradictory it may be to conventional reality, and those repelled by such truth.
The miracle of Fatima was given not only to show Mary’s power, but also to let the saved and the lost unite with, or separate themselves from, truth, itself.