A Catholic parish priest in Metro Manila has called on parishioners to pray the Rosary daily for the world to attain lasting peace.
Fr. Carlos Reyes, parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima parish in Mandaluyong City, made the appeal on the 105th anniversary of the Apparition of the Virgin Mary in the Portuguese town of Fatima in Belgium where Catholics are told she appeared to three girls and told them the “Three Secrets.”
The “Three Secrets of Fátima” are a series of apocalyptic visions and prophecies purportedly given to three young Portuguese shepherds, Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, by a Marian apparition, which started on May 13, 1917.
“We are in troubled times and there is a need for us to pray the Holy Rosary daily for the intercession of the Blessed Mother to end the global pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the world to have a lasting peace,” Fr. Reyes said.
“Let’s pray the Rosary daily because it is a powerful prayer,” stressing “the urgent need for mankind to repent and stop offending God.”
He said that “the message of the Blessed Mother at Fatima 105 years ago relates to the current events of what is happening in the world today such as the war in Ukraine.”
Theologians say crowds gathered in Cova da Iria on October 13, 1917, for what would be the final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima to the three children.
A period of rain earlier that day caused puddles and mud, which witnesses reported to dry up completely during the Milagre do Sol (Miracle of the Sun).