Today is May 13, the Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Fatima.
At today’s Mass we read, “So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, ‘How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me'” (Jn 10:24-25).
Today, the Church celebrates Our Lady of Fatima. At Holy Mass, we are reminded of the powerful witness of the Virgin Mary’s apparitions to the three shepherd children in Portugal in 1917.
I have to be honest with you: for a long time, I wasn’t especially devoted to Our Lady of Fatima. My personal favorite Marian apparition has always been Lourdes. But as I came to learn more about Fatima, something deeply beautiful stood out — something that has become quite important to me as a Dominican friar.
At Fatima, Our Lady revealed herself with a title that resonates profoundly with my vocation: Our Lady of the Rosary. That’s a big deal for us Dominicans. We’ve been entrusted for centuries with promoting the Rosary in the life of the Church. In fact, we piously believe that St. Dominic himself received the Rosary from the Blessed Virgin. Since then, Dominican friars have championed this prayer — teaching it, preaching it and encouraging the faithful to embrace it.
‘Pray the Rosary’
So when Mary said at Fatima, “I am the Lady of the Rosary,” it wasn’t just a poetic title. It was a heavenly summons, a loving reminder of how deeply the Rosary matters.
The message of Fatima centers on this call: Pray the Rosary. Again and again, Our Lady repeated this request to the children. Sister Lucia, one of the visionaries, later reflected:
“The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary … There is no problem, no matter how difficult, that cannot be solved by the Rosary.”
Maybe you don’t have a strong devotion to the Rosary. That’s okay — but why not start today? If it’s been a while, begin simply. Pray just one decade: an Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be. Just that. Begin there, and let it grow. One day, it may become two decades … then three. Before you know it, you’ll have found a rhythm that brings peace, clarity and grace into your life.
The Rosary is a treasure. And if it does even a fraction for you of what it has done for me, you’ll discover what a profound gift it truly is.
So today, let us ask Our Lady of Fatima to help us rediscover the Rosary — to love it, to live it and to share it with others.
Let us pray,
O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also, grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer for the salvation of the world, we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
