On Monday, May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, the Children of the Eucharist  working in spiritual partnership with the World Apostolate of Fatima are celebrating the 22^nd Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour, spiritually uniting children, and youth before the Blessed Sacrament to pray for peace in the world. The main event will take place at the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, USA and then in many other countries where the Fatima Apostolate is present.

In these troubled times, it is vital to adore and console the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, as the Angel of Peace conveyed to the shepherd children of Fatima, entrusting humanity to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to pray the Rosary for peace.

Teachers, Parents, Grandparents should gather the children under their care, in their parishes for the eucharistic and Marian celebration on May 13. If it is not possible to gather the young people before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, then gather and pray in your classrooms or homes.

The spiritual activities to be carried out can include the procession of the statue of Our Lady, crowning of Our Lady, if possible, exposition and prayers of Eucharistic adoration and reparation, prayer of the rosary and the children’s entrustment of their lives to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

We are very much convinced that children have a unique spiritual power that can change the course of our present human history, so much affected by wars, suffering and death. Let us therefore participate in any way we can on this special Fatima Celebration! We need a Eucharistic Revival for our children and youth throughout the world.

Let us recall the words of Saint John Paul: “It is absolutely true: Jesus and his Mother often choose children and give them important tasks for the life of the Church and of humanity.”

The Children’s Holy Hour from the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama will be broadcast live by EWTN, reaching million households in more than 160 countries and territories across the globe. Members of the World Apostolate of Fatima will also organize similar celebrations around the world, with the same spiritual purpose.  

March 25 is a special date in connection with Fatima. Forty years ago, in 1984, on this same day, Saint Pope John Paul II, in union with all the bishops, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the presence of the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima, in St. Peter’s Square, Rome.

This solemn act was to fulfil the request made by Our Lady during the Fatima apparitions and, more explicitly during her apparition to Sister Lucia in Tuy, Spain, in 1929, where She said:  “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means.”

When the consecration was finally made, Sister Lucia personally confirmed that such solemn and universal act of consecration corresponded to what Our Lady wanted: “Yes it has been done just as Our Lady asked” she wrote. 

To make memory of this solemn act of consecration of 1984 and of the consecration of Russia and Ukraine that Pope Francis made on 25 March 2022, should help to renew our faith, hope and trust in God and Our Lady, who promised at Fatima that “in the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph” (…) “and a period of peace will be granted to the world”. The Blessed Virgin Mary counts on us, on our conversion and consecration to God, to build peace in the world. 

In 2019, World Youth Day was celebrated in Panama, with the presence of the First Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. As a pastoral fruit, the Archbishop of Panama, Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, in collaboration with the World Apostolate of Fatima of Panama, made a formal request to the Rector of the Shrine of Fatima in Portugal, for the construction of an exact replica of the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fatima in his country.

The Capelinha represents the historical and spiritual heart of Our Lady's Message, where from the original Capelinha, requested by Our Lady to the little shepherds of Fatima and built in 1919, it became the center of the propagation of Her message to the whole world.

The Rector of the Shrine, in a letter dated July 24, 2019, gave his positive response to the construction of this new chapel, as a sign of the Shrine of Fatima’s communion with the Archdiocese and with the entire nation of Panama. His hope is that that through the construction of the replica of the Capelinha, the devotion and recitation of the Holy Rosary and the Practice of the Five First Saturdays of the month, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, will be encouraged, and lived.

On May 13, 2021, the Archbishop of Panama blessed the first stone, the land and the beginning of the Construction of the Replica of the Capelinha, which will be located in Clayton, adjacent to the facilities of the Episcopal Conference of Panama.

The World Apostolate of Fatima in Panama, with joy announced that in January 2024, the construction of the Replica of the Capelinha of the Apparitions of Fatima initiated, thanks to the support of many generous people throughout the country. The goal is that soon it may be inaugurated, and from there, the pastoral work of spreading the message of Fatima to the Panamanian population and to all the people of the Central and Latin American region may be put in motion.

Everyone’s support is important! For donations, contact the World Apostolate of Fatima in Panama by mail: amfpanama@gmail.com or send your donation directly to: Apostolado Mundial de Fatima - Panama. Banco General – Cuenta nº 04-49-99-872824-8.

On Friday, February 23, the eve of the sad anniversary of the beginning of the war in Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion, the World Apostolate of Fatima is organizing the online recitation of the Rosary, at 12:00 pm (Portugal time zone) to offer prayers for peace in this country and, of course, in the entire world.

Two years have passed since the outbreak of the war on February 24, 2022. Since then, thousands of injuries and deaths occurred, including of many children, and the massive destruction of houses and other buildings. 

The members of the World Apostolate of Fatima from Ukraine are holding a moment of prayer in Lviv, at the Parish of the Nativity of the Mother of God, this February 23, at 12:00pm (Portugal time zone). This celebration is open to all who wish to participate also through internet. The Rosary will be recited in different languages, for peace and for the conversion of sinners, as it was requested by Our Lady in Fatima. If you wish to receive the Zoom link to participate in the prayer, please send an e-mail to: info@worldfatima.com

Pope Francis has proclaimed year 2024 to be a year dedicated to prayer in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025, whose holy door will be open in the coming month of December. Dioceses, parishes and ecclesial movements are invited to promote initiatives to remind people of the centrality of both individual prayer and community prayer and to pray for peace in the world.

The World Apostolate of Fatima will do as much as possible to focus on prayer during this year and always, as this is also an essential element in the Message of Fatima. The recitation of Rosary, the Prayer cells, the Communal First Saturdays Devotion, the Eucharistic adoration, just to name a few, are excellent spiritual practices that can help us growing in holiness. The year of prayer is therefore an excellent opportunity for all Christians to rediscover the power of prayer in our lives and to prepare to celebrate the great jubilee of 2025, whose theme is “Pilgrims of Hope”. We are all pilgrims on this earth. Let us learn from Our Lady to live every day, every moment and every duty with our eyes turned to Jesus.

The Shrine of Fatima, in Portugal, has also decided to formulate its pastoral theme for year 2024 having in the horizon the Jubilee year. The Rector of the Shrine explains that the Shrine’s theme “Called to meet” is “an invitation to immerse the whole human life in the awareness of God’s presence, making every circumstance of daily life a reason for prayer, that is, for an encounter with God and, in Him, for communion with everyone and all the Creation. We shall interpret this year’s theme in the light of the Angel of Peace’s exhortation in the spring of 1916: «Pray with me».

The Angel’s invitation to the little seers is an invitation to let themselves be led into an intimate, contemplative and profound encounter with God, in whom they profess their faith and place their hope, whom they love and adore. Prayer, as a space for an intimate meeting with God, becomes part of the three children’s daily lives and, little by little, transforms that daily life, turning it into a familiar space for a relationship with God and the manifestation of His action. In Fatima, the “teacher” of the prayerful attitude is Our Lady, in whom we find the perfect example of prayer”.

We invite all our brothers and sisters of the World Apostolate of Fatima to seize this year 2024 as an opportunity to prepare our hearts to celebrate with joy and faith the 2025 Jubilee. For the Fatima devotees, year 2025 will also mark the Centenary of the Apparition of Our Lady with the child Jesus in Pontevedra, Spain, by which She requested and expanded the First Saturdays devotion. It is our Apostolate’s duty to live and propagate this devotion, for peace in the world and for salvation.