So what are we to make of this miracle of the sun?
The phenomenon was first observed on October 13th, 1917 in Fatima, Portugal. (Read my earlier post on the subject,
“May 13th, 5 PM”). According to published reports, somewhere from 30,000 to 100,00 were present to witness this event.
That’s a lot of witnesses!
So what happened? The sun appeared as an opaque, spinning disc in the sky. It cast multi-colored lights across the ground and the people watching the phenomenon. It danced and zigzagged in defiance of Mr. Hawkin’s scientific laws. It even careened toward earth leading some frightened observers to think it was the end of the world.
The anti-clericical Portuguse newspaper, O Seculo, reported on the event as follows:
“Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws — the sun ‘danced’ according to the typical expression of the people.”
Here’s what a doctor saw, Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for another newspaper, Ordem:
“The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat.”
And then another reporter saw the following as published in O Dia, a newspaper in Lisbon:
“…The silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds… The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands… people wept and prayed with uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they.”
The miracle of the sun phenomenon has been witnessed on other occasions, each associated with a “Marian” site including in
