Public Square Rosary Rallies

PATERSON  It was a historic year in the Catholic Church as faithful worldwide marked the centennial of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. In the Paterson Diocese, the anniversary was celebrated during Masses, pilgrimages to the site, novenas, holy hours and educational programs.

Oct. 13, 1917 marks the last apparition of Our Lady before three shepherd children. The Blessed Mother appeared before Lucia Santos and her two cousins, Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto six times in a mountainous region at the center of Portugal from May to October visiting on the 13th of each month, except for the August apparition on the 19th. The apparitions are a significant event in modern Church history.

In Wanaque, St. Francis of Assisi Church will begin a new five-month novena to Our Lady of Fatima on Oct. 7 at 11 a.m. on every first Saturday. This special novena requires devotees for five consecutive months to go to confession within eight days of the First Saturday, receive Holy Communion and recite the rosary.

Even though the duration of the novena will be during months the apparitions did not take place, Father Greg Golba, pastor of St. Francis Church in Haskell, said, “Novenas never stop being our prayer. The people in the parish love praying the rosary and were happy to have this novena. We already host a patriotic rosary and after every daily Mass, we pray the rosary and say the Divine Mercy chaplet. The people understand the importance of having the Blessed Mother intercede for us. The Blessed Mother’s message to us is so important to us and we see in today’s news how we should pray for the country and around the world for peace.”

Also on Oct. 7, St. Philip the Apostle Church in Clifton will host a special Eucharistic Adoration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in commemoration of the apparitions. The two-hour celebration will include exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, the opportunity for confessions, and a spiritual talk “To Jesus through Mary” and Benediction.

St. Cecilia Church in Rockaway will host a vigil the night before the final apparition’s anniversary at 7 p.m., Oct. 12. The ceremony will begin with the rosary and the parish Rosary Society’s presentation of roses to the image of the Blessed Mother. This will be followed by an outdoor candlelight procession to the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary located in front of the church. At the conclusion of the service a short program will be presented in Hayes Hall where refreshments will be served.

With October also marking the month of the rosary, Catholics will gather together for a public square rosary crusade coordinated by the American Needs Fatima campaign, which has hosted these rallies since 2007. More than 20,000 of these public square rosary gatherings will take place this year around the country and several of them will take place in the Paterson Diocese on Saturday, Oct. 14 at noon. For a list of these rallies see sidebar at right.

Filomena Mohr, coordinator of the rosary rally at St. Mary Help of Christians Church in Paterson, said, “The country has to be brought together, and praying the rosary in public demonstrates that there are still people with faith. Honoring God and his Blessed Mother publicly, making public reparation for sin, will help heal our divided nation.”

Throughout the year, many parishes had pilgrimages to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the site of the Marian apparitions. Since 1930, the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima has been one of the most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. Pope Francis traveled to Fatima during the 100th anniversary of the first apparition on May 13 and declared two of the children saints — siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who died at the age of 10 and 9 of illnesses just a year after the apparitions. Their older cousin Lucia Dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97. She shared her experiences of the apparitions, writing six memoirs during her lifetime. On Feb. 13, 2017, she was accorded the title Servant of God.

The Oct. 13, 1917 apparition marks an event known as the “miracle of the sun,” which was witnessed by 70,000 people. To the three shepherd children, the Blessed Mother asked that they build a chapel in her honor, where today stands the first chapel and the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima at the holm oak where the Mother of God had appeared. She also announced herself as the Lady of the Rosary.

Like many of these rosary rallies, the devotion in the public has led many to inquiry about the prayer gathering. Mohr said, “In the past, we would have people walk by curious to what was happening. Many were fallen away Catholics who shared their desire to return to the Church.”