Why Fatima Matters Today

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The Drew Mariani Show. On Relevant Radio.

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For months, the residents of Fatima wondered whether this extraordinary prophecy would come true. And so, on October 13th, 1917, thousands of people gathered with the children to see if the Virgin of Mary would appear. And the crowd witnessed an incredible celestial event that came to be known as the Miracle of the Sun.

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It's The Drew Mariani Show on Relevant Radio.

Drew Mariani (0:45)

Yeah, that was William Shatner narrating a segment for the History Channel about the Miracle of the Sun. There's been a lot of films done on Fatima. Today, we remember that incredible event of October 13th, 1917, when tens of thousands of people gathered in Fatima. They estimate the number of 70,000 to 100,000 people and witnessed what became known as the Miracle of the Sun.

You know, the story really didn't end there. We'll talk about the Miracle of the Sun coming up. I want to share with you that story. It's an amazing one. But our lady warned of wars. She warned of persecution. And she warned of Russia spreading its errors throughout the world. And of course, as I had mentioned just a moment ago, John Paul II, decades later, March 25th, 1984, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart. And then within weeks, what did we see? This catastrophic explosion that devastated the Soviet missile arsenal. Within a few years, communist regimes across Europe began collapsing. Was that coincidence? Or was that prophecy unfolding? Was something extraordinary unfolding? And what does Fatima tell you about the dangers that the world faces today? And I would argue Fatima, 109 years after those, October 13th, 1917th miracle, the final apparition there, is just as relevant today as it was a century plus ago. I'm joined right now by the national coordinator for the Blue Army, Barb Ernster. She is an expert and a historian when it comes to Fatima. She has written prolifically about these events, and she joins me this afternoon to dive into this. You can join us too if you want to dial in. You've got a question, comment, something you want clarity on. Phones are going to be open for you at 888-914-9149.

Barb, good afternoon. Thanks for joining me.

Barb Ernster (2:46)

Good afternoon. Thanks for having me on. Good to be here.

Drew Mariani (2:48)

Great to have you. I was just sharing the story before you came on about a possible nuclear exchange when a guy named Petrov over in the Soviet Union saw missiles coming towards the Soviet Union thinking it could have been a US launch. And thanks to his discernment, I think really the grace of the Holy Spirit and a lot of prayer helped prevent that particular nuclear exchange and talked about how John Paul II consecrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart, fulfilling our lady's request. And we saw what happened in the years that followed, really almost the months that followed. We saw the collapse of the Soviet Union as we knew it in the 20th century. But bring us back in time.

And John Paul II's role, this was an unbelievable error in human history. And we came close to nuclear annihilation.

Barb Ernster (3:36)

Yes, and you know, when he, after the assassination attempt in May 13th, 1981, he went to Fatima in 1982, and he met with Sister Lucia, and they had a private meeting, but they agreed, they, she, they were, it was important that he get that consecration done. That's what she told him. It was more important than releasing the third secret. The other thing that was on Lucia's mind was the canonization, beatification of the two, Francesco and Jacinta, but that was so urgent to her.

And so he did attempt it in 1982, and of course it wasn't done in union with all the bishops, but look what happened. We still averted this mistake that could have been made, and this one man in Russia decided there was something wrong, so we averted that, but we did also avert a nuclear war in 1985, and that was actually confirmed to me by a CIA agent that I had met with down in Texas back in 2017, and he was actually in Russia in the 1980s. His job at that time was to follow around Putin, who was a KGB agent at that time. So when he was driving me back to the airport, I talked to him about these series of explosions that happened in 1984, so soon after that consecration. It ended with the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, which pretty much crippled their entire nuclear program. I said, did the CIA have anything to do with that? And he said, we had no idea what happened. We think in one case somebody flicked a cigarette. Wow.