On October 12, 2017, three of my classmates and I went on a pilgrimage to Fatima for the 100th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. After classes on Thursday we began the journey the Fatima where we arrived at the Shrine of Fatima for the end of the candlelit procession. Looking out the square was filled with thousands of people holding candles as the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was processed through the crowds followed by an international mass. It was in these moments that I expected Our Mother to reveal herself to me, but rather she revealed herself to me on the walk back to where we were staying. One of my classmates and I had stayed at the shrine to find adoration and stations of the cross. It was not until two-thirty in the morning that we decided it was time to get some sleep. The house was only a short ten-minute taxi ride back, and our host had pointed out a parking lot where they would be. The parking lot was now empty with no taxis in sight. My friend and I then began the hour and a half walk back where I was asked to completely trust God. We blindly followed google maps with our phones flashlight’s sometimes as the only source of visible light. However, once I trusted in God I saw Him as the only light I needed to guide me back to where we were staying. One of my dear friends told me that holding a rosary in your hand is like holding Mary’s hand and can get you through almost anything. I pulled my rosary bracelet of my wrist and clung to it as I began praying a decade of the rosary. In that moment, Mary was revealed to me as my Mother not through the sun, but through the power of the rosary with her holding my hand to bring me back safely.
By: Lauren Revay, Sophomore at Catholic University
