Fatima Signs and Secrets by Marianna Bartold

“Fatima: The Signs and Secrets” is a unique book that draws in the reader for a closer look at the intriguing signs of the 1917 Fatima, Portugal apparitions. An easily-readable, stimulating, and spiritually inspiring work, the book examines what Pope Benedict XVI called “Fatima’s prophetic mission” and the mysterious signs seen or heard by witnesses of the apparitions. In this generous volume (with over 1,000 end notes), the reader will discover:

• Pope Benedict XVI’s affirmation, “We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete,” and his earlier comments (as Cardinal Ratzinger) on the Third Secret, remind us anew that all scriptural prophecies are fulfilled—except those foretelling the “last days.”

• What St. Michael the archangel’s appearance at Fatima signifies

• The Lord’s seven purposes for giving a sign or signs, all of which apply to the many “sensible” signs at Fatima and witnessed by crowds of people (believers and scoffers alike), who later testified to what they had seen.

• The meanings of the signs, including but not limited to:

− The cloud that appeared every month at solar noon over the holmoak tree where the Lady stood. This cloud was also seen traveling from and returning to the east

− Atmospheric changes of light, temperature, and color (from the rainbow spectrum to pure gold)

− The dimming of the sun on a cloudless and bright day

− The large claps of thunder heard at two different Apparitions, one of them in July when the Virgin Mary gave the three shepherd children the Great Secret of Fatima

− The appearance of mystical flowers on trees, during the height of summer when trees are already producing fruit

−The stars seen at noon on a clear summer day

−The luminous globe of light that appeared, also traveling from and to the east

−A shower of small white objects, described as petals, snowflakes, tiny doves, stars, or roses, which gently fell from the sky and disappeared before touching the ground

−The “Great Sign” (The Miracle of the Sun) and its probable meaning as discerned by Pope Paul VI, Bishop Rudolph Graber, Fr. Louis Kondor, and others

−Why Fatima *cannot* be easily dismissed as a “private revelation”

Other valuable topics uncovered by the author include:

• Sr. Lucia’s description of the Virgin of Fatima, who also wore an ornament known as the Star of Esther, which led to a succinct yet detailed study of the Book of Esther and Chapters 8-13 of the Apocalypse, illustrating the links between the Fatima message and Scriptural prophecy

• Pope Benedict’s admission that the Third Secret is Spoken−a printed fact reported in many papers and on websites, but completely missed by journalists!

• The Six Themes of the Third Secret of Fatima (as revealed by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI)

• Fatima and the Significance of the 13th day – including an amazing new link to St. Peter’s martyrdom in Rome.

• The Pattern of Three’s during the July 1917 Fatima Apparition

• St. John Bosco’s famous Dream of the Two Pillars and its correlation to the future Third Secret of Fatima

• Our Lady of Akita and the Third Secret of Fatima – and the connection to the Book of Daniel

• The Age of Mary and the Lost Meaning of Conversion

• The 19th Century apparitions leading up to Fatima, including Our Lady of Knock’s silent message pointing to Ch. 8 of the Apocalypse

• Why the Immaculate Conception is the Mother of God and Men

• The Pattern of Three’s during the July 1917 Fatima Apparition

• The Remedy: Why Devotion to the Immaculate Heart?

• The connections between Fatima’s Great Secret, the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart devotion, the Precious Blood of Jesus, the Cross of Christ

• Our Own Interior Lives: Meditations on Christ’s Escorts on the Way of the Cross and our Imitation of Christ