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| Europe |
| Fatima Sighting Nun Dead At 97 |
| 2005-02-14 |
| Sister Lucia Marto, the last of three children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary in a series of 1917 apparitions in the town of Fatima, has died, Portuguese media reported. She was 97. Sister Lucia, a Roman Catholic nun, had been ill for the past three months and died Sunday at the Convent of Carmelitas in Coimbra, 120 miles north of Lisbon, TSF radio reported, citing family sources. Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes called Lucia's death "very emotional news." Lucia and two of her cousins, siblings Jacinta and Francisco, said in 1917 that the Virgin Mary had been appearing to them once a month and predicting events, such as world wars, the reemergence of Christianity in Russia, and one that Church officials say foretold the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. The appearances took place on the 13th day of each month in Fatima, a town about 70 miles north of Lisbon. The first sighting was May 13, and the appearances took place for another five months, ending abruptly in October of that year. Shortly after, both Jacinta and Francisco died of respiratory diseases. But Lucia became a nun and penned two memoirs while living in convents. The Catholic Church later built a shrine in Fatima, which is visited each year by millions of people from around the world. More than 100,000 people from dozens of countries routinely attend the annual commemorations of the sightings. The pope has visited three times since becoming pontiff in 1978, spending a few minutes with Lucia during a 1991 trip to the site. He has claimed the Virgin of Fatima saved his life after he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square in 1981. The attack, on May 13, coincided with the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul credits the Virgin's intercession for his survival. In 2000, he visited Fatima to beatify Jacinta and Francisco. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 I wonder if she looked like a piece of toast? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-02-14 10:41:47 PM |
| #4 This was Paul Atreides problem in Frank Herbert's Dune series. If you can see the future, truly see every moment, it woould probably drive you mad. Nothing would be a surprise, nothing wondrous. Just boring, day to day drivel. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2005-02-14 7:53:32 PM |
| #3 it's true and we were all much more powerful and interesting persons in previous lives. I, for instance was Caesar, and Ben Franklin (and yes, I did get the chicks) heh heh |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-02-14 7:14:12 PM |
| #2 Not a Catholic - but, we cannot understand those who have had mystical experiences. Now as to visions absolutely... As to actual correspondence to actual events. Like Nostradamus. The devil (so to speak) is in the interpretation... RIP Sister |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-02-14 7:13:45 PM |
| #1 I once talked with a fortune teller who took his job seriously, unlike the typical fraud. "People want me to 'see' the future, but they have a strange idea of what the future looks like: like watching the TV news, or reading a newspaper. What if someone asked you to 'see' the present? "Uh, I'm sitting here talking to you" "But what about my Uncle Frank?" "I've no idea what he's doing right now" So what about the future? 'Well, okay, next Tuesday I'm at home having dinner then going to bed. Well, that's what I see in the future'. And that brings up the second problem: 99.999% of everything people do is boring and repetitious. Try 'seeing' the future without having a 'fast forward' button. 'Okay, I see you lying in bed sleeping, but you are older and fatter.' It's not like people go around talking about interesting things that happen to them all the time, hoping some seer will see them talking out loud and tell them what they said before they say it. Then there is the probabilities thing: some things *will* happen, such as your getting older, unless you die. Other things, like lottery numbers have a lot more possible outcomes. This is why fortune tellers rarely hit on the lotto." "But," he continued, "for most people that is all academic. They don't care about what the future really holds--knowing that information wouldn't change them one bit--they want you to *change* their future for them, somehow." "And the best part is, that even if you tell them what to do to change their future, like 'go on a diet', they won't do it. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-02-14 6:59:48 PM |