"Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it." - Luke 11:28
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for me as your Apostolic Nuncio, it gives me so much joy to be here at the National Shrine and Parish of Our Lady of Fatima here in Valenzuela City, with your beloved Bishop, the Most Reverend Dennis Villarojo, the other concelebrating bishops, priests religious, faithful citizens of this wonderful city of Valenzuela.
We are together here in this beautiful church to celebrate this Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The fact that 105 years ago, on this very day in Portugal, in the obscure town of Fatima, the angel first appeared to some children, Lucy (Lucia) and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and then on this day, our Lady herself appeared to these simple peasant children in this small out of the way town in Portugal, and revealed to them a message in which Mary called for prayer and for penance and warned us against the danger and the scourge of war.
It's interesting, isn't it, brothers and sisters, how God always chooses the little people in order to show His blessings and to give his apparitions? Fatima is not a big city. Fati