Though accounts differ, for corroboration we can examine photographs of the event and just before, which do not show heavy rain—or any rain at all in fact.
Those who might prefer a simple updated version of the story may find the later-day scenes intrusive. Thereupon Lucia exclaimed, “The sun!” As everyone gazed upward, and saw that a silvery disc had emerged from behind clouds, they experienced what is known [as] a “sun miracle.” (Nickell 1993) Some present claimed they saw the sun dance around the heavens; others said the sun zoomed toward Earth in a zigzag motion. Said theory is that Lucia crafted an imaginary maternal figure to provide her the love and attention she wasn’t getting from her real mother. Fatima is based on the real-life experience of Lucia Dos Santos (played as a child by Stephanie Gils, and Sonia Braga as an adult), a nun who claimed to have several visions of the Virgin Mary as a child in 1917.
(Martin 2004) For the devout at Fatima who may have noticed (or suspected) that their clothes were (or might have been) drier than they would have otherwise expected, they had a ready-made precedent template for the miracle.No one is suggesting that the area was bone dry, of course. Things change. In an article for From the other side of another curtain I hear the splashing of someone entering the bath, and in a few seconds he emerges with a wide grin. The whole affair is recounted in Fatima, a generally passable, polished narrative told in flashbacks as a professor (Harvey Keitel) interviews an aging Sister Lucia (Sonia Braga), who was one of the three children to have had the visions during the war.The two meet at the Sister’s convent, a mesh screen like what separates the priest from his people in a confessional between them. updated There is in fact a Catholic legend tradition of miracle waters that dry almost instantly—including those at the Lourdes shrine in France, where Mary had also been said to have appeared some sixty years earlier.
... How the Sun Acted at Midday in Fatima,” can be found in English in Documents on Fatima … Bill Maher: Crank and Comic. Benjamin Radford, M.Ed., is a scientific paranormal investigator, a research fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, deputy editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, and author, co-author, contributor, or editor of twenty books and over a thousand articles on skepticism, critical thinking, and science literacy.
We may begin examining this apparent miracle by questioning its assumptions. It is the professor’s intent to pick at Lucia’s memories until he confirms his pet theory regarding the events surrounding Fatima. The Moral Duty of a Skeptic. In any event, the measurement is somewhat subjective; a faithful pilgrim might well mistakenly deem her damp dress or blouse to instead be “perfectly dry,” especially in the wake of a profound religious experience. is a … The burden of proof is on those claiming that something unusual happened that day, and in this case, it falls far short. As Ray Hyman has cautioned, before attempting to explain some strange event we should first be sure there is something to explain.
Those familiar with the story will find the basic facts all in place. Those who don’t mind a bit of religious debate thrown into the mix will appreciate them. The settings are less stagey than the Brahm movie and look more like what you would expect from an impoverished village suffering under wartime conditions. Take movies for instance. Lúcia de Jesus dos Santos (1907-2005) of Fatima, Portugal, grew up to become a Catholic nun known as Sister Lúcia of Fátima. 1917 Fatima, Portugal: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary tells three shepherd children three secrets. Take movies for instance. Things change. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.