Mary appeared in Fatima every month from May to October 1917. She delivered a series of messages during that time to three young children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. While Mary discussed many things with the children, the message of Our Lady of Fatima can be summarized with three invitations:

1. Learn to pray the rosary, the prayer that can change the world.
2. Get spiritually healthy with penance and reparation.
3. Let Mary guide you to lasting happiness.

The message is simple and practical, yet it is profound and life changing.

Every time Mary appeared to the children, she asked them to pray the rosary. Why? The rosary is incredibly powerful. It has the power to bring peace. The power to heal. The power to make a difference in your life, the lives of your loved ones, and in the world.

The rosary settles our hearts and minds. We live hectic lives in a chaotic world, a world troubled by war, violence, and brokenness. Amidst the chaos and confusion, our souls yearn for peace and clarity. How does the rosary bring us that serenity?

• The rosary puts things in perspective and allows us to see things as they really are.
• It reaches deep down into our souls and puts us at ease, creating a peace that is rare and beautiful.
• It teaches us to slow down, calm down, let go, offer our struggles to God, and listen.

The rosary teaches us how to just be, and that is not a small or insignificant lesson. In some ways it is the perfect prayer for busy people in a crazy, noisy, confused world.

The rosary has the power to impact the lives of our loved ones, our communities, and our nation. When we pray the rosary, we can bring our needs and struggles, and the needs of others, to Mary. She cares for us like a loving mother, and she wants to bring our troubles to her son, Jesus.

Praying the rosary can bring peace to a troubled world, healing to broken hearts, and clarity to those in chaos. The impact the rosary can have is incredible. In fact, Mary even promised that the rosary could bring an end to war!

God has an incredible dream for you, one that can fulfill your deepest desires and longings. But we often get distracted. We make the mistake of hoping that certain people or things will fill us, but they can pull us away from God. Mary invites us back. Over and over again at Fatima, Mary encouraged us to turn away from the things in our lives that hold us back. The things that keep us from finding the happiness God wants for us.

But how do we get there? Even if we want to follow God’s dream for us, actually doing that can seem intimidating. Remember it’s a journey. And God is with us each step of the way. Simply take one small step forward, especially when it is difficult. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Identify the things in your life that need to change. Pick one bad habit, then focus on the positive habits that can crowd out that bad habit.
• Make fasting part of your spirituality. God wants to liberate you from your struggles. But some things in our life can only be overcome by prayer and fasting. Whether you fast from food or something else like noise or complaining, offer your struggle to God, and practice fasting.
• Even if it has been a long time, make an effort to go to Reconciliation. Be gentle with yourself, but embrace the opportunity to find forgiveness and healing.
• Ask God for advice. Invite God into your decisions, both big and small. Ask God, “What do you think I should do?”
• Establish a daily habit of prayer. It doesn’t have to be long. Try just 10 minutes a day. You’ll be amazed at the results.

The journey is worth it. You will find incredible happiness if you embrace God’s dream for you. You will be blessed with spiritual vitality. You will become all that you can be: the-very-best-version-of-yourself.

Mary is the most famous woman in history, and her impact on the life of Jesus, history, art, the Church, and people of all faiths is significant. And at Fatima, Mary offered to guide us as we strive to live the life God has called us to live.

• Mary is an incredible example of someone who embraced and lived God’s dream for her. Her yes changed the world. Mary can give us the courage and hope to say yes to God’s dream for our own lives.
• Mary can help us get know Jesus in a way that nobody else can. She offers a unique perspective as his mother. Nobody sees the life of a child the way the child’s mother does—not even the father. This is Mary’s perspective of Jesus’ life. Imagine what we can learn from her!
• Just as Mary was incredibly close to Jesus on earth, she remains close to him now in heaven. Mary’s greatest desire is to bring us to her son. All we have to do is ask, and she will bring us, along with all our desires, needs, and struggles, directly to her son.

It’s a simple message. Pray the rosary. Get spiritually healthy. Let Mary guide you. At times it can be challenging, but the moment we open ourselves up to God’s dream for us is the moment miracles begin to happen in our lives. Will you accept Mary’s invitation?