Rome, Italy, May 13, 2011 / 12:01 pm
“Sorrow and gratitude” describe Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martin’s memory of May 13, 1981.
May 13 has always been a special day for the Portuguese cardinal. It’s the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, dear to him and many other Portuguese Catholics.
“Personally, I always celebrate it with a lot of affection,” the cardinal told CNA at his Rome apartment. He remembers it as “the day of the ‘White Madonna, more brilliant than the sun’.”
This was the description the “shepherd children” gave after the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times over a six-month period in 1917.