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The Dancing Sun: Fatima’s Mysterious Miracle
A curious historical episode, or a divine intervention?
On October 13, 1917, something strange happened in Fatima, Portugal. Thousands of people gathered in a field, expecting to see the Virgin Mary. What they saw instead was the sun dancing in the sky.
The Miracle of the Sun is a famous religious phenomena of the 20th century, for believers and skeptics alike.
In May 1917, three young shepherd children claimed they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The kids were Lucia Santos, who was 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who were 9 and 7. They said Mary told them to come back to the same spot on the 13th of each month.
Word spread quickly. By October, around 70,000 people had shown up to see what would happen. The crowd included believers, skeptics, and newspaper reporters.
The day was rainy and cold. People stood in mud for hours. According to eyewitness accounts, the clouds parted and the sun appeared as a spinning silver disk. It cast colorful lights across the crowd.
Many said the sun zigzagged toward Earth, as if it was going to crash down on them. Panic broke out. People thought the world was ending. They fell to their knees, praying for mercy.
