A number of Roman Catholics gathered Oct. 15 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church grounds at Ruch and Chestnut Streets, Stiles, to honor the 105th anniversary of the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, Portugal.

Ceremonies like the one held at St. John’s were conducted worldwide to celebrate Our Lady of Fatima. Robert Gidosh, of Whitehall, and Joseph Paul, of Coplay, led the solemn Whitehall celebration.

The program included the singing of the Immaculate Mary song. There was a recitation of the Rosary, with some attendees taking turns leading the Rosary prayers, a praying of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Prayer of Total Consecration, as well as other reverent prayers.

There was a clear sense of fellowship among the attendees and sanctity in the gathering.

At the conclusion of the observance, Gidosh thanked those who attended and asked them to pray for an attendee’s young adult child who recently received a cancer diagnosis.

According to the online publication The Divine Mercy, Mary appeared to three shepherd children named Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. The children were age 6, 8 and 9 when the first apparition occurred.

There were reportedly six apparitions that occurred May 13-Oct. 13, 1917. She also gave the children three secrets during the apparitions.

The first secret was showing the children Hell and the souls languishing there. The second secret was a prediction of a second world war that would begin during the reign of Pope Pius XI. The third secret was revealed that Russia would spread its errors throughout the world unless the Pope consecrated that country to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The Divine Mercy noted there are five sins that can be committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: denying the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother, denying Our Lady’s virginity, denying Our Lady’s Divine Maternity and role as Mother of all of Mankind, causing children to have contempt or hatred toward Our Lady or committing outrages against holy images of Our Lady.