Fatima: An Oasis of Peace

Joe Jukic and Nelly Furtado sat together in the quiet of the evening, the soft glow of a candle illuminating their faces. The conversation had turned to history, faith, and the strange, intertwined fates of nations.

โ€œYou know,โ€ Joe began, his voice thoughtful, โ€œFatima has always been an oasis of peace. Itโ€™s not just a placeโ€”itโ€™s a symbol. Our Lady of Fatima kept Portugal out of so much chaos. Look at Spain, torn apart by civil war. But Portugal? She spared us from that horror.โ€

Nelly nodded, her eyes reflecting the flickering light. โ€œAnd during World War II, Portugal stayed neutral. Thatโ€™s no small thing, Joe. The whole world was burning, and yet, somehow, Portugal remained untouched by the flames.โ€

Joe sighed, his thoughts drifting to his own heritage. โ€œMy country wasnโ€™t so lucky,โ€ he said, his tone heavy with sorrow. โ€œAdolf Hitlerโ€ฆ that madman. While Portugal was protected by Our Lady, my homeland was being torn apart. Hitler used Yugoslavia as a testing ground for his twisted ideas. He wanted to convert Russia to Catholicism, but first, he experimented on the Serbs.โ€

Nellyโ€™s expression darkened. โ€œThe Croatian puppet regimeโ€ฆ the atrocitiesโ€ฆโ€

Joe nodded, his hands clasped tightly together. โ€œThe river of blood between the Serbs and Croats is something that haunts me. Itโ€™s not just historyโ€”itโ€™s a wound that hasnโ€™t healed. Families torn apart, entire villages wiped out. And all in the name of some insane ideology.โ€

He paused, his gaze distant. โ€œItโ€™s hard to reconcile. On one hand, you have Fatimaโ€”a beacon of peace, a miracle that saved a nation. And on the other, you have the horrors of Yugoslavia, where faith was twisted into a weapon of division.โ€

Nelly reached out, placing a hand on Joeโ€™s. โ€œBut youโ€™re here, Joe. You carry these stories, these lessons. Maybe thatโ€™s part of the reason Our Lady spared Portugalโ€”so that people like us could look back and understand the cost of war, the value of peace.โ€

Joe smiled faintly, the weight of his memories still pressing on him but softened by her words. โ€œMaybe youโ€™re right, Nelly. Maybe weโ€™re meant to learn from all of this. To honor the peace we have and work to heal the wounds of the past.โ€

The candle flickered, casting shadows on the walls, as the two of them sat in reflective silence. In that moment, they were united by a shared hopeโ€”a hope that the lessons of Fatima and the tragedies of Yugoslavia could guide them toward a better future.

What do you think of this post?
  • Awesomeย (0)
  • Interestingย (0)
  • Usefulย (0)
  • Boringย (0)
  • Sucksย (0)
Translate ยป