It’s appropriate that we are celebrating Mother’s Day this year on May 13, the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.

After Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote about the apparition in the year 2000, many commentators hinted that he was not an enthusiastic supporter.

That misimpression needs to be changed.

Pope Benedict XVI not only loves Our Lady of Fatima as much as his predecessor did, he finds great consolation in her.

“A sure way of remaining united to Christ, as branches to the vine, is to have recourse to the intercession of Mary,” he said last year, “whom we venerated yesterday, May 13, in a particular way, recalling the apparitions at Fatima, where she appeared on several occasions to three shepherd children, Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia, in 1917.

“The message that she entrusted to them, in continuity with that of Lourdes, was a strong appeal to prayer and conversion; a truly prophetic message, considering that the 20th century was scourged by unheard-of destruction caused by war and totalitarian regimes, as well as widespread persecution of the Church.

“Moreover, on May 13, 1981, 25 years ago, the Servant of God John Paul II felt that he was saved miraculously from death by the intervention of ‘a maternal hand’ — as he himself said — and his entire pontificate was marked by what the Virgin had foretold at Fatima.

“Although there is no lack of anxiety and suffering, and although there are still reasons for apprehension about the future of humanity, what the ‘Lady in White’ promised the shepherd children is consoling:  ‘At the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.’”

So, happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers — and from us to the Mother of us all. We thank her for the great hope she has given us at the Register — and the mission to pass that hope on every week to you.

P.S. Thanks to all those who have generously supported us by sponsoring the Register for a week. Below, in our development corner, we have highlighted what this program is all about.