The Story of a Big Conversion
On the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
By Norman Fulkerson
When Our Lady appeared at Fatima, she gave dire warnings of what would befall mankind if they did not amend their lives. It was so shocking that many people converted.
As the world continues to decay, many reject her Fatima message. However, others are changing their lives because of those same prophecies. This is what happened with Chris after he and his wife Jacqueline hosted an America Needs Fatima Home visit at their house in Melbourne, Florida, on May 6, 2025.
During such home visits, an America Needs Fatima custodian gives a presentation about the Fatima message accompanied by a large statue of Our Lady.
At this visit, Chris kept a distance when the program began but moved closer to the custodian when it came time to explain the Five First Saturday devotion. He looked bewildered to find out this devotion entails Confession, Communion, praying the Rosary and meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes.
“I don't know how to do any of these things,” he blurted out. It turns out that Chris had not practiced his faith since childhood. Thus, he did not know how to pray the Rosary, go to Confession or make an examination of conscience. Needless to say, he, like many Catholics today, did not know what a mortal sin is.
The two of us had a very long talk about the need to confess because "all it takes is one mortal sin to send a person to hell for all eternity." Chris’ reaction to the instruction given was truly remarkable. While many might have bristled at such direct counsel, he accepted it with a refreshing childlike docility.
I decided to leave Our Lady’s statue in Chris’ home for some days until I returned the following week for another tour of visits. The day I arrived happened to be May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima’s first apparition.
Chris arrived a short time later and said he went to Confession, which lasted an hour. After unburdening his soul of fifty years of sin, he admitted to me that he broke down and cried.
Our Lady of Fatima was undoubtedly responsible for this miraculous transformation. On the first night the statue stayed in his home, Chris said he stayed up till 1:00 AM just looking at her: "She is so beautiful!" His wife Jacqueline was shocked by the transformation and later told me with a glowing countenance, “I never imagined my husband would pray a rosary with me!”
On this year’s anniversary of her first apparition in Fatima, Our Lady truly got a “big fish.” Chris' story is a powerful reminder of the transformative power of Divine Grace and the enduring relevance of Our Lady of Fatima’s message in drawing souls back to God. His late-life journey from the state of sin to sincere reconciliation is a testament that it’s never too late to come home.
