Prayers for pope ahead of surgery invoke Our Lady of Fatima on miracle of sun anniversary

Pope Leo XIV entered Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Oct. 13 to undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime secretary to St. John Paul II, offered prayers for the pope through the intercession of the late saint and Our Lady of Fatima.

In a letter to the pope on Oct. 11, Dziwisz expressed that the news of the hospitalization had shaken him. He told OSV News that he hopes the surgery is a precautionary measure to prevent the illness from progressing and is only temporary. Dziwisz, who served as St. John Paul II’s personal secretary for four decades, said he is entrusting the matter to God through the late pope because of his experience with the graces received through his intercession.

The surgery coincides with the anniversary of the miracle of the sun in Fatima, a supernatural event linked to the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima to Lucia dos Santos and Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Pope John Paul II previously credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life following the 1981 assassination attempt.