"Finally, the thought came to me that Mary wants this book … and that's what kept me going."

The opening of a just-posted ZENIT interview with Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, author of Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope (also available as an electronic book and a downloadable audio file):

YONKERS, New York, MAY 31, 2011 (Zenit.org).- There's a lot to the story of Fatima that many Catholics don't know, according to the author of a new book on the 1917 miracle.

In "Fatima For Today: The Urgent Marian Message of Hope," (Ignatius Press), Father Andrew Apostoli brings the story of Fatima to a new generation.

"[Catholics] are learning a lot that they didn't know about Fatima," says Father Apostoli told ZENIT. "A lot of good Catholics probably have a general idea … the rough lines of it and some details, but there's a lot to the story."

Since seeing the film "Miracle of Fatima" as a young boy, Father Apostoli says that the apparitions have had a great impact on his life.

"It was such a stirring story of these little children, their courage, and the importance of the message that Mary was confiding to them." He says that he has tried faithfully to live as Our Lady requested, namely, keeping the devotion of the Five First Saturdays.

"That's a very important part of the message," the priest stated, "one, by the way, which Sr. Lucia -- the oldest of the three children of Fatima -- herself admitted was not being done in numbers that we need. It's one of the two things Our Lady requested for the conversion of Russia." The second being the consecration of Russia.

Father Apostoli's great devotion to Our Lady of Fatima prompted Ignatius Press to request that he write an in-depth book on the subject. Having wanted to work with the Catholic publisher, the priest readily agreed. "It was a challenging book, I have to say. I'd be up late and my brain would feel like mush after a while, I couldn't think. Finally, the thought came to me that Mary wants this book … and that's what kept me going."

To many, it may seem that a book on an occurrence that took place in a small village during the middle of World War I might not have much relevance today. However, both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI felt strongly that the message given during the Great War is just as meaningful today, if not more so.

Continue reading at ZENIT.org. Read an excerpt from the book (which is also available in  on Ignatius Insight: