The Apparitions
On a cool spring day in 1916, Lucia dos Santos, age 9, and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, ages 8 and 6 respectively, took their parents’ sheep to pasture in a place not far from their homes in the mountain village of Fatima, Portugal, about 90 miles north of Lisbon. It started to drizzle, and the children sought shelter in a nearby cave. Suddenly across the field, a white globe of light appeared, moving over the open space toward the cave. The three children stared in awe as they saw in the center of the light a beautiful young man in flowing white garments.
The stranger began to speak: “Fear not. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” Kneeling on the ground, he bowed low and recited this prayer three times, with the children repeating it after him:
“O my God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.”
In mid-summer, as the children were together, the angel came again, and said, “Pray! Pray a great deal. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices continually to the Most High. Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners. Bring peace to our country in this way… I am the Guardian Angel of Portugal. Accept and bear with submission all the sufferings the Lord will send you.”
The angel came again in the fall of that same year, this time bearing a golden chalice in one hand and a Host above it in the other. The amazed children noticed that drops of blood were falling from the Host into the chalice. Presently the angel left both suspended in mid- air and prostrated himself on the ground, saying this beautiful prayer: “Most Holy Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”
Such was the prelude to one of the most remarkable messages ever to be given from Heaven to Earth-the “peace plan” of Our Lady of Fatima.
The Lady “More Brilliant Than the Sun”
On Sunday, May 13, 1917, a little more than a year after the angel’s first visit, the children were pasturing their flocks as usual. This time they were in a rather barren hollow, known as the Cova da Iria (Hollow of Irene), which was about a mile from their homes. It was noon of a clear, sunny day, when suddenly a flash of lightning cut the air, moments later, then another. Fearing a storm, the children quickly gathered the sheep to get them home. Then their glances fell upon a small holm-oak tree directly in their path. A dazzling light hovered over the topmost branches, when to their surprise they saw the form of a most beautiful Lady standing atop the tree in the light. She was like the angel, only far more beautiful. She wore a long white dress, and the mantle over her head and shoulders reaching to her feet was edged in burnished gold. Her hands were joined before her breast, and from the right hand hung an exquisite rosary of white pearls. As Lucy later described her, “She was a lady more brilliant than the sun.”
After telling the children not to be frightened, the vision said:
“I come from Heaven. I want you to come here at this same hour on the 13th day of each month until October. Then I will tell you who I am and what I want.”
She also told them to say the Rosary every day, and to bear all the sufferings God would send them.
In June the Lady appeared again. There were about 70 people present, though only the children could see the apparition. She told the youngsters that many souls go to Hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them. She said Francisco and Jacinta would soon leave the world for Heaven. Holding out her heart surrounded by thorns which pierced it from all sides, Our Lady told Lucy: “God wishes you to remain in the world for some time because He wants to use you to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.”
The Children See Hell
During her appearance in July, Our Lady, in answer to Lucy’s plea, promised that in October she would work a great public miracle so that all might believe and know who she was. Again the Mother of God told the children to sacrifice themselves for sinners and to say many times, especially when making a sacrifice, this prayer:
“O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
As Our Lady said these words, Lucia later described the scenes, “She opened Her
hands again as She had done the two previous months. The light reflecting from them
seemed to penetrate into the earth, and we saw as if into a sea of fire, and immersed
in that fire were devils and souls with human form, as if they were transparent black
or bronze embers floating in the fire and swayed by the flames that issued from within themselves along with great clouds of smoke, falling upon every side just like the falling of sparks in great fires, without weight or equilibrium, amidst wailing and cries of painand despair that horrified and shook us with terror. We could distinguish the devils bytheir horrible and repulsive figures of frightful and unknown animals, but transparentas the black coals in a fire.”
Frightened, deathly pale, the little ones raised their eyes to Our Lady for help as
Lucia cried out. “Oh… Our Lady!”
Our Lady explained: “You have seen Hell — where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wills to establish throughout the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If people will do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace.”
Our Lady Foretells World War II And Communism
The war [First World War, currently raging] is going to end. “But if they do not stop offending God, another and worse war will break out in the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light[January 25, 1938], know that it is the great sign that God gives you, that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father. “To forestall this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. “If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and some time of peace will be given to the world.” The Lady asked that this message be kept secret until she gave permission to reveal it.
The Children Are Jailed
Arturo de Oliveira Santos, the Mayor of
Ourem, who had the Fatima seers kidnapped
and imprisoned in August 1917
The apparitions rapidly were creating so much excitement that the atheistic civil authorities became alarmed. At the next scheduled appearance of the Lady, August 13th, though more than 15,000 people were waiting in the Cova, the atheistic mayor of Ourem, under whose jurisdiction Fatima belonged, had the children kidnapped and placed in jail. In spite of his threats to have them burnt alive in boiling oil, the children refused to reveal the secret given to them. Fearing violence from the people, the mayor released Lucy and her cousins the next day. Near the village of Valinhos on August 19th, the Lady appeared to the children again. She told them she was greatly displeased by the action of the mayor. As a result, the miracle promised for October would not be as impressive as originally planned.
More than 30,000 people were present in September, and saw a shower of mysterious white petals fall to within 10 feet of the ground before dissolving into the air. Many also saw the globe of light bearing the Lady come to rest atop the tree, and the branches bend as though someone were standing on them. Later, they saw the cloud depart into the east, from whence it had come.
70,000 Gather for The Promised Miracle
By now, all Portugal was stirred by the events taking place at Fatima, suddenly the most important spot in the land. Particularly were the newspapers interested, especially in the statement that a great miracle was to take place. Many reporters and photographers were on hand to record the events, or to prove that the statements were nothing more than lies.
On the days preceding October 13th, all roads led to Fatima, with people coming from all parts of the land in any form of transportation they could find. Many walked for miles over the rough fields. It rained all the night of the 12th and the morning of the 13th. By noon, more than 70,000 had crowded into the Cova. Standing in mud up to their ankles, they huddled together under umbrellas, seeking protection from the relentless rain as they prayed their rosaries. Shortly after noon the Lady arrived for her final appearance. She told the children:
“I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day.”
The Sun Whirls In The Sky
As the Lady was about to leave, she pointed to the sun. Lucy excitedly repeated the gesture, and the people looked into the sky. The rain had ceased, the clouds parted, and the sun shone forth, but not in its usual brilliance. Instead, it appeared like a silver disc, pale as the moon, at which all could gaze without straining their eyes. Suddenly, impelled by some mysterious force, the disc began to whirl in the sky, casting off great shafts of multicolored light. Red, green, blue, yellow, violet-the enormous rays shot across the sky at all angles, lighting up the entire countryside for many miles around, but particularly the upturned faces of those 70,000 spellbound people. After three minutes the wonder stopped, but was resumed again a second and a third time-three times in all-within about 12 minutes. It seemed that the whole world was on fire, with the sun spinning at a greater speed each time.
Then a gasp of terror rose from the crowd, for the sun seemed to tear itself from the heavens and come crash ing down upon the horrified multitude. “It’s the end of the world!” shrieked one woman. “Dear God, don’t let me die in my sins!” implored another. “Holy Virgin, protect us!” cried a third. All were on their knees in terror, asking pardon for their sins. Just when it seemed that the ball of fire would fall upon and destroy them, the miracle ceased and the sun resumed its normal place in the sky, shining forth peacefully as ever.
When the people arose from the ground, cries of astonishment were heard on all sides. Their clothes which had been soaking wet and muddy, now were clean and dry. Many of the sick and crippled had been cured of their afflictions.
The Children Enjoy Special Visions
While the miracle of the sun was taking place, the children alone were privileged to witness several remarkable visions in the heavens. As Our Lady had promised, St. Joseph had come with the Holy Family and he had blessed the world. Then, Our Lady appeared as the Mother of Sorrows, accompanied by her Divine Son, who also blessed the world. Finally, Lucy had seen the Blessed Virgin Mary, dressed in the brown robes of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth, holding a brown Scapular in her hand, with her infant Son upon her knee. However, in none of these visions had any of the figures spoken to the children.
Truly, it had been a great day for Portugal. The reporters, many of whom had come to scoff, gave long and detailed accounts of what had taken place, while the newspapers published many photographs of the great crowds and of the children. Although these were released to the entire world (copies are on file in the U.S. Congressional Library), few people outside Portugal paid any attention to these events, and newspapers in most other countries ignored the story completely.
Subsequent Important Events
As the Blessed Mother had promised, Francisco and Jacinta soon joined her in Heaven. The little boy died from the flu in April, 1919 and his sister from pleurisy in February, 1920.
Before she died, little Jacinta revealed some little known but remarkable statements made by Our Lady of Fatima. Here are some of them:
“More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”
“Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.”
“Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God.”
“Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests to their superiors and to the Holy Father is very displeasing to Our Lord”
“The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the hand of her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes.”
“If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to our Holy Religion, it will be blessed by God.”
“Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her. and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her”
Our Lady Appears With The Christ Child
In 1921, upon the advice of the Bishop of Leiria Fatima, Lucy entered a convent boarding school to learn to read and write. Later she became a nun in the order, a Sister of St. Dorothy, whose motherhouse was at Tuy, Spain.
One day, while Lucy (now Sister Lucia) was kneeling in prayer in the convent chapel (December 10, 1925), the Blessed Mother and the Christ Child appeared to her with a new and wonderful message for souls. The first to speak was the Christ Child, who said:
“Have pity on the heart of your Most Holy Mother. It is covered with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to remove them with an act of reparation.”
As Holding in her hand a heart encircled with sharp thorns, Our Lady then said to Sister Lucia:
“My child, behold my heart surrounded with the thorns which ungrateful men place therein at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me. Announce in my name that I promise to assist at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
Sister Lucias Secret
Our Lord appeared to Sister Lucia in 1927, this time giving her permission to reveal the first two parts of the message of Fatima: 1) The vision of Hell, including the promise to take the children to Heaven, the predictions of another war, martyrdom for Christians, the destruction of nations, the persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father, and the spread of Communism. 2) The devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. All this had previously been kept secret.
In 1929, Our Lady came once again. She completed the promise made on July 13th to come and ask for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. “The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the bishops of the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.” If men would fulfill her requests, Russia would be converted and there would be peace.
Remember What Our Lady Of Fatima Said
“I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord, Who is already deeply offended.”
“The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the Hand of her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes.”
“Say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world. Add after each decade the following prayer: ‘O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy.
“Pray, pray, a great deal, and make sacrifices for sin ners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to make sacrifices and pray for them.”
“More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for amy other reason!” [Sins agains: the 6th Command ment.]
“Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God.”
“Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much!”
“Wars are a punishment from God for sin!”
“God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to MY IMMACULATE HEART. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”
“Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Im maculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her.”
“I promise to help at the hour of death, with graces needed for salvation, whoever, on the first Saturday of 5 consecutive months, shall confess and receive Holy Communion, recite 5 decades of the Rosary, and keep me company jor 15 minutes, while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart.”
“If my requests are not granted, Russia will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed!”
“In the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace!
