In the previous apparitions, Our Lady promised the children that the last time she would appear in Fatima, on Oct. 13, 1917, she would effect a miracle. She promised to do so because Lucía asked for a sign that everyone would see and believe.
This was one of the few revelations Lucía made regarding the content of the apparitions at that time. The children had repeated this promise so frequently that news of it had spread throughout Portugal. A miracle that all could see and experience was promised not years, decades or centuries later – it was imminent. People knew when and where to go because the three shepherd children announced it.
The anticipation of this momentous event, or lack of it, was weighing heavily on all. The miracle would confirm that the children spoke truthfully about the apparitions. The absence of the miracle would demonstrate that they had been deceived or, worse, that they had lied.
This was a time of joyful and hopeful eagerness for the children and those who believed them. They fully trusted Our Lady and had no worries or concerns.
For the Santos family and others who did not believe the visionaries, but were nonetheless concerned for the children’s safety, their apprehension grew as the day approached. Both the Santos and Marto families were threatened with severe penalties if this promise turned out to be a fraud.
For the unbelievers and the enemies of the Church, this was a time of celebration. They expected to be vindicated in their claims that this was a hoax fabricated by the Church, and their opportunity to discredit the Church with finality.
In the Santos home, Lucía’s siblings insisted that Lucía give up on what they called a “dream.” Her father scolded her repeatedly. Her mother told her there were bombs at the Cova da Iria in an attempt to frighten Lucía enough to not go there. Lucía’s mother was so panic-stricken by the thought of impending disaster that on the morning of Oct. 12, she insisted that Lucía go to confession, telling her it would be her one “before people kill us when the miracle doesn’t happen.” Very calmly and with great faith, Lucía replied, “If you want to go to confession, mother, I’ll go with you, but I’m not afraid. I am positive that the Lady will do what she promised.”
Some people in the town wanted to lock all three children in a room until they denied their story. Others wanted to take the children far away and leave them in a place no one could find them. The children were told that if they didn’t recant, their families would be attacked and killed.
Things were different in the Marto home. Nothing could shake the belief of Senhor Marto. He tells how the pastor of Porto de Mós came to their home a few days before Oct. 13. The priest wanted to make the children contradict themselves. “Listen, good girl,” the priest said to Lucía, “you are going to tell me that it is all an invention. Even if you don’t admit it, I’ll say it is, and I’ll have it spread everywhere, and you won’t escape either.” He made similar threats to Francisco and Jacinta. All three remained silent.
On the morning of Oct. 13, 1917, fear and panic prevailed in Fatima. A piercing cold rain was pouring from the heavens. Some people of wavering faith were pessimistic. They imagined that the glorious day promised by Our Lady and the children could not be miserable and dark. The weather, however, did not dampen the spirits of the tens of thousands of people who gathered in the Cova da Iria.
O Século, an anti-Catholic and Masonic-owned Lisbon newspaper, sent a reporter to observe the event. In the extensive article, he wrote, “At dawn, groups surged undauntedly and crossed through the villages, without stopping for a moment, breaking the early morning silence with their beautiful religious hymns. The delicate harmony of the women’s voices made violent contrast with their rustic appearance. The skies presaged a storm. Dark clouds loomed directly over Fatima. Nothing would stop the crowd converging from every road on towards the holy place. ... Sheets of rain, driven by a chilly autumn wind, whipped the faces of the pilgrims, drenched the roads, and chilled the people to the bone. While some sought shelter under the trees, against the walls or in scattered houses, others continued their march with impressive endurance.”
A professor from the University of Coimbra, Dr. Almeida Garrett, estimated the number of people at the Cova at over 100,000. Newspapers printed a more conservative estimate of 70,000. Paradoxically, the reporters provided historic, written accounts of an event they did not expect to happen.
Tí Marto accompanied the three children through the crowds and in the mud, keeping them safe and leading them to the Cova da Iria. “Make way for the children who have seen Our Lady,” shouted the faithful as the children came near.
Because of the Great War going on in the world, there existed a local time and a war time. Local time was determined by location. War time was synchronized to a different system to minimize the confusion that multiple time zones had caused. It was noon in Fatima, but, in war time, it was 1:30 p.m. Many people who came from other areas began to accuse the children of lying, saying that the Lady wasn’t coming as promised. As the crowd grew impatient, just then, Lucía glanced towards the east and said to Jacinta, “Kneel down; Our Lady is coming. I’ve seen the flash.” The hour of the apparition had arrived; the miracle that was promised had begun to take place, precisely at noon in Fatima.
“Silence, silence, Our Lady is coming,” Lucía cried out. The rain ceased, the sun began gradually to appear, and Our Lady came. Her feet, as always, rested upon the holm oak. The faces of the three children assumed their otherworldly expression and their eyes were fixed intent upon the Lady.
Lucía asked, “What do you want of me?”
“I want to tell you that they must build a chapel here in my honor; that I am the Lady of the Rosary; that they continue to say the rosary every day. The war will end and the soldiers will return to their homes soon,” Our Lady responded.
“I have many favors to ask. Do you wish to grant them or not?”
“Some I will! Others I will not! They must mend their lives, ask forgiveness for their sins. Offend not Our Lord anymore,” Our Lady continued, her face becoming very grave, “for He is already much offended.”
Lucía, knowing this was to be the last time she would speak to Our Lady, wanted to make sure that she received all the commands Mary wished to give her. She hoped to spend the rest of her life on earth fulfilling the desires of Our Lady. “Do you want anything else from me?” the girl asked.
“I desire nothing else.”
As Our Lady took leave of the children, She opened Her hands, which emitted a flood of light. While she was rising, she pointed towards the sun. The light gleaming from her hands brightened the sun itself.
“There she goes; there she goes!” Lucía shouted, not taking her eyes off the beautiful Queen of Heaven. Her words could barely be heard because there was a huge, immense cry of astonishment from the crowd. The sun was now pale as the moon. To the left of the sun, St. Joseph appeared, holding in his left arm the Child Jesus. St. Joseph emerged from the bright clouds only to his chest, sufficient to allow him to raise his right hand and make, together with the Child Jesus, the Sign of the Cross three times over the world. As St. Joseph did this, Our Lady stood in all her brilliancy to the right of the sun, dressed in the blue and white robes of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Meanwhile, Francisco and Jacinta were bathed in marvelous colors and signs of the sun, and Lucía was privileged to gaze upon Our Lord dressed in red as the Divine Redeemer, blessing the world, as Our Lady had foretold. Like St. Joseph, He was seen only from His chest up. Beside Him stood Our Lady, dressed now in the purple robes of Our Lady of Sorrows, but without the sword. Finally, Mary appeared again to Lucía in all Her ethereal brightness, but now clothed in the simple brown robes of Mount Carmel.
As the children stared enraptured by these heavenly visions, the crowd of thousands was amazed and overpowered by other miracles in the skies. The sun had taken on an extraordinary color. The words of eyewitnesses best describe these stupendous signs:
“We could look at the sun with ease,” Ti Marto testified; “it did not bother at all. It seemed to be continually fading and glowing in one fashion, then another. It threw shafts of light one way and another, painting everything in different colors, the people, the trees, the earth, even the air. But the greatest proof of the miracle was the fact that the sun did not bother the eyes.” He continued, “At a certain point, the sun stopped its play of light and then started dancing. It stopped once more and again started dancing until it seemed to loosen itself from the skies and fall upon the people. It was a moment of terrible suspense.”
“The sun cast different colors, yellow, blue and white. It trembled constantly. It looked like a revolving ball of fire falling upon the people,” Maria da Capelinha recounted later. “As the sun hurled itself towards the earth people cried out in terror, ‘We are all going to die here.’ Some begged for mercy, ‘Oh Jesus, save us! Our Lady save us!’ Many others made acts of contrition. At last the sun swerved back to its orbit and rested in the sky. ‘Everyone gave a sigh of relief.’”
Once this had finished, yet another miracle was manifested. The muddy ground, the wet clothes, and the drenched crowd were all perfectly dry – without any trace of the wet state they were in just moments earlier.
The miracle had come to pass at the hour and day designated by Our Lady.
Although this was the last apparition in the Cova, it also marked the beginning of the modern world. Satan began preparing for the great battle against Our Lady and the Church at that very moment.
The Russian Revolution that would quickly usher in Communism and cost millions of people’s lives had begun during the late summer of 1917. On Oct. 13, 1917, in Moscow, the very same day that Our Lady appeared for the last time in Fatima, there was an attack on a Catholic church. Maria Pavlovna, daughter of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, often called “Maria the Younger,” was teaching religion to a group of approximately 200 children in the Church of the Iberian Virgin. Without warning, revolutionaries entered the church, destroyed the icons and the sanctuary, desecrated the altar, and murdered most of the children. Maria was able to escape with her aides and some of the children. She went to the Royal Military Headquarters to get help and report this horrific incident to a family friend. She ran to his office and told him what had happened. “I know,” Lenin said. “I sent them.”
Also at noon on Oct. 13, 1917, Our Lord responded in Rome with the papal ordination of a bishop who would one day become a great pope. In the Sistine Chapel, Pope Benedict XV consecrated Monsignor Eugenio Pacelli as a bishop and, at the same time, elevated him to archbishop. Archbishop Pacelli was assigned as the papal nuncio to Munich. Lenin’s Communist revolutionaries, who were highly organized in Munich, published a list of 325 men whom they intended to kill. One of them was Archbishop Pacelli. An attempt was made on his life, and he credited Our Lady for saving him. On March 2, 1939, now Cardinal Pacelli was elected pope. The pontiff had great devotion to Our Lady. In 1951, he published the encyclical “Ingruentium Malorum,” promoting the rosary. In 1953, he published the encyclical “Fulgens Corona,” proclaiming a Marian Year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s apostolic constitution “Ineffabilis Deus” (which affirmed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception). And in 1954, he published his encyclical “Ad Caeli Reginam,” proclaiming the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. Upon his election as pontiff, Cardinal Pacelli was the 12th pope to take the name Pius. Pope Pius XII stood strong as the vicar of Christ against the evils of Germany and Russia.
During this centennial anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, the Catholic News Herald is publishing a series of commentaries examining each of her six visits to the children, the messages given to them and how Fatima’s past prepared the future to receive God’s divine plan for peace. Father James Ebright, priest in residence at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia, is among those writing this series on behalf of the Te Deum Foundation, online at www.tedeumfoundation.org.
The fourth apparition: The 19th of August
Of all the torment, trial and terror inflicted by the magistrate on the three children of Fatima – 9-year-old Francisco Marto and 7-year-old Jacinta Marto, along with their 10-year-old cousin Lucia dos Santos – the most egregious offense was keeping them imprisoned on Aug. 13. They were heartbroken. Each of the three made a promise to the Lady to be at the Cova da Iria on the 13th of every month, and this month they were not there. With innocent, childlike reasoning they believed they had broken that promise and had disappointed her.
The following Sunday, Aug. 19, the children went to the Cova as usual to pray the rosary. They returned home for lunch. Afterwards, Lucía decided to go to Valinhos, not far away, to spend the afternoon in prayer. Francisco and his older brother John went with her. (John lived in the family home until his death on April 28, 2000.) Around 4 p.m. the air cooled, the sun paled, and they saw the typical flash of light that usually preceded an appearance of Our Lady.
John was excited to be there for this apparition, but Lucía ordered him to go home and return with Jacinta. After some coaxing and four pennies, John did just that. He found Jacinta at her godmother’s house. Taking her by the hand, he whispered the news to her. Together they raced to Valinhos. As soon as the two arrived, a second flash lit the area.
Now that the four children were together, on their knees and praying, the Lady in brilliant light appeared over a holm oak, slightly taller than the one at the Cova. Lucía would later recall that she had a sense that the Lady was rewarding them for their fidelity during their ordeal.
As in every apparition before, Lucía began by asking the Lady, “What do you want of me?”
“I want you to continue to come to the Cova da Iria on the 13th and to continue to say the rosary every day.”
Lucía told Our Lady of her sorrow over all the people who did not believe she was appearing. Lucía asked for a miracle or a sign so that everyone would believe.
“Yes,” Our Lady answered, “In the last month, in October, I shall perform a miracle so that all may believe in my apparitions. If they had not taken you to the village, the miracle would have been greater. St. Joseph will come with the Baby Jesus to give peace to the world. Our Lord also will come to bless the people. Besides, Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows will come.”
The miracle Our Lady promised was intended for the people, so that all would come to believe. The children had not asked for this sign so people would believe in them. Selflessly, they wanted everyone to believe so they could, too, could make reparations for sins against the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart. The magistrate, the guards, the inquisitors, their collaborators and the crowds of people who insulted and harmed the children would still have a sign of her presence. Had their hearts not been hardened, the sign would have been greater.
Lucía remembered Senhora da Capelinha’s request and said: “What do you wish us to do with the money and the offerings that the people leave at the Cova da Iria?”
“Have two litters made. One is to be carried by you and Jacinta and two other girls dressed in white; Francisco is to carry the other with three boys also dressed in white robes. The money placed on the litters is for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.” (A litter is a portable platform mounted on two poles and usually carried by four people. It is often used in religious processions to carry a statue or image of a saint, or as in Fatima, a statue of Mary.)
Lucía then spoke to Our Lady of the sick who had been recommended to her.
“Yes, I shall cure some of them within the year.” But she went on, teaching them to pray rather for the health of souls than of bodies. “Pray! Pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell for not having someone to pray and make sacrifices for them.”
The Lady’s apparition was not lengthy. She began to rise towards the east, as before and was gone.
The children were consoled by this visit from the Lady. This visit was special because it was intimate. There were no large crowds like there were at the Cova da Iria. At the Cova, people had stripped off every branch and twig from the holm oak. The children were never able to return with even a simple leaf. They decided to break off a small branch which the robe of the Lady had touched. John and Lucía stayed at Valinhos with the sheep, while Francisco and Jacinta rushed home with the branch to tell their parents of the unexpected visit of Our Lady.
The children’s desire for a sign from the Lady so that others might believe was, in a small way, answered by way of that branch. On the way to their house, Jacinta and Francisco passed by Lucía’s home. Lucía’s mother, sister and several neighbors were at the door.
“Aunt Maria Rosa,” Jacinta cried out with joy, “we saw Our Lady again! It was at Valinhos! See here, Our Lady had one foot on this twig and the other on that one.”
Jacinta gave the branch to Lucía’s mother. The mother’s face showed great surprise as she put the branch to her nose. “What does this smell of?” she asked. “It is not perfume, it’s not incense nor perfumed soap; it’s not the smell of roses nor anything I know, but it is a good smell.” The whole family gathered and each wanted to hold the branch and smell the beautiful scent.
From that moment, Lucía’s mother and her whole family slowly turned away from their opposition and disbelief.
The fifth apparition: The 13th of September
The words that stayed in the minds of the children were the last words spoken by Our Lady at Valinhos: “Pray, pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell for not having someone to pray and make sacrifices for them.” All three, but especially Jacinta, had been praying and sacrificing. With those words, they had an even stronger desire for mortification, prayer and suffering. Their one longing was to close that terrifying furnace of hell so that no more souls could go there.
The children prayed much, but they sacrificed themselves even more. They trained their minds to discover new ways of suffering for the conversion of sinners. Lest others misunderstand the motives of their mortifications and prevent them from saving souls from hell, they kept this a secret between themselves. Only under orders from her superiors, many years later, did Lucía relate the extent of their sacrifices.
One of the many ways they mortified themselves would later be mentioned by Our Lady. While pasturing their sheep, they found a piece of rope. Playfully, Lucía tied it around her arm and soon discovered that it hurt. “Look, this hurts! We could tie this around our body for another sacrifice.” The rope was thick and very rough. They cut it in three pieces and tied it around their waists. The sharp pain it caused was difficult to endure, especially for little Jacinta. Lucía suggested that she take it off, but Jacinta insisted she keep it on to save sinners from hell. They even wore the rope to bed. This prevented them from getting the rest they needed to carry out their daily tasks.
Sept. 13 finally arrived. Before sunrise, crowds gathered around the children’s homes. Everyone wanted to speak to them or to ask a special remembrance to Our Lady. “When it came time to leave for the Cova da Iria,” Lucía would later write, “I left with Jacinta and Francisco, but there were so many people that we could hardly move a step. The roads overflowed with people. Everyone wanted to see and speak to us. There was no human respect in that crowd. Ordinary people, even noble ladies and gentlemen, succeeding in breaking their way through the crowd surrounding us, fell on their knees before us, asking that we bring their needs before Our Lady. Many others, unable to get near us, shouted, ‘for the love of God, ask Our Lady to cure my lame child... ask her to make my child see... to make my child hear... ask her to bring my husband and son back from the war... to convert a sinner... to make me, sick with tuberculosis, whole again.”
When they finally arrived at the holm oak, Lucía as usual started the rosary, with the people responding. They were almost finished when the children arose to scan the horizon. They had seen the flash that meant the Lady was arriving. A globe of light was visible to many in the crowd.
The Lady stood over the same holm oak. Again, Lucía began with the humble question, “What do you want of me?”
“Let the people continue to say the rosary every day to obtain the end of the war,” Our Lady responded. She renewed the promise she made during her last apparition. “In the last month, in October, I shall perform a miracle so that all may believe in my apparitions. If they had not taken you to the village, the miracle would have been greater. St. Joseph will come with the Baby Jesus to give peace to the world. Our Lord also will come to bless the people. Besides, Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows will come.
“God is pleased with your sacrifices but does not wish that you sleep with the rope. Wear it only during the day.”
Many years later Lucía wrote what many of the saints have before, that a most pleasing sacrifice to the Lord is offering your day to Him and doing your duties well. The children were not able to sleep with the rope. It affected how they watched over the sheep and how they carried out their other chores. Our Lady was gently teaching them this lesson.
“They have requested me to ask you many things,” Lucía then said. “This girl is a deaf mute. Don’t you want to cure her?”
“In the course of the year she will be improved.”
“Will you help these other people?” Lucía asked.
“Some I will cure; but the others, no. Our Lord does not have confidence in them.”
“The people would like very much to have a chapel built here,” Lucía suggested.
“Use half of the money received so far for the litters. On one of them, place the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary. The other half should be set aside to help with the building of the chapel.”
“Many people say that I am a swindler who should be hanged or burned. Please perform a miracle for all to believe,” Lucía begged.
“Yes, in October, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.”
“Some people gave me these two letters for you and a bottle of cologne.” Lucía did not want to forget any requests.
“None of that is necessary for heaven.”
Our Lady then began to leave. Lucía, pointing towards the east, shouted to the people, “If you want to see Our Lady, look that way!” They looked eagerly towards the east and many saw the luminous globe now ascending towards heaven.
As soon as it disappeared, the whole crowd swarmed the three children, asking many questions and pressing them to tell them the secret. Their parents had to struggle to make their way through the crowd. Once they did, they brought the children home.
All was now in place for the next, and the last, apparition. The children were now prepared for what would come.
During this centennial anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal, the Catholic News Herald is publishing a series of commentaries examining each of her six visits to the children, the messages given to them and how Fatima’s past prepared the future to receive God’s divine plan for peace. Father James Ebright, priest in residence at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Gastonia, is among those writing this series on behalf of the Te Deum Foundation, online at www.tedeumfoundation.org.