The sufferings of the three children intensified as their families, neighbors and even their pastor condemned them for making claims that Our Lady appeared to them. Their pastor told the people that the children’s claims were the “invention of the devil.” One of the few who believed the children replied to him saying, “There is praying at the Cova da Iria, and the devil does not like that.” “The devil, even, goes to the Communion rail,” countered the priest. Such was the persecution of the three seers.
Despite the condemnation and the sorrow it invoked, Jacinta and Francisco were the happiest children in the world. However, Lucia was filled with doubt and despair. Her mother constantly repeated the words of the pastor to her. Lucia understood that it was possible the apparitions were from the devil. That possibility disturbed her so much that she made up her mind not to go to the Cova da Iria again.
The eve of July 13, the day when they expected to see the Lady again, Lucia went to Jacinta and Francisco and told them of her decision not to go to the Cova the next day. This brought them to tears. They tried to convince her to go, but Lucia grew angry. She told her cousins, “No, I am not going. Look! If the Lady asks for me, tell her I am not going because I fear she is the devil.” At that Lucia left them.
The morning of July 13 arrived. Lucia felt the same doubt and confusion. However, she was interiorly compelled to go there when it was time to leave for the Cova. She could not ignore it. Once she decided to go, every doubt, every fear vanished. Her heart was transformed from sadness to joy. Upon arriving at her cousins’ house, she found both of them kneeling by the side of the bed, crying their eyes out. Realizing that Lucia had changed her mind, they jumped to their feet.
So off they went, the three of them, walking happily through the crowds of people that jammed the roads to the Cova. The three children could not hurry, because many people stopped them, asking them to speak to Our Lady and ask special favors for them.
THE THIRD APPARITION
At the Cova, they knelt and Lucia lead them in praying the rosary. When the rosary was over, Lucia stood up, looked towards the east and cried out, “Our Lady is coming!” The crowd saw something like a small greyish cloud hovering over the holm oak. The sun turned hazy and a refreshing breeze began to blow. It no longer felt like the height of summer. The crowd fell silent.
Like a loving mother bending over her sick child, wishing to strengthen and console the children in the truth of the apparitions, the beautiful Lady engulfed the three in her immense light and rested her loving eyes on Lucia. The girl could not speak for joy. Jacinta nudged her, “Lucia, go ahead, speak to her. She is already speaking to you.”
So Lucia, looking up towards Our Lady, her eyes filled with loving devotion, asked, “What do you want of me?”
“I want you to return here on the 13th of next month,” the Lady said. “Continue to say the rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war; for she alone can save it.”
Lucia couldn’t help but think of what the pastor had said. She wanted to clear up the doubts in her mind. So she asked, “Will you please tell us who you are and perform a miracle so that everyone will believe that you really appear to us?”
“Continue to come here every month. In October, I will say who I am and what I desire and I will perform a miracle all shall see, so that they believe.”
Then Lucia spoke of the petitions of the people. Our Lady answered, “Some I will cure and others not. As to the crippled boy, I will not cure him or take him out of his poverty, but he must say the rosary every day with his family.”
Lucia told her of the case of a sick person who wished to be taken soon to heaven.
“He should not try to hurry things. I know well when I shall come for him.”
Lucia asked for the conversion of some people. The answer of the Lady was, as with the crippled boy, the recitation of the rosary. Then, to remind the children of their special vocation and to inspire them to greater fervor and courage for the future, the Lady said:
“Sacrifice yourselves for sinners; and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice: ‘My Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’”
“As Our Lady said these words,” Lucia described many years later, “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 them along with 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 pain and despair that horrified and shook us with terror. We could tell the devils by their horrible and nauseous figures of baleful and unknown animals, but transparent as the black coals in a fire.”
All three children witnessed this. The crowd could see they were frightened. One person said the children turned deathly pale. Unable to bear these visions, they raised their eyes to Our Lady for help as Lucia cried out. “Oh... Our Lady!”
Our Lady then explained what they had seen: “You have seen hell – where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wants 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. The war 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, 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 request, 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.
“In Portugal, the dogma of the faith will be kept always.
“Do not tell this to anyone. To Francisco, yes, you may tell it.”
Lucia, seeing how Our Lady looked sad as well, wanted to do something heroic for her Lady. She asked, in childlike way, “Don’t you want anything else from me?”
“No; today I desire nothing else from you.”
At this point the crowd heard something like thunder, and a little grotto that had been set up to hold vigil lanterns shook as if there had been an earthquake. Lucia stood up quickly and exclaimed, “There she goes,” pointing up to heaven, then a few moments later, “She’s gone!” The small grey cloud witnessed by those present vanished.
Immediately, the inquisitive crowd surrounded them, asking, “What did the Lady say to make you look so sad?”
“It is a secret,” she responded.
“Is it something good?”
“For some, it is good; for others, it is evil.”
“Won’t you tell it?” they pressed.
“No, I cannot tell it,” she answered with convincing determination.
The people kept pushing so much that they almost smothered the children. Jacinta and Francisco’s father, Ti Marto, who had believed the children from the beginning, was frightened for their safety. He picked up Jacinta. Another relative took Francisco in his arms. A man from the village carried Lucia. The three men took the three visionaries safely home.
As was the case in all the heavenly encounters before, Lucia was the only one of the three to speak to Our Lady. Jacinta could see and hear Our Lady. Francisco was permitted to see but not hear her words. In previous apparitions, Our Lady taught them in a comforting, assuring way. This time, though, was different. They saw Our Lady but were also allowed to see into the revolting, foul and vile reality of hell. Her lesson to them was unlike her previous consoling ones.
She had prepared them the month before to begin conveying to the world God’s desire to increase devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in order to bring peace and end the war. Now the children were told what would come if God’s plan was not followed. Yet they were not permitted to tell anyone. That would come later.
Knowing this knowledge would only increase the children’s sufferings, she taught them that those sufferings would be meritorious. She gave them a simple prayer, “My Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” The children would endure far more suffering before Our Lady visited them again. This prayer, by taking refuge in the Immaculate Heart, was their sole source of comfort.
They did not know what was to come. They did not know what they were supposed to do with the knowledge given them. But they were now prepared to endure it all prayerfully and for the salvation of souls.
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 three children, brother and sister, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and their cousin, Lúcia Santos, did not immediately return to their homes after the first apparition on May 13, 1917.
They spent the rest of the afternoon in the fields “supremely happy,” reliving their visit from The Lady. Amid the joy they felt, they knew The Lady was somehow unhappy. Her parting words were troublesome, “Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” The children were innocently unaware of the Great War surrounding them.
Lúcia (who was born March 28, 1907) was the oldest of the three. Francisco (born June 11, 1908) and his sister Jacinta (born March 11, 1910) were one year, seven months and three years, seven months younger, respectively, than their cousin. Lúcia was old enough to understand how they would likely be treated by family, friends and others skeptical of such a story. She suggested, and her two cousins agreed, to keep the vision secret.
Lúcia and Francisco held to their agreement, but Jacinta was not accustomed to keeping secrets from her parents. She anxiously waited for them to return home from the market. Once she saw them, she ran to her mother exclaiming, “Mother, I saw Our Lady today in the Cova da Iria!” Her mother was incredulous, recounting later, “Sad and disappointed, she followed me into the house. ... She began to tell me all that had happened, the flash, their fear, the light. She told me how beautiful and pretty The Lady was. ... I put no stock in her words, saying ‘You are really silly. As if Our Lady would appear to a little girl like you!’” Francisco came to his sister’s defense and confirmed her account of the day’s events. Their father, however, did believe them. He reminded his family that Our Lady had done such things before, and they would leave it in God’s hands.
The story of the vision made its way through the village quickly. Lúcia’s mother heard of it and questioned her daughter. “I have heard people talking, saying that you saw Our Lady at the Cova da Iria. Is that true?” Lúcia knew Jacinta must have revealed the story and replied, “I had asked her so much not to tell anyone!” The secrecy gave her mother an even greater reason to doubt the story. She asked her daughter to explain. Lúcia said, “I don’t know if it is Our Lady. It was a most beautiful lady.” While the other two children had already concluded that The Lady was Mary, the mother of Jesus, Lúcia retained a spirit of discernment.
The month leading up to the next visit from The Lady was agonizing for the children. Many people concluded that the little shepherds invented the story for attention. Children mocked them. Adults threatened them. Yet they continued to tell the truth. They followed the angel’s instructions to “offer up everything within your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended; and of supplication for the conversion of sinners.” Every insult, taunt and contemptuous glare was offered up to the Lord. Their only consolation was the anticipation of the next visit from The Lady.
THE SECOND APPARITION
The Santos and Marto families, the parish priest and others attempted – forcefully at times – to dissuade the children from returning to the Cova on June 13. The Festival of St. Anthony, a time of music, food and games, especially for children, was underway in the village. All three were admonished, told to attend the festival, and commanded to forget about The Lady. Lúcia did go to the festival, however, but not with a frivolous intent. Instead, she talked to the girls who made their First Communion with her. She convinced 14 of them to go with her to the Cova.
The three children and their small army of First Communicants made their way to the Cova where The Lady appeared a month earlier. They were surprised to find a group of about 50 people waiting there for them. Most came from neighboring villages and were there because they believed the children.
It was near noon. They began reciting the rosary, and as they finished, Lúcia got up and shouted, “Jacinta, Jacinta, here comes Our Lady. I just saw the flash.”
The three of them ran over to the small holm oak. Everyone followed and knelt on the ground with them. Lúcia raised her eyes towards the skies, as if in prayer, and was heard to say, “You told me to come here today. What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to come here on the 13th of next month,” The Lady said. “Say the rosary, inserting between the mysteries the following prayer: ‘Oh My Jesus, forgive us. Save us from the fire of hell. Bring all souls to heaven, especially those in most need.’ I want you to learn to read and write, and later I will tell you what else I want.”
Then Lúcia asked Our Lady to cure a sick person who was there that day. Our Lady answered, “If he is converted, he will be cured within the year.”
“I would like to ask You also to take us to heaven!”
“Yes,” Our Lady answered, “I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. You, however, are to stay here a longer time. Jesus wants to use you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.”
“Am I going to stay here alone?” Lúcia asked, full of sadness at the thought of losing her beloved cousins.
“No, My daughter.”
Lúcia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Does this cause you to suffer a great deal? I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”
“As she said these last words,” Lúcia recalled, “the Blessed Virgin opened her hands and communicated to us for the second time the reflex of the immense light that enveloped her. We saw ourselves in it, as if submerged in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be on the side that was ascending to heaven, and I was on the side that was spreading over the earth. There was a Heart before the palm of the right hand of Our Lady, with thorns piercing it. We understood that this was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so offended by the sins of mankind, desiring reparation.”
The crowd now saw Lúcia rise quickly to her feet. Stretching out her arm, she exclaimed, “Look, there she goes; there she goes!”
The children remained silent as they watched Our Lady leave. A few minutes later Lúcia said, “There now! It’s all over. She has entered heaven. The doors have closed.”
Then everyone there, believer and non-believer alike, noticed something strange about the tree: its highest branches, which had been standing upright, now were bent down towards the east, as if someone had just walked on them.
This was how the second apparition ended.
As was the case during the first apparition, Lúcia was the only one of the three to speak to Our Lady. Jacinta was allowed to see and hear her words. Francisco was permitted to see her, but could not hear her words. Lúcia received an answer to the question she had been discerning. There was no longer doubt in the minds of the seers that The Lady was the Blessed Virgn Mary. She spoke of her Immaculate Heart. She spoke of her son Jesus and His desire to make her known and loved. She began to reveal God’s plan for them.
Our Lady prepared the children for what was to come. To Francisco and Jacinta, the promise of being taken to heaven soon brought them joy. To Lúcia, however, the message brought sadness. She was being prepared to live a long life on earth without her two cousins and fellow seers.
This visit was the first one to give the children, especially Lúcia, a mission and message for those around her. Our Lady was preparing the young girl. Jesus had plans to use Lúcia to increase the world’s devotion to His mother. They were given to know that these visitations were meant for more than themselves.
They were being prepared to convey God’s plans to the world. The foundation of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart was being prepared. To prepare them for this divine commission, Our Lady instructed them to learn to read and write.
This would be the last of the short visitations. The children were now given all they needed to prepare for the future – for the following month and for the remaining years of their lives. The angel prepared them for the apparitions of Our Lady. Now Our Lady was preparing the children to deliver a message to the world.
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.