The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared six times to three shepherd children ("The Three Seers") near the town of Fatima, Portugal between May 13 and October 13, 1917. Appearing to the children, the Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in our century. Coming at a time when civilization was torn asunder by war and bloody violence, She promised that Heaven would grant peace to all the world if Her requests for prayer, repration and consecration were heard and obeyed.
apparitions of Our Lady
First
apparition of Our Lady
On
Sunday May 13th 1917 the children were pasturing their flock as usual
at the Cova da Iria, which was about a mile from their homes. They were
playing when suddenly a bright shaft of light pierced the air. They
described it as a flash of lightning. It was not really lightning, but
rather the reflection of a light that approached little by little. Frightened
by the flash, the children looked around at the sky that was clear and
bright without the least spot of a cloud. No breeze stirred, the sun
was strong, and there was no hint anywhere of a storm that might be
responsible for a flash of lightning. The children, however, thought
that they had better head home in case it might start raining. As they
descended the hill. Another flash of lightning took them by surprise.
Panicky with fear, they took a few steps and looked towards the right.
There, standing over the foliage of a small holmoak, "a lady dressed
all in white, more brilliant then the sun, shedding rays of light, clear
and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water,
pierced by the burning rays of the sun". The lady spoke to them and
said: "Fear not! I will not harm you." "Where are you from?"
the children asked. "I am from heaven" the beautiful lady replied,
gently raising her hand towards the distant horizon. "What do you want
of me?", Lucia asked. "I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive
months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later
who I am and what I want. And I shall return here again a seventh time."
Lucia said : "Do you come from heaven...and will I go to heaven ?" " Yes, you'll go". "And Jacinta?" "As well" " And Francisco?" "Him
too , but he will have to say many rosaries". In the end Our Lady
asked : "Do you wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the
suffering that He may please to send you, as an act of reparation for
the sins by which He is offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?"
"Yes, we do." said the children. "You will have to suffer a lot,
but the grace of God will be your comfort. "Then she opened her
hands with a loving gesture of a mother who offers her heart. From it
an intense light departed that seemed to go through them. The vision
vanished telling them : "Recite the rosary every day to obtain the
peace for the world and the end of the war." And She disappeared. |
Second apparition of Our Lady On June 13 1917, accompanied by about 50 people, the children were reciting the rosary, when there was again the lightning, and immediately after the Lady on the holmoak appeared like in May. "What do you want from me?" asked Lucy. "I wish you to come here the 13th of next month; that you say the Rosary every day, and that you learn to read. In succeding months I will tell you what else I want." "I would like to ask you to bring us to Heaven", said Lucy. "Yes, Giacinta and Francis will be among the few, but you must stay here for a long time. Jesus wants to help Himself of you to make Me known and loved. God wishes you to remain in the world for some time because He wants to use you to establish in the world a devotion to my Immaculate Heart. 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." Lucy asked: "Will I stay here alone"?, "Don't be discouraged , I will not abandon you ever. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and through it will conduct you to God." Then She opened her hands and emanated her light on the children, Giacinta and Francis seemed to be in the light that went up toward the sky, Lucy in the light that spread on the earth. In front of the palm of the right hand of the Lady there was a heart surrounded by thorns that impaled it. They understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary affronted from the sins of men, and She then asked for reparation. |
| Third
apparition of Our Lady
On July 13 1917 they recited the rosary with the crowd, they saw the usual reflex of light and then the Lady on the holmoak. Lucy asked: "What do you want from me?" She answered: "That you come the 13th of the next month, that you continue to recite the Rosary every day to our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace in the world and the end of the war, because only She will be able to aid you." Lucy said " I want to ask you to tell us who you are, and to make a miracle for the crowd to believe that you appear." She Answered: "you continue to come here. In october I will tell you who I am, that which I want, and I will do a miracle that all can see and believe. Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say often this prayer, especially during any sacrifice: "O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins commited against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.". As she spoke these words, Our lady stretched out her hands, and bright rays came forth which seemed to penetrate into the earth. All at once the ground vanished, and the children saw Hell, frightened they lifted their eyes to the Lady who told them:"You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save future souls 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." Then She said:" If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyed, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed...But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world". "Do you want to learn a prayer?" the vision asked, "Yes we do!" the children responded. "When you recite the Rosary, say at the end of each decade: Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy." |
| Fourth
apparition of Our Lady
In August the children were prevented by the civil
authorities to go to the meeting of the 13th in which had gathered an
immense crowd. The children for two days were confined and threatened
with many torments to make them deny, but they did not surrender, they
were ready to offer their lives not to betray the promises made to the
Lady. When they had been released on August 19, while they fed the flock
in a place called Valinhos they saw the Lady above a holmoak. " What
do you want from me?" Lucy asked. "I Want you to continue to
go to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, that you continue to say the Rosary
every day. I, in the last month will make the miracle that all will
believe." Then with a sadder appearance told them: "Pray, pray
a lot and offer sacrifices for the sinners. You know that many souls
go the hell because there is none who pray for them."
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| Fifth
apparition of Our Lady
On September 13th the children and about 30.000
persons accompanied them to the Cova da Iria and they there recited
the Rosary, soon after appeared the Lady on the holmoak. "I Want
you to come here on October 13 and that you continue to recite the Rosary
to obtain the end of the war. In October the Lord, the sorrowful Lady,
the Lady of Mt. Carmel, and St Joseph with the child Jesus, will also
come to bless the world. God is glad of your sacrifices, He does not
want you to sleep with the chord to the sides, use it only during the
day."
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| Sixth
and last apparition of Our Lady
On 13 October 1917 the children surrounded by a crowd
of 70.000 persons under a torrential rain, Lucy asked again of the Lady:"What
do you want from me?" she answered: "I am the Lady of the Rosary,
I desire here a chapel in my honor to be built, that people continue
to recite the Rosary every day. Will the war finish. The war is going
to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes." Then
Lucy asked: "may I ask you for cures and conversions, will you grant
them?". "Some yes, others no. It is necessary that they ask pardon
for their sins, that they don't offend God our Lord,and that he is already
too much offended." "Do you Want anything else from me?" Lucy asked.
"I do not want anything more."
Then She opened her hands again and
She launched a ray of light in the direction of the sun as Lucy shouted
that they should look at the sun. At this point the promised sign
happened, Lucy shouted to look at the sun, the rain stopped suddenly
and there appeared an exceptionaly bright sun but not dazzling. The
sun began to turn as if projecting in each direction bands of light
of each color that lit and colored the clouds, the sky, the trees,
and the crowd. It stayed for some moments then it went back to its
normal position, it stayed still for a small while and then it happened
again. Suddenly it looked as if it stood out from the sky to fall
headlong on the crowd, that was looking terrorized, they fell to their
knees and begged mercy. Meanwhile the children saw a Lady dressed
like the white of the sun with a blue cope, St. Joseph with the Child
Jesus that blessed the world.Then after this vision they saw The Lord
bless the world, standing next to Our Lady of Sorrows. After these
visions the Lady of Mt Carmel finished the miracle. The people then
became aware that there clothes were completely dried.
One of the principal anti-clerical publications of the day was O Dia, a major Lisbon newspaper. On October 17th, O Dia reported the following: At one o'clock in the afternoon, midday by the sun, the rain stopped. The sky, pearly gray in color, illuminated the vast arid landscape with a strange light. The sun had a transparent gauzy veil so that eyes could easily be fixed upon it. The gray mother-of-pearl tone turned into a sheet of silver which broke up as the clouds were torn apart and the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy gray light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds. A cry went up from every mouth and people fell on their knees on the muddy ground. The light turned a beautiful blue as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands. The blue faded slowly and then the light seemed to pass through yellow glass. Yellow stains fell against white handkerchiefs, against the dark skirts of women. They were reported on the trees, on the stones and on the serra. People wept and prayed with uncovered heads in the presence of the miracle they had awaited. |
Francisco died on 4 April 1919 and Jacinta died on
20 Februrary 1920. Before she dies, little Jacinta revealed little-known
but remarkable statements made by Our Lady. Here are just 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. 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.
Lucy entered the Convent of the Sisters of St Dorothy
to learn to read and write; then she entered in the convent of Coimbra
where she is still now.
On December 10, 1925, sister Lucy received an apparition
by the Child Jesus and the Virgin Mary in her convent cell. The Holy
Virgin shown her a Heart surrounded by thorns, Our Lady said to her:
"See, My daughter, My heart surrounded by thorns
which ungrateful men pierce at every moment by their blasphemies and
ingratitude... Say to all those who:
As Our Lady said at the apparition of 13 July 1917,
"I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia". She did this
on 13 June 1929, when She appeared to Lucy in the Chapel of Dorotheas,
in the town of Tuy. Lucy said: "I had sought and obtained permission
from my superiors and confessor to make a Holy Hour from eleven o'clock
until midnight, every Thursday to Friday night.
 Being
alone one night, I knelt near the altar rails in the middle of the
chapel and, prostrate, I prayed the prayers of the Angel. Feeling
tired, I then stood up and continued to say the prayers with my arms
in the form of a cross. The only light was that of the sanctuary lamp.
Suddenly the whole chapel was illumined by a supernatural light, and
above the altar appeared a cross of light, reaching to the ceiling.
In a brighter light on the upper part of the cross, could be seen
the face of a man and his body as far as the waist; upon his breast
was a dove of light; nailed to the cross was the body of another man.
A little below the waist, I could see a chalice and a large host suspended
in the air, on to which drops of blood were falling from the face
of Jesus Crucified and from the wound in His side. These drops ran
down on to the host and fell into the challice. Beneath the right
arm of the cross was Our Lady and in her hand was her Immaculate Heart.
(it was Our Lady of Fatima, with her Immaculate Heart in her left
hand, without sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames).
Under the left arm of the cross, large letters, -as if of crystal
clear water which ran down upon the altar, formed these words: "Grace
and Mercy". I understood that it was the Mystery of the Most Holy
Trinity which was shown to me, and I received lights about this mystery
which I am not permitted to reveal. Our Lady then said to me: "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."
Pope Pius XI did not make the consecration which Our
Lady had asked Lucia to make known. Pius XII in his turn, did not
consecrate Russia in the original form, he consecrated the whole world
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a particular mention of Russia.
Pope Pius XII did something similar in 1942, and later consecrated
the Russian people in 1952.
On 13 May 1982, one year after an assassination attempt
in St Peter's Square on 13 May 1981 (the anniversary of the first
apparition), Pope John Paul II travelled to Fatima, where he met Sr
Lucia. He believed he owed his survival to the direct intervention
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The
Holy Father requested that the statue of Our Lady from Fatima's Capelinha
be sent to Rome, and then in collegial union with the Bishops of the
Church, he specifically consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary on 25 March 1984 (the feast of the Annunciation).
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www.fatima.org
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