The Story of Fatima
You know, everything seems to go faster these days. We seem to be getting busier all the time with more and more activities, and there’s always something new to be taken care of. And our priorities seem to be expanding at an uncomfortable pace. Sometimes it seems that the whole world is almost spinning out of control, sometimes so fast that we have a hard time keeping up with it. But in all our haste we seem to forget that we’ve been told what we need to do. Almighty God sent His Son to show us exactly what we need to do, but we forget.
We forget, too, how short a time we’re on this planet Earth. And today is so important to us, so important that we forget. And we forget how many times down through the centuries God has sent messengers to remind us of clear and distinct directions of how we should live and what we should do. I’d like to tell you a story that’s a good example of this.
Our Lady of Fatima
We’ve heard the story of Fatima with its miracle of the Sun but that was just to get our attention. Our attention to the real message of Fatima, given to us through the three Little Shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, is often forgotten or just plain overlooked. I’ve had the good fortune to visit Fatima several times and walked where the children walked and stood where they stood as they received the visitors from heaven whose messages to them are also messages to us.
There’s so much more to the story of Fatima than just the miracle of the Sun because it’s for you and me too, those directions I was talking about. Unfortunately, time doesn’t allow us to tell all the stories of Fatima, so I’ll just try to touch on a few of the highlights. And as I tell you the story about what happened so many years ago,
I’d like you to pay special attention to the messages the children receive and consider that these messages were intended for you and for me too. I believe the children were direct conduits between God and us and the real proof in the pudding is that they were told what would happen in the world if people didn’t pay attention.
The Three Children: Lucia, Franciso, and Jacinta
The real story starts before the apparitions of the beautiful lady appearing to the three children. But first a word about the children. Lucia dos Santos was the oldest and was nine years old in 1916 when the miraculous events first started.
Her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto were eight and six years old. Lucia was just an ordinary child who tended sheep with her cousins.
Jacinta often irritated her because, being the youngest, she was always wanting her own way and would become quite vocal if that didn’t And Francisco, well, he was so easygoing that if some bully wanted one of his playthings, he would just give it to him rather than fight. He was quiet and serious. All three lived in the tiny village of Austral, just a stone’s throw from Fatima.
On this one spring day in 1916
And if you visit Austral today, it is exactly as it was so many years ago. On this one spring day in 1916, the three children were tending their flocks of sheep on a little rocky hill called the Cabecho and were startled by a bright light that seemed to float through the air stopping just in front of them.
Through the light, the children saw the figure of a young boy of about fourteen who was almost transparent. He spoke to them in a voice that seemed like a melody. Kneeling, he said, “Do not be afraid. I am the angel of peace. Pray with me. My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not hope, and do not love Thee.” He then arose and said, “Pray like that. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to your prayers.” And then he faded away.
The children were silent and almost frozen in their places, but they told no one. A few months later, Lucia, Jacinto, and Francisco were resting near a fig tree by the well in the back of Lucia’s house when the angel appeared to them again saying, “You must pray a great deal. The hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer up prayers and sacrifices to the Most High.” Then he told them to make everything a sacrifice to God, to atone for the countless sins by which he is offended.
The Angel of Peace Returns
He then added, “Accept and bear every suffering he sends you. And then he and the bright light that circled him faded from view.” Several months back he appeared again as they tended the sheep. This time he was holding a chalice and the host was suspended in mid-air. The angel prostrated himself before the host, saying:
“Most Holy Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, really and truly present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the countless outrageous, sacrilegious, and interferences by which He is offended, and through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg thee to convert poor sinners.”
Many years later, Lucia would say, “Never consider the time wasted that you spend in prayer. You will discover that in prayer, God communicates to you the light, strength, and grace you need to do all that he expects of you.” Something else for us to think about. The children would obey the angel. They were now bound together by something very beautiful that they had shared.
They became close and they prayed. The times, though, in which they lived were not peaceful. Nations were battling each other and People didn’t get along. Danger seemed in the air, war and political unrest were prevalent, and God seemed less important to the people and often forgotten.
Main Apparition Begins May 13, 1917
About a year after the first visit by the angel, the children were again tending their flocks in a clearing some distance from where they lived. The place was called the Cova da Iria and was a grassy area dotted with many small home oak trees that didn’t grow too tall. It was Sunday, May the 13th, 1917, the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, when God sent a very special messenger on an errand of mercy to an unbelieving world.
As the three children tended the sheep as usual, there was a loud crack of thunder followed by a brilliant flash of light. Lucia thought a terrible storm was about to start, but when she looked up, the blue sky was clear, and then suddenly there was a bright light hovering over the small oak tree in front of them. The light was so powerful that they had to squint, and as they did, they saw a beautiful lady surrounded by the light.
Mary’s Appearance
She was dressed in white with a star at the hem of her dress, and in her hands, she held a rosary sparkling like a thousand diamonds. The children were frightened and thought that they were going to die, and then the lady spoke, “Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm.” Gathering up her courage, Lucia asked, “Where are you from?” And looking lovingly at the little shepherds, the lady told them, “I am from heaven.”
Confused but less afraid, Lucia asked, “What do you want of us?” And the lady asked them in return to come back to this spot on the thirteenth of the month for six months, and then she said, “I will tell you who I am and what I want.” Lucia boldly asked, “Will I go to heaven?”
She was assured that she, Jacinto, and Francisco would all three go to heaven. And the lady said, “Would you like to offer yourselves to God, to accept all the sufferings He may send you in reparation for the countless sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners?” Lucia spoke for all three and said they would. And the beautiful lady smiled lovingly at the children and said, “Then you will have much to suffer, “but the grace of God will be your comfort.”
The lady extended her hands and great streams of light seemed to bathe the children in a heavenly brilliance. She then told them, “Pray the rosary every day.” And then she rose on a cloud of light and disappeared in the eastern sky. The children remained still and quiet for a while in stunned silence and awed at the beauty of the lady dressed in white, the color of purity.
Lucia’s Caution
Lucia cautioned the other two not to speak of what had happened, but Jacinta was so overjoyed that she bubbled excitedly about the beautiful lady they had seen. Well, of course, they were not believed. Lucia’s mother was so outraged that she was severely punished. Naturally, word spread like wildfire, and the children and adults of Austral ridiculed them and some even spat on them in disgust.
June 13, 1917
But they returned to the Cove on the 13th of June, as they had promised, with perhaps a handful of the neighbors who were curious. everyone stood around the little home oak tree. Almost everyone saw a small white cloud floating down from the east until it hovered over the small tree. The children saw what the neighbors didn’t. They saw the beautiful lady who was there, and Lucia asked her, “My lady, what do you want of us?” They were told again, “I want you to come here on the 13th of next month and to pray the rosary every day.”
With the innocence of a child, Lucia said, “I want you to take us to heaven.” The lady nodded as a loving mother and said, “I will take Francisco and Jacinta soon, but you must remain on the earth for a long time. Jesus wishes to use you to make me better known and loved. He wishes to establish in the world devotion to my immaculate heart.”
As the lady extended her hands, the children could see in her palm a heart ringed by thorns, grieving because of the sins committed against her son’s wishes. And as she left, the branches of the little home oak tree bent in her direction as she again disappeared to the east. By now the people in the parish of Fatima in which Austral was located were abuzz with the talk of the children’s visitor and the stories they were hearing. There were some believers but mostly skeptics including the religious of the area.
July 13, 1917
And on July 13th there were about 5,000 people who had come to the Cove area on a blistering hot day. At the appointed hour, people were suddenly aware of a sudden cooling of the air. The sun seemed to dim as a little white cloud appeared to drift toward and settle over the little home oak tree, and the beautiful lady had come.
“Lucia,” asked again, “what do you want of me?” The lady from heaven answered, “I want you to continue to pray the rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war. My, doesn’t history seem to repeat itself? Lucia asked very simply, “I would like to ask who you are and to perform a miracle so people will believe you are appearing to us.”
The people want proof. Often, we all want proof, and if we don’t get it, that’s our excuse for doing what we want to do.
And the children still didn’t know who she was other than she was from heaven. But the lady understood, and she told them that in October she would tell them who she was and that she would perform a miracle so all would believe and then she said sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice, oh my Jesus this is for the love of you for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A Vision of Hell
As she said these words, she extended her hands downward, and the rays from her hands seemed to pull away the ground, and the children looked down and saw hell, which frightened the children beyond belief. They saw that it was real, and the lady said.
“You have seen hell, for the souls of poor sinners go. In order to save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do what I ask, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is about to end, but if people do not stop offending God, another war, even worse, will break out under the next Pope.”
World War II
Then she told Lucia, “When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that he is going to punish the world by means of war, hunger, and persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father.”
That was in 1917 and in the nighttime hours on January 25th and 26th of 1938 such a light was seen in the skies from Scotland to Portugal to Bermuda, a flickering curtain of red and blue and purple filled the sky like blood-red beams of light. Many people said that it was just the aurora borealis, the northern lights. Now we all know that the aurora borealis is caused by sunspot activities, but scientists determined that there were no sunspot activities that night.
One scientist in Norway concluded that this night, illuminated by an unknown light, was of “unaccountable origin” and could not be explained. However, on that night, in a distant convent, a nun, formerly known as Lucia Dos Santos, looking out her window, knew the source of the light and what was happening as Adolf Hitler assumed command of the German army at the beginning of World War II.
Consecration of Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart
The lady had said, “To prevent this war, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart. If people attend to my requests, Russia will be converted, and the world will have peace.” We have to remember at this time, Russia was not a world power and was a threat to no one, perhaps itself. Why did the beautiful lady in white choose the three little shepherds as her special messengers?
Sometimes the Mother of God in her love and wisdom does not always select the saintly and the wise but shows her universality with the lowly, born, and the plain. With the young, she seems to select those unburdened by pride and prejudice so that her message is clear and uncluttered. She is a bridge between God and man. Her role as Mediatrix with Christ is in no way conflicting with his role as our sole and natural mediator with the Father.
The 3 Secrets of Fatima
It was also at the July appearance that the children were given secrets, but that’s another story for another time. Perhaps the July apparition had the most effect on Jacinta, who would constantly say to Francisco, “We must pray to save souls from hell. If man only knew what awaits them in eternity, they would do everything in their power to change their lives.”
The three children started doing all kinds of penances. They would give their lunches away to those who were hungry. They would give up cool water on hot days as they herded their sheep.
Children Taken Away
Before the scheduled August 13th appearance, there was a man named Arturo Santos, who was the administrator in the nearby town of Oriane, which also had authority over the Fatima area. He was furious over the attention the children were receiving and even more angry for the number of people returning to the faith.
He tricked the children into thinking he was giving them a ride to the kovah on August 13th and whisked them off instead to the city headquarters in Orain. And back at the kovah, the crowd in August had swelled to about 15,000 people. And when noon arrived, the time of the apparition, the children were not there.
People started to become angry, and then they were told that the children had been arrested, and now they were becoming more unruly, and then there was a clap of thunder and a bright flash in the sky, and as the people looked up, they saw a little white cloud coming from the east and hovering for a moment over the little home oak tree, and then rise skyward and disappear into the heavens.
A Kaleidoscope
But something else happened then. Something that we don’t hear that much about. A myriad of colors suddenly bathed all the people in a kaleidoscope. Everyone’s faces reflected the different colors. Red, blue, yellow, and green. The ground was a patchwork of colors. And then, all of a sudden, it went back to normal, and the people quietly left the coven.
The Children Threatened
The children were held in the rain for several days and subjected to all kinds of threats both mental and physical. They were separated and each told that the other had been killed, boiled to death in oil, but they could be saved. They could have saved themselves if they just admitted that the apparitions were a hoax and that they made him up.
And each one of the children individually refused to change their story at all, willing to die if necessary. And finally, all three were reunited and thrown into a crowded jail with hardened criminals. And instead of being teased by the other prisoners, the guards were astonished to see everyone kneeling and praying with the children.
3 Children Released, Then Seen Our Lady
The children were finally released a few days later. On Sunday, August 19th, at a place in the woods called Valenzzos, about a mile from Fatima, Lucia, Francisco, and his brother John were tending their sheep when they heard a clap of thunder indicating the lady would soon appear. But Lucia asked John to run and get Jacinta because she wasn’t with them.
He went and brought Jacinta back, and as soon as she returned, the lady appeared, reminding them to pray the rosary every day, and that she would perform a miracle in October. She told the children, “Pray. Pray a great deal, and make many sacrifices, because many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray for them.”
She said that in October, Saint Joseph would be there with the Christ Child to bring peace to the world and that Our Lady of the Rosary would also be there, and she would tell them then who she was.
October 13, 1917
And on October 13th, there were 70,000 people crowded into the Cove area. The weather was horrible. Lightning flashed across the sky, thunder roared over and over again, and rain continued to fall as from giant buckets, making the ground like a marshland and soaking the people, even though thousands were holding umbrellas.
The three children with their parents wended their way to the spot where the lady would come. The crowd was growing impatient, partially due to the unrelenting rain that was falling in torrents and suddenly Lucia said, “There she is!” The lady surrounded by light was smiling at the three little shepherds. She told them who she was. She said, “I am the lady of the rosary.”
And the children saw Saint Joseph holding the Christ child, blessing the world. The mother of God told the children the most important message for us. She said that men must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. And then with the possibility of the most forceful of her messages was when she said, “Do not offend God anymore because He is already too greatly offended. And if that isn’t food for thought, I don’t know what is.”
The Miracle of the Sun
And that was in 1917. Lucia looked upward and suddenly she said, “Look at the sun!” As people looked upward, the dark rain clouds parted, and the sun shone brilliantly and bright colors started to be as if thrown off by the power of the sun which started to dart about in the sky.
Then it seemed to pause a moment and then appeared to be falling from the sky directly toward the earth below, and while the sun was dancing the children saw the Holy Family, our Lord carrying the cross and our Lady of Mount Carmel holding up her scapular. But people were screaming, thinking that this was the end of the world.
And then, as suddenly as it started, the sun returned to its proper place in the sky, and the people soaked by the torrential rains found themselves dry, and the marshy ground soft from the heavy rains was as hard and dry as that found in a drought, all of which was showing the awesome power of God. Many went to the Cove as unbelievers that day, who left as believers.
One school 25 miles from Fatima took their students outside to see the dancing sun, and a man 30 miles away called his wife on the phone to tell her to look out the window. The earth has turned over a great many times since that October day so long ago.
Everything Our Lady Said Came to Be Fulfilled
Our Lady was right. She took Jacinta and Francisco to heaven, both within a couple of years, and as she promised, Lucia stayed on earth until her nineties when she died just a few years ago in a convent in Coimbra just north of Fatima, where she lived a quiet life as a nun.
Francis Johnston, the Fatima scholar, said, is an alarm signal for men to mend their lives. Life itself is a pilgrimage and each day brings us closer to our eternal destiny and that is forever. Our message through the children is loud and clear. Do not offend God any more for he is already too greatly offended.
Maybe the question is, are we listening?
