| Account of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima According to Sr. Lucia, the oldest of the visionaries ©Recompiled by SCTJM |
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| “Jesus wants to use you to let others know and love me. He wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world.”  |
First Apparition of the Virgin : Sunday, May 13th, 1917
Called to the offering of their life
While playing with Jacinta and Francisco on the hill, near Cova de Iria, we were building a wall with stones around a blooming plant, all of a sudden we saw a light like lightning. “It is lightning,” I said. “A storm could come. We had better go home.” “Oh, yes, alright,” my cousins responded.
We started to come down from the hill taking the sheep down the path. When we were halfway down the slope, near the holm oak which still exists today, we saw a flash of lightning and after we took some more steps over the slope, over the holm oak we saw a Lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the sun, scattering clear and intense light, more than the strongest ray of sunlight through a glass of water. We were so close that we were in the light She irradiated.
Our Lady said: “Don’t be afraid. I will not harm you.”
- I asked her: “Where are you from?” -“I’m from Heaven.”
- “What is that you want from me?” - “I have come to ask you to come here six consecutive months on the 13th at the same time. Later I will say who I am and what I desire. I will return a seventh time.”
- Then I asked: “Will I go to Heaven?” - “Yes, you will go.” - “and Jacinta?” -“She will go too.” - “And Francisco?” - “He will also go, but he has to pray many rosaries first.”
Then I remembered two of my sister’s friends who died recently.
- “Is Maria de las Nieves in Heaven?” - “Yes she is.” “And Amelia, who is between 18 - 20 years old?” - “She will be in purgatory until the end of the world.”
And then She said: -“Do you want to offer yourselves to God and accept all the sufferings that He desires to send you in reparation for the sins by which He is offended and to implore for the conversion of sinners?” -“Yes, we want to.” - "You will have to suffer much, but God’s grace will strengthen you.”
Upon saying this the Virgin opened her arms for the first time, communicating a very intense light coming from her hands penetrating deep into our chest and our hearts, allowing us to see ourselves in God more clearly than seeing ourselves in a mirror. Then, by an interior impulse also communicated to us, we fell to our knees, repeating humbly: "Holy Trinity, I adore you. My God, my God, I love you in the Blessed Sacrament." A few moments later Our Lady added: - “Pray the rosary every day to acquire world peace and the end of the war.” Immediately she started to elevate serenely as the light surrounding her seemed to open the way for her.
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Called to be instruments so that the Devotion to the Immaculate Heart may be established
After praying the rosary with people present (about 50) we saw again the reflection of light approaching, which we called lightning, and immediately Our Lady appeared on the oak tree, just like in the month of May.
- “What is it that you desire?” I asked. - “I desire for you to come here on the 13th of next month, to pray the rosary every day and to learn how to read. Later, I will let you know what else I desire.”
-I requested the healing of a sick person. Our Lady responded: - “If she converts, she will be healed during the year.” - “I would like to ask you to take us to Heaven.” - “Yes, Jacinta and Francisco I will take soon, but you will stay some time longer. Jesus wants to use you to let others know and love me. He wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. To whoever embraces it I promise salvation and that their souls will be dear to God like flowers placed by me to adorn his Throne.”
“Will I stay here alone ?” I asked with sorrow. -“No, my daughter. Do you suffer much because of this? Don’t be discouraged! I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path to lead you to God.”
At that moment she opened her hands and communicated to us for the second time the rays of immense light that surrounded her. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in the area of the light elevating to heaven and me; I was in the area covering the earth. In front of the palm of Our Lady's right hand was a heart surrounded by thorns seeming to pierce her heart. We understood it to be the Immaculate Heart of Mary, offended for the sins of humanity and desirous of reparation.
Francisco, very impressed by the vision, later asked me: -“Why was the Virgin holding a heart in her hand radiating over the world the great light of God? You, Lucia, were with Her in the light coming down on the earth and Jacinta was with me in the light going up to heaven.” I answered him, -“It is because you, with Jacinta, will go to heaven in a short while. I must stay with the Immaculate Heart of Mary here on earth.”
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Called to sacrifice themselves for sinners and make reparation for them
Moments after arriving at Cova de Iria, next to the oak tree, among numerous people (4,000) praying the rosary, we saw the ray of light once more and, a moment later, Our Blessed Mother appeared over the oak tree. - "What do you want from me?" I asked. -"I desire for you to come here the 13th of next month, and continue to pray the rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary to obtain the peace of the world and the end to the war, because only She can obtain it."
- I said: "I would like to ask who you are, and for you to do a miracle so everyone can believe you 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 will see so that they may believe." "Sacrifice for sinners and repeat many times, especially when you make a sacrifice: O my Jesus, this is out of love for you, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!"
When Mary said these words she opened her hands again. The reflection of light seemed to penetrate the earth and we saw something like an ocean of fire, and submerged in this fire were demons and souls like transparent flames, black or bronze in color, of human form, fluctuating in the fire and taken by the flames that came out from within themselves along with clouds of smoke falling on all sides, similar to the fall of ashes from vast fires, but weightless and unbalanced, amidst screams and lamentations of sorrow and desperation that horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons were distinguished by their horrible and repulsive forms, like horrendous animals, but
transparent as red-hot charcoal. Frightened and asking for help we looked up to Our Lady, who with sorrow andgentleness said to us : "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you many souls will be saved and you will have peace. The war will end, but if you don’t cease offending God, a worse one will start in the papacy of Pope Pius XI."- "When you see a luminous night lit by an unknown light, know this is the great sign God will give as punishment to the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent this, I will ask the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and communion of the first Saturdays of the month in reparation. If my desires are obeyed, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, its errors will spread all over the world, promoting wars, persecutions of the Church: the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will suffer much, several nations will be annihilated. At the end, MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH.
The Holy Father will consecrate Russia, and it will be converted, the world will be granted a period of peace. In Portugal the dogma of Faith will be preserved always. . . . ( the third part of the secret starts here, written by Lucia between Dec. 22, 1943 and January 9th, 1944, and revealed in 2000). Don’t say this to anyone. You can tell Francisco." "When you pray the rosary, say after each decade: " O, my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy." As usual, our Lady started to elevate towards the Orient (east).
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Called to pray much for sinners
Our Lady appeared in the village of Los Valinhos. The apparition did not occur on August 13th in Cova de Iria because the Council Administrator captured and took the shepherd children to Vila Nova with the intention of forcing them to reveal the secret. They were imprisoned in the administration and in the municipal jail.
They were offered the most valued gifts if they would reveal the secret. The young visionaries responded: "We will not say it even if the whole world was given to us." They were taken to jail. The prisoners advised: "Reveal the secret to the Administrator. Who cares if that Lady doesn’t want it told?" "O no,” Jacinta responded with liveliness, “I would rather die first!" The three children prayed the rosary with the prisoners before a medal Jacinta hung on the wall.
To intimidate them, the Administrator commanded that a pot of boiling oil be prepared, threatening the children that they would be fried in it if they did not obey him. Even though the children believed what was told to them, they were not revealing anything. On August 15th, Feast of the Assumption, they were taken out of jail and returned to Fatima… Lucia narrates the events of this apparition …
We were with our sheep in a place called Los Valinhos, Francisco and his brother John accompanied me. We felt something supernatural approaching and embracing us; suspecting Our Lady was about to appear and fearing Jacinta would not be present to see her, we asked her brother John to bring her. Meanwhile, Francisco and I saw the reflection of the light we call lightning and at the moment Jacinta arrived we saw our Lady on the oak tree.
- “What is it that you desire?” - “I desire for you to continue to go to Cova de Iria on the 13th, to continue praying the rosary every day. On the last month I will perform a miracle for all to believe."
- “What should we do with the money the people leave at Cova de Iria?” - “Make two bags, one for you and Jacinta to carry along with two other girls dressed in white; Francisco will take another bag with three other boys. The money collected in the bags is for the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary, what is left over will help for the construction of a chapel.” - “ I would like to ask for the healing of some of the sick.” -“Yes, some I will cure during the year.” Becoming very sorrowful, the Virgin added: “Pray, pray very much and make a sacrifice for sinners, because many souls are going to hell because no one offers sacrifices for them.” The Virgin began to rise towards the east as usual.
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As the time approached I started to go towards Cova de Iria with Jacinta and Francisco among numerous people (30,000), with difficulty we were able to go through. The path was crowded with people, everyone wanted to see and speak with us. Many people of the village came to ask us to present their needs and intentions to Our Lady. Others not able to come near us cried out from far away. We heard . . . . . ask Our Lady to heal my crippled son . . . my blind son . . . my mute daughter ... to bring back my husband from the war . . . for conversion of a sinner . . . I am sick with tuberculosis . . . etc. All human miseries became evident and some cried out from the trees.We finally arrived at Cova de Iria, upon reaching the oak tree we started to pray the rosary with the people. Soon afterwards we saw a reflection of light and immediately over the tree, Our Lady said: “Continue to pray the rosary to achieve the end of the war. In October Our Lord will also come, with Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to sleep with the rope on, only wear it during the day.” (The rope was worn around the waist. It was one of the most painful mortifications the children offered for the conversion of sinners. Also, they did not eat snacks and abstained from drinking water. But the greatest sacrifices were the sacrifices the mission of Our Lady demanded: the humiliations, curiosity, annoyance of the people, unending visits, questions, persecutions, ridicule, prison, etc.) “I will cure some of the sick, but not all. In October I will perform a miracle for all to believe.”
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There was a multitude of people (70,000) under the torrential rain. The scene was similar to the previous apparitions.
Neither the mud nor the rain stopped the people from kneeling and humbly pleading and supplicating. Upon arriving at Cova de Iria, next to the tree, I asked the people to close their umbrellas and to pray the rosary. Soon after we saw a reflection of light, and immediately Our Lady was on the oak tree.- I asked her, “What is it that you want?” - She replied, “I want to tell you to build a chapel here in my honor. I am Our Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the rosary every day. The war is ending and the soldiers will return home soon.”
- I asked, “Will the sick be healed?” -“Some yes, others no; it is necessary for them to amend their lives, to ask forgiveness for their sins,” she replied. With a sorrowful look, Our Lady said: “May our God be offended no longer. He is already offended very offended.”
The Miracle of the Sun
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Opening her hands, they reflected the light of the sun. As she rose into the sky, her own brilliance continued to be seen in the midst of the sun’s light. I cried out for all to look up towards the sun.
The miracle of the sun was happening, as promised three months ago, as proof of the authenticity of the Fatima apparitions. The rain ceased and the sun rotated three times, launching variously colored rays of light all around. It seemed as if the sun was coming down from the sky toward the crowd. Everyone was amazed.
The journalists of the secular newspapers who had come unbelieving to discredit the apparitions, took photographs and gave testimony to the miracle in the press. After 10 minutes of the miracle, the sun returned to its normal state. The three of us were favored with other visions as well. Next to the sun, we saw St. Joseph, the Child Jesus and Our Lady of Sorrows. The Child Jesus and St. Joseph were blessing the world. After this vision ceased, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel appeared.
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“Sacrifice for sinners and repeat many times, especially when you make a sacrifice:
O my Jesus, this is out of love for you, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins
committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!"
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I want you to offer yourselves to God and accept all the sufferings that He desires to send you in reparation for the sins by which He is offended and to implore for the conversion of sinners.” (May 13, 1917)
“Jesus wants to use you to let others know and love me. He wants to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world.” (June 13, 1917) “Don’t be discouraged! I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path to lead you to God.” (June 13, 1917) "Sacrifice for sinners and repeat many times, especially when you make a sacrifice: O my Jesus, this is out of love for you, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!" (July 13, 1917) "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you many souls will be saved and you will have peace. The war will end, but if you don’t cease offending God, one worst will start in the papacy of Pope Pius XI." (July 13, 1917) “Pray, pray very much and make a sacrifice for sinners, because many souls are going to hell because no one offers sacrifices for them.” (August 19, 1917) “Continue to pray the rosary to achieve the end of the war. In October Our Lord will also come, with Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus to bless the world.” (September 13, 1917) “I want to tell you to build a chapel here in my honor. I am Our Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the rosary every day. May our God be offended no longer. He is already offended too much.”(October 13, 1917) In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!
End of the 1917 apparitions
