It was the year 1917. Europe was plunged into World War I. Millions were dying. Families were suffering. The world was in darkness.
But in Portugal, in a small, poor village called Fatima, something extraordinary was about to happen.
Something that would change the world.
Fatima was a humble place. Simple stone houses. Arid fields. Few trees. The families were poor, living by shepherding sheep and farming.
There lived three children who took care of sheep: Lucia dos Santos, 10 years old, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, 9 and 7 years old respectively.
They didn't know they were about to become witnesses to the greatest Marian event of the 20th century.
In 1916, a year before the great apparitions, something unusual happened.
The three children were tending the sheep when they saw a bright light. From the light emerged a figure - a radiant young man!
"Do not be afraid," he said. "I am the Angel of Peace."
The children were paralyzed with wonder!
The angel taught them a prayer: "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You!"
The angel appeared three times in 1916, preparing the children for something greater to come.
In the last apparition, the angel gave them Eucharistic Communion and said: "Offer prayers and sacrifices to the Most High!"
The children told no one. They kept it secret. But something changed in them. They became more serious, more prayerful.
They were being prepared...
The year 1917 arrived. It was May 13, a Sunday.
Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were at Cova da Iria - a valley between hills where they shepherded the sheep.
It was noon. The sky was clear and blue.
Suddenly, they saw a flash of lightning!
"Thunder!" shouted Jacinta. "Let's go home before the rain!"
But there were no clouds. Strange...
They began to descend with the sheep when they saw another flash of lightning!
And then... something incredible!
Over a small holm oak tree, there was a bright light.
And inside the light... a Lady!
She was the most beautiful woman they had ever seen! She was dressed completely in white. Her face shone like the sun, but it didn't hurt to look at Her!
She had a white rosary in her hands. Her eyes were gentle and sad at the same time.
The children were paralyzed! They couldn't move!
The Lady smiled sweetly and spoke:
Lucia, being the oldest and most courageous, asked trembling:
"Where does the Lady come from?"
The Lady answered: "I come from Heaven."
"And what does the Lady want from me?" asked Lucia.
The Lady said something surprising:
The children could hardly believe it! The Lady from Heaven wanted to see them again!
Then the Lady asked an important question:
"Do you want to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings He wishes to send you, in reparation for sins which offend Him, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners?"
Lucia answered: "Yes, we do!"
"Then you will suffer much," said the Lady gently. "But the grace of God will be your comfort!"
When the Lady said "grace of God," an immense light came from Her hands and penetrated the children's hearts!
They saw themselves immersed in God! They felt such great love that they couldn't describe it!
Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia fell to their knees, repeating: "Most Holy Trinity, I adore You!"
The Lady then made another important request:
And then, the Lady began to rise slowly, moving to the east. The light around Her gradually disappeared into the sky.
The children remained in ecstasy for several minutes. They couldn't speak. They couldn't move.
Finally, Lucia whispered: "She... She was so beautiful!"
Jacinta cried with joy: "Oh! Our Lady is so beautiful! So beautiful!"
Francisco (who could see the Lady but not hear Her) asked: "What did She say? What did She say?"
The children returned home changed.
Lucia told her cousins: "We shouldn't tell anyone! It's our secret!"
But Jacinta, only 7 years old, was so excited that she couldn't keep the secret!
When she got home, she told everything to her mother: "Mother! Mother! We saw a Lady from Heaven at Cova da Iria!"
Jacinta's mother didn't believe her. "Children's fantasies!" she said.
But Jacinta insisted: "It's true! She was all white and bright! And She's coming back!"
Soon the whole village knew. People laughed at the children. They mocked them.
Lucia's mother, Maria Rosa, was furious!
"You're lying!" she yelled at Lucia. "Stop making up stories! You're embarrassing our family!"
She even hit Lucia. But Lucia maintained her story: "It's true, mother! I swear! I saw Our Lady!"
The parish priest also doubted. "It could be the devil deceiving you!" he warned.
But the children knew what they saw. Nothing would make them deny it.
Francisco and Jacinta's parents, however, were different. They saw that the children were changed - more serious, more prayerful. "Maybe it's true," they thought.
Meanwhile, the children anxiously awaited June 13.
They made sacrifices as the Lady asked. They gave their food to the poor and went hungry. They didn't drink water on hot days. They used rough ropes tied around their waists that hurt.
"We do this for sinners!" Jacinta would say.
Francisco spent hours hidden in the church, adoring Jesus in the Tabernacle. "I want to console Jesus because sinners make Him suffer so much!" he explained.
Lucia prayed the rosary constantly, even while tending the sheep.
The children were changed. Transformed by the encounter with Heaven.
June 13 finally arrived!
About 50 curious people accompanied the children to Cova da Iria. They wanted to see if something would really happen.
At noon, the children saw the lightning again! And then... Our Lady appeared over the holm oak!
"She's there! She's there!" shouted Jacinta.
The 50 people looked but saw nothing! Or rather... some saw a small cloud over the tree. Others heard a soft buzzing like bees. But no adult saw the Lady!
Only the three children saw and heard Her!
Our Lady spoke with them again. She asked for more prayers. More sacrifices. And She said something mysterious about the hearts of Jesus and Mary.
On July 13, the third apparition happened.
Now about 5,000 people came! The news had spread throughout the region!
Our Lady appeared again. This time, She revealed something terrible and important - the three secrets of Fatima!
The first secret was a vision of hell! The children saw souls suffering in flames!
It was so terrifying that Jacinta fainted! She would scream and cry days later: "Lucia! So many souls go to hell! We need to pray and make sacrifices!"
The second and third secrets spoke of the future - wars, persecutions, sufferings, but also promises of Mary's triumph.
Our Lady said She would return in October and perform a great miracle so that everyone would believe!
But not everyone was happy with the apparitions.
The Portuguese government at that time was anti-Catholic. It didn't want religion.
The administrator of Ourem (a nearby city), Artur de Oliveira Santos, was a fierce atheist. He hated the Church.
On August 13, he kidnapped the three children!
He took them to prison! He locked them in a cell with criminals! He threatened to boil them alive in oil if they didn't reveal the secrets!
The children, terrified, thought they were going to die!
But still, they refused to tell the secrets! "You can kill us!" Lucia said bravely. "But we won't tell!"
Jacinta, only 7 years old, took a medal of Mary from her pocket and began to pray. The other prisoners, moved, prayed with her!
The administrator finally released the children, defeated by their faith.
But because the children were kidnapped, they missed the August 13 apparition!
Our Lady, however, appeared to them a few days later in another location. She was sad because they couldn't come on the scheduled date.
On September 13, 30,000 people came!
Everyone saw strange phenomena: the sun became pale and could be looked at without hurting the eyes! There was a "rain" of white petals that disappeared before touching the ground! A colored light covered everything!
"A miracle! A miracle!" people shouted.
But Our Lady said the real miracle would come in October...
The stage was set for Fatima's most extraordinary event...
Reflection
