What did Our Lady say at Fatima?

Part 1: the apparitions of the Angel of Portugal
Before the apparitions of Our Lady occurred, Lucia de Jesus dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who all lived in the village of Aljustrel in the township of Fatima, had three visions of the Angel of Portugal, also called the Angel of Peace.

The first apparition of the Angel
The angel first appeared either in the spring or summer of 1916 at Loca do Cabeço, a rocky outcrop near the top of a knoll called Cabeço, not far from Aljustrel. This is Sister Lucia's account of the apparition:

"We had been playing for a while when a strong wind shook the trees. Since it was a calm day, this made us raise our eyes to see what was happening. Then we began to see, well above the trees that covered the stretch of land to the east, a light whiter than snow in the shape of a transparent young man who was more brilliant than a crystal struck by the rays of the sun.

"As he approached, we began to see his features. He was a young man of great beauty about fourteen or fifteen years old. We were surprised and ecstatic. We did not utter a word.

"Once he drew near us, he said: 'Fear not. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.'

"Kneeling down, he bowed forward until his forehead touched the ground. We imitated him, led by a supernatural inspiration, and repeated the words we heard him say: 'My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee. I beg Thee forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love Thee.'

"After he had repeated this twice, he rose and said: 'Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.' Then he disappeared.

"The supernatural atmosphere that enveloped us was so intense that we were almost unaware of our own existence. For a long time, we remained in the same position we were in when he left, repeating the same prayer. The presence of God was so intense and intimate that we dared not speak to each other. On the following day, we felt our spirits still enveloped in that atmosphere, which was but slowly disappearing.

"None of us thought of talking about this apparition or of recommending secrecy, for the incident itself demanded it. It was so intimate that it was difficult to utter a word about it. This might well have been the apparition that impressed us the most, because it was the first one thus manifested." (8)

The second apparition of the Angel
The second apparition occurred in the summer of 1916 over the well at the house of Lucia's parents, next to which the three children were playing. This is how Sister Lucia narrates what the angel said to them:

"'What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs concerning you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High!'

"'How must we sacrifice?' I asked.

"'Offer God a sacrifice of anything you can as an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and as a supplication for the conversion of sinners. Draw peace upon your country by doing this. I am its guardian angel – the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and endure with submission whatever suffering the Lord sends you.' Then he disappeared.

"The angel's words were impressed upon our souls like a light that made us understand who God is, how much He loves us and wishes to be loved, the value of sacrifice and how it pleases God, and how He converts sinners because of it." (9)

The third apparition of the Angel
The third apparition occurred either at the end of the summer or the beginning of the autumn of 1916, once again at Loca do Cabeço. According to Sister Lucia's account, it took place as follows:

"As soon as we arrived there, we began to say the angel's prayer on our knees, with our faces to the ground. 'My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee....' I do not know how many times we had said this prayer when we saw an unknown light shining over our heads. We rose to see what was happening, and we saw the angel bearing a chalice in his left hand. Drops of blood fell into the chalice from a Host suspended over it. Leaving the chalice and the Host suspended in the air, the angel prostrated himself beside us and said the following prayer three times:

"'Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly and offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the insults, sacrileges, and indifference with which He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg Thee for the conversion of poor sinners.'

"After this, rising up, he again took the chalice and the Host in his hand; he gave the Host to me and the contents of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco to drink, saying: 'Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, who is horribly insulted by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.'

"He again prostrated himself on the ground and repeated with us the same prayer three more times. 'Most Holy Trinity....' Then he disappeared.

"Compelled by the supernatural force that enveloped us, we imitated the angel in everything, that is, prostrating ourselves as he did and repeating the prayers he said. The strength of God's presence was so intense that it absorbed and annihilated us almost completely. It seemed to deprive us even of the use of our bodily senses for a long period of time. For several days afterward, we performed our physical actions as though sustained by that same supernatural being who compelled us to do them. The peace and happiness we felt were great, but intimate, as our souls were entirely concentrated on God. The physical weariness that overwhelmed us was also great.

"I do not know why, but the fact is that the apparitions of Our Lady had a very different effect on us. There was the same intimate gladness, the same peace and happiness. But instead of physical weariness, we felt a certain expansive liveliness, a sense of glee instead of that annihilation in the Divine Presence, a certain communicative enthusiasm instead of that difficulty in speaking. But, in spite of these feelings, I felt the inspiration to remain silent, especially about certain things. In the interrogations, I felt an intimate inspiration that suggested to me the answers, which, although true, would not disclose what I should still keep secret." (10)

The apparitions of the angel in 1916 were preceded by three other visions from April to October of 1915, in which Lucia and three other little shepherd girls (Maria Rosa Matias, Teresa Matias, and Maria Justino) saw something suspended in the air over the trees in the valley. It was "a kind of cloud whiter than snow, somewhat transparent, with a human form...a figure like a statue made of snow that the rays of the sun had turned somewhat transparent". This description is the one given by Sister Lucia herself. (11)

Part 2: the apparitions of Our Lady
At the time of the apparitions of Our Lady, Lucia de Jesus, Francisco, and Jacinta were, respectively, ten, nine, and seven years old, having been born 22 March 1907, 11 June 1908, and 11 March 1910. As we have said, the three children lived in Aljustrel, a hamlet of the township of Fatima. The apparitions took place on a small property belonging to Lucia's parents called Cova da Iria, about a mile and a half from Fatima on the road to Leiria. Our Lady appeared over a holm oak just over three feet high. Francisco could only see Our Lady; he could not hear her. Jacinta could see and hear her. Lucia could see, hear, and talk with the Blessed Virgin. The apparitions occurred at about midday.

The first apparition - 13 May 1917
The three seers were playing at Cova da Iria when they saw two flashes like lightning, after which they saw the Mother of God above the holm oak. She was, according to the description of Lucia, "a Lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun, shedding a light that was clearer and more intense than that of a crystal goblet filled with crystalline water and struck by the rays of the most brilliant sun". Her face, indescribably beautiful, was "neither sad nor happy, but serious, "with an air of mild reproach. Her hands, joined together as if she were praying, were resting at her breast and pointing upward. A rosary hung from her right hand. Her clothes seemed to be made of light. The tunic was white. The veil, white and edged with gold, covered the head of the Virgin and descended to her feet. Neither her hair nor her ears could be seen. Lucia could never describe her features, for it was impossible for her to fix her gaze on the dazzling heavenly face. The seers were so close to Our Lady – about a yard and a half away – that they stood within the light that radiated from and enveloped her. The conversation developed in the following manner:

Our Lady: Do not be afraid; I will not harm you.
Lucia: Where is Your Grace from?
Our Lady: I am from heaven. (Our Lady raised her hand and pointed to the sky.)
Lucia: And what does Your Grace wish of me?
Our Lady: I have come to ask you to come here for six months in succession on the thirteenth day of each month at this same hour. Later I will tell you who I am and what I want. Afterward, I will return here a seventh time.
Lucia: And will I go to heaven, too?
Our Lady: Yes, you will.
Lucia: And Jacinta?
Our Lady: Also.
Lucia: And Francisco?
Our Lady: Also, but he must say many Rosaries.
Lucia: Is Maria das Neves already in heaven?
Our Lady: Yes, she is.
Lucia: And Amélia?
Our Lady: She will be in purgatory until the end of the world. Do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?
Lucia: Yes, we do.
Our Lady: Well then, you will have much to suffer. But the grace of God will be your comfort.

"It was upon saying these last words, 'the grace of God...' that for the first time she opened her hands, which emitted a most intense light that penetrated our breasts, reaching the innermost part of our souls and making us see ourselves in God, Who was that light, more clearly than we can see ourselves in the best of mirrors. Then, driven by a deep inspiration, we knelt down and repeated inwardly: 'O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament'.

"A moment later, Our Lady added, 'Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.' "She immediately began to rise serenely toward the east until she disappeared far into the distance. The light that surrounded her was, so to speak, opening her way through the starry firmament." (16)

The second apparition - 13 June 1917
Preceding the second apparition, the seers once again saw a great brilliance, which they called lightning, but which was really the glare of the approaching light. Some of the approximately fifty spectators who had come to the place noticed that the light of the sun became dimmer during the first few minutes of the conversation. Others said that the top of the budding holm oak bent down, as if under the weight of something, a moment before Lucia spoke. During Our Lady's conversation with the seers, some of the bystanders heard a whispering, like the humming of a bee.

Lucia: What does Your Grace wish of me?
Our Lady: I want you to come here on the thirteenth of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. I shall later say what I want. (Lucia asked for the cure of a sick person.)
Our Lady: If he converts, he will be cured within the year.
Lucia: I would like to ask you to take us to heaven.
Our Lady: Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain here for some time yet. Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne.
Lucia: Will I stay here alone?
Our Lady: No, daughter. Does that make you suffer much? Do not be dismayed. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart shall be your refuge and the road that shall lead you to God.
"Upon saying these last words, she opened her hands, and for the second time she communicated to us the reflection of that intense light. We could see ourselves in it, as if immersed in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in the part of this light that went up toward heaven, and I in the part that was cast toward the ground. In front of Our Lady's right hand there was a heart encircled by thorns that seemed to pierce it. We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, insulted by the sins of humanity and which desires reparation."
When this vision ceased, the Lady, still surrounded by the light that she radiated, rose from the little tree and glided toward the east until she disappeared completely. Several persons who were closer noticed that the buds at the top of the holm oak were bent in the same direction, as if they had been drawn by the Lady's clothes. They returned to their usual position only some hours later. (19)

The third apparition - 13 July 1917
Mr. Marto, father of Jacinta and Francisco, says that when the third apparition began, a little grayish cloud hovered over the holm oak, the sunlight diminished, and a cool breeze blew over the mountain range, even though it was the height of summer. He also heard something that sounded like flies inside an empty jug. The seers saw the customary glare, and immediately afterward they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.
Lucia: What does Your Grace wish of me?

Our Lady: I want you to come here on the thirteenth of next month and to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for she alone can be of any avail.
Lucia: I would like to ask you to tell us who you are and to perform a miracle so everyone will believe that Your Grace appears to us.
Our Lady: Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I wish, and I will perform a miracle that everyone shall see so as to believe.
Lucia then made a number of requests for conversions, cures, and other graces. Our Lady recommended the constant recitation of the Rosary; thus they would obtain those graces during the year.
Then she went on: "Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make some sacrifice, 'O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'"

The first part of the 'secret' – the vision of hell
 "As she said these last words," writes Sister Lucia, "she once again opened her hands as she had done in the two previous months. The radiant light [which streamed from them] seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw, as it were, a great sea of fire; submerged in that fire were demons and souls in human shapes who resembled red-hot, black and bronze-coloured embers that floated about in the blaze, borne by the flames that issued from them with clouds of smoke, falling everywhere like the showering sparks of great blazes – with neither weight nor equilibrium – amidst shrieks and groans of sorrow and despair that horrified us and made us shudder with fear.

"The devils stood out like frightful and unknown animals with horrible and disgusting shapes, but transparent like black coals that have become red-hot."

The vision lasted only a moment, during which Lucia let out a gasp. She remarks that if it were not for Our Lady's promise to take them to heaven, the seers would have died of fright and terror.

The second part of the 'secret' – the chastisement and how to avoid it.
Frightened and as though pleading for help, the seers raised their eyes to Our Lady, who said with kindness and sadness:

"'You saw hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If they do what I shall 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 even worse war will begin in the reign of Pius XI. Behold, a night illuminated by an unknown light will be the great sign that God shall give you that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father."
"'To prevent it [the war], I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the first Saturdays. If they listen to my requests, Russia will convert and there will be peace; if not, it will spread its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and several nations will be annihilated.
"'Finally, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.
"'The Holy Father will consecrate Russia – which will convert – to me, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world.
"'In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be kept, etc.

Third part of the 'secret' – catastrophe and a great conversion.
 "J.M.J.
"The third part of the secret revealed on 13 July 1917 in the Cova da Iria – Fatima.
"I write in obedience to You my God who commands me through His Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through Your Most Holy Mother and mine."

First scene: the threat of chastisement that hangs over a sinful world.
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'"

Second scene: a terrible catastrophe befalls the world, leaving it half ruined.
The cataclysm engulfs victims from all social classes, even His Holiness the Pope.
"And we saw in an immense light that is God: something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it. A Bishop dressed in White (we had the impression that it was the Holy Father). Other bishops, priests, men and women religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark. Before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins, and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way. Having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other bishops, priests, men and women religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions."

Third scene: the great return of humanity to God.
"Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God. Tuy-3-1-1944."

(After relating the third part of the Secret, Our Lady continued:)

"'Do not tell anybody about this. You may tell Francisco, though.'" Some instants later, the dialogue resumed.
Our Lady: When you pray the Rosary, after each decade say, "O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need."
Lucia: Does Your Grace wish anything else of me?
Our Lady: No, today I do not wish anything else of you.
"As usual, she then began to rise toward the east until she disappeared in the expanse of the firmament."

At that point, a sound like thunder was heard, indicating that the apparition had ended.

The fourth apparition - 19 August 1917
On 13 August, the day the fourth apparition was to take place, the seers could not go to Cova da Iria, as they had been abducted by the mayor of Vila Nova de Ourém, who wanted to force the secret from them. The children held fast.

At Cova da Iria, thunder followed by lightning was heard at the usual time. The spectators noticed a small white cloud that hovered over the holm oak for a few minutes. Phenomena of coloration were observed on the faces of the people, the clothing, the trees, and the ground. Our Lady had certainly come, but she had not found the seers.

On 19 August, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, Lucia was with Francisco and another cousin at Valinhos, a property belonging to one of her uncles, when the atmospheric changes that preceded the apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria began to occur: a sudden cooling of the temperature and a waning of the sun. Feeling that something supernatural was approaching and enveloping them, Lucia sent for Jacinta, who arrived in time to see Our Lady appear – heralded as before by a bright light – over a holm oak slightly larger than the one at Cova da Iria.

Lucia: What does Your Grace wish of me?
Our Lady: I want you to continue to go to Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month and to continue to pray the Rosary every day. On the last month, I will perform the miracle for all to believe.
Lucia: What does Your Grace want done with the money that the people leave at Cova da Iria?
Our Lady: Have two portable stands made. You and Jacinta with two other girls dressed in white carry one of them, and let Francisco carry the other one with three other boys. The portable stands are for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The money that is left over should be contributed to the chapel that they shall build.
Lucia: I would like to ask you for the healing of some sick persons.
Our Lady: Yes, I will cure some during the year.

"Becoming sadder, she recommended anew the practice of mortification, saying lastly, 'Pray, pray much, and make sacrifice for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to sacrifice and pray for them.'

"As usual, she then began to rise toward the east."

The seers cut boughs off the tree over which Our Lady had appeared to them and took them home. The boughs gave off a uniquely sweet fragrance. (31)

The fifth apparition – 13 September 1917
A crowd estimated at twenty thousand observed atmospheric phenomena similar to those of the previous apparitions: the sudden cooling of the air, a dimming of the sun to the point where the stars could be seen, and a rain resembling iridescent petals or snowflakes that disappeared before touching the ground. This time, a luminous globe was noticed which moved slowly and majestically through the sky from east to west and, at the end of the apparition, in the opposite direction. The seers saw a light, and, immediately following this, they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.

Our Lady: Continue to pray the Rosary to obtain the end of the war. In October, Our Lord will also come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus, to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to sleep with the ropes; wear them only during the day. (32)
Lucia: They have requested me to ask you for many things, for the cure of some sick persons, of a deaf-mute.
Our Lady: Yes, I will cure some, others not. In October, I will perform a miracle for all to believe.
"And rising, she disappeared in the same manner as before."35

The sixth and last apparition - 13 October 1917
As on the other occasions, the seers first saw a bright light, and then they saw Our Lady over the holm oak.

Lucia: What does Your Grace wish of me?
Our Lady: I wish to tell you that I want a chapel built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue to pray the Rosary everyday. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.
Lucia: I have many things to ask you: if you would cure some sick persons, and if you would convert some sinners...
Our Lady: Some yes, others no. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins.

"Becoming sadder, she added, 'Let them offend Our Lord no more, for He is already much offended.'

Then, opening her hands, Our Lady shone the light issuing from them onto the sun, and as she rose, her own radiance continued to be cast onto the sun."

At that moment, Lucia cried, "Look at the sun!"

Once Our Lady had disappeared in the expanse of the firmament, three scenes followed in succession, symbolising first the joyful mysteries of the Rosary, then the sorrowful mysteries, and, finally, the glorious mysteries. Lucia alone saw the three scenes; Francisco and Jacinta saw only the first.

The first scene: Saint Joseph appeared beside the sun with the Child Jesus and Our Lady of the Rosary. It was the Holy Family. The Virgin was dressed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph was also dressed in white, and the Child Jesus in light red. Saint Joseph blessed the crowd, making the Sign of the Cross three times. The Child Jesus did the same.

The second scene: This was followed by the vision of Our Lady of Sorrows, without the sword in her breast, and of Our Lord overwhelmed with sorrow on the way to Calvary. Our Lord made the Sign of the Cross to bless the people.

Lucia could only see the upper part of Our Lord's body.

The third scene: Finally, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, crowned queen of heaven and earth, appeared in a glorious vision with the Child Jesus in her bosom.

While these scenes took place, the great throng of about seventy thousand spectators witnessed the miracle of the sun.

It had rained all during the apparition. At the end of the conversation between Our Lady and Lucia – when the Blessed Virgin rose and Lucia shouted, "Look at the sun!" – the clouds opened up, revealing the sun as an immense silver disk. It shone with an intensity never before seen, but was not blinding. This lasted only an instant. Then the immense ball began to "dance". The sun began to spin rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire. Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning vertiginously again. Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky. Their light was reflected on the ground, on the trees, on the bushes, and on the very faces and clothing of the people, which took on brilliant hues and changing colours.

After performing this bizarre pattern three times, the globe of fire seemed to tremble, shake, and then plunge in a zigzag toward the terrified crowd.

All this lasted about ten minutes. Finally, the sun zigzagged back to its original place and once again became still and brilliant, shining with its everyday brightness. The cycle of the apparitions had ended.

Many people noticed that their clothes, soaking wet from the rain, had suddenly dried.

The miracle of the sun was also seen by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition. (38)

Part 3: revelations subsequent to 1917
In the secret given in July, Our Lady had said, "I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on the first Saturdays."

In other words, the message of Fatima was not definitively concluded with the cycle of apparitions at Cova da Iria in 1917.

Lucia's Itinerary
On 17 June 1921, Lucia left Aljustrel and was admitted as a boarding pupil in the school of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy at Vilar, a suburb of Oporto. On 24 October 1925, she entered the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy and was accepted as a postulant in that congregation's convent of Tuy, just across the Spanish border.

On 2 October 1926, Lucia became a novice. On 3 October 1928, she took her first vows as a lay sister. Six years later, on the same day in October, she took her perpetual vows. She took the religious name of Sister Maria of Sorrows.

During the communist revolution in Spain, she was transferred for safety reasons to the school of Sardão at Vila Nova de Gaia, where she remained for some time.

On 20 May 1946, Sister Lucia was again able to see the sites of the apparitions on a visit to Cova da Iria, Loca do Cabeço, and the property of Valinhos.

On 25 March 1948, she left the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy to enter the Carmel of Saint Joseph in Coimbra; she took the name of Sister Maria Lucia of the Immaculate Heart, taking the habit of Saint Teresa on 13 May of the same year. On 13 May 1949, she was professed as a Discalced Carmelite.

The Five First Saturdays Devotion
On 10 December 1925, the Blessed Virgin, with the Child Jesus at her side above a luminous cloud, appeared to Lucia in her cell at the Dorothean house of Pontevedra. Placing one of her hands on Lucia's shoulder, she showed her a heart surrounded by thorns that she had in her other hand. The Child Jesus, pointing to it, entreated the seer with the following words: "Have pity on the Heart of your Blessed Mother, which is pierced and covered with thorns by ungrateful men at every moment with no one to make an act of reparation to remove them".

The Blessed Virgin added: "My daughter, look at my Heart surrounded with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me constantly through blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and tell men that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, pray a Rosary (see footnote 15, Chap. II), and keep me company for a quarter of an hour meditating on the fifteen mysteries with the intention of offering me reparation." (62)

On 15 February 1926, the Child Jesus again appeared to Lucia in Pontevedra, asking her if she had yet divulged this devotion to His Blessed Mother. The seer explained the difficulties presented by her confessor, adding that the mother superior was ready to divulge it, but that the confessor had said that the mother superior alone could not succeed. Jesus answered, "It is true that your superior alone can do nothing, but with My grace she can do everything".

Lucia presented the problem that going to confession on Saturdays posed for some people and requested that a confession within a period of eight days before and eight days after the first Saturday be valid. Jesus answered, "Yes, it can even be within many more days, provided they are in the state of grace when they receive Me and have the intention of offering reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary".

Sister Lucia further raised the possibility that some people might forget to make that intention when they confessed. Our Lord answered, "They can make it in the following confession, using the first opportunity they have to confess". (63)

During the vigil that Sister Lucia kept on the eve of 30 May 1930, Our Lord spoke in her interior and solved yet another difficulty. "The practice of this devotion will be equally acceptable on the Sunday following the First Saturday, whenever My priests, for just reasons, so grant it to souls." (64)

The consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
On 13 June 1929, Sister Lucia had a sublime vision of the Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in which the consecration of Russia was requested.

"I had asked," Sister Lucia wrote, "and obtained permission from my superiors and my confessor to make the Holy Hour on Thursdays from eleven o'clock until midnight. Being alone one night, I knelt between the balustrades in the middle of the chapel and prostrated myself to say the prayers of the angel. I grew tired, so I rose to a kneeling position and continued saying the prayers with my arms outstretched in the form of a cross.

"The only light was that of the sanctuary lamp. Suddenly the whole chapel was illuminated with a supernatural light, and a cross of light that reached to the ceiling appeared over the altar. A man [the Eternal Father] could be seen from the waist up in the midst of a brighter light on the upper part of the cross. He had a dove of light [the Holy Ghost] at his chest. The body of another man [Our Lord Jesus Christ] was nailed to the cross. Suspended in the air just below His waist was a chalice and a large host on which fell some drops of blood from the face and the wound in the side of the Crucified. These drops ran down the host into the chalice. Our Lady was under the right arm of the cross [it was Our Lady of Fatima, who held her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, without a sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames]. Under the left arm, large letters that seemed to be made of crystal-clear water running onto the altar formed these words: 'Grace and Mercy'.

"I understood I was being shown the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, and I received lights about this mystery that I am not permitted to reveal.

"Then Our Lady said to me: 'The moment has arrived wherein God is asking the Holy Father to consecrate Russia to my Immaculate Heart in union with all the bishops of the world. He promises to save it by this means. The souls whom the justice of God condemns for sins committed against me are so many that I have come to ask for reparation. Do penance for this intention and pray.'" (77)

Through her confessors and the Bishop of Leiria, the seer sent this request of Our Lady to Pope Pius XI that same year. The pontiff promised to take it into consideration. (78)

In a letter to her confessor, Father José Bernardo Gonçalves, S.J., dated 29 May 1930, Sister Lucia explained that Our Lord made her feel His divine presence in the depth of her heart and urged her to ask the Holy Father for the approval of the reparative devotion of the first Saturdays. These are the words of the seer: "If I am not mistaken, the good Lord promises to put an end to the persecution in Russia if the Holy Father deigns to make a solemn and public act of reparation and consecration of Russia to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and orders all the bishops of the Catholic world to do the same. The Holy Father must also promise to approve and recommend the reparative devotion already indicated in return for the ceasing of this persecution".(79)

Later, through another interior communication, Our Lord complained to Sister Lucia that the consecration of Russia had not been made. "They did not want to heed My request. They will repent like the king of France and will make it, but it will be too late.80 Russia will already have spread its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The Holy Father will have much to suffer." (81)

On 21 January 1935, in another letter to Father José Bernardo Gonçalves, S.J., Sister Lucia stated that "Our Lord was quite displeased because His request had not been carried out". (82)

Writing to the same priest on 18 May 1936, Sister Lucia explained: "About the other question – as to whether or not it would be appropriate to insist in order to obtain the consecration of Russia – my reply is almost the same as my previous ones: I regret it has not been done yet, but the same God who requested it is the one who has so permitted this…. Whether it is appropriate to insist or not, I do not know. It seems to me that if the Holy Father did it right now, God would accept it and would fulfil His promise, and, in so doing, the Holy Father would no doubt gladden Our Lord and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

"I have spoken to Our Lord inwardly about the subject, and not too long ago I asked Him why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father making that consecration.

"'Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so as to subsequently extend the devotion to it and place it alongside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.'

"'But, my God, the Holy Father will not believe me unless You move him with a special inspiration.'

"'The Holy Father! Pray very much for the Holy Father! He will do it, but it will be late. Nevertheless, the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save Russia, which has been entrusted to it.'" (83)

Again writing to Father Gonçalves, on 24 April 1940, she says: "If He wanted to, He could hasten that cause. But He will let it go slowly to punish the world. His justice, provoked by our sins, demands it thus. Sometimes He becomes annoyed not only at grave sins, but also at our laxity and negligence in heeding His requests…. Sins are many, but, above all, the negligence of souls whom He expected to serve Him with ardour is much greater today. The number of souls who are with Him is very small." (84)

Sister Lucia returned to the same thoughts in a letter – also to Father Gonçalves – on 18 August 1940, writing:

"I suppose it pleases Our Lord that there is someone who is concerned about His vicar on earth fulfilling His wishes. But the Holy Father will not comply with them now. He doubts they are real, and explicably so. Our good Lord could show clearly through some prodigy that it is He who is asking, but He takes this opportunity to punish the world with His justice for so many crimes and to prepare it for a more complete return to Him. The proof that He gives us is the special protection the Immaculate Heart of Mary affords Portugal in view of the consecration made to it. (86)

"The people you tell me about have good reason to be frightened. All that would also have happened to us had our prelates not heeded the requests of our good Lord nor so earnestly implored His mercy and the protection of the Immaculate Heart of our good heavenly Mother. But in our country there are still many crimes and sins, and, since now is the hour of God's justice upon the world, it is necessary to continue praying. For this reason, I deem it good to instil in people not only a great confidence in the mercy of our good Lord and in the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but also the awareness of the necessity of prayer accompanied by sacrifice, especially that which must be made in order to avoid sin." (87)

In a letter dated 2 December 1940, Sister Lucia addressed herself directly to Pope Pius XII in obedience to her spiritual directors, asking him to bestow his blessing upon the devotion of the first Saturdays and to extend its practice all over the world, adding:

"In 1929, during another apparition, Our Lady asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, promising its conversion and to prevent the propagation of its errors by this means…. In several interior communications, Our Lord has not ceased to insist on this request, recently promising to shorten the days of tribulation with which He has determined to punish the nations for their crimes – through war, famine, and persecutions of Holy Church and Your Holiness – if Your Holiness deigns to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with special mention of Russia, and orders all the bishops of the world to do the same simultaneously in union with Your Holiness." (88)

On 31 October 1942, in a radio message to Portugal on the occasion of the closing of the jubilee year of the apparitions of Fatima, Pius XII consecrated the Church and the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In 1943, Sister Lucia had another revelation from Our Lord, which she related to Father Gonçalves in a letter dated 4 May of that same year.

"By order of His Excellency (The Rt. Rev. Manuel Maria Ferreira da Silva, titular Bishop of Gurza), I had to communicate a brief message from Our Lord for the bishops here in Spain to the Archbishop of Valladolid and another for the bishops of Portugal. Let us hope they all hear the voice of the good Lord. He wishes that the bishops of Spain gather in a retreat and draw up a plan of reform for the people, clergy, and religious orders. Because some convents!... And many members of others!... Do you understand? He wishes that it be made clear to souls that the true penance He now desires and demands is, before anything else, the sacrifice that each one must endeavour to make in order to fulfil his own religious and temporal duties. Because of the act of consecration made by His Holiness, He promises that the war will end shortly. But since it was incomplete, the conversion of Russia will be postponed. If the bishops of Spain do not heed His wishes, it [Russia] will be once again the scourge with which God will punish them." (89)

On 7 July 1952, in the Apostolic letter Sacro Vergente Anno, Pius XII consecrated the peoples of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in an apostolic letter.

At the Second Vatican Council, 510 archbishops and bishops from seventy-eight countries signed a petition entreating the vicar of Christ to consecrate the entire world – especially and explicitly Russia and the other nations dominated by communism – to the Immaculate Heart. The petition also requested that he order all the bishops of the Catholic world to join with him in this act on the same day. The document was presented personally to the Holy Father Pope Paul VI by The Most Rev. Geraldo de Proença Sigaud, Archbishop of Diamantina, Brazil, during a private audience on 3 February 1964. (90)

Pope Paul VI, in closing the third session of Vatican II on 21 November 1964, "confided the human race" to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the same act in which, to a standing ovation of the Council Fathers, he proclaimed Our Lady "Mater Ecclesiae." (91)

John Paul II made two consecrations of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, one in Fatima on 13 May 1982, and the other in Rome on 25 March 1984. Both consecrations were preceded by the Pontiff's invitation to the bishops to unite with him in these acts. There is, however, no positive information to evaluate to what extent the bishops of the whole world carried out the consecration in union with the Pope, either in 1982 or in 1984. Moreover, Russia was not mentioned by name in either of these consecrations.

Consequently, Sister Lucia always insisted until about mid-1989 that neither of these consecrations had been "valid" (taking the word in the sense of heeding the requirements Our Lady indicated to the seer). Since then, however, Sister Lucia has been recognising the validity of the consecration that John Paul II made on 25 March 1984.

Fatima experts are now divided over Sister Lucia's position, some adhering to the new one and others preferring to hold to her former pronouncements.

The matter is too complex for us to resolve here. For the moment it is enough to note that on giving her view about a possible relationship between the consecration and the spectacular events that occurred in Eastern Europe, mainly in the second semester of 1989, with the apparent collapse of communism – a relationship that seems to be at the root of the change in the seer's position – Sister Lucia makes it clear that she is expressing a personal opinion and not transmitting a supernatural revelation.



Chronology
 1454 Sister Filipina of the Dominican convent of St Mary Magdalene in Alba, Italy, foresees the future coming of Our Lady to Fatima, Portugal.

1916 Three times an angel appears to Jacinta and Francisco Marto and their cousin Lucia dos Santos (later Sr Lucia). These apparitions prepare the three children for the apparitions of Our Lady the following year.

1917 On six occasions, from May to October, Our Lady appears to the three children in Fatima.

1917 13 July apparition the children receive the Secret.

1917 November, a revolution brings the Communists to power in Russia.

1918 World War I ends.

1919 Francisco dies at home in Aljustrel.

1920 Jacinta dies in hospital in Lisbon.

1922 Fascism takes power in Italy.

1925 Lucia enters the Sisters of St Dorothy at Tuy, Spain.

1925 10 December, Our Lady appears to Sr Lucia to request the First Saturdays of reparation.

1927 Sr Lucia is given permission by Our Lord to write about the apparitions of 1917, except the Secret.

1929 Our Lady requests the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart by the Pope in union with all the bishops of the world.

1930 In a pastoral letter Bishop Correia da Silva of Leiria declares the apparitions of Fatima “worthy of belief” and approves the cult of Our Lady of Fatima.

1931 The Portuguese bishops consecrate Portugal to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lord later revealed to Sr Lucia that this act spared Portugal the horrors of World War II.

1933 Hitler comes to power. War approaches.

1934 Sr Lucia takes perpetual vows and the religious name Sr Maria of Sorrows.

1935 Sr Lucia writes Memoirs, her first of four accounts of the apparitions.

1935 September, Jacinta is exhumed for transferral to the cemetery at Fatima and is found incorrupt.

1937 Sr Lucia writes her second account of the Fatima apparitions.

1939 World War II begins as Russia and Germany invade Poland.

1940 Sr Lucia writes to her confessor saying God was permitting the delay in making the consecration of Russia as punishment for the sins of the world.

1941 August, the Bishop of Leiria orders Sr Lucia to write a narrative of Jacinta’s life. She takes this as a sign from heaven to write the first two parts of the Secret.

1941 December, Sr Lucia completes her fourth writing of the apparitions of Fatima. This is Memoirs IV.

1942 Pius XII consecrates the Church and the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

1944 January, Sr Lucia writes down the third part of the Secret at Tuy.

1944 Bishop Correia da Silva is given the third part of the Secret in a sealed envelope.

1946 13 May, Papal Legate to Portugal Cardinal Masella solemnly crowns the statue of Our Lady of Fatima before 800,000 pilgrims in Fatima.

1948 Sr Lucia enters the Carmel at Coimbra and is professed a discalced Carmelite the following year.

1949 Canonical process for canonisation of Jacinta and Francisco is opened.

1951 Jacinta’s body is moved to the new Basilica in Fatima. Francisco’s remains are translated there the following year.

1952 Apostolic letter Sacro Vergente Anno of Pope Pius XII consecrates the peoples of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

1957 Third part of the Secret is placed in the Vatican’s secret archives.

1964 510 council fathers at Vatican II unsuccessfully request the official consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

1973 Sr Lucia’s manuscripts published by Fatima scholar Fr Martins SJ under the title Memoirs and Letters of Sr Lucia.

1982 13 May, Pope John Paul II consecrates the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Fatima.

1984 Pope John Paul II renews his consecration of the world in Rome.

2000 13 May, Pope John Paul II beatifies Jacinta and Francisco at Fatima. The same day Cardinal Sodano astonishes the world by announcing that the third part of the Secret will shortly be published.

2000 26 June, the third part of the Secret is published.

2005 13 February, Sr Lucia dos Santos, last surviving seer of Fatima, dies at 97.
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