Our Lady of Fatima (1917)
The Blessed Mother appeared to 3 young Portuguese children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto 6 times between May 13 and October 13, 1917.
On Sunday morning, May 13, 1917, the three visionaries were playing at Cova da Iria when they saw two flashes like lightning. Then they saw a woman above an oak tree. According to Lucia, she was “a lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the 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. The visionaries were so close to Our Lady that they stood within the light that radiated from her.
The conversation reportedly 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–pointing 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 First World War (WWI). Our Blessed Mother then immediately began to rise serenely toward the east until she disappeared far into the distance. The light that surrounded her was opening her way through the starry firmament.
Francisco and Jacinta died from the Spanish Flu in 1919. They were canonized by Pope Francis in 2017. St. Lucia became a nun, and reportedly continued to sporadically see the Blessed Mother. She died when she was 97 in 2005. She has been accorded the title Servant of God and is on the way to canonization. She did reveal the 3 secrets over time and they were a foresight of Hell, World War I and World War II, and the persecutions of Christians.
The Blessed Mother in this apparition is known as Our Lady of Fatima.
