Our Lady of Fatima: Penance and prayer are salvation

On 13 May we celebrate the Madonna of Fatima. Her invitation to penance and prayer as instruments of salvation today is more timely than ever.

The feast dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima was made universal in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. During the same visit to Fatima, the Pontiff beatified Jacinta and Francisco, two of the three visionaries who witnessed the apparitions, who died in their youth. To them and little Lucia Dos Santos, tradition has it that Our Lady has appeared six times, communicating important and precious messages for the whole world. At a time when humanity was threatened by war and other terrible calamities, Our Lady of Fatima offered three innocent children a message of hope.

Penance, recitation of the Rosary and consecration to his Immaculate Heart would have saved the world and all the souls of sinners.

The Fatima apparitions are not the only Marian ones officially recognised by the Catholic Church, but they are among the most famous. Others equally recognised are, just to name a few, those of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which took place in Mexico in 1531, and those of Our Lady of La Salette and Our Lady of Lourdes, which took place in France in 1846 and 1858 respectively. For other Marian apparitions, the cult has been authorised, although there has not yet been official recognition.

But what do we mean by the apparition of Mary? It takes place when Mary, the mother of Jesus, presents herself to one or more people, addressing them with words or gestures. In some cases, the visionaries claim to have only heard the voice of Our Lady, and in this case, we speak of locutions.

That’s not what happened to Fatima.

History of Our Lady of Fatima

On 13 May 1917, on a bright spring Sunday, three shepherds from Aljustrel, a small village one and a half kilometres from Fatima, looked after the herds of their families, as they do every day. Since the weather was so beautiful, they had gone as far as Cova da Iria, a green basin at the foot of a hill. They were Lúcia dos Santos (10 years old), her cousin Jacinta Marto (7 years old) and her little brother Francisco (9 years old).

Lulled by the sweetness of the day, the children played serenely in the green, when suddenly dazzling lights flashed in the sky, like flashes of a summer storm. Yet the sky was clear, clear of clouds. The three hurried to gather the sheep, but as they descended along the slope, a stronger light than the others illuminated a large oak not far away. And it was then that, enveloped by the light, they saw the Lady. So they defined her in their story because only three children were growing up in the countryside, and that beautiful woman dressed in white who floated over the branches of the holm-oak, shining like a star, with beautiful roses to adorn her feet, had to be a Lady. A good Lady, because with the sweetest voice in the world she said to them: “Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.” Her very garment seemed to be made of light, so white, immaculate as fresh snow. A golden cord was her girdle, and on her shoulders and her head was a veil embroidered with gold, princely, wrapping it up to her feet. He held his hands on his chest as if praying, and in his fingers, he had a sparkling Rosary.

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After the initial surprise the three children, who were educated, but also curious to meet that beautiful Lady, turned to her. It was Lucia, the eldest girl who spoke, asking where she came from.

“I come from Heaven” was the response, which filled the little ones with amazement and reverence.

Excited, they asked her what she had come to do in the Cova da Iria, and she gently explained that she had come precisely to meet them and that she wanted them to return the same day and at the same time in that place for the next six months.

The children more and more amazed, happy that such a beautiful and noble Lady paid so much attention to them, asked if they too would go to heaven.

She said yes if they recited the Rosary.

She also told them that they would suffer a lot because enduring with patience and courage the sufferings that God decided to send to each one was the only way to make amends for the sins of men who were so offensive to Him. But if they had agreed to bear their burden and if they had recited the Rosary, God would have been so pleased to send His Grace not only to them but also to all sinners. That said, she began to ascend into the sky and disappeared.

The children returned home, swearing that they would not tell anyone about that prodigious encounter, but Jacinta let the truth slip. The families and the whole village accepted that story with discordant attitudes, but the fact is that at the next appointment, on 13 June, a small crowd went with the children to Cova da Iria, who was driven by curiosity, the desire to deny them and authentic faith. The Rosary was recited and then the Lady appeared. Little Lucia was recommended to learn how to read and write. She told her that she would live for a long time, to make her Immaculate Heart known and loved. She also said that Jacinta and Francis would go to heaven soon.

But it was not limited to this. He lamented the infinite sorrows he had to endure in his Immaculate Heart because of the sins of men and again I recommend to all present to repeat the practice of the Rosary every day.

On 13 July the third apparition took place.

More than 2,000 people went with the children this time, despite the mockery and false accusations made against them in the previous month.

After the usual Rosary, the Lady appeared as promised. Lucia then asked her to manifest herself in some way, to convince those present of her identity. She promised that if the children continued to visit her every month in October she would perform a miracle that would remove any doubt even from the most sceptical. Then out of her open hands came a ray of light, and the three children had a fleeting vision of the torments to which sinners were destined.

She then asked that Russia accept devotion to his Immaculate Heart and practice the restorative communion on the first Saturdays of five months. This would bring peace to the world. He remembered to recite the Rosary by inserting at the end of each decade the invocation: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins; preserve us from the fire of hell; bring all souls to heaven and especially help those most in need of Your mercy.” 

But on that occasion, the Lady also revealed three confidential messages, forcing the three seers not to reveal them. The three Secrets of Fatima

On 13 August 1917, the Lady did not appear.

Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco had been imprisoned by the deception of the mayor of Aljustrel, because they had not wanted to abjure about the apparitions.

However Our Lady appeared to them on 19 August in Valinhos, and on that occasion, she asked them to have a chapel built in the place of the apparitions. To do this they would use the many offers of the faithful. Thus the first germ of the future Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima will be born.

On 13 September there was a crowd of 30,000 people with the children. The Lady reminded everyone of the miracle that would take place on 13 October, then ascended to heaven in a sphere of light.

70,000 people came from all over Portugal to witness the miracles that Our Lady had promised to accomplish on 13 October and with them were journalists and photographers from every country

It was a dark and rainy day. The Lady appeared and presented herself as the Lady of the Rosary. He reiterated his desire to have a chapel erected in his name and ordered that everyone recite the Rosary every day, to ensure the end of the war. Then he opened his hands and a ray of light came out of them, illuminating the sky. The three children saw Jesus the Child, St. Joseph and Mary, then a man who blessed the world, Our Lady of Sorrows, and finally Our Lady of Carmel with the scapular in her hand.

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Here was the miracle that everyone was waiting for: the sun appeared in the sky, and it was a disc of opaque silver, which did not heat, did not cast a shadow, as when there was the eclipse. It seemed to tremble, dance in the sky, become bigger, smaller, projecting multicoloured rays, to the astonished looks of all present. Everyone saw him and shouted at the miracle.

The three shepherds of Fatima

It was Lucia who spoke to the Lady during all the apparitions.

Jacinta could see and hear her, Francisco could only see her.

As predicted by Mrs Francisco and Jacinta died a few years later, due to the Spanish flu epidemic. Jacinta in particular suffered a long agony, which she accepted as joy and courage, as Our Lady had recommended her to do.

Instead, Lúcia took her vows in the Discalced Carmelites, and as promised to Our Lady, she wrote in her Memoirs everything that had happened in Fatima in those years.

The cult of Our Lady of Fatima was recognised and legitimised by the Church in 1930.

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The three Secrets of Fatima

Revealed by Our Lady to the three shepherds on the occasion of the apparition of 13 July 1917, the so-called three secrets of Fatima remained a mystery for a long time. Lucia will reveal the first two only in 1941, while the third will be announced only in 2000.

Here they are:

• The salvation of souls (through the vision of hell);
• Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (to save the souls of sinners)
• Penance and the sacrifice of the martyrs of the Church.

Although we can consider the message of Our Lady of Fatima as a general invitation to penance and prayer, these secrets gather revelation and deepen it, in a certain sense. Lucia herself explained that in the reality of a single secret revealed in three different moments.

In 1941, Lucia revealed to the Bishop of Leiria Monsignor Josè Alves Correira da Silva the first two parts of the secret. They were then made public in 1942, on the occasion of the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

On 3 January 1944, Lucia wrote the third part and entrusted it to the bishop, so that he could deliver it to Pope Pius XI, with the recommendation that it be read and disseminated only in 1960. So the Lady had ordered.

Pope John XXIII read the third secret of Fatima in August 1959, but he did not reveal it. It was necessary to await the ascent to the papal throne of John Paul II, who, on the occasion of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco on 13 May 2000, made the third secret public.

Here are the three secrets as Lucia wrote them.

First and Second Secrets of Fatima

“[…] a great sea of fire, which seemed to be underground. Immersed in that fire, the demons and the souls, as if they were transparent embers and black or bronze, with human form that floated in the fire […]. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. It’s thanks to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.»

[…]

«You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, through war, famine and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good shall be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.»

Sister Lucy identified the conflict announced with the Second World War:

«”An atheistic war, against the faith, against God, against the people of God. A war that wanted to exterminate the Judaism from where Jesus Christ, Our Lady and the Apostles who transmitted to us the word of God and the gift of faith, hope and charity, the chosen people of God, chosen from the beginning: “salvation comes from the Jews”»

Third Secret of Fatima

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!‘. And we saw in an immense light, which is God, (“something similar to how people see themselves in a mirror when they pass in front of it”) a bishop dressed in white, (“we had the feeling that he was the Holy Father”) together with bishops, priests, men and women religious climbing a steep mountain, on top of which there was a large Cross of rough trunks as if it were of cork with bark; the Holy Father, before arriving there, crossed a large city half in ruin and half trembling, with a faltering step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; when he reached the top of the mountain, prostrated on his knees at the foot of the great Cross, he was killed by a group of soldiers who shot him several shots of firearms and arrows, and in the same way died one after the other the bishops, priests, men and women religious and various secular people, men and women of various classes and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross, there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, where they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.»

Sanctuary of Fatima

The sanctuary of Fatima is one of the most important Marian shrines in the world. It was erected at Cova da Iria, right where the Lady appeared to Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco. This is what Our Lady herself had asked.

Pope Paul VI visited him for the first time on 13 May 1967, but it was above all Pope John Paul II, who often went on pilgrimage to that place to which he was particularly attached. He went there three times: in 1982, 1991 and finally in 2000. In 1982 he donated the bullet he had escaped the year before. This bullet was then embedded in the crown of the Virgin of Fatima. Pope Benedict XVI went to Portugal in 2010.

The building is neo-baroque-style, surrounded by a large colonnade and preceded by a large square. Its bell tower is 65 metres high. Inside are kept the remains of the three seers: Jacinta and Francesco Marto, who died respectively in 1920 and 1919, beatified by John Paul II and canonised by Pope Francis, was also joined in 2005 by Lucia.

A wooden statue depicting the Madonna is placed in the chapel of the apparitions, the heart of the Sanctuary.

Pope Francis on 13 May 2017 celebrated the centenary of the apparitions in the Shrine. Here is what he wrote about Our Lady of Fatima in a 2019 tweet: “Mary, Virgin of Fatima, we are sure that each of us is precious in your eyes and that nothing is foreign to you of everything that dwells in our hearts. Keep our life in your arms, guide all of us on the path of holiness”.