The Children: Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia
The apparitions had their roots in a series of mystical
events that began in 1915. Three young children, Lucia dos Santos, age nine, and
her two younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, were tending a flock of
sheep in the fields outside Fatima when Lucia thought she saw a translucent
cloud that seemed to be shaped in the form of a human body. It moved across a
clear sky and finally hovered above a pine grove.
A year later, in the summer of 1916, the children were guiding their flocks of sheep to a meadow called Couza Velha when they were caught in a sudden rainstorm. Ducking into the shelter of a nearby cave, they decided to eat their lunch and wait until the rain stopped before collecting their herd. After completing an abbreviated Rosary, the rain stopped suddenly and, within moments of leaving the cave, they were greeted by a strong wind blowing across the pines. When they turned to discover what might be causing such a wind, they saw again the translucent cloud that Lucia had seen the previous year. This time the cloud moved toward them and finally became distinguishable as a transparent "young man" about fourteen years of age. The young man identified himself to the astonished children, "Don't be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me." He then knelt on the ground, bending forward until his forehead touched it, and prayed: "My God, I believe, I adore, and I love You! I beg pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You!" He said this prayer three times. When he stood he then said to the children: "Pray thus. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications." Saying that, he vanished from sight. The children were overwhelmed and in a state of ecstasy. They repeated this prayer for a long time as the angel had done - on their knees
The children decided not to tell anyone of their experiences fearing ridicule and censure by their parents and friends. Several weeks later, the angel appeared again and requested that they pray a great deal, offer sacrifices to the Most High and accept whatever sufferings which the Lord sent to them. In his third and final appearance in October, the angel brought with him a Chalice and suspended above it, a Host. Before offering the
Host to Lucia, the only one who had received First Communion, he prostrated himself on the ground and said:
"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly and offer You the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners."
He repeated this prayer three times and then rising up, lifted the Host before his eyes and said: "Take and drink the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly insulted by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God." With this, he gave the Host to Lucia and let the other children drink from the Chalice.
As all this was occurring in Portugal, World War I was raging across Europe. In the fall of 1914, Pope Benedict XV pleaded with the leaders of Europe to stop the bloodshed but to no avail. After a number of such pleas, on May 5, 1917, the Pope directed that the invocation Queen of Peace, pray for us be permanently included in the Church's litany of prayer to Mary. He also noted:
To Mary, then, who is the Mother of Mercy and omnipotent by grace, let loving and devout appeal go up from every corner of the earth - from noble temples and tiniest chapels, from royal palaces and mansions of the rich as from the poorest hut - from every place where a faithful soul finds shelter - from blood-drenched plains and seas. Let it bear to her the anguished cry of mothers and wives, the wailing of innocent little ones, the sighs of every generous heart; that her most tender and benign solicitude may be moved and the peace we ask for be obtained for our agitated world.
In Fatima, the children continued to pray and offer whatever sacrifices they could as the angel had requested. On May 13th - eight days after the Pope directly asked for heaven's intervention - the little shepherds were moving their flocks to the meadows of the Cova da Iria when they were startled by a very bright flash. Thinking it was lightning, they ran for the nearest cover they could find near a large oak tree. A second bright flash once again frightened them and they ran from the tree toward the east seeking better shelter. They were startled to see a bright globe of light hovering over a small evergreen that stood directly in their path. At the center of the light stood a Lady dressed in brilliant white, holding her hands against her breast in a prayerful repose; in her right hand she held a Rosary.
The Lady spoke to them in a soft, melodious voice,
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you!"
Lucia asked the Lady where she came from, to which she replied,
"I am from heaven."
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