In their hearts they (the children) heard the words of this prayer, which they repeated with great love:
Most Holy Trinity, I adore you! My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament!
The Lady had one more recommendation: "Say the rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world."
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Our Lady of Fatima in the Guesthouse Chapel.
1950c.: Abbot Dom Columban carried the Our Lady of Fatima from
the Liverpool Docks, shipped from Portugal.
Blessed Jacinta and
Francisco Marto:
Shepherds of Fatima
by Anne E. Heffernan (Author), Fsp Heffernan (Author).
Extract: 3. The Beautiful
Lady, pp. 23-29
On Sunday, May 13, 1917, the
cousins went to Mass with their families at Saint Anthony Church, their
parish in Fatima. After Mass, they decided to take their
sheep to the Cova da Iria.
The Cova is
a valley about two miles from Fatima. In this
valley Lucia's parents owned a small piece
of property where a few holm oaks and olive trees
grew. (A holm oak is a type of oak tree whose leaves look like
those of the holly plant.)
While the
flocks went about feeding upon
the best grass, the three friends played games and told
stories. Lucia was a great storyteller.
She couldn't read, since she had never gone to school, but she had a very good memory. Whenever
her mother read stories from the Gospels and the Old Testament,
Lucia listened carefully.
Later she faithfully repeated the stories to Francisco and
Jacinta, who loved to hear them.
After
lunch, the trio knelt down to recite the rosary as usual. The fresh spring grass, the shelter of a cave, and
the shade of a chestnut tree
reminded them of God's power and beauty as they slipped their beads through their fingers. After
the rosary, they went back to their games.
The sun shone
clearly in the sky, and many field flowers bowed their heads before its hot rays. Suddenly there was an unexpected flash of lightning. The children looked at each
other in amazement.
"Maybe a storm's
coming up from behind the mountain," suggested Lucia.
Although the horizon was clear, with no clouds in sight, it was better to play safe.
"I think we should go home."
"Yes, let's go!" Jacinta and Francisco agreed.
In a moment the flocks were rounded up and urged down the hillside. Another flash of lightning cut across their path. This time the children were really frightened. They started to run,
hoping to arrive home before the storm broke. But when they reached the bottom of the valley, they stopped, as though by command.
A few steps away from them, upon a small green holm oak tree, a beautiful young Lady stood looking down at them. She was surrounded by a light more dazzling than the sun.
The children's first instinct was to run away, but the Lady reassured them, "Do not be afraid. I do not wish to harm you."
Jacinta and Francisco stared up at her in wonder, while Lucia tried to think of what she should say.
The Lady seemed to be between fifteen to eighteen years old. Her white dress, drawn
tight at the neck by a
golden cord, fell to her feet. A white mantle bordered with gold covered her head and almost her entire person. In her hands, she held a white rosary with a silver cross. The whole vision shone like crystal in the sun.
The Lady was not standing in mid-air, but resting lightly upon the little holm
oak tree, her feet just barely touching its leaves. Her face, of heavenly beauty, was veiled with sadness.
Tender-hearted Francisco was touched at
once by her sorrow.
"Where are
you from?" Lucia asked. "I come from heaven."
The Lady's kind voice gave Lucia the courage to continue.
"Please tell us why you have come."
"I have come to ask you children to meet me here at this same hour on the thirteenth of every month, for six months in a
row, until October. Then I will tell you who I am and what I wish."
Lucia found it easy to speak to the Lady, whose presence was not overpowering like that of
the angel. "If
you come
from heaven, tell me, will I go there?" she confidently asked.
"Yes," the Lady promised with a look of great love.
"And Jacinta?" "Jacinta, too."
"And Francisco?"
The eyes of the Lady rested upon the nine-year-old boy, with a thoughtful, motherly gaze. "Yes, certainly he too will come. But first he will have to pray many, many rosaries."
Encouraged by the Lady's goodness, Lucia asked about two little girls who had died recently. From the
Lady's reply, Lucia understood that one was in heaven and the other in purgatory. Then the young Lady continued, "Will you offer yourselves to God, read y to make
sacrifices and to accept willingly all the sufferings he will send you, in order to make reparation for the sins with which the Divine
Majesty is offended and to obtain the conversion of sinners?"
Lucia answered for the three of them, "Yes, we want
to!"
The Lady showed her approval with a lovely smile. Then she added, "You will have
to suffer much, but the grace of God will assist and comfort you always."
Next,
opening
her hands, which had been joined, she let a ray of mysterious light fall upon the children. The light seemed to enter right
into their hearts and
souls. Somehow they knew that the light was God. In fact, they felt embraced by God. Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco fell to their knees. In their hearts they heard the words of this prayer, which they repeated
with great love:
Most Holy Trinity, I adore you! My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament!
The Lady had one more recommendation:
"Say the rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world." Then silently she rose
from the treetop and moved off toward the east. The children watched in wonder as the vision slowly faded away.
While the appearance of the angel had left the children unable to speak-often for a few hours-the vision of the Lady had filled them with such peace and joy that they began to talk at once. Francisco, again, had not heard the vision's words, but Lucia
immediately told
him everything. When he heard that he would go to heaven after he had said many rosaries, he cried excitedly, "Oh, my Lady! I'll say as many rosaries as you want!"
And he would keep his promise.
