Our Lady of Fatima, 13th for Vigils
Fatima is in central Portugal, in the diocese of Leiria, and not
far from the great abbeys of Alcobaca and Batalha. At the time of the
apparitions, it was a hamlet near the large, straggling village of Aljustrel. Although
admittedly more inspiring than the flat fields of Hriushiw, the country round
about lacks the dramatic beauty of the mountain settings of Medjugorje,
Turzovka or Garabandal; the ground is stony and the soil red, dotted with olive
trees and evergreen holm-oaks. About a mile from Fatima there is a
saucershaped depression called the Cova da Iria - the dell of Iria or Irene.
Three peasant children were tending sheep here on 13 May 1917; Lucia dos
Santos, aged ten, with her cousins Francisco Marto, eight, and his sister
Jacinta, seven. They all lived at Aljustrel, their parents being small farmers.
They were saying the Rosary, as their mothers had told them
to, mumbling the prayers so as to finish it quickly.
Suddenly there
was what seemed to be a flash of lightning and they began to go
home, fearing a thunderstorm. There was another flash, then they
saw a Lady dressed in white, standing on a small holm-oak. In Lucia's words,
'She was more brilliant than the sun.' 'Where are you from?' asked Lucia.
'Heaven,' was the answer. The Lady told the children that she wanted them to
come to the same spot on the thirteenth day of the month for six months, at the
same time. In response to further questions, she said that both the girls would
go to heaven but Francisco must say many Rosaries before doing so. One of their
friends who had just died was already there - another would have to stay in
purgatory till the end of the world.
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| Our Lady of Fatima & the children |
The children agreed to keep the vision a secret, but Jacinta told
her mother and soon the story was all over Aliustrel. They were laughed at by
their families. Despite the jeering, they sneaked back to the Cova da Iria on
13 June. The Lady came again, preceded by the same flashes of light, repeating
her instructions. She also promised to take Jacinta and Francisco to heaven quite
soon though Lucia must stay behind.
After this the parish priest suggested to Lucia that the visions
came from the Devil. She was so frightened that she wanted to stay away from
the Cova but the other children begged her to go with them on 13 July. Her
mother and her uncle came too, with a crowd of several thousand .. The sun
seemed to glow a little less brightly, then Lucia said that the Lady was
appearing. This time she told the children to say the Rosary every day, for
peace and for an end to the Great War; they must also pray to Our Lord, 'to save
us from the fires of hell'. In October she would tell them who she was and what
she wanted' from them above all. Meanwhile she confided a 'secret'. Lucia was
seen to turn pale by those near her. (We now know from Lucia that she was
witnessing a terrible vision of hell.)
Lucia pleaded with the Lady to work a miracle, to convince
everybody that she really was appearing. The poor girl had good reason to want
one; until August her mother beat her black and blue, often with a broomstick, for
telling lies. At school Francisco was being scolded by his teacher and bullied
by the other boys. The children's parents were alarmed because the authorities
were beginning to take an interest.
From The Dancing Sun
by Desmond Seward,
by Desmond Seward,
pp., 162-164.
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| Sacristy vestibule |
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