Biography
Portuguese child noted for the Miracle of Fatima which occurred on
10/13/1917, 1:30 PM GMT.
Near the town of Fatima, Portugal, a small, rural town about 90 miles
north of Lisbon, a miracle appeared to three peasant children, Lucia dos
Santos and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto. On a spring day
in 1916 Lucia, nine, Francisco, eight and his sister Jacinta, six, were
tending sheep at Chousa Velha, a grazing field when they were startled by
a brilliant light enclosing a young man of great beauty, who said to them
that he was the angel of Peace. All three children saw the visions but
Francisco could not hear them. Lucia was the only one to converse with the
apparitions. The angel appeared again that summer, and in the fall he gave
the children the host to eat and the chalice to drink, a sacrament of the
Catholic Church. The children were awed and pious and spent long periods
praying as the angel had instructed them.
On 5/13/1917, shortly after noon, the three were watching the sheep at
Cova da Iraia when a radiant form appeared above an holm oak tree. She
told them she had come from Heaven and instructed the three visionaries to
return, once each month for six months. The Lady told the children that
She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child
living in our century. Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, the vision of
Our Lady was always on the 13th of the month with one exception, in August
when she appeared to them near the village of Valinhos on August 19. The
mayor, in an attempt to stop the events, had the youngsters kidnapped and
secluded away but when the crowds demanded the return of the children, he
soon released them.
At a time when civilization was sickened by war and bloody violence,
the Blessed Mother repeated her emphasis on prayer, reparation and
consecration during each visit, in return for which She promised that
Heaven would grant peace to all the world. She confided Three Secrets to
the three child seers in July 1917; the first a vision of hell where the
souls go of the unredeemed and the second a prophesy of World War II. The
Third Secret was written down by Lucy Dos Santos, the last living Fatima
seer, in 1944, and has been in the possession of the Holy See since 1957.
At the time that She confided the Fatima Secret to the three seers, the
Blessed Virgin also promised that God would work a great miracle the
following October "so that all may believe." The event was
reported in newspapers around the world, and by 10/13/1917, there were
more than 70,000 people gathered in the Cova da Iria, come to witness the
miracle. As the Lady was about to leave, she pointed to the sun. Lucy
excitedly repeated the gesture, and the people looked into the sky. The
sun appeared to spin, casting off a pinwheel of colored lights, and three
times in the next 12 minutes, it rushed toward the earth, threatening to
extinguish the planet with its brilliance. When it seem the people would
all be destroyed, the miracle ceased and the sun returned to normal. When
the people arose from the ground, cries of astonishment were heard on all
sides. Their clothes, which had been soaking wet and muddy, now were clean
and dry. Many of the sick and crippled had been cured of their
afflictions.
This event has now become known as "the Miracle of the Sun"
and the Catholic Church has accepted it as an historic, physical event. It
has officially endorsed the message as “worthy of belief” since 1930,
through five successive popes. Many books, pamphlets, records, films and
videos have been produced, probing the wonder of the miracle first seen by
three children. Millions of pilgrims have come to Fatima since then with
the largest crowds on the 13th of the month from May through October. The
Cova da Iria is now a huge, paved area which lies in front of the Basilica
of Our Lady of Fatima. Though the Lady instructed the release of the third
letter in 1960, the Third Secret was not released by the Vatican until
5/13/2000. Sister Lucy of Fatima has already spoken in 1957 to Father
Fuentes of the same text as the third secret, saying that "Many times
the Blessed Virgin Mary said that Russia is the instrument of chastisement
chosen by Heaven to punish the whole world for its sins if we do not
beforehand obtain the conversion of that poor nation." Inasmuch as
the prediction was given for the second half of the 20th century, the
Vatican waited until the time had past in order to not cause panic.
The Lady said to Lucia on 6/13/1917, during the second apparition,
"In a short time I will take Francisco and Jacinta up to heaven with
me. You, on the other hand, will remain on earth for a great many years to
spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart." The two Marto children
were both stricken by the Spanish flu and Francisco died on 4/04/1919 at
Fatima, age ten, and Jacinta died on 2/20/1920, 22:30 GMT at Lisbon, age
nine. They were both beatified by Pope John Paul II on 5/13/2000. Due to
the contagious nature of the disease, their remains were covered with
quicklime: nonetheless, when the bodies were examined in 1951, Jacinta's
body was found to be in perfect condition.
From age 14, Lucia attended a girl's school and then entered a Barefoot
Carmelites convent in Coimbra, Portugal, where she has been a recluse nun
since 1921. She may contact outsiders only with the Pope's permission.
With Leiria's Bishop, she authored her "Memoirs" in 1941, where
she talks about the controversial Fatima secret. At age 93 she is fit and
capable.
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