Our Lady of Fatima

1916: the Angel prepares the children

Before Our Lady’s visits, the Angel of Peace appeared to the three children in the spring, summer, and autumn of 1916. Lucia’s account describes prayer on their knees, adoration of the Holy Trinity, and reverence for Christ in the Eucharist. The Angel asked for prayer and sacrifice for sinners. This preparation placed God at the center: the children learned to adore Him, to ask pardon for offenses against Him, and to offer themselves in love.

Sanctuary of Fatima · The Apparitions: the angelic and Marian cycles · Sanctuary of Fatima · Life and spirituality of the three shepherd children

1917: six meetings with Our Lady

The first apparition took place on May 13 at the Cova da Iria, where the children were tending sheep. Mary asked them to return monthly and to pray the Rosary each day for peace and the end of the war. The meetings continued on June 13 and July 13. Detention in Ourém prevented the children from reaching the Cova da Iria on August 13; the fourth apparition occurred at Valinhos on August 19. They returned to the Cova da Iria on September 13 and October 13.

Sanctuary of Fatima · The Apparitions: the angelic and Marian cycles

The Immaculate Heart and the salvation of souls

Lucia describes a vision of hell on July 13, followed by Mary’s call for devotion to her Immaculate Heart. The same account records her request for the consecration of Russia and the Communion of reparation on First Saturdays. Her warning about war and persecution was joined to the promise of her Heart’s triumph. The children were called to intercede for others through conversion, prayer, and sacrifice.

The Holy See publishes Lucia’s written testimony, including the first two parts of the secret in her Third Memoir of 1941 and the third part written in 1944. These are distinct records of what she remembered and was instructed to put in writing; their dates should not be confused with the apparition itself.

The Holy See · The Message of Fatima (2000): Lucia’s manuscripts and translations

October 13: the Lady of the Rosary

A great crowd gathered for the final apparition of 1917. Mary identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary and asked for a chapel. The public sign remembered as the Miracle of the Sun was reported by witnesses, including journalist Avelino de Almeida in O Século. The shrine preserves the place of this testimony alongside Lucia’s account. The event drew attention to the request repeated through the apparitions: continue praying the Rosary and amend your life.

Almeida also set down his own recollection in Ilustração Portuguesa on October 29, 1917. The Sanctuary’s newspaper later reprinted that eyewitness account in full, with spelling updates, and it can be read in the linked Portuguese source.

Sanctuary of Fatima · Narrative of the Apparitions, with references to Lucia’s memoirs and early interrogations · Avelino de Almeida · Ilustração Portuguesa, October 29, 1917; complete eyewitness account reprinted in Voz da Fátima, December 13, 1973, p. 2 (Portuguese; spelling updated) · Sanctuary of Fatima · October 13, 1917 and the contemporary testimony of Avelino de Almeida

1925: the Five First Saturdays at Pontevedra

On December 10, 1925, while Lucia was with the Dorothean sisters in Pontevedra, she reported a visit of Our Lady and the Child Jesus. Here the request for the First Saturdays received its particular form: confession, Holy Communion, five decades of the Rosary, and fifteen minutes keeping Mary company in meditation on the Rosary’s mysteries, with the intention of making reparation to her. These four acts are undertaken on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months.

Lucia records Mary’s promise to assist those who fulfill the devotion at death with the graces needed for salvation. The intention of reparation belongs to the practice itself: the acts express love toward the Mother whose Heart is wounded by blasphemy and ingratitude.

Sanctuary of Fatima · First Saturdays, citing Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words, vol. I, p. 194 · Sanctuary of Fatima · Narrative of the Apparitions, with references to Lucia’s memoirs and early interrogations

1929: the request at Tuy

On June 13, 1929, Lucia described a vision in the convent chapel at Tuy involving the Holy Trinity, Christ crucified, and Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart. She recorded Mary’s request that the Pope, together with the bishops of the world, consecrate Russia to that Heart. This later request belongs to Lucia’s continuing testimony; it was not another gathering of the three children in 1917.

Sanctuary of Fatima · Narrative of the Apparitions, with references to Lucia’s memoirs and early interrogations

A message lived by the children

Francisco devoted himself especially to prayer and consoling Jesus. Jacinta offered the trials of daily life and her illness for sinners, and shared with the poor. Lucia preserved their testimony and continued to make Our Lady’s requests known. Their response gave the message a visible form in ordinary duties, compassion, Eucharistic prayer, and perseverance through suffering.

Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920. Pope Francis canonized them together at Fatima on May 13, 2017. Their holiness gives the faithful examples of children who answered grace with serious and generous love.

Sanctuary of Fatima · Life and spirituality of the three shepherd children · Sanctuary of Fatima · Canonization of Francisco and Jacinta on May 13, 2017