The incredible events that occurred in Fátima began around the year 1915. Three shepherd children, Lúcia dos Santos, and Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on a couple of different occasions, saw an angel who called himself the “Angel of Peace.” He instructed them in believing in God and the value of making sacrifices for unbelievers:
In everything you can, offer a sacrifice as an act of reparation for sins by which [God] is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners. Thus draw peace upon your country. I am its Guardian Angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all accept and endure with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you.
The Angel also taught them some prayers that reflect these teachings:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you. I ask Your pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the Tabernacles of the world, 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 the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.
The appearances of the Angel, however, were a preparation for an even more monumental grace from God—to see and converse with Our Lady herself!
Beginning on May 13th of 1917, Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta were tending the flock of sheep in a place called the Cova da Iria when they saw a light flash like lightning. Suddenly, there was a beautiful lady standing nearby on a little holm oak tree. After reassuring the children that she meant them no harm, she requested that they come to the Cova on the 13th day of each month until October. During this time, she would continue to talk with them.
At the end of this first apparition, the lady asked the children if they would be willing to: (1) Offer themselves to God, and (2) Bear all the sufferings that He wills to send them. The purpose for each of these requests was also two-fold: (1) To make reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and (2) To make supplication for the conversion of sinners. The children consented and were told that they, “would have much to suffer, but the grace of God would be [their] comfort.” They did indeed suffer in reparation and supplication. Lúcia, in particular, was hard-hit by disbelief from her family and her mother even took the broomstick to her.
For the next several months, the lady continued to appear to the children. In July, she gave the “heart” of her message. During this particular apparition, the Blessed Virgin revealed a three-part secret to the children. The first part was a vision of hell, where the three children saw demons and people in torturous agony. The second part was about the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and contained requests that the Pope and Bishops consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart and that a new devotion called the “Five First Saturdays” be promoted.
At the same time, Our Lady gave a prophetic warning about what would happen if her requests were not heeded. She predicted that Russia was going to be the catalyst for more wars, persecutions, and the annihilation of various nations, and that the Holy Father would have much to suffer. These things would happen, she explained, because Russia would spread “errors” throughout the world. We’ll talk more about these “errors” in the next segment.
After stating these things to the visionaries, Our Lady then gave them the third part of the Secret. It comprised a vision that depicted an angel with a flaming sword, apparently ready to strike the world with judgment. He was held back by Our Lady and he called for penance. Meanwhile, there was also the Pope, Bishops, Religious, and Laypeople alike all processing toward a cross. On the way, they were martyred. The vision is a powerful image of the sacrifice required of Christians in order to remain faithful to God in the midst of the evils outlined by Our Lady in the second part of the Secret.
Lastly, to confirm that all of these things were true, Our Lady promised to give a sign that would verify her appearances. This sign, witnessed by about 70,000 people, occurred on October 13th and is known as the “miracle of the sun.” For several minutes, the sun appeared to move around the sky in defiance of all cosmic laws—at one point even moving as if it would crash into the earth! People were terrified, screaming and even openly confessing their sins. After the sun returned to its normal position in the sky, the people looked around and saw that their clothes and the ground were completely dry. It had been raining just before the miracle.
After such an extraordinary sign, the local Church began investigating the apparitions. During the investigation, two of the visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, died (April, 1919 and February, 1920 respectively), as had been prophesied by Our Lady. The examination was completed, and, in October of 1930, the local Bishop, Dom José Correia da Silva, officially endorsed both the devotion to and the message of Our Lady of Fátima:
In virtue of the prior considerations and others that we omit for brevity, humbly invoking the Divine Holy Spirit and trusting in the protection of Mary Most Holy, after hearing the Reverend Consultors of our Diocese, we have for the good: 1) to declare as worthy of belief the visions of the shepherd children in the Cova da Iria, the parish of Fátima, of this Diocese, on the 13th of May to October of 1917; 2) to permit officially the cultus of Our Lady of Fátima.
Now officially approved, Fátima took deeper root in the larger Catholic world. Its precise message we will discuss in the next segment.