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Chapter 1

Fatima from the Beginning

Three significant appearances of the Angel of Peace at Fatima took place in the spring, summer, and fall of 1916 — a year before the more famous apparitions of Mary. Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were playing games and watching their flocks at the time of the apparitions. They were simple, normal children. Francisco loved to play with sticks and throw rocks. Jacinta enjoyed dancing. Lucia, the oldest, was the ringleader. After playing, the children would say the Rosary but would modify it so that it would not last very long and they could resume playing. Many of us can relate to this. Sometimes we get too busy doing other things and avoid the things that are most important for us. In fact, the message the Angel brought to the children applies to us all.

How It All Began

According to Sister Lucia, the exact dates of the apparitions are not known: “At the time I did not know how to reckon the years, the months, or even the days of the week.” However, by recalling the weather outside, she was able to indicate the season when each of the three apparitions took place.

When the Angel first appeared, Lucia had just turned nine, Francisco was barely eight, and Jacinta was only six years old. But why three simple children? If we consider the nature of children — their ability to absorb and retell a story in detail without any preconceived notions or agendas — we can see how this works for God’s plan. If the message of Fatima had been given to three adults, it may well have been distorted by pressures from the outside world.

“I Am the Angel of Peace”

One spring day, while tending their sheep in a property that was known as the Chousa, Lucia and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco, had led their flock to the east side of a rocky outcropping known as the Cabeco. Here is Sister Lucia’s account of the events that took place:

Around the middle of the morning, a fine rain began to fall, so fine that it seemed like mist. We went up the hillside, followed by our flocks, looking for an overhanging boulder where we could take shelter. Thus it was for the first time that we entered this blessed hollow among the rocks. It stood in the middle of an olive grove belonging to my godfather Anastacio. From there, you could see the little village where I was born, my parents’ home and the hamlets of Casa Velha and Eira da Pedra.

We spent the day there among the rocks, in spite of the fact that the rain was over and the sun was shining bright and clear. We ate our lunch and said our Rosary.… A strong wind began to shake the trees. We looked up, startled, to see what was happening, for the day was unusually calm. Then we saw, coming towards us, above the olive trees … a young man, about fourteen or fifteen years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it, and of great beauty.

We were surprised, absorbed, and struck with amazement. On reaching us, he said: “Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.”

Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead reached the ground. Led by a supernatural impulse, we did the same, and repeated the words which we heard him say: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee! I ask pardon of Thee for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee!”

Having repeated these words three times, he rose and said: “Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.”

Then he disappeared.⁸

While we often forget and neglect the good angels who are here to help us on our path to eternity, devotion to the holy angels was very much alive in Portugal at that time. Morning and evening, the children were taught to invoke their guardian angels. So, this apparition was not completely surprising to the little shepherds. And what could be more in harmony with the great tradition of the apparitions of angels than the first words of the Angel of Fatima: “Fear not! I am the Angel of Peace.” Later, when Sister Lucia was asked what the Angel was like, she answered simply: “He was Light.”

Throughout Scripture, light attends God, His angels, and all holy beings. The angel who announced the resurrection of Christ had an appearance as of lightning, and his garment was white as snow (see Mt 28:3). Describing Our Lord transfigured on Mount Tabor, Saint Matthew tells us that “his face shone like the sun” (Mt 17:2), and “his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them” (Mk 9:3). Saint John says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). Whenever God comes to manifest Himself to us by the ministry of angels or the mediation of Mary or any of the saints, He appears clothed in great splendor, as in this beautiful verse from the psalms: “Lord, my God, you are great indeed! / You are clothed with majesty and splendor, / robed in light as with a cloak” (Ps 104:1b–2).

After each of the apparitions at Fatima (which always took place at noon), this word “light” was always on the lips of the young seers. This sparkling light indicates the overwhelming presence of God, which leaves the natural senses almost paralyzed.

Sister Lucia details:

The supernatural atmosphere which enveloped us was so intense that for a long time we were scarcely aware of our own existence, remaining in the same posture in which he had left us, and continually repeating the same prayer. The presence of God made itself felt so intimately and so intensely that we did not even venture to speak to one another. The next day, we were still immersed in this spiritual atmosphere, which only gradually began to disappear.

It did not occur to us to speak about this Apparition, nor did we think of recommending that it be kept secret. The very Apparition itself imposed secrecy. It was so intimate, that it was not possible to speak of it at all. The impression it made upon us was all the greater perhaps, in that it was the first such manifestation we had experienced.⁹

The Angel taught the children a prayer in this first encounter: My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. And I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you. This prayer can be seen as an introduction to our faith and how we are to share it with others. Faith is the foundation of our spiritual life. It is by faith that we encounter God within our hearts. At times, we may try to impose our faith on others and forget that we can only plant the seed; the Holy Spirit does the watering — and weeding. Faith is the gift of God.

Hope comes from our belief in God. When the Angel told the children, “Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications,” he was encouraging them to hope. This message remains true in our day. We must be faithful and then humbly trust in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary to receive our prayers and carry them to our heavenly Father.

Sister Lucia tells us that Francisco did not have the privilege of hearing the words of the Angel; the others had to repeat them to him. Interestingly, this would remain the case for all the apparitions at Fatima. Yet Francisco was favored with the “essentials”: the heavenly vision and the graces that the message of Fatima imparted to all the children’s souls. For the Angel did not come merely to speak with them; he also came to fill them with special graces for the mission that was to come. Sister Lucia describes this:

God sent his Angel with the message of peace and prayer, thereby introducing us into the climate of the supernatural, of faith, hope and love.¹⁰

The visit of the Angel also gave them peace and joy in God: “The peace and happiness which we felt were great, but wholly interior, for our souls were completely immersed in God. The physical weakness that came over us was also great.” If we reflect on this, we see the work of God’s mercy for all mankind, in all times and places. God desires to carry out his work in the world through us. God is always merciful; ready to forgive us as soon as we desire to amend our lives and are truly sorry. If we respond to the message of Fatima to pray, do penance, and make sacrifices for the offenses committed against God, especially in our society today, God will show His mercy to all people. At the same time, the Angel’s message instructs us not only to amend our lives, but also to forgive our brothers and sisters.

“Pray, Pray Very Much!”

Sister Lucia described the Angel’s second apparition:

The second apparition must have been at the height of summer when the heat of the day was so intense that we had to take the sheep home before noon and only let them out again in the early evening. We went to spend the siesta hours in the shade of the trees which surrounded the well that I have already mentioned several times. Suddenly, we saw the same Angel right beside us.

“What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.”

Lucia asked: “How are we to make sacrifices?”

“Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you.”¹¹

After the request from the Angel, the three shepherd children participated in these designs of mercy. They obtained abundant graces for the Church and for all humankind throughout many years of tribulation and darkness. The children gave themselves totally to the Immaculate Heart, allowing their faith to be formed by Mary and embracing fully her mission to the world. As a result, they became great channels of mercy and conversion. They have left us a wonderful — and challenging — example. To imitate it in our own lives, we must become humble and obedient like little children so that we can receive and participate in God’s merciful plan for salvation.

The lesson was not in vain, even in the short term. By autumn, when the Angel came for the last time, the children were no longer cutting their prayers short to play. Instead, they repeated the prayer which the Angel had taught them frequently, at times even lying prostrate on the ground. Francisco had not heard the Angel’s words and could only understand them with difficulty when Lucia repeated them to him. Nevertheless, he was captivated by the beauty of the Angel and the intensity of the supernatural light that accompanied him.

“Console Your God”

Sister Lucia notes the time of the third apparition of the Angel: “The third apparition must have taken place in October, or toward the end of September, as we were no longer returning for siesta.” On this day, the three shepherds had pastured their flocks at the Pregueira, a small olive grove that belonged to the dos Santos family, on the south side of the Cabeco. She continues:

After our lunch, we decided to go and pray in the hollow among the rocks on the opposite side of the hill. To get there, we went around the slope, and had to climb over some rocks above the Pregueira. The sheep could only scramble over these rocks with great difficulty. As soon as we arrived there, we knelt down with our foreheads touching the ground, and began to repeat the prayer of the Angel: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee.…”

I don’t know how many times we repeated this prayer, when an extraordinary light shone upon us. We sprang up to see what was happening, and beheld the Angel. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which some drops of Blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice suspended in the air, the Angel knelt down beside us and made us repeat three times:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

Then, rising, he took the chalice and the Host in his hands. He gave the Sacred Host to me, and shared the Blood from the chalice between Jacinta and Francisco, saying as he did so: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.”

Once again, he prostrated on the ground and repeated with us, three times more, the same prayer “Most Holy Trinity …” and then disappeared.

Moved by a supernatural force which enveloped us, we had imitated the Angel in everything; that is, we prostrated as he did and repeated the prayers that he said.… We remained a long time in this position, repeating the same words over and over again. It was Francisco who realized that it was getting dark, and drew our attention to the fact, and thought we should take our flocks back home. I felt that God was in me.¹²

Sister Lucia later said love for the Eucharist was the most important part of the message of Fatima for the children. This drew them closer to God and instilled in their hearts the importance of the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. For us today, the entire message of the Angel contains an urgent call to prayer, sacrifice, and reparation for sin to the Most Holy Trinity and our Eucharistic Lord.

Lucia again recorded the state of physical exhaustion into which the angelic apparition plunged them:

In the third apparition, the presence of the Angel was still more intense. For several days, even Francisco did not dare to talk. He said later on: “I love to see the Angel, but the trouble is that later on, we are incapable of doing anything. I could not even walk any more. I didn’t know what was the matter!”

It was a grace so sublime, and so intimate, that Francisco, all absorbed in God, did not have a clear consciousness of the mystical grace that he had received and felt in a confused way. Once the first few days were over, and we had returned to normal, Francisco asked: “The Angel gave you Holy Communion, but what was it that he gave to Jacinta and me?” “It was Holy Communion, too,” replied Jacinta, with inexpressible joy. “Didn’t you see that it was the Blood that fell from the Host?” Francisco replied: “I felt that God was within me, but I did not know how!”

From this moment on, we had begun to offer God everything that mortified us, but without looking to impose particular penances on ourselves, except to pass entire hours prostrated on the ground, repeating the prayer which the Angel had taught us.… We remained prostrate a long time, sometimes repeating these prayers even to the point of exhaustion.

Afterwards, when we prostrated to say that prayer, Francisco was the first to feel the strain of such a posture; but he remained kneeling, or sitting, and still praying until we had finished. Later he said: “I am not able to stay like that for a long time, like you. My back aches so much that I can’t do it.”¹³

However, God Himself would send His willing children the most fruitful sacrifices. The trials that would overwhelm Lucia’s family coincided almost exactly with the time of the first few apparitions. Little by little, her home life grew unhappy. This was all the more painful for Lucia because, until then, she had known great joy in her family, whom she tenderly cherished and who cherished her in return.

Sister Lucia notes:

Although I was only a child, I understood perfectly the situation we were in. Then I remembered the Angel’s words: “Above all, accept submissively the sacrifices that the Lord will send you.”

At such times, I used to withdraw to a solitary place, so as not to add to my mother’s suffering by letting her see my own. This place, usually, was our well. There, on my knees, leaning over the edge of the stone slabs that covered the well, my tears mingled with the water below and I offered my suffering to God. Sometimes, Jacinta and Francisco would come and find me like this, in bitter grief. As my voice was choked with sobs and I couldn’t say a word, they shared my suffering to such a degree that they also wept copious tears.¹⁴

These difficult trials did not leave the shepherd children overwhelmed, however; the Angel had told the children about these sufferings and had invited them to offer them in reparation for sins, for the consolation of God, and for the conversion of sinners.

The children received a very special grace, and the words of the Angel had entered their souls in a profound way. As Sister Lucia explains:

These words were indelibly impressed upon our minds. They were like a light which made us understand Who God is, how He loves us and desires to be loved, the value of sacrifice, how pleasing it is to Him and how, on account of it, He gives the grace of conversion to sinners. It was for this reason that we began, from then on, to offer to the Lord all that mortified us.¹⁵

Through these three apparitions, the Angel taught the humble shepherd children how to pray and offer their sacrifices. Francisco and Jacinta were deeply touched and grew in the spiritual life. The Angel also prepared them for what was to come. For Sister Lucia, the apparitions of the Angel remained the most important parts of the message of Fatima. Sister Lucia wrote: “The message is more a new light to shine in the midst of darkness. Great is the Lord, immense in His mercy, eternal in His love! I believe in Thee, I adore Thee. I trust and I love Thee! For Thee I live!”