13 May 1917

Lúcia said that they were all walking... and they all saw a woman. Francisco, that he only saw her when she was leaving. Lúcia said that they were all sitting down and that the woman appeared, standing towards the side of Fátima.

First they saw a flash of lightning, got up and began to gather the sheep to go away, afraid; then they saw another flash of lightning; then they saw a woman on top of a holm-oak shrub, dressed in white: white stockings on her feet, a white skirt with gold, a white jacket, and a white mantle which she wore over her head; the mantle was not golden, and the skirt had gold running across it all over; she wore a gold chain and some very tiny earrings; she held her hands raised, and when she spoke she spread her arms, with her hands open.

This woman said that they should not be afraid, that she would do them no harm.

Lúcia asked:

– Where are you from?

She said:

– My place is heaven.

– What do you come here into the world for?

– I come here to tell you to come here every month until six months have passed, and at the end of six months I will tell you what I want.

– Can you tell me whether the war will go on a long time yet or whether it will end soon?

– I cannot tell you yet, until I also tell you what I want.

I asked her if I was going to Heaven and she told me:

– You are.

– And my cousin?

– She is too.

– And my cousin?

– He still has to say his beads.

And after this she went off up through the air.

The other two heard the questions and the answers but did not ask questions.

As soon as the news began to spread that Our Lady had appeared to the said children on the thirteenth of May, and I came to know of it, which was about fifteen days later, I sent for the mother of the seer Lúcia to come to my house, the parish residence, and to bring her daughter with her. The mother came with the daughter, but very distressed, believing, she says, that it is all a lie; she orders her daughter to take back what she had said, for such a lie would be a great evil. She threatens her, and says she has already threatened her daughter with many things that will befall her if she goes on saying that she saw Our Lady, and lying. She complains that such things had to happen to her of all people, etc., etc.

I try to calm the distressed mother, telling her that, if what they say is true, it is a great glory for her and her family. Oh!!... if it is true... but what if it is a lie?!... exclaims the doubting mother. I advise her to go on taking the same care of her daughter as she always has; when the time comes for the girl to go to the place of the Apparition, she should neither send her nor stop her; and she should always bring her to me, but only after the day of the Apparition, if the girl says she still has the grace of seeing Our Lady. She promised to do all this, and even offered to bring her daughter to me the day before, or two days before, so that I could tell her anything the girl should do or say at the time of the Apparition. I talked her out of this, to avoid giving the impious or the ill-intentioned grounds for a bad opinion – which they formed all the same.

That done, I proceeded to question the daughter – the said seer Lúcia – who said that on the thirteenth of the current month of May she was pasturing the sheep with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta at the place called Cova da Iria – it lies two kilometres north-west of this Parish Church of Fátima, beside the road that goes to Batalha – at about one o'clock in the afternoon – solar time^* –; and that, having just finished saying the beads – the rosary – (which she often did), she saw a flash of lightning, which frightened her very much. She at once began to gather the sheep and to tell her cousins to gather them so that they could go away – home –, saying that a thunderstorm was coming, though she could see no clouds. Suddenly she saw another flash of lightning and then a Lady, of medium height and extraordinary beauty, on top of a holm-oak shrub – a small holm oak – who said to her:

– Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.

And that, at once losing all fear, she asked Her:

– Where are you from?

And the Lady answered her:

– My place is Heaven.

– What have you come to this world to do?

– I have come to tell you to come here every month for six months, and at the end of the six months I will tell you what I want.

– Can you tell me whether the war will last a long time yet or whether it will end soon?

– I cannot tell you yet, until I have also told you what I want.

– Can you tell me whether I am going to Heaven?
– You are.
– And my girl cousin?
– She is.
– And my boy cousin?
– He still has to say his beads...
– And that, when this had been said, the Lady began to rise into the air, moving towards the east until she disappeared.

The vision

Lúcia said that the Lady whom she and her cousins saw was about a metre tall, a little more or less, and was dressed in white. The skirt was white, with gold in thin cords running lengthwise and across, and it was short, that is, it did not come down to the feet. The jacket was white, not gilded. A white mantle, which went from the head to the hem of the skirt, with gold cords running from top to bottom and across; at the edges the gold was closer together. The jacket had two or three little gold cords at the cuffs. She had no belt, ribbon or sash at the waist. Her hands were joined, a little above the waist, and from them hung a white rosary. Every time she spoke she parted her hands to about the width of her shoulders. She had black eyes, and her face was lovelier than that of any lady she had ever seen. Her beauty almost blinded her, and she never tired of looking at Her.

It seemed to her that she wore white stockings, not gilded, but she could not be sure because she hardly looked at anything but the face. Indeed, on one occasion in my presence, when Jacinta was there too, she turned to her and asked her whether She was wearing stockings, because she had not noticed.

What Lúcia says, questioned in the presence of Jacinta, who says little: That on 13 May 1917, while the three of them were pasturing their sheep at the spot called Cova da Iria, within the bounds of Fátima, after having had their snack (that is, their midday meal), they went, according to their custom, to pray the rosary^* to Our Lady, and that when they had almost finished the prayer offering it up, they saw a flash of lightning which frightened them, so that Lúcia invited the others to leave, saying to them: let's go away because it's thundering; at this they saw another flash of lightning and in front of them an extremely beautiful Lady dressed in white, with a mantle likewise white, but gilded, and with a radiance about her head recalling the radiance of the sun, but more brilliant; she as it were alighted on a small holm-oak shrub, standing, with her hands joined, from which hung some white beads, most lovely. They were terrified by the vision, but the Lady reassured them, telling them not to be afraid because she would do them no harm; at this Lúcia asked her who she was and what she wanted, to which She answered that they should come there for six months on the same day, the thirteenth, and that on the last day she would tell her who she was and what she desired. Then she began to disappear slowly, first the head, then the arms and the rest of the body down to the feet, which were the last thing to disappear.

The first time, did you ask Francisco and Jacinta not to tell their family anything of what they had seen?

– I did.

35^th – Why?

– Because last year my mother scolded me when I told her I had seen the white figure, and told me I was lying.

36^th – Did your mother learn of the 1^st apparition from you?

– No; it was through Francisco and Jacinta, or through people they had told what they saw.

37^th – Tell me what you heard the Lady say in May.

– In May the Lady said we were not to be afraid because she would do us no harm. I asked her where she was from and she told me she was from Heaven. I asked her what she wanted and she answered that we were to go there every month, month after month, and at the end of six months she would say what she wanted.

38^th – Why did you go to the place of the apparitions from then on on the 13th and not on another day of each month?

– I went on the 13th because that made it a month. I understood that I should go on the 13th, because the day of the first apparition was the 13th.

39^th – Did you ask her any more questions?

– I asked whether we were going to Heaven and the Lady said yes, but that Francisco would have to say his beads^*.

40^th – Did the Lady say anything else?

– Perhaps she said something else, but I don't remember.

I was minding the sheep in the cova de Iria with my cousin Francisco and Jacinta, playing at building a wall round a bush; and we saw a flash of lightning; and I said to Francisco, let's go home because there's lightning and a thunderstorm may come; we turned the sheep round to go home; when we got to the middle of the field, there was another flash of lightning and we saw a Lady above a holm-oak shrub; we were very frightened to see that brightness that surrounded her. Then She said to us: don't be afraid because I won't do you any harm. I asked her, Where are you from? I am from heaven. What do you want of me? I want you to come here for 6 months and at the end I will tell you what I want. I asked her about José das Neves's Maria and She told me she is in heaven; I asked her about Amelia and she told me that she was in purgatory. If she told me anything else this month I don't remember. And with that she disappeared, rising so high that in the end we couldn't see her any more.

Did anything important happen to you at the Cova da Iria? She answered: the following happened to me: On the thirteenth of May of nineteen hundred and seventeen, I was minding the flock at the place called Cova da Iria, in the parish of Fátima, together with my cousins Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto; after saying the rosary, as usual, we began to play, building a wall around a bush, when we saw a flash of lightning towards the east, and, fearing a thunderstorm was coming, although the weather was fine, I told Francisco it was better for us to go home and gather the flock; when we reached the middle of the field there was another flash, and, two steps further on, we saw on top of a holm-oak shrub, which would have been about a metre high, a very beautiful Lady, with the appearance of a young woman, perhaps eighteen to twenty-two years old, wrapped in a light brighter than the sun. We were very frightened at seeing that radiance which surrounded her, but the Lady, in a low but quite intelligible voice, said to us: "Do not be afraid, for I will not do you any harm". I asked her: "where are you from?" to which she answered: – "I am from Heaven" – "What do you want of me?" She answered: – "I want you to come here for six months, and at the end I will tell you what I want". I asked her about Maria, José das Neves's daughter, and she told me she was in heaven; I asked her about Amélia, and she told me she was in purgatory. Whether she told me anything else in this month, I do not remember. Then she disappeared, rising very high towards the east".

– "How was the Lady dressed?". She answered: "She was dressed in white, covered from her head to the hem of her dress by a mantle edged with gold braid, fastened with a golden cord ending in a tassel, also golden, with nothing on her head except the mantle; the sleeves of the dress came down to her hands, which were joined at the height of her breast and from which hung some white beads ending in a cross, also white; it seems to me she was not barefoot, but I cannot say for sure because she was standing on leaves wrapped in light and because I did not look closely at her feet; a little of her ears could be seen, but I cannot say for certain whether she had earrings or not, though it seemed to me she had a little gold chain".

– "What was your age and that of your cousins at that time?". She answered: – "At that time I was ten, Francisco nine and Jacinta six²".

– "Did your cousins also see and speak with this Lady?". She said: – "My cousins did not ask questions, but Jacinta said she had heard her, and Francisco saw her but did not hear her".

– "And do you not remember anything else that happened that day?". She said: "Now I remember this: when the Lady told me that she was from Heaven, I asked her whether I would go to Heaven, and she said yes; whether Jacinta would go, and she said yes; whether Francisco would go, and she said yes, but that he must say the rosary; I also remember that, after the Lady disappeared, a man came to say that the sheep had got into the peas and that he had already thrown stones at them and that the peas would have been eaten; he went over there to look so as to warn the owner, and afterwards told the owner, José Matias, that the sheep had got into the peas, but that they had not been eaten".

– "Did the Apparition last a long time? Were you afraid during it? Did you tell anyone what you saw?". She said: "The Apparition lasted a short time and during it I was not frightened at all; as we were going home, I agreed with my cousins not to say anything to anyone, and on the following days we would go, when we could, with the sheep to the Cova da Iria, or we would pass by there when bringing in the flock, saying a Hail Mary there".

We questioned the children to learn how the first apparition had come about. They answered simply that on 13 May, when they were pasturing their flock at the Cova da Iria, there was a great thunderstorm. They were thinking of gathering the flock and going away, when out of a flash of lightning they saw a Lady appear. Frightened, they wanted to run away, but the apparition told them not to, for it would do them no harm. Before the thunderstorm began the children had been praying their rosary, and the apparition told them to pray the rosary to Our Lady of the Rosary so that the war would abate, and to come back there every month, for it would come there for six consecutive months. — The children went back there in June and say that the Lady appeared to them and this time told them to learn to read, which the children did not do at once, because there was not, and never had been, a teacher in Fatima. Now, without anyone having asked for one, a teacher from the mobile schools^* turns up, appointed there for two years, and the children have already begun to attend school with considerable progress, above all Lucia.

2 - What were they doing when they saw the Lady?

3 - Is it true that the boy chased the Image away with stones?

4 - How did the Image appear?

5 - What clothes was she wearing and what did she say?

2 - It was midday and they were minding the sheep when they saw a Lady dressed in white, with her hands joined, with some white beads strung over her arm. Her face was white; she has nothing to compare it with; only in height she says she was the same as Virgínia³ – (The girl is 12 years old) 1.10 m; that she had appeared to them on top of the holm oak.

That her brother had thrown a stone at the sheep and had passed close to her.

6 - Did they all hear?

6 - She hears. That she had said they should go there 6 times, until 6 months were up, and that afterwards she would say what she wanted, and she had disappeared.

7 - Had they been to Mass the previous Sunday? And where?
7 - She goes to Mass every Sunday; the day of the apparition was a weekday and she had not been to Mass.
8 - Where do they usually go to Mass?
8 - She goes to Mass at Fátima
9 - How is the Image dressed in the chapel where they usually go to Mass?
9 - That she knows that in the church there is the Lady of the Rosary, but she has no beads, nor does she have a white dress.
10 - Had they heard any sermon or homily about Our Lady of Lourdes^*?
10 - She does not know.
11 - Did they often go to Mass, even on weekdays?
11 - She goes to Mass only on Sunday, because her mother does not let her.
12 - What did they do after seeing the Lady?
12 - They came home only at night and said that they had seen the Lady from Heaven, for that is what she had called herself.
13 - What clothes did she wear the 1st time and the other times?
13 - Always the same dress.
14 - Did she say why she came on the 13th?
[...]
15 - Did they always see the spots on the sun?
15 - Only the last time did they see the Child Jesus and Saint Joseph and Our Lady in the sun. But Lúcia saw better.
16 - How was she on the holm oak? Was she smiling or was she sad?
16 - She was serious.
17 - What colour was her dress and how did she hold her arms?
17 - Dress all white, tight at the bottom, hands raised.
18 - Were they afraid when they saw the Lady?
18 - She was afraid the 1st time; the Lady said she should not be afraid, that she would do no harm.
19 - Whom did they tell that they had seen her?
19 - She told her father and brother that she had seen the Lady.
20 - When did they speak to any priest about the matter?
20 - She did not tell.
21 - What did he say to them?
21 - She does not remember.

What were they doing when they saw the Lady?

2 - He was minding the flock.

3 - Is it true that the boy chased the Image away with stones?

[3] It was his brother who chased the Lady away last year.

N. B. Jacinta says yes.

4 - How did the Image appear?

5 - What clothes was she wearing and what did she say?

6 - Did they all hear?

4 - It was sunny, they were passing by and he saw a woman dressed in white. He did not see lightning; it was Lúcia who saw it. The sheep were running off into the chickling peas and the maize, but the Lady said they should not worry, that the sheep would not knock anything down, nor eat. After the apparition they ate.

Lúcia says that the Lady did not say anything, unless it was to Jacinta, because she had already appeared to her.

He (Francisco) saw the Image.

She wore a mantle on her head and her dress was all white.

13 - What clothes did she wear the 1st time and the other times?

[13 -] She always wore the same clothes; she was beautiful.

[...] 15 - Did they always see the spots on the sun?

[15 -] He saw St. Joseph and the Child Jesus in the sun.

[...] 22- What did Our Lady say the 1st time?

the 2nd the 3rd

" 4th

" 5th

" 6th

[22 -] He never heard her speak.

What were they doing when they saw the Lady?

2 - I was minding the sheep. There was a flash of lightning and I said: Francisco, we'd better go home, there's a thunderstorm coming. There was another flash of lightning and I looked at the holm-oak shrub and saw a Lady who said: Don't be afraid, I won't do you any harm. She was on top of the holm-oak shrub. The Lady was young, she had a tight skirt. She does not know what a hobble skirt^* is, and she has seen ladies with pleated skirts, but the Lady's dress was not like that. She did not notice whether the dress was all in one piece.

3 - Is it true that the boy chased the Image away with stones?

3 - It was in another year that João had thrown the stone.

Her mother relates that last year in May another image had appeared and that it was this one that had been chased away. Only a year later was there another apparition.

4 - How did the image appear?

4 - [...]

5 - What clothes was she wearing and what did she say?

5 - The first time, that we should not be afraid, that she would do no harm: that we should go there 6 times until 6 months were up, and then she would say what she wanted. Little by little she rose and disappeared.

6 - Did they all hear?
6 - [...]
7 - Had they been to Mass the previous Sunday? And where?
7 - She had been to Mass, as it was a Sunday, at the 1st apparition. She appeared at midday.
8 - Where do they usually go to Mass?
8 - [...]
9 - How is the Image dressed in the chapel where they usually go to Mass?
9 - That in the Church there is the Lady of the Rosary, but she has a child and a mantle and no beads, whereas that one had beads.
10 - Had they heard any sermon or homily about Our Lady of Lourdes?
10 - She did not know the story of Lourdes, but a parish priest has now told it to her.
11 - Did they often go to Mass, even on weekdays?
11 - Sometimes.
12 - What did they do after seeing the Lady?
12 - They came away and she told nothing. She had seen something the year before and had told her mother, who scolded her. The first time she saw it was at a place called the Estrumeiras.
13 - What clothes did she wear the first time and the other times?
13 - She always wore the same clothes.
14 - Did she say why she came on the 13th?
14 - See no. 5.
15 - Did they always see the spots on the sun?
15 - I never saw anything in the sun because I only looked at the Lady.
16 - How was she on the holm oak? Was she smiling or was she sad?
16 - She was serious
17 - What colour was her dress and how did she hold her arms?
17 - White - arms raised.
18 - Were they afraid when they saw the Lady?
18 - They were afraid the first time.
19 - Whom did they tell that they had seen her?
19 - She herself did not tell. It was Jacinta who spread it.
20 - When did they speak to any priest about the matter?
20 - She did not tell straight away, but later.
21 - What did he say to them?
21 - He asked questions and said nothing.

What was it the Lady said the first time she appeared, in the month of May?

– Lúcia asked what she wanted of her and she said we were to go there month after month until six months were up, and that in the last month she would say what she wanted.

2^nd – Did Lúcia ask her any more questions?

– She asked whether she was going to Heaven and the Lady said yes. Then she asked whether I was going to Heaven and she said yes. Then she asked whether Francisco was going to Heaven and she said yes, but that he would have to say his beads^*.

3^rd – Did the Lady say anything else?

– I don't remember her saying anything else that day. It was that time that the flock went into the chickling peas.

Is it true that once, when you were saying the rosary, the flock you were grazing went into the field where there were wheat and chickling peas already grown, without eating any of those plants?
– It is true.
18^th – When did that happen?
– I don't remember, but I think it was on a Sunday.
19^th – Didn't you see the flock eat the wheat and the chickling peas?
– I didn't.
20^th – But do you know for certain that it didn't eat them?
– I do, because one of the owners of the property said the flock had done no damage.
21^st – Did you drive the flock away from that place?

– We drove it away after saying the rosary.

22^nd – Whom did the property belong to?

23^rd – It belonged to José Matias and to Francisco António⁵, of Casa Velha. They are two adjoining plots.

24^th – Why didn't you drive the flock away as soon as you saw it going into the sown field?

– I didn't drive it away at once because I wanted to say the rosary.

25^th – Weren't you afraid it would eat what had been sown?

– I thought it would eat it, but I let it wander.

26^th – So didn't you know that it was your duty to take the flock away immediately so that it would cause no damage?

– I have already confessed that fault.

Did the Lady recommend that you pray the rosary?
– She did.

2^a – When?
– When she appeared the first time.
3^a – Did you hear the secret too, or was it only Lúcia who heard it?
– I heard it too.
4^a – When did you hear it?
– The second time, on St. Anthony's day.
5^a – Is the secret for you to become rich?
– It isn't.
6^a – Is it for you to be good and happy?
– It is. It is for the good of all three of us.
7^a – Is it for you to go to Heaven?
– It isn't.
8^a – Can't you reveal the secret?
– I can't.
9^a – Why?
– Because the Lady said we were not to tell the secret to anyone.
10^a – If the people knew the secret, would they be sad?
– They would.
11^a – How did the Lady hold her hands?
– She held them raised.
12^a – Always raised?
– Sometimes she turns her palms towards the sky.
13^a – Did the Lady say in May that she wanted you to go to the Cova da Iria more times?
– She said she wanted us to go there for six months, month after month, until in October she would say what she wanted.
14^a – Does she have any radiance about her head?
– She does.
15^a – Can you look properly at her face?
– I can't, because it hurts the eyes.
16^a – Did you always hear properly what the Lady said?
– The last time I didn't hear everything because of the noise the people were making.

On 14 July 1917 Jacinta, aged 7, daughter of Manuel Pedro Marto, came before me; questioned about the vision, she said:

That she had seen a small woman 4 times, once in her house at night and three times at the Cova da Iria at midday; she says she was the size of Albina, daughter of António Rosa of Casa Velha²; at home she saw her at the edge of the attic trapdoor, not saying anything; her mother and brothers and sisters were asleep and it was night; at the Cova da Iria she saw her standing on top of a holm-oak shrub³; she was dressed in white stockings and clothes all of gold; she wore no shoes; the skirt was white and all gold and came down to her knees; the gold was in cords running across, and on the cords in little points; a white jacket all of gold; a mantle over her head, white and all gold; her hands were raised to her waist and they opened, parting when she spoke to Lúcia; she did not hear her say anything, she heard her speak (now she says yes, now she says no); she did not hear her say how many times she would come here; as she left, the sky opened and her feet were left caught in it, with her body already hidden; she heard a very pious voice and remembers only hearing that we (they) were going to heaven; she says she saw lightning, but now she says it was once, now more than once, now before, now after; she had some white beads in her hands, held between the thumb and forefinger of both hands; she did not see earrings; she wore a thin gold chain around her neck.

Without delay I began to question him about what he had seen and heard since the month of May last at the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month during the time of the apparition.

Between him and me the following short dialogue took place:

- What have you seen at the Cova da Iria these last months?
- I have seen Our Lady.
- Where does she appear?
- On top of a holm-oak shrub.
- Does she appear suddenly or do you see her coming from somewhere?
- I see her coming from the side where the sun rises and placing herself on the holm-oak shrub.
- Does she come slowly or quickly?
- She always comes quickly.
- Do you hear what she says to Lucia?
- I don't hear.
- Have you ever spoken with the Lady? Has she ever addressed a word to you?
- No, I have never asked her anything; she speaks only with Lucia.
- Whom does she look at, at you and Jacinta too or only at Lucia?
- She looks at all three; but she looks longer at Lucia.
- Has she ever wept or smiled?
- Neither one thing nor the other; she is always serious.
- How is she dressed?
- She has a long dress and over it a mantle that covers her head and comes down to the bottom of the dress.
- What is the colour of the dress and the mantle?
- It is white, the dress having gold stripes.
- What is the Lady's attitude?

– That of someone praying. She has her hands joined at the height of her breast.

– Does she carry anything in her hands?

– She carries, between the palm and the back of her right hand, some beads that hang down over her dress.

– And what does she have on her ears?

– Her ears can't be seen, because they are covered by the mantle.

– What colour are the beads?

– They are white too.

– Is the Lady pretty?

– Yes, she is.

– Prettier than that girl you see there?

– Prettier.

– But there are ladies much prettier than that girl...

– She is prettier than anyone I have ever seen.

The questioning of Francisco concluded, I called Jacinta aside, who was playing in the street with other children, had her sit on a little stool beside me and subjected her too to an interrogation, succeeding in obtaining from her answers as complete and detailed as her brother's.

– Have you seen Our Lady on the thirteenth of each month since May?

– I have.

– Where does she come from?

– She comes from Heaven, from the side of the sun.

– How is she dressed?

– She has a white dress, trimmed with gold, and on her head a mantle, also white.

– What colour is her hair?

– Her hair can't be seen; it is covered by the mantle.

– Does she wear earrings?

– I don't know, because her ears can't be seen either

– What is the position of her hands?

– Her hands are joined at the height of her breast, with the fingers turned upwards.

– Are the beads in her right hand or her left?

To this question the child first answers that they were in the right hand, but then, owing to a deliberate and captious insistence on my part, she appears perplexed and confused, not knowing how to say precisely which of her own hands corresponded to the hand in which the Apparition held the rosary.

– What was it that Our Lady recommended to Lucia most earnestly?

– She told us to pray the rosary^* every day.

– And do you pray it?

– I pray it every day with Francisco and Lucia.

What have you seen at the Cova da Iria in recent months?
- I have seen Our Lady.
- Where does she appear?
- On top of a holm-oak shrub
- Does she appear suddenly or do you see her come from somewhere?

– I see her come from the side where the sun rises and settle on the holm-oak shrub.

– Does she come slowly or quickly?

– She always comes quickly.

– Do you hear what she says to Lúcia?

– I don't.

– Have you ever spoken to the Lady? Has she ever spoken to you?

– No, I never asked her anything; she speaks only to Lúcia.

– Whom does she look at, at you and Jacinta too, or only at Lúcia?

– She looks at all three of us; but she looks longer at Lúcia.

Have you seen Our Lady on the 13th of each month since May?

– I have.

– Where does she come from?

– She comes from Heaven, from the side of the sun.

– How is she dressed?

– She has a white dress, trimmed with gold, and on her head she has a mantle, also white. Round her waist there is a golden ribbon that comes down to the hem of the dress.

– Does she wear boots or shoes?

– She wears neither boots nor shoes.

– So she has only stockings on?

– It looks as if she has stockings, but perhaps her feet are so white that they look as if they had stockings on.

– What colour is her hair?

– You can't see her hair, it is covered by the mantle.

– Does she wear earrings?

– I don't know, because you can't see her ears either.

– What is the position of her hands?

– Her hands are joined on her breast, with the fingers pointing upwards.

– Are the beads in her right hand or her left hand?

– .....

To this question the child at first answers that they were in her right hand, but then, owing to insistence on my part, she shows herself perplexed and confused, unable to say precisely which of her own hands corresponded to the hand with which the Lady held the Rosary.

- What did the Lady most earnestly recommend to Lúcia?
- She told us to pray the rosary^* every day.
- And do you pray it?
- I pray it every day with Francisco and Lúcia.

Is it true that Our Lady has appeared to you at the place called Cova da Iria?

– It is true.

– How many times has she appeared to you already?

– Five times, once each month.

– On what day of the month?

– Always on the thirteenth, except in the month of August, when I was arrested and taken to the town (Vila Nova de Ourém) by the administrator^*. That month I saw her only some days later, on the nineteenth, at the place called Valinhos.

– It is said that the Lady also appeared to you last year. What truth is there in this?

– Last year she never appeared to me (nor before May of this year); nor did I say that to anyone, because it was not true.

Where does she come from? From the east?
- I don't know; I don't see her come from anywhere; she appears over the holm-oak shrub, and it is when she withdraws that she goes off in the direction where the sun rises.
- How long does she stay? A long time or a short time?
- A short time.
- Long enough to say an Our Father and a Hail Mary, or more?
- More, quite a lot more, but not always the same length of time (perhaps not enough to pray the rosary).
- The first time you saw her, weren't you frightened?
- I was, so much so that I wanted to run away, with Jacinta and Francisco, but She told us not to be afraid, because she would not harm us. She said: "don't be afraid, for I won't harm you."
- How is she dressed?
- She has a white dress, which comes down to a little below the middle of the leg, and her head is covered by a mantle of the same colour and the same length as the dress.
- Has the dress no trimmings?
- On it, at the front, two golden cords can be seen, which come down from the neck and are joined by a tassel, also golden, at about the middle of the body.
- Does she have a belt or a ribbon?
- She doesn't.
- Does she wear earrings?
- She wears small yellow hoops.
- Which hand holds the beads?
- The right hand.
- Were they a five-decade rosary or a full rosary?
- I didn't notice properly.
- Did they end with a cross?
- They ended with a white cross, and the beads were white too. The chain was white too.
- Did you ever ask her who she was?
- I did, but she declared she would only say so on 13 October.
- Didn't you ask her where she came from?
- I asked where she was from, and she answered me that she was from Heaven.
- And when did you ask her that question?
- The second time, on the thirteenth of June.
- Did she ever smile or look sad?

- She never smiled nor looked sad, but was always serious.
- Did she urge you and your cousins to say any prayers?
- She urged us to pray the rosary in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world.
- Did she express a wish that many people should be present at the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month?
- She said nothing about that.
- Is it true that she told you a secret, forbidding you to reveal it to anyone whatever?
- It is true.
- Does it concern only you or your companions too?
- All three of us.
- Can't you disclose it at least to your confessor?
(At this question she kept silent, seeming somewhat embarrassed, and I thought I should not insist by repeating the question).
- It is said that, to free yourself from the administrator's pestering on the day you were arrested, you told him something as if it were the secret when it was not, thus deceiving him, and afterwards boasted of having played that trick on him: is it true?
- It is not; the administrator really did want me to reveal the secret to him, but as I could not tell it to anyone, I did not tell him, even though he insisted with me a great deal to that end. What I did was to tell everything the Lady said to me, except the secret, and perhaps for that reason the administrator was left thinking that I had revealed the secret to him as well. I did not want to deceive him.
- Did the Lady tell you to learn to read?
- She did, yes, the second time she appeared.
- But if the Lady said she would take you to Heaven next October, what use would it be to you to learn to read?
- That is not true: the Lady never said she would take me to Heaven in October, and I never asserted that she had told me such a thing.
- What did the Lady declare should be done with the money the people leave at the Cova da Iria at the foot of the holm-oak shrub?
- She said we should put it on two litters^* and carry them to the parish church: Jacinta, two more girls and I carrying one, and Francisco with three more boys the other. Part of that money would be for the worship and feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and the other part towards a new chapel.
- Where does she want the chapel to be built? At the Cova da Iria?
- I don't know: she didn't say.

- Are you very happy that Our Lady has appeared to you?
- I am.
- On the thirteenth of October will Our Lady come alone?
- St. Joseph will come too with the Child, and peace will be granted to the world.
- And did she make any other revelation?
- She declared that on the 13th she will make all the people believe that she really appears.
- Why do you quite often lower your eyes and stop gazing at the Lady?
- It's because she is sometimes dazzling.
- Did she teach you any prayer?
- She did; and she wants us to recite it after each mystery of the rosary^*.
- Do you know that prayer by heart?
- I do.
- Say it then...
- O my Jesus, forgive us, deliver us from the fire of hell, take all the little souls to Heaven, especially those that most need it¹⁰.

You told me some days ago that Our Lady wanted the money offered by the people to be taken to the parish church on two litters^*. How are they to get the litters, and when are they to be taken to the church?

– The litters are to be bought with the money offered and will be carried at the feasts of Our Lady of the Rosary.

2^a – Do you know for certain in what spot Our Lady wishes a chapel to be built in her honour?

– I don't know for certain, but I think She wants the chapel at the Cova da Iria.

3^a – What did She say she would do so that all the people would believe that she appeared?

– She said she would perform a miracle.

4^a – When did she say that?

– She said it several times, but only once, at the time of the first apparition, did I ask her that question.

5^a – Aren't you afraid the people will harm you if they don't see anything extraordinary on that day?

– I am not afraid at all.

6^a – Do you feel within you something, some force that draws you to the Cova da Iria on the 13th of each month?

– I want to go there, and I would be sad if I didn't.

7^a – Did you ever see the Lady cross herself, pray, or tell the beads of the Rosary?

– I didn't.

8^a – Did she tell you to pray?

– She told me to pray several times.

9^a – Did she tell you to pray for the conversion of sinners?

– She didn't; she only told me to pray to Our Lady of the Rosary for the war to end.

10^a – Did you see the signs that other people say they have seen, such as a star, roses coming loose from the Lady's dress, etc.?

– I didn't see the star or other extraordinary signs.

11^a – Did you hear any rumbling, thunder or earth tremor?

– I never did.

12^a – Can you read?

– I can't.

13^a – Are you learning to read?

– I'm not.

14^a – How then do you fulfil the order the Lady gave you in that regard?

!.....

15^a – When you tell the people to kneel and pray, is it the Lady who tells you to say so?

– It is not the Lady who tells me, it is I who want to.

16^a – Whenever she appears, do you kneel?

- Sometimes I stay standing, other times I kneel.
16^a – When she speaks, is her voice sweet and pleasant?
– It is.
17^a – How old does the Lady seem to be?
– She seems to be about fifteen.
18^a – What colour is the chain of the rosary?
– It is white.
19^a – And that of the crucifix?
– The crucifix is white too.
20^a – Does the veil cover the Lady's forehead?
– It doesn't. Her forehead can be seen clearly.
21^a – Is the splendour that surrounds her beautiful?
– It is more beautiful than the light of the sun and very bright.
22^a – Did the Lady never greet you with her head or her hands?
– Never.
23^a – Did she never smile at you?
– No, not that either.
24^a – Does she usually look at the people?
– I never saw her look at them.
25^a – Do you hear the talk, noises and shouts of the people during the time you see the Lady?
– I don't.
26^a – Did the Lady ask you in May to come back to the Cova da Iria every month until October?
– She said we should come back there month after month for six months, on the 13th.
27^a – Did you hear your mother read the book called "Missão abreviada" where the story is told of the apparition of Our Lady to a boy and a girl?
– I did.
28^a – Did you often think about that story and talk about it to other children?
– I didn't think about that story nor did I tell it to anyone.

How old are you?
– I'm nine.
2^a – Do you only see the Lady or do you also hear what She says?
– I only see her; I hear nothing of what She says.
4^a – Does she have a glow around her head?

– She does.
5^a – Can you look properly at her face?
– I can look, but only a little, because of the light.
6^a – Does she have any trimmings on her dress?
– She has some gold cords.
7^a – What colour is the crucifix of the rosary?
– It is white.
8^a – And the chain of the rosary?
– It is white too.
9^a – Would the people be sad if they knew the secret?
– They would.

If the vision is genuine, there would seem to be a certain difference in the way it revealed itself to each child. Thus the eldest, Lucia, was certainly the most privileged; she saw, heard and spoke with the apparition, making requests and asking questions of it, and obtaining answers. The youngest, Jacintha, saw and heard the Lady but never spoke to her, nor did She address her directly. The little boy, Francisco, saw the Lady, but never heard her speak or even saw her move her lips, and never saw Her as distinctly as on 13 October.

[…]

The children went on their pious pilgrimage to the Cova da Iria on the 13th of every month, except in August, when they were arrested. They say they always saw the Lady, that Lucia always spoke with Her, that she asked her for some cures and conversions; that the Lady promised her to cure and convert some, and not others. That she always told them to pray the rosary, and told them that she wanted a little chapel in that place dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.

[…]

The children describe the apparition as being a Lady

very beautiful, the most beautiful they had ever seen, (their very words) with hands raised to Heaven, dressed all in white and gold, with a rosary all white hanging from her right arm.

Once Lucia asked the Lady: “Where are you from and where are you going?” and she says the Lady answered her: “I am from Heaven and I am going to Heaven”. And when Lucia asked her whether she, Jacintha and Francisco would also go to Heaven, the Lady answered that she and Jacintha would go, and that Francisco would go too, but would have to pray the rosary more. Since then the little boy has at times prayed ten rosaries a day!

How did you learn that the Lady appeared to your daughter the first time? Was it she who told you?

– I learned of it from the other children's family, because Lúcia advised her companions to say nothing for fear they would be scolded. Only after I questioned her did she say what she had seen.

3^a – Did you never scold your daughter for going to the Cova da Iria? Did you always give her complete freedom to go there on the 13th of each month?

– I never forbade her to go to that place. Sometimes I asked her if she wanted to go and she answered yes, other times she herself said she would go, if I gave her leave.

4^a – Do the three children usually go to the place of the apparitions alone or do they go accompanied by other children?

– They go alone. Other children almost always go too, but accompanied by their parents, and they stay beside them; they do not join Lúcia and her cousins.

5^a – Did the children tend livestock? To whom did it belong?

– Lúcia tended a small flock of sheep and her cousins another. Those flocks belonged to their respective families. Sometimes they put the animals together, but only because they wanted to. The sheep Lúcia tended I have already sold.

6^a – How have the children been dressed when they go?

– The first time they were shabbily turned out, as shepherds almost always are. The other times, on the 13th of each month, they go dressed in light-coloured clothes and wear a white kerchief on their heads.

[…]

When the children were arrested by the administrator^* of Vila Nova de Ourém, did anyone go to demand that they be returned to their parents?

– A brother of Francisco and Jacinta went to talk to them at the administrator's house. The administrator's wife asked whether he had come to fetch the children, to which he answered no. The administrator himself brought them back to Fátima.

11^a – Have many people come to see your daughter?

– Many people have come almost every day.

Before each apparition did you see any flash of lightning?

– Sometimes I saw one, other times I saw two. The air was murky, as before a thunderstorm.

29^th – The first time the Lady appeared to you, was the sky cloudless?

– I don't remember whether there were clouds.

30^th – When the Lady appeared to you the 1^st time, what were you doing?

– I said the rosary before she came.

31^st – When the first apparition happened, did you kneel or remain standing?

– The first time I remained standing.

32^nd – Did the Lady always come surrounded by a radiance?

– She did.

– What colour was that radiance?

– It was very bright, very white.

33^rd – Did the radiance appear before the Lady?

– It appeared almost at the same time as the Lady.

I sit down beside him and begin my conversation: “Did you see Our Lady?” — “I did.” “How was she dressed?” — “All in white and gold.” “And didn't she have anything coloured?” — “No.” “And on her head?” — “A mantle.” “And nothing else?” — “Yes, she had a thing.” “What?” — “I don't know, a thing.” “And could her hair be seen?” — “No.” “And what colour were her eyes?” — “They were black.” These answers were given with an air of enormous naturalness, in a slightly drawling voice. All three children, whom I spoke to separately, change their tone when describing Our Lady's gaze. One can see that it was what impressed them most.

Lucia says of the eyes: “They were very dark.” “And the dress?” — “White and gold.”

“With a coloured belt?” — “No, with gold stars; look, she had one on her breast.” “And on her head?” — “A mantle and a thing, like this...” “But what?” — “I don't know, it was like a little basket thing” (a little basket). I did not even say the word crown, which came to my mind at once; I let the child explain herself as best she could, and I confess I found the comparison delightful. “And could her hair be seen?” — “No.” “Tell me, was Our Lady laughing, cheerful?” — “No, she was serious.” “Cross?” — “No, serious.” “She had the beads, didn't she?” — “Yes, some white beads, and when she spoke she opened her hands, like this...” The child took the beads out of her pocket and explained what she had seen. At a certain point she tells me that Our Lady had a great deal of light. “Like the sun?” — “More than the sun.” A lady who was there says to her: “Why were you afraid at first? If I appeared to you, you wouldn't run away.” — “That's because you wouldn't blind me.” She says that Our Lady asks the people to mend their ways, to pray the rosary a great deal and to build a chapel to Our Lady of the Rosary. The child repeats many times: “The people don't mend their ways, the people don't mend their ways...”

Our Lady's dress was of these colours: the dress was all white; it had two stars from the waist down, one in line with the other; round the neck a cord with a ball came down to the waist; the hands joined, and from them hung some beads, I don't know if it was a Rosary or a white Terço^*, with a crucifix also white. The mantle covered her head down to the end of the dress. it had a little gold edge; the feet, I don't know if she had stockings on or came barefoot, because I couldn't make out her toes; it was because of the light that didn't let me fix my eyes on them; everything ar[ound] her was a light so bright and so strong that it didn't let me see as I wanted because it seemed to blind me.

I think I have already said almost everything if anything of what she told me to write is missing I don't remember.

"Did your cousins ever speak with the Lady?". She answered: "They never spoke; once we agreed that Jacinta would speak to her, but, when we got there, Jacinta said nothing."

– "Was the Lady's countenance smiling?". She answered: "It was sad; when she spoke, she opened her hands, which were joined and raised against her breast".

[…]

"Are you certain that you really saw a Lady on top of the holm-oak shrub and that you were not mistaken?". She answered: "I am certain that I saw her and that I was not mistaken; even if they killed me, no one would make me say the contrary.

– "And who was this Lady?". She answered: "Before she said she was the Lady of the Rosary, I did not know who she was; now I am convinced she was Our Lady".

Several times I questioned the seer Jacinta, who always confirmed to me that she saw a Lady at the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month from May to October nineteen hundred and seventeen, except on the thirteenth of August, when she was at the house of the municipal administrator^*, but that in that month she saw Her on the following Sunday – the nineteenth – at the place called Valinho, where she was called by her brother João at Lúcia's request.

She said that she saw a very beautiful Lady, all dressed in white, in a garment with little gold cords, with a veil or mantle over her head, the size of F. – she points to a girl of average height, about fourteen years old – and that she had some very white beads hanging from her hands, held between the forefinger and thumb of both hands, which she held up at her waist and parted to about the width of her shoulders when she spoke to Lúcia.

When She spoke to Lúcia, she heard a very gentle, pious voice, but she does not remember hearing anything said except that they – the seers – would go to Heaven. In the several times I questioned her she never contradicted herself on essentials, although on incidental matters there were some contradictions, real or apparent. On one occasion – 21 August – I went to her parents' house with five ladies – Dona Maria de Jesus Raposo, of Torres Novas, and others from the Quinta da Cardiga – one of whom, about fifteen years of age, was dressed in white. On reaching the parents' house I called out... Jacinta came; she was alone, and on seeing the unexpected visitors she was embarrassed, as is natural in a child of the people, and in one who a few days earlier had been returned to her parents after being abducted. After a few words of encouragement, I said to her:

– Look, Jacinta, see whether it was one of these ladies you saw at the Cova da Iria, or whether there is one here who looks like the one you saw there.

She raises her little eyes, runs her gaze over all of them, from head to foot, and says:

– It wasn't any of these... the other one is much more beautiful.

I point out to her the one dressed in white, saying to her:

– Then wasn't it this Lady, dressed in white, so beautiful, that you saw up there?!

This Lady, she answered, is very beautiful, but She whom I saw there is much more beautiful.

We went to Lúcia's parents' house and, on finding her, I asked her the same question and got the same answer. Nor could I get her to reveal the secret to me; she only said that it – the secret – was not bad for them, the seers. She also said that the Lady appeared to her three more times: once on the day of the Ascension of the Lord, in the church during Mass, when she taught her to say the beads; another time, at night, above the trapdoor of the loft while the family was asleep; and once more under (or, if I am not mistaken, on top of) a table, without saying anything to her, until she, Jacinta, said to her mother: Look... don't you see the Lady I saw up there, there underneath?!... Look!!! As the mother herself stated to me.

33 - Did the Lady say at what time she was coming, and on which days?

33 - That she was coming at midday.

34 - The 2nd time, did people go to watch? What did they see?

34 - Some 50 people went.

35 - The 2nd

The 3rd

The 4th

The 5th

[...]

36 - What did the Lady want? Did she say what she came for?

36 - She never heard the Lady say what she came for. The Lady spoke slowly.

33 - She never said at what time she was coming, but we used to go there at that time.

[37]⁴

[37-] The Lady told her a secret but she will not reveal it.

What the Lady wore on her feet – were they stockings? Are you sure of that?

– I reckon they were stockings, but they might not have been.

4th – You have never told the secret, nor even said that the people would be sad if they knew it. Francisco and Jacinta say that they would be sad. If you cannot say that, neither could they say it. What do you think?

– I don't know whether they should or shouldn't say that the people would be sad. Our Lady said we were not to tell anything to anyone. That is why I can't say anything.

2^nd – You once said that the Lady had white stockings. So were they stockings or were they her feet?

– If they were stockings, they were white, but I don't know for sure whether they were stockings or her feet.

3^rd – Was the skirt always the same length?

– The last time the skirt seemed longer.

When was it that the Lady taught you the prayer you were to say after each mystery^*?

– I think it was in the third month.

2^nd – How many people did the Lady promise to cure and convert?

– I asked for many and she said she would cure and convert some, and not others.

3^rd – How many times did you make that request to her?

– I think it was five times, now for some people, now for others.

On a few different occasions I questioned Francisco, and he always told me that he saw a very beautiful Lady at the Cova da Iria and at Valinho on the same days his companions had given, and that she was dressed in white, but that he did not hear Her speak. As for the secret, I could not get him to reveal anything. When I told him that, since he did not hear the Lady, he had no secret at all, he answered that yes, he has; Lúcia told it to him. I told him that, since it was Lúcia who told it to him, he could tell me, because it is not a secret and Our Lady did not tell him not to tell it; he answered: I won't tell, it's a sin; Lúcia said that I shouldn't tell it, so I won't.

They were having supper when the mother asked Jacinta again what she had witnessed.

The little girl said that Our Lady had appeared to them, that before that they had seen a flash of lightning, that they feared a thunderstorm was imminent or that it would rain, and they were already getting ready to go away, and had even started to drive the flock home for that purpose.

When she got home Jacinta, very happy, threw her arms around her, which she did not usually do, and said: “Oh, Mother, today I saw Our Lady at the Cova da Iria”. The mother retorted: “I don't believe it; you're a fine saint to be seeing Our Lady”. The little girl looked a little sad and insisted: “Believe me, Mother”. She was then seven years old. This took place still in the street at the door of the house. They went in and at once she said: “Mother, I'm going to pray the rosary with Francisco, because that is what Our Lady told us to do”. To a question from the parents on this point, the little girl answered that Our Lady had said that they should go there for six months on the thirteenth and she would appear to them, and that they should pray the rosary. The seers understood that this recitation should be done every day. Our Lady said that they should pray the rosary, that they should spread it throughout the world and that God was very much offended. Francisco said that he saw the Lady moving her lips, opening her hands and closing them, but did not hear her words. Jacinta said that the Lady spoke only with Lúcia.

Her two daughters, Maria dos Anjos and Carolina, questioned Lúcia about the events of the previous day and went home and said that their sister really had seen something. Finally, the mother too asked her what she had seen. She said that she saw a very beautiful little woman; that the dress she wore was all white, that to the question – “where she was from” – she had pointed to Heaven saying she was from there, and that, when she asked her whether Francisco, Jacinta and she, Lúcia, would not go to Heaven, the apparition answered yes. Her mother, on hearing these words, exclaimed: “How lucky you are!” The Lady said that she wanted them to go there six months running and that at the end she would say what she wanted.

Three children — Lucia, aged 10, Francisco, aged 8, and Jacinta, aged 7 — living at Aljustrel, were on the vast plain of the Cova de Santa Iria grazing docile sheep when a lady appeared to them, all dressed in white, says Lucia. The lady told the little shepherds that they should learn to read and write and that on the 13th of each month she would appear to them at the same spot, beside an oak. On 13 October she would come down from heaven to earth for the last time to make peace in the world — and put an end to the war. All the people who did not believe in her work would be punished.

[…]

And she insists that she keeps a secret which she can reveal only on 13 October.

We asked her what Our Lady looked like and how she was dressed: and the little girl, without the slightest hesitation and wanting to act it out, stands up and says that Our Lady was her own height; she gathers her skirt in a little at the hem to show that Our Lady's dress was a little narrower at the bottom; then, with great effort, she tries to pull her little skirt down to her feet, showing that the dress was long.

She then explains that Our Lady wore no veil but a mantle that fell from her head down to, judging by the little one's gesture, 3 or 4 finger-widths above the tunic; she was all in white (without the blue sash), with her hands raised. To explain better, the little girl took the rosary from my hands, threading it into her own little hand between the thumb, raised her hands, imitating the gesture of Our Lady of Lourdes, and, parting them a little, then said: when she spoke she was like this: She had on her head something of many colours. The eldest girl and the little boy whom we met later gave us the same explanation. A humble little woman asked her whether, among all the ladies she saw on the 13th and all those who have visited her, she had found any as beautiful as the lady from Heaven; the little girl said she had never seen one so beautiful, and the little boy, whom we later asked the same thing, said: that there was none so beautiful in the world. We asked her to tell us what the first apparition had been like: The little one explained that they were minding the sheep that belong to the family of Lucia (the other seer) on Tio Abobera's^* land; suddenly they saw a flash of lightning and were afraid, very afraid; when they were on their knees praying, they saw the Lady on the Holm Oak, and at once another flash of lightning; the flock went into the chickling peas¹¹ and the woman they belonged to shouted from afar — “turn those sheep back for me” — but the lady said: (the little girl tried to make her voice sweeter) “don't turn the sheep back, for they won't eat anything.

Then Lucia asked: “Who are you?” — “I am the Mother of Heaven” — “What do you want of us?” - “That you come here on this day for 6 months; at the end of the 6 months I will say what I want. Say the rosary.” —

Then the owner of the chickling peas appeared, whom the woman had gone to fetch; he came to scold them, for he is a very bad-tempered man, but he didn't scold at all, because he saw that the chickling peas had not been eaten.

On the morning of the thirteenth of May, nineteen hundred and seventeen, about two and a half kilometres west of the parish church of Fátima, in the council^* of Vila Nova de Ourém, district of Santarém, at the edge of the district road, in a place commonly called "Cova da Iria", three children were grazing a small flock. They were two girls and a boy. The elder of the girls, who was ten years old, was called Lúcia de Jesus, and the younger, only six years old¹, Jacinta Marto. The boy, nine years old, was named Francisco Marto. They lived in Aljustrel, one of the forty hamlets of the vast parish of Fátima, and one of those nearest to the church and the presbytery. Francisco and Jacinta were brother and sister, and Lúcia was their first cousin. Her parents were António dos Santos, who died the following year², and Maria Rosa dos Santos, and theirs were Manuel Pedro Marto and Olímpia de Jesus Marto. The children had a very rudimentary religious instruction, only Lúcia having made her first Communion. None of them could read or write. The hour of solar noon was approaching. The most cherished devotion in that region is the recitation of the rosary^*. There are few families whose head does not pray the rosary with his household at night, after the work in the fields, before supper, which is the main meal. The three children, as was their custom, prayed the rosary together, and then set about building a miniature house, using for it the loose stones that were very plentiful in the place, as they are almost everywhere in the serra de Aire^*. Suddenly a flash of lightning, of vivid and brilliant light, streaked across the sky. The children stopped their pastime and looked up in astonishment. The sky was clear and cloudless, not the slightest breeze was blowing, and the sun was shining at its full zenith. Nevertheless, Lúcia invited her cousins to go home without delay, fearing that a thunderstorm might break out. They agreed without reluctance, and all three began to drive the animals down the slope. On reaching the spot where the first fountain now stands, they saw another flash of lightning and, a few paces away, standing on a small holm oak at the place where the chapel of the apparitions was later built, the figure of a Lady, still quite young and of incomparable beauty. Frightened by the unexpected apparition, the children wanted to flee and were getting ready to do so, but a sign from the Lady held them back; she told them not to be afraid, for she would do them no harm. The Apparition seemed no more than eighteen years old. Her dress was of the purest snow-white, as was the mantle, edged with gold, that covered her head and most of her body. Her face, of irreproachable nobility of line and with an indefinable something supernatural and divine about it, was serene and grave and as if clouded by a slight shadow of sadness. From her hands, joined at the height of her breast, hung a beautiful rosary ending in a cross, whose beads, white as ermine, looked like pearls. From her whole figure, surrounded by a splendour brighter than that of the sun, beams of light radiated, especially from her face, of a beauty impossible to describe and incomparably superior to any human beauty. Between the Apparition and Lúcia there took place a dialogue that lasted about ten minutes. The Apparition invited the children to return there every month, on the thirteenth, until the following October, assuring them that on the last day she would tell them who she was and what she wanted.

Francisco said that he saw the Lady moving her lips, opening her hands and closing them, but did not hear her words. At the beginning of the apparition, when Lúcia said she was seeing Our Lady,

Francisco, seeing nothing, advised his cousin to throw a stone at it, and Lúcia said to the Lady: – “So you are Our Lady from Heaven and Francisco doesn't see you?” – The Lady had already told her that she was from Heaven. Our Lady said to Lúcia: “Tell him to pray the rosary and he will see me”. The boy told how he then put his hand into his waistcoat pocket, where he had the beads he used at Mass, and began to pray, and when he had prayed six or seven Hail Marys he could already see the Lady and could pray no more. At the moment when he could already see her, he noticed that the sheep were starting to go into a wheat field in the lowest part of the Cova da Iria and said he was going to turn them back. He was about to set off when Lúcia said to him: “Oh Francisco, don't go, because Our Lady says the flock won't eat the wheat”. He then observed: “So the sheep are going right into the wheat and not eating it?!” And he came back. His mother asked him: “After Our Lady left, did the sheep eat the wheat?” He answered: “Ah, if they'd let them, they would have eaten it all”.

One day, at the beginning of the apparitions, his wife was going to the Cova da Iria and asked Francisco what he was doing. He said he was making a little wall, and Lúcia and Jacinta were handing him the stones. On that occasion Lúcia said: “There's just been a flash of lightning and we're going to have rain”, and the three children went down the slope, and it was when they reached the Cova that Our Lady appeared to them on top of a holm oak which the people later stripped bare. The Lady said: “Do not be afraid, for I am from up there, from Heaven”. And it was then that she told them to come there every month and to pray the rosary.

On the morning of the thirteenth of May 1917 a boy and two girls were grazing, as was their custom, a small flock of sheep belonging to their families, on a property in the Serra de Minde, in the parish of Fátima, municipality of Villa Nova d'Ourem, district of Leiria.

[…]

That day it was nearly noon by the sun^*. As was their custom, the three children, after spending a good while at their innocent games, began to pray the rosary^*, a devotion very dear to the inhabitants of that parish. They had scarcely finished when they suddenly saw the dazzling brightness of a flash of lightning shine in the air a short distance from them and, almost at the same moment, above the crown of a small holm oak, the radiant and enchanting figure of a woman of extraordinary beauty appeared. Frightened by so unusual and so unexpected an occurrence, they thought of running away, but they were at once completely reassured by the kindly manner of the Apparition, who in the sweetest voice promised that she would do them no harm at all.

The Apparition seemed to be no more than eighteen years old. Her dress was of the purest snow-white, as was the mantle, edged with gold, that covered her head and most of her body. Her face, of flawless nobility of line, with an indefinable something supernatural and divine about it, was serene and grave, as if clouded by a slight shadow of sadness. From her hands, joined at the height of her breast, hung a beautiful rosary ending in a gold cross, whose beads, white as ermine, looked like pearls. From her whole figure, surrounded by a splendour brighter than the sun's, beams of light radiated, above all from her face, whose beauty was impossible to describe and incomparably superior to any human beauty.

A dialogue took place between the Apparition and Lucia, lasting about ten minutes.

Jacinta saw the Apparition and clearly heard the words she spoke to Lucia, but she never spoke to her, nor did the Apparition ever address a word to her. Francisco only saw the Apparition and never heard what she said to Lucia, although he was at the same distance and had excellent hearing.

[…]

The Apparition insistently urged everyone to do penance and pray the rosary. She told the children a secret, which they could not reveal to anyone. She promised them Heaven.

She asked for a chapel to be built in her honour at that spot and declared that on the thirteenth of October she would perform a miracle so that all the people would believe that she had really appeared there. On the thirteenth of August, moments before the time of the apparition, the children were abducted by a trick by the administrator of the municipality^*, who kept them in his house for two days, threatening them with death if they did not retract or at least reveal the secret the Apparition had entrusted to them.

That month the apparition took place on the nineteenth, at the spot called Vallinhos, when the children no longer expected it until the following month.

It was from the family of the other two seers, Francisco and Jacinta, her nephew and niece, that she learned that Our Lady had appeared to her daughter the first time, because Lúcia had advised her companions to say nothing, for fear of being scolded. Lúcia only said what she had seen after being questioned by her mother. At first she did not believe in the children's sincerity. Faced with the crowds flocking to the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month, her wish was to prevent her daughter from going to that place on those days. Only with great reluctance, and guided by the advice of people of authority, who counselled her to leave her daughter free to do as she pleased, did she bring herself to allow her to go. Fearing that her daughter was deceiving the people with false statements, although she did not take her for a liar, she severely reproached her for her conduct, threatening her several times with a beating, and on one occasion, in one of the first months of the apparitions, she even struck her with a slipper, calling her an impostor.

[…]

Lúcia's mother, when she was told that her daughter had been arrested, answered: "If it was from God, God will protect them; if they lied, they won't keep it up!...". And while many people wept with pity or indignation, she kept the serenity of a truly Christian soul.

As I told you, I examined, or rather questioned, the three separately. They all say the same without the slightest variation. The main point that I deduced from everything they tell me is “– that the apparition wants the devotion of the Rosary to be spread –”. All the little ones always say that the one who appears to them is the Lady. They do not know who she is... Only after the 6 times, on 13 October, will she tell them who she is and what she wants!!... The naturalness and ingenuousness with which they speak and tell what they saw is admirable and impressive.

Lúcia sees the Lady, speaks with her and hears her. Jacinta sees the Lady, hears her, but does not speak with Her. Francisco sees the Lady, but neither speaks to her nor hears her!!!... This difference is interesting, don't you think, Prazeres??... But besides being interesting it even has a great deal of the extraordinary about it!!... To hear the little ones, to see them in their simplicity, to examine them as a whole, impresses us in an extraordinary way, and leads me to conclude that in everything they tell me there is something supernatural. Being with them strikes us with great intensity... Today, Prazeres, it is my conviction that there is an extraordinary fact which our reason cannot reach. What is it?... With still greater anxiety I await the coming 13th. What is certain is that we feel at ease with the little ones and even lose the sense of time. There is an attraction that I do not know how to explain... One of the children's most intense impressions is that of the Lady's beauty. The boy, to express his admiration, told me she was “ever so pretty”!!!... I showed him your portrait and asked: is she prettier? “Much prettier!!...”. The Lady comes all in white with gold. She does not wear any blue sash as was said. Whether she is Our Lady of Peace.... Do you remember what she said at the 2nd apparition?... That they should learn to read... Little Jacinta told me “that she was already on the row of A's”!!...

[…]

The prayer they say the Lady taught them is simple; it is as follows:

“O my Jesus, forgive me.

Deliver me from the fire of hell

Take all the little souls to heaven, especially those most in need.”

Could anything be simpler? I found it interesting that the Lady should have taught it but not recommended that they pray it.

On the morning of the thirteenth of May 1917, a little boy and two little girls were pasturing, as was their custom, a small flock of sheep belonging to their families, on a property in the Serra de Minde hills, in the parish of Fátima, municipality of Vila Nova de Ourém, diocese of Leiria.

The eldest of the three children, named Lúcia de Jesus, was the daughter of António dos Santos, who died the following year¹, and of Maria Rosa dos Santos, and was ten years old. The boy and the other girl, who were brother and sister, were called Francisco and Jacinta, the former being nine years old and the latter seven. Their parents were Manuel Pedro Marto and Olímpia de Jesus Marto. They were Lúcia's cousins. The houses of the two families, which, though not rich, nevertheless possessed some means, stood close to each other in the hamlet of Aljustrel, about a kilometre from the parish church of Fátima. None of the children could read or write. Their religious instruction was still very rudimentary. Only Lúcia had made her first communion.

On that memorable day the hour of astronomical noon was approaching. Following their custom, the three children, after spending a good while in innocent games, began to pray the rosary^*, a devotion very dear to the inhabitants of that parish. They had only just finished reciting it when they suddenly saw the dazzling brightness of a flash of lightning shine in the air a short distance from them, and almost simultaneously there appeared, above the crown of a small holm oak, the radiant and enchanting figure of a woman of extraordinary beauty. Frightened by so unusual and unexpected an occurrence, they thought of running away, but they were at once completely reassured by the kindly attitude of the Apparition, who in a most sweet voice promised that she would do them no harm whatever.

The Apparition seemed to be no more than eighteen years old. Her dress was of the purest snowy whiteness, as was the mantle, edged with gold, that covered her head and most of her body. Her face, of an irreproachable nobility of line and with something supernatural and divine about it, appeared serene and grave and as if clouded by a slight shadow of sadness. From her hands, joined at the height of her breast, hung a lovely rosary finished with a gold cross, whose beads, ermine-white, looked like pearls. From her whole figure, surrounded by a splendour brighter than that of the sun, beams of light radiated, especially from her face, of a loveliness impossible to describe and incomparably superior to any human beauty.

A dialogue took place between the Apparition and Lúcia, which lasted about ten minutes.

Jacinta saw the Apparition and heard distinctly the words she spoke when addressing Lúcia, but she never spoke to her, nor did the Apparition address a word to her. Francisco only saw the Apparition, never hearing what she said to Lúcia, although he was at the same distance and had excellent hearing.

That day the Apparition invited the three little shepherds to return every month on the thirteenth, for six consecutive months, to that spot, commonly known by the name of Cova da Iria and situated a little more than two kilometres from the parish church of Fátima, beside the district road from Vila Nova de Ourém to Batalha.

[…]

The Apparition insistently recommended that everyone should do penance and pray the rosary. She communicated to the children a secret, which they could reveal to no one. She promised them Heaven.

She asked that a chapel be built in her honour on that spot and declared that on the thirteenth of October she would perform a miracle so that all the people would believe that she had really appeared there. On the thirteenth of August, moments before the hour of the apparition, the children were craftily abducted by the municipal administrator^*, who kept them in his house for two days, threatening them with death if they did not recant or at least reveal the secret the Apparition had entrusted to them.

That month the apparition took place on the nineteenth, at the spot called Valinhos, when the children no longer thought it would happen until the following month. On the thirteenth of October, with about seventy thousand people present from all classes and social conditions and from every part of the country, once the dialogue between Lúcia and the Apparition was over (the Apparition having declared to her that she was the Lady of the Rosary), the seer urged the bystanders to look at the sun.

The account of the apparitions is reproduced here in summary.

The Lady says that her place is Heaven, promises eternal happiness to the three children, tells them a secret that they may reveal to no one, teaches them a short prayer⁴, recommends to Lúcia that they learn to read, commands that everyone pray the rosary so that the war may end, announces the appearance of Our Lord, of St Joseph with the Child Jesus, and of Our Lady under the titles of the Rosary, of Carmel and of Sorrows, again recommends the recitation of the rosary, declares that the war would end soon, and on the last day states that Our Lord is very angry at the sins of men, begs that they offend Him no more, insists once again that they pray the rosary, declares that she is the Lady of the Rosary and orders that a chapel be built there in her honour. Jacinta's deposition confirms, in a general way, Lúcia's deposition, as does that of Francisco, who however only saw the Lady and heard nothing of what she said to his cousin.

But if I was relying on statements of the seers that I kept in my memory, it is utterly impossible for me to state precisely, after so many years, which of the children assured me that the cross of the rosary was, or looked like, gold. Was it Francisco? Was it Jacinta? I do not know. It must be stressed that Lucia, like her cousins, sometimes said that certain parts of the vision's body or certain items of its clothing were white because of the clear, brilliant light that surrounded it and almost blinded their eyes. Page 77, Lucia: "It's that she sometimes blinds". Page 94, Francisco: "I can look at her face, but only a little, because of the light".

Two little shepherd girls and a little shepherd boy asserted that a lady of incomparable beauty appeared to them on the thirteenth of each month from May to October of that year, making various communications to them, some of them secret. The Vision, according to the testimony of the three children, promised to say on the thirteenth of October who she was and to perform a prodigy that day so that everyone would believe her words, and at the same time asked for a chapel to be built in her honour at the place of the apparitions.

Several times she declared that God was greatly offended by the sins of men and that grave punishments threatened them; she recommended to all that they do penance, advised the frequent recitation of the rosary, and lastly said that she was the Lady of the Rosary.

On 13 May 1917, three children of the parish of Fátima, in the vicariate^* of Ourém, in this Diocese, were pasturing a small flock in a place called Cova da Iria, which was then deserted.

The eldest, Lúcia de Jesus, was 10 years old, Francisco nine and Jacinta six^a. The two younger ones were brother and sister, and the eldest was their cousin.

None of them could read or write.

It was getting on towards noon, and the children, according to the custom of their region, prayed the rosary^* of Our Lady.

The prayer finished, they were amusing themselves building a tiny house out of loose stones when, suddenly, a flash of lightning, of vivid and brilliant light, furrowed the sky. Although the sky was clear and cloudless, the children, fearing a thunderstorm, gathered the flock and were about to leave. But as they reach a point near the spot where the water fountains now stand, another flash of lightning blazes out and, a few paces away, standing on a small holm oak at the place where the tiny, humble Chapel of the Apparitions now stands, they see with amazement the figure of a Lady of incomparable beauty, clothed in a dress of the purest white; a mantle edged with gold covers her head and most of her body. Her face, of a heavenly, supernatural beauty, appeared serene, grave and clouded by a slight shadow of sadness. From her hands, joined at the height of her breast, hung a beautiful rosary ending in a cross.

From the whole figure, surrounded by a splendour brighter than the sun, beams of light radiated.

The children drew near, and a dialogue took place between the Lady and the eldest; the Lady invited them to come there on the 13th of each month until October.

According to the testimony of the children and of many people, there were six apparitions, all on the 13th of the month, except in August, when the apparition took place a few days later because the administrative authority^* was holding the children prisoner in Ourém.

The Lady told them that her place is in heaven, entrusted them with a secret that they may reveal to no one, taught them a short prayer, recommended the recitation of the Rosary, advised Lúcia to learn to read, insisted on the need for prayer and penance for the war to end, said that Our Lord is very angry at the sins of men and above all at the sin of the flesh, ordered a chapel to be built there in her honour, and declared that she is the Lady of the Rosary...

Francisco, likewise questioned once more by his mother, said that he too had seen the Lady, that at first he had not seen her, and that the Lady had said she would appear for six months in succession.

She learned from her husband and from other people that Lúcia was saying that Our Lady had appeared to her on the thirteenth of May nineteen hundred and seventeen, as well as to her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, around the hour of solar noon.

The mother answered that her daughter, after the first apparition, came home at night and told her that she had seen Our Lady at the Cova da Iria. She would not believe it, because her daughter was not what she wished her to be, with merits enough to see Our Lady. She wanted to beat her. Lúcia, afraid of her, began to tell people outside what was happening and would not tell her mother anything more. When her mother found out, she said to her: “So you go around telling people outside that Our Lady appears to you, and you tell me nothing?” The little girl answered: “Well, Mother, you wanted to beat me!” Then she asked her daughter how big the Lady was. She said she would compare her to a local girl of fifteen. She was of such beauty that she had never seen the like.

She also told us that one day the little ones came into her house saying they had seen the Lady from Heaven; when she answered that they were dreaming and that they were not worthy of that, the little girl insisted, described to her Mother what she had seen, and told what she had already told us on the way!

Lúcia said that she saw a very beautiful woman, with a radiance about her head that was blinding.

His wife asked Francisco at the Cova da Iria whether he had seen Our Lady and he said no. And she asked him whether he saw her feet. And he said no, that he only saw a very lovely radiance at her feet. Presumably he was referring to the beginning of the first apparition, when he did not yet see her, before he began to pray the rosary.

This vision, with the appearance of a lady of extraordinary beauty, appears to them in the open country in the midst of a cloud, always at the same spot. It speaks to them, though the children say only that the Lady had asked the little boy of 3 to learn to say the rosary^3*, and the two little girls to say it for the fatherland and for their family, adding that on 13 October she will tell them what more she wants of them.

Only there did we learn that the three children, natives of Aljustrel, a small village in the parish of Fatima, said that a Lady appeared to them on the 13th of each month, spoke with them, answered their questions, and urged them to pray the rosary and offer it to Our Lady of the Rosary.

We went on with the journey, and when we reached Fatima the Ex.^mo Mr Pedro asked after the little girls, who just then were coming out of school; then, at the schoolmistress's bidding, the girls came up to the carriage and spoke with other people who were there, and we asked them about Our Lady, and they always affirmed the same thing: that they saw her, heard her and spoke with her.

A. On page 11 I state that the apparition seems to be no more than 18 years old because once Lucia's mother, in the presence of her daughter and of other people, told me, when I asked how old the vision looked, that she looked like a girl from the hamlet of Aljustrel who was present and who was already 17. On page 90 I state that Lucia said the Vision seemed to be about 15 years old, because she really did say so, although she was a simple, uneducated little girl, only 10 years old, and incapable of judging a person's age accurately. Besides, the difference between about fifteen years and no more than eighteen years is not great, and the expression I use on page 90 not only does not contradict or exclude the statement on page 11 but actually completes it and brings us closer to the truth.

Franc. died on 4 April 1919. He received the last sacr. with great lucidity and piety And confirmed that he had seen a Lady at the Cova da Iria and Vallinho³.

Francisco – the seer – died at ten o'clock at night on the 4th of this April, the victim of a long, 5-month ordeal with the pneumonic influenza^*, having received the Sacraments with great lucidity and piety – And he confirmed that he had seen a Lady at the Cova da Iria and Valinho^*.