13 July 1917

When they had finished saying it, Lucia said: "let whoever can kneel". Then I heard her ask some questions. Among other things she said: "A person in Pedrogam asks the Lady to cure her or take her to Heaven". She also asked for the conversion of a family from Athouguia and of another from Fatima. Finally I heard these words from her: "The Lady said that she would work a miracle so that all the people will believe"

The little girl asked: "What do you wish, my Lady, that I can do?" Then she added: "There is a person at Pedrogam who asks you to convert the family of the house. There is a woman at Fatima who asks you for the grace of converting her whole family. And there is a man at Athouguia who asks Our Lady to take him to Heaven, the sooner the better. And I ask Our Lady to make the lame better." At the end of each question and each request she waited a little. Then she said that Our Lady had said [3] that she would make them better and if she did not make them better she would give them help so that they could manage. While Lucia was listening to the answer I seemed to hear a buzzing (a buzz) like that of a guitar. When she got up, she said: "Turn that way if you want to see her."

I forgot [to] say that she also asked the Lady to work a miracle so that all the people would believe."

Then she spoke and said that whoever could should kneel. Next she asked: "What is it that my Mother wants of me?" A little later she asked again: "Then you don't want anything more of me?" Then she made several requests to her for people from Pedrogam, Athouguia and Aljustrel, asking for cures and conversions" She also asked whether she could not work a miracle so that all the people would believe. After listening to the answer she said: "Goodbye! Everyone turn that way!" An hour later, when the child was with me, she told me that the Lady had said that on the last day she would work a miracle so that all the people would believe.

On 14-7-1917 Lúcia, aged 10, came before me; she said that she left home on the 13th at about eleven o'clock, called Jacinta and we reached the new road: we ran all the way there; people told us to go slowly and we said that our legs didn't get tired, so why go slowly. We arrived and found my sister there and she told me to ask for the rosary (5 decades); I asked for it and we prayed it; we were there a tiny while, there was a flash of lightning and the Lady came. I got up, told people to move back a little and that those who could and wanted to should kneel; I knelt down again and asked her:

– What is it you want of me?

– I want to tell you to come back here on the 13th.

And she said more:

– "Pray the rosary (5 decades) to Our Lady of the Rosary that she may ease the war, for only she can help."

I said more:

– I have here as a request whether you will convert a woman from Pedrógão and one from Fátima and whether you will make a little boy from Moita¹ better.

She said that she would convert them and make him better within a year.

I said:

– Perform a miracle so that everyone will believe.

– Three months from now I shall then make everyone believe.

– Don't you want anything more of me?

– "No, for my part I don't want anything more of you now."

I said to her:

– Well, for my part I don't want anything more either.

Then she went off towards the east and I said to the people:

– Look over there to see her, towards where she was going.

The people turned round.

She was exactly the same one she had seen the other times.

[…]

–I had here a request, whether you would take to heaven a man from Atouguia, the sooner the better.

–I shall take him.

On 14 July 1917 Jacinta, aged 7, daughter of Manuel Pedro Marto, appeared 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 was white and all gold; her hands raised to her waist, and they opened, parting them 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; on leaving, the sky opened and her feet stayed caught and her body already hidden; she heard a very pious voice and remembers only hearing that people (they) would go 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.

On the fourteenth of the month of July the seer Lúcia appeared before me at the parish residence, accompanied by her mother.

I proceeded to the questioning, and she – the seer Lúcia – said that on the thirteenth of this month of July she went with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, at the usual hour, to the Cova da Iria, and that when they got there she led the rosary – that is, she presided over its recitation – saying it with the people (estimated at two thousand persons) –. When the rosary was finished she waited a little while, and then she saw the flash of lightning and after that the Lady came. She stood up – she had been kneeling – and tells the people to move back a little; that those who can and wish to should kneel, and kneeling again she asks the Lady:

– What is it you want of me today?
And the Lady answered:
– I want to tell you to come back here on the thirteenth: Say the rosary to Our Lady of the Rosary that she may ease the war, for only She can help it.
– I have a request here, whether you will convert a woman from Pedrógão and one from Fátima, and whether you will make a little boy from Moita better?
And that the Lady answered her that she would convert them and make him better within a year.

– I have a request here, whether you will take a man from Atouguia to Heaven as soon as possible.

And She answered:

– I will, but... (here I do not know what else she said).
– Work a miracle so that everyone will believe!?

And the Lady answered:

– Three months from now I will then make everyone believe.
– You want nothing more of me?!
– I want nothing more of you.

That, having said this, she rose as on the other occasions, moving towards the east, and disappeared.

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 administrator of the council, 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, with a garment gilded with little 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 and held between the forefinger and thumb of both hands, which she held raised at her waist, and which she separated from each other, more or less to the width of the shoulders, when she spoke to Lúcia.

When She spoke to Lúcia, she heard a very devout voice, but she does not remember hearing anything said except that they – the seers – were going to Heaven. In the several times I questioned her she never contradicted herself in essentials, though there were, in incidental matters, some contradictions, real or apparent. On one occasion – 21 August – I went to her parents' house accompanied by 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... Jacinta came, who was alone, and on seeing the unexpected visitors she was embarrassed, as is natural in a child of the people and one who a few days earlier had been returned to her parents from the abduction carried out on her. After a few words of encouragement, I said to her:

– Look, Jacinta, see whether it was one of these ladies that you saw at the Cova da Iria, or whether there is one here like Her whom 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, obtaining an identical answer. As regards the secret, I also could not get her to reveal it to me; she only said that it – the secret – was not bad for them, the seers.

On 13 July. This time she recommended to her that they pray the rosary to Our Lady of the Rosary so that the war might abate; that only She could help them, and that in the coming months they should keep going to that place as before.

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 (five decades) 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.
- Does the dress have 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 the level of the middle of the body.
- Does she have a belt or a ribbon?
- She doesn't.
- Does she wear earrings?
- She wears small rings, yellow in colour.
- 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 recommend you and your cousins to say any prayers?
- She recommended 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 perplexed, and I thought I should not insist by repeating the question).
- It is said that, to rid yourself of the administrator's importunities, on the day you were arrested, you told him, as if it were the secret, something that was not, thus deceiving him and boasting afterwards 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, I, Jacinta and two more girls carrying one of them, and Francisco, with three more boys, the other, to the parish church. 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 is because she sometimes dazzles.
- 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 it

[1] Near Fátima or Aljustrel, Cova da Iria, beside Aljustrel, [near] the road [of] macadam, on the north side. Happenings witnessed by me. On 13 June I went there the first time, when I did not get there in time for the act, but I spoke with the little girls in the churchyard of Fátima. I questioned them attentively and saw in them what seemed to me impossible not to be true. From that hour I became a believer that it was the Most Holy Virgin who came there. [2] On 13 July I was present too. At the hour of the apparition [there could be seen] a little mist. The sun lost its strength, ceasing to give heat, which until then it had been giving a lot. And many people said that, when the apparition spoke, they heard her but did not

[…]

witness [perceive] what She was saying. I only heard when Lúcia said: there She goes! I heard in the air a roar. It seemed the beginning of a thunderclap. [3] On 13 August I was present too. The little girls and the boy were imprisoned. There were a great many people. At the same hours of the apparition the stars and the sun showed the same as the other times; and a most extraordinary sign in the stars. On 13 September I was present too. The sun and the stars made the same figure. The people enthusiastic, looking up into the air, some saying that they saw stars, others that they saw a dove, others that they saw stars running and swallows accompanying them. There was enthusiasm in everyone. Still others that they saw flowers falling. [4] On 13 October it rained almost all morning. At the hour near the apparition it stopped raining. The extraordinary facts that happened in the sun! Everyone witnessed: whoever had their eyes open; whoever closed them saw nothing. And perhaps there were those who saw and said they did not see so as not to give honour to the Mother of Heaven. Whatever mistake there may have been regarding the war, the extraordinary [facts] that happened there are undeniable.

On 13 July some companions of his, with bad intent, got him drunk with the aim of leading him to commit some folly at the place of the apparitions. And indeed, although, as always, he let his daughter go to that place, he ordered the people to withdraw. He is the owner of the heath where the holm-oak shrub that serves as pedestal for the Apparition stands. The people, seeing him in a state of drunkenness, paid no heed to this order and a man pushed him, making him fall.

[…]

At first the people did not want to go to the Cova da Iria. Nobody believed the children. On the thirteenth of June, the day of the second apparition, there was a feast at the parish church in honour of St. Anthony. At the Cova da Iria there were only some sixty people at the time of the apparition. Francisco and Jacinta's parents had gone early in the morning to Porto de Mós to the fair called "of the thirteenth", in order to buy oxen, and got back after nightfall. In their absence their house filled with people who wanted to see the children and ask them questions. At present a large part of the people think the children are telling the truth. For my part, I am convinced of it.

[…]

The signs are many. In August almost all who were present saw those signs. A cloud came down to the holm-oak shrub. In July the same was noticed. There was no dust at the place. The cloud made the air dusty, so that it looked misty.

– Was there any other sign?

– In the sky, near the sun, white clouds are seen which turn successively bright red (blood-coloured), pink and yellow. The people take on this last colour. The light of the sun diminishes considerably in intensity.

A rumbling was also felt in July and in August.

[…]

She prays the rosary. When she addresses the Lady, she speaks aloud.

I heard her myself in June, because I was nearby. Some people claim they hear the sound of the answers.

10^a – Is the place of the apparitions much frequented on the other days too by pious people or by the curious?

– It is much frequented, above all on Sundays. The greatest concourse is at night. Many people go there, from far and near, and still more from outside the parish. They pray the rosary and sing hymns in honour of the Virgin.

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 the litters to be got 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 quite a few 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 feel like going there and I would be sad if I didn't go.

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 quite a few 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 am nine years old.
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 well 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.

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

– I came to know of that fact through the family of the other children, because Lúcia advised her companions to say nothing for fear they would be scolded. Only after being questioned by me 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.

If the vision is true, there would 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 nor 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 every 13th of each 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 recommended 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!

3^rd time - That we should keep coming, that we should pray the rosary (5 decades) to Our Lady so that the war would end, for only she could help. She stayed only a short while; there were already many people.

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.

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.

What did the Lady say in July?

– She said we were to keep going to the Cova da Iria and to say the rosary to Our Lady of the Rosary so that the war would ease, for only she could help. I asked the Lady for the cure of sick people and the conversion of sinners who had been recommended to me, and she told me she would make some better and not others, and would convert some and not others.

45^th – Did she say anything else?

– I don't remember her saying anything else that day.

What the Lady had 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.

On which side was the Child Jesus when you saw him on the thirteenth of October beside the sun?

– The Child Jesus was in the middle, on St. Joseph's right side, with Our Lady being on the right side of the sun.

2nd – Was the lady you saw beside the sun different from the one you saw on the holm-oak shrub?

– The Lady who was beside the sun had a white dress and a blue mantle; the one I saw at the holm-oak shrub had a white dress and mantle.

3rd – What colour were the feet of the Lady who appeared on the holm-oak shrub?

– The Lady's feet were white; I reckon she was wearing stockings.

4th – What colour were St. Joseph's clothes and the Child's?

– St. Joseph's were red, and the Child's I think were also red.

5th – When was it that the Lady revealed the secret?

– I reckon it was in July.

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 13 July I was near the children. As soon as they arrived, they knelt down and began to say the rosary. When they had finished saying it, Lucia said: "let whoever can kneel". Then I heard her ask some questions. Among other things she said: "A person in Pedrogam asks the Lady to cure her or take her to Heaven". She also asked for the conversion of a family from Athouguia and of another from Fatima. Finally I heard these words from her: "The Lady said that she would work a miracle so that all the people will believe"

"On the 13th of July I was at the Cova da Iria. I knelt beside the children and kept the heat off their heads with an umbrella. Lucia said two or three times: "Everyone who can, kneel down". She knelt. I seemed to hear at that moment a little wind, a humming. The little girl asked: "What do you wish, my Lady, that I can do?" Then she added: "There is a person at Pedrogam who asks you to convert the family of the house. There is a woman at Fatima who asks you for the grace of converting her whole family. And there is a man at Athouguia who asks Our Lady to take him to Heaven, the sooner the better. And I ask Our Lady to make the lame better." At the end of each question and each request she waited a little. Then she said that Our Lady had said [3] that she would make them better and if she did not make them better she would give them help so that they could manage. While Lucia was listening to the answer I seemed to hear a buzzing (a buzz) like that of a guitar. When she got up, she said: "Turn that way if you want to see her."

I forgot [to] say that she also asked the Lady to work a miracle so that all the people would believe."

"On the thirteenth of July I was beside the children. Lucia brought a basket of flowers and covered the holm-oak shrub with them. Then she knelt and said the rosary, holding in her hand a lighted candle that a woman gave her. Then she spoke and said that whoever could should kneel. Next she asked: "What is it that my Mother wants of me?" A little later she asked again: "Then you don't want anything more of me?" Then she made several requests to her for people from Pedrogam, Athouguia and Aljustrel, asking for cures and conversions" She also asked whether she could not work a miracle so that all the people would believe. After listening to the answer she said: "Goodbye! Everyone turn that way!" An hour later, when the child was with me, she told me that the Lady had said that on the last day she would work a miracle so that all the people would believe.

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, with whom I spoke 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 ex-[384v]plain 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 (5 decades) 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...”

Jacinto de Almeida Lopes, married, landowner, native and resident of the hamlet of Amoreira, in this parish of Fátima, being questioned about what he had witnessed regarding the events that occurred at the place called Cova da Iria, in this parish, said that on the thirteenth of July nineteen hundred and seventeen, having gone to the place in advance, he remained there beside the holm-oak shrub, where he was when the children arrived. They arrived, decorated the holm-oak shrub, knelt, prayed the rosary (five decades), stood up and then, after a short while, knelt again, and, all on their knees, Lúcia begins, as if speaking with someone, turned towards the holm-oak shrub on which she had fixed her gaze:

– Well, what is it that You want of me?

After this question, a little while in silence, the time of a brief answer. And during this silence he heard, as if coming from the holm-oak shrub, a very faint voice, like, he says, the buzzing of a bee, but without making out a single word.

– Then Lúcia says: – I have a request to make of You here: It was whether You would make a cripple from Aljustrel better; whether You would convert a woman from Pedrógão; whether You would convert a woman from Fátima and her children; whether You would make a man from Atouguia better or take him to Heaven as soon as possible¹.

This said... there is a short silence, as of someone awaiting an answer, and he hears the same voice, which he did not hear while Lúcia was speaking.

– Could You not – Lúcia continues – make these people be converted?

---

Silence... after the time of a brief answer, she says – as if confirming what she had heard:

– Yes, the rosary must be prayed!... the rosary must be prayed!... yes... everything will be done.

And while she spoke thus she accompanied her words with nods of the head.

– Well then, could You not make all these people believe?

Silence...

Then she says: – Do You want nothing more of me?

She waits... and then says:

– Nor I either.

This said, she gets up instantly and, turning towards the east, said:

– Do you want to see Our Lady?!!

And she points in the same direction.

Manuel Gonçalves Júnior, married, landowner, thirty-four years of age, native and resident of the hamlet of Montelo, in this parish of Fátima, being questioned about what he knew concerning the events that took place at the Cova da Iria, said that on the thirteenth of July nineteen hundred and seventeen he went to that place, where he was at the hour indicated by the child seers for the Apparition, and that he noticed that at that hour the heat, which was excessive, began to abate. At this time the children arrived and prayed the rosary with the people, offered up by Lúcia, – he not knowing whether this was on her own initiative or at the request of some other person. Then he noticed that the same Lúcia, everyone, people and seers, being on their knees, began to speak towards the holm-oak shrub, like someone talking with another person, asking questions and waiting for answers; but he did not make out what she was saying, because of the distance he was at. After a short time she suddenly stands up and, with hands joined, points towards the east, saying:

– Do you want to see Our Lady?!...

At this time he also noticed that at a certain height above the holm-oak shrub a kind of mist or cloud formed, which rose, moving towards the east, even dimming the brightness of the sun, and disappeared.

Teresa de Jesus, married, seamstress, twenty-four years of age¹, native of Aljustrel and resident in the hamlet of Lomba in this parish of Fátima, sister of Lúcia – the seer – appearing before me and being questioned about what she knew concerning what happened at the Cova da Iria and in her parents' house, about what her sister Lúcia said regarding the Apparitions of Our Lady, declared that on the thirteenth of July nineteen hundred and seventeen she arrived at the holm-oak shrub at the same time as her sister Lúcia and her seer cousins, and saw that her sister – and cousins –, without anyone telling them to, knelt down, and she led the rosary, saying it with the people after telling them to kneel. She stood up, remaining standing for some time, knelt again and told her cousin Jacinta to watch whether she saw the lightning, because the hour was coming. After a few minutes she noticed that her sister felt so strong a shock that it made her exclaim: Oh!! Our Lady..., and, turned towards the holm-oak shrub, she was speaking, asking questions and waiting for answers, like someone talking to another person.

She also declared that the questions were: 1st What it was that she wanted of her. – 2nd That there was a lame man there to be made better. – 3rd That she asked for a woman from Pedrógão to be made better. – 4th That she asked for a woman and family from Fátima to be converted. – 5th That she asked her to work a miracle so that the people would believe. When these questions had been asked, Lúcia suddenly stood up and, turned towards the east, pointed, saying: Turn that way, if you want to see Our Lady...

She further declared that Lúcia, after beginning the supposed dialogue with Our Lady, was prompted by Jacinta, who was at her side,

--- to answer the Lady, saying to her: Don't you see the Lady is already speaking?!

Around noon just like all the other months we went up close to the holm-oak shrub to see the Lady. There was a flash of lightning and the Lady appeared above the holm oak. Question. What do you want of me today? Answer. I want you to go on to to come here for the rest of the months [2] Do you want to learn a prayer Yes we do, it is this one. O my Jesus forgive us, deliver us from the fire of hell and take all the little souls to heaven especially those that most need it.

Then she confided some little words to us; telling us. Don't tell this to anyone you can only tell it to Francisco. I want to ask you for some people who asked me to ask you for them; some blind others crippled others dumb. In a year's time some will be cured.

And with that she went up to heaven as in all the other months.

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.

On 13 July there are many more people.

The same phenomena occur as in the previous month. The fame spreads, and now the place is one of the great centres frequented by people of all classes.

On the thirteenth of July the parents also went to the Cova da Iria, the children going on ahead. A man of the parish named Matias, a barber², on seeing the children's father, called him over to the holm oak where his wife already was. The three seers always went together. At first they remained standing, then they knelt, Lúcia having told people to close the umbrellas that were open because of the sun. Most of the people were behind the seers. And at a certain moment these stood up and then knelt down again. They heard a voice coming from the spot by the holm-oak shrub which said: – “What do you want of me today?” She waited a moment and then said: “So you want nothing of me today?” Lúcia said, and the father heard it: “What I wanted – oh! Our Lady!”, and asked for the cure and conversion of various people, the father not remembering their names.

---

Lúcia then added: “she says that not all of them will get better, because some are wicked”. She further declared that the Lady had said that they should all pray the rosary and that the war would soon end. The children were then kneeling; Lúcia got up quickly, her dress billowing out like a balloon, and said, pointing: “Look over there, if you want to see her” – and immediately added: “You're already too late”. She was facing almost to the west and turned towards the east to point to the Lady, who was withdrawing. It was very hot and soon afterwards the weather turned cool. As soon as they stood up, many people asked questions, took twigs from the holm-oak shrub and questioned the children. The father picked Jacinta up in his arms to get through the crowd more easily. She said she had seen Our Lady again.

Almost every month after May José Alves went there on the thirteenth and saw nothing; he only heard others say that they saw things in the sky. He did not hear the loud bang in August. He often heard it said that a little smoke appeared.

She went there also on the thirteenth of July. She had asked Lúcia to let her son João stay near them, to which she agreed. She took a stone and sat down. There were many people, who had begun to come early. When Lúcia said that the Lady was coming, her son slipped and fell. She asked them to pray for him, to which she said that the Lady had said she would make him better or give him the means to earn his living, and that he should always pray the rosary to Our Lady with his family. They were all kneeling. Lúcia said: “Our Lady is coming now”. The same buzzing was heard when she spoke, and the same rocket-like whistle at her departure. Before the apparition they prayed the rosary. Her husband said that she looked at the Lady and from time to time to the side, and that he asked her why she did that, to which she answered that it was because the radiance she had blinded her eyes. Lúcia asked for the recovery of a person from Pedrógão, for the conversion of a family from Fátima, and for a man from Atouguia who had asked her that Our Lady should take him to Heaven as soon as possible. Afterwards the deponent heard that the little girl had stated that Our Lady had said he should not be in a hurry, for she knew very well when she would take him.

Lúcia also stated that the Lady had told her the secret. At the time of the apparition an ai was heard, and the little girl was frightened.

Did you go back to the Cova da Iria in the month of July?". She answered: "I went back on the thirteenth of July, as the Lady had asked; there were a good many people there, around noon. We said the Rosary at the foot of the holm-oak shrub; after finishing, while we were standing, there was a flash of lightning, and the Lady appeared on top of the holm oak. And I asked her: what do you want of me today? The Lady answered: – "I want you to keep coming here for the rest of the months and to keep saying the rosary". Then the Lady said: "Would you like to learn a prayer?". "Yes, we would", I answered. And the Lady taught it like this: – "O my Jesus, forgive us, deliver us from the fire of hell and take all the little souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need".

Next, she confided some little words to me and to Jacinta, telling us not to tell them to anyone, being allowed to tell them only to Francisco. As I had been asked, I asked the Lady for the cure of some people, some blind, others crippled and others dumb, and she said that within a year some would be cured. And then she rose up to Heaven as on the other occasions".

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".

On that day, 13 July, we questioned the Seers, for which purpose we brought them by motor car to Fátima. There I took what was perhaps the first photograph of their lives.

[…]

We then had a "Peugeot" motor car, registration S-2015, and in it we went to the Cova da Iria on 13 July 1917"

A few times and on 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 indicated, and that she was dressed in white, but that he did not hear Her speak. As regards the secret, I could not get him to reveal anything to me. 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, 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.

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 of a secret character. 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 on that day, so that all would believe her words, asking at the same time that a chapel be erected 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.

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 the age of the vision, that she seemed to be like a girl from the hamlet of Aljustrel who was present and who had already turned 17. On page 90 I declare [3] that Lucia said the Vision seemed to be about 15 years old, because she really did say so, although she was a rough and ignorant little girl, only 10 years of age, and incapable of calculating 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 allows a closer approximation to the truth.

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 [4] she sometimes blinds". Page 94, Francisco: "I can look at her face, but only a little, because of the light".

On page eleven I state that the apparition seems no more than eighteen years old because once Lúcia's mother, in the presence of her daughter and other people, told me, when I asked the apparent age of the Vision, that she seemed like a girl from the place of Aljustrel who was present and who had already turned seventeen. On page ninety I state that Lúcia said the Vision seemed about fifteen years old, because she really did say so, although she was an unpolished little girl only ten years of age, and incapable of judging a person's age well. Besides, the difference between the expressions about fifteen years old and seemed no more than eighteen years old is not great, and the latter expression not only does not contradict or exclude the former, but even completes it and allows a closer approximation to the truth.

But if I was referring to statements of the children which I retained from memory, it is at present quite impossible for me to specify which of them assured me that the cross of the rosary was or seemed to be of gold. Was it Francisco? Was it Jacinta? I do not know. It should be borne in mind, however, that Lúcia, like her cousins, sometimes said that certain parts of the body or certain items of the Vision's dress were white because of the clear and very vivid light that surrounded her and almost dazzled their eyes. On page 77 Lúcia says: “It's that sometimes she blinds you”. On page 94 Francisco says: “I can look at her face, but only a little, because of the light”.

When Jacinta began to say that she knew a secret communicated by Our Lady, she began to be called to various places, even outside the parish. According to what the little girl said, Francisco did not hear the secret, and it was Lúcia who had told it to him on behalf of Our Lady.

His wife said one day to Jacinta, in his absence, telling him about it afterwards: “Oh Jacinta, tell me the secret and I'll give you my gold chain”. Francisco was not present; if anyone was, it was Lúcia. Francisco never stayed at his house and went there only once or twice. Jacinta said: “if you give me that holy picture, I'll tell you”. His wife replied: “I can't give it to you, it isn't mine, it's my niece's”. The niece said: “Oh Jacinta, do tell me the secret and I'll give it to you”. To which she answered: “Not even if you gave me the whole world”. Once, when his wife was at their house asking Lúcia questions, Jacinta joined in the conversation and said: “Our Lady came from there (and she pointed to the east) and went there (and she pointed in the direction of the Cova da Iria).”

On folio five of the parish inquiry, in the interrogation about the third apparition, which took place on the thirteenth of July, nineteen hundred and seventeen, Lúcia testifies that, when she had said to the Lady: "Work a miracle so that everyone will believe!", the Lady answered: "Three months from now I will then make everyone believe".

The little girl said that the Lady had told her a secret that she could not tell anyone, and that she had asked for some sick people, and that she thinks the Lady said that some would get better and others not.

Various people put many questions to one of them, the one who had the privilege of hearing and seeing the saint, to which she replied saying that she saw a kind of very pretty doll, which spoke to her. It had, she said, a radiance around its head and called her to its side in a very thin and melodious voice. Among many things it told her, the main one was to announce its reappearance on the 13th a month hence and in the same place, with yet one more appearance after that, to declare the reason why it had come into the world.

They arrived, decorated the holm-oak shrub, knelt, prayed the rosary (five decades), stood up and then, after a short while, knelt again, and, all on their knees, Lúcia begins, as if speaking with someone, turned towards the holm-oak shrub on which she had fixed her gaze:

– Well, what is it that You want of me?

After this question, a little while in silence, the time of a brief answer. And during this silence he heard, as if coming from the holm-oak shrub, a very faint voice, like, he says, the buzzing of a bee, but without making out a single word.

– Then Lúcia says: – I have a request to make of You here: It was whether You would make a cripple from Aljustrel better; whether You would convert a woman from Pedrógão; whether You would convert a woman from Fátima and her children; whether You would make a man from Atouguia better or take him to Heaven as soon as possible¹.

This said... there is a short silence, as of someone awaiting an answer, and he hears the same voice, which he did not hear while Lúcia was speaking.

– Could You not – Lúcia continues – make these people be converted?

---

Silence... after the time of a brief answer, she says – as if confirming what she had heard:

– Yes, the rosary must be prayed!... the rosary must be prayed!... yes... everything will be done.

And while she spoke thus she accompanied her words with nods of the head.

– Well then, could You not make all these people believe?

Silence...

Then she says: – Do You want nothing more of me?

She waits... and then says:

– Nor I either.

This said, she gets up instantly and, turning towards the east, said:

– Do you want to see Our Lady?!!

And she points in the same direction.

After a few minutes she noticed that her sister felt so strong a shock that it made her exclaim: Oh!! Our Lady..., and, turned towards the holm-oak shrub, she was speaking, asking questions and waiting for answers, like someone talking to another person.

She also declared that the questions were: 1st What it was that she wanted of her. – 2nd That there was a lame man there to be made better. – 3rd That she asked for a woman from Pedrógão to be made better. – 4th That she asked for a woman and family from Fátima to be converted. – 5th That she asked her to work a miracle so that the people would believe. When these questions had been asked, Lúcia suddenly stood up and, turned towards the east, pointed, saying: Turn that way, if you want to see Our Lady...

She further declared that Lúcia, after beginning the supposed dialogue with Our Lady, was prompted by Jacinta, who was at her side,

--- to answer the Lady, saying to her: Don't you see the Lady is already speaking?!

Lúcia said, and the father heard it: “What I wanted – oh! Our Lady!”, and asked for the cure and conversion of various people, the father not remembering their names.

[…]

Lúcia then added: “she says that not all of them will get better, because some are wicked”. She further declared that the Lady had said that they should all pray the rosary and that the war would soon end. The children were then kneeling; Lúcia got up quickly, her dress billowing out like a balloon, and said, pointing: “Look over there, if you want to see her” – and immediately added: “You're already too late”. She was facing almost to the west and turned towards the east to point to the Lady, who was withdrawing.

The father picked Jacinta up in his arms to get through the crowd more easily. She said she had seen Our Lady again. Some days later, the eldest daughter, Florinda, said that Jacinta had said to Lúcia: “Speak to her, Lúcia, she's already talking”.

On the thirteenth of July they went there and told how Our Lady had appeared as in the previous months.

When Lúcia said that the Lady was coming, her son slipped and fell. She asked them to pray for him, to which she said that the Lady had said she would make him better or give him the means to earn his living, and that he should always pray the rosary to Our Lady with his family. They were all kneeling. Lúcia said: “Our Lady is coming now”. The same buzzing was heard when she spoke, and the same rocket-like whistle at her departure. Before the apparition they prayed the rosary. Her husband said that she looked at the Lady and from time to time to the side, and that he asked her why she did that, to which she answered that it was because the radiance she had blinded her eyes. Lúcia asked for the recovery of a person from Pedrógão, for the conversion of a family from Fátima, and for a man from Atouguia who had asked her that Our Lady should take him to Heaven as soon as possible. Afterwards the deponent heard that the little girl had stated that Our Lady had said he should not be in a hurry, for she knew very well when she would take him.

Lúcia also stated that the Lady had told her the secret. At the time of the apparition an ai was heard, and the little girl was frightened. After that day many people came looking for her and asked her the secret. One day some ladies came and one of them asked her whether the secret was good or bad, and she said that for some it was good, for others it was bad, and for her and her cousins it was good.

Amélia's Mother went there yesterday and [2v] says she saw the little girls and that there were some ladies from Santarem there who took their photograph

On the 13th, which was the day appointed for the apparition of Our Lady, we went to the place indicated. Thousands of people were already swarming there who, driven by the desire to see her, had dragged themselves there, some of them coming from distant villages.

Curiosity was general, and at one moment everyone remained silent, open-mouthed, searching, as if trying to hear some voice coming from the bowels of the earth. At this, a noise like the rumbling of thunder was heard, and immediately afterwards the two children, who were beside a holm-oak shrub surrounded by many little flowers, paradisal ones I believe, burst into distressed weeping, making epileptic gestures and then falling into ecstasy. Various people put many questions to one of them, the one who had the privilege of hearing and seeing the saint, to which she replied saying that she saw a kind of very pretty doll, which spoke to her. It had, she said, a radiance around its head and called her to its side in a very thin and melodious voice. Among many things it told her, the main one was to announce its reappearance on the 13th a month hence and in the same place, with yet one more appearance after that, to declare the reason why it had come into the world.

The correspondent of the newspaper “O Seculo”, in the issue of 23 July, after saying that on the 13th of that month, in Torres Novas, a town abounding in livery stables, there was not a single carriage to be hired, a good many shops even closing, adds that at the place of the apparitions some thousands of people were gathered, and that a noise like the rumbling of thunder was heard, the children bursting into distressed weeping, making epileptic gestures and then falling into ecstasy; and he concludes by declaring that in his opinion it is a premeditated financial speculation, whose source of revenue lies in the bowels of the hills, in some spring of mineral waters recently discovered by some cunning individual who, under the shelter of religion, wants to turn the serra de Aire into a miraculous resort like old Lourdes.

A short while before, a little man with whom I was talking had said to me: "Look, madam, the heavenly bodies are setting just as they did a month ago today."

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 recommended them to pray the rosary and offer it to Our Lady of the Rosary.

My good comrade whom I met, he seemed to be a good lad, he told me about the miracle of the Lady of the 13th of July⁵, that it was very hot and when she came the weather turned cool; he told me that the L^dy said that everyone should pray the rosary (5 decades), that on the thirteenth of October she would perform a miracle that would be wondered at by all

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 you want greater simplicity? I found it interesting that the Lady should have taught it but not recommended that they pray it.

The little girl then speaks of the end of the war and of the end of the world if there were no faith (don't be alarmed, there is still plenty). It is these two points that I find doubtful; would Our Lady really have spoken of the end of the war and of the world, or were the children confused by so many questions as they have been asked? — Our Lady [5v] told them a secret. The mothers, poor things, ignorant as they are, have done everything possible to find it out. According to what they say, the administrator has already promised 20.000 if they told it to him, but there is no way of wresting the secret from them. I heard the little boy say that not even if they were given the whole world would they tell it. When they are asked whether it is bad, they say it is good for everyone. — On the last day Our Lady also said that she was the Virgin of the Rosary, and that she wanted the people to build her a chapel there — But this is far from being the most important part; imagine our impression when the little one, carrying on talking, [6] tells us that on the last day (13 October) St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to her!! So it was the Holy Family. Our first impression was one of doubt and alarm: was everything going to collapse from the foundations?! But some neighbours who were there told us that the 3 children had several times already spoken of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus. — The little one then explained that St. Joseph had come to give peace to the world, and with her hand she made the sign of the cross many times, imitating the gesture of Bishops when they walk along blessing the faithful. She told us that the Child Jesus and St. Joseph were just like some little holy images she had at home.

[…]

the little one says she had some pictures at home, but she didn't even look at them: she went to a box and took out a group of the Holy family, saying: “see?” St. Joseph and the Child Jesus were as they are here: but here St. Joseph has his eyes closed, and there he had his eyes open. — Wanting to see whether she would get muddled, we told her that since St. Joseph and the Child were as they are there, Our Lady on the last day must also have been like that one, with a veil and a coloured mantle; we asked this several times, and she always answered that Our Lady was not like th-[fl. 8]at one, but in white and with the rosary. We further said that, being the Holy family, they must all have been together, to which she always answered no. Our Lady was on the holm oak, and St. Joseph and the Child Jesus near the Sun. — We made the same experiment with the little boy, who always answered like his sister. — It is therefore beyond doubt that the 6 apparitions of Our Lady can be confirmed without confirming that of the Holy Family. The eldest little girl, before leaving for Ourem, also spoke to us of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus.

The eldest girl and the little boy whom we met later gave us the same explanation. A poor little woman asked her whether, among so many ladies as she saw on the 13th and among so many who have visited her, she had found any as beautiful as the lady from Heaven; the little girl said she had never seen any so beautiful, and the little boy, whom we later asked the same thing, said: that there was none so beautiful in the world.

[…]

I heard the little boy say that not even if they were given the whole world would they tell it. When they are asked whether it is bad, they say it is good for everyone.

[…]

We made the same experiment with the little boy, who always answered like his sister.

Yesterday we went to interview the seers. Lucia, who is the only one who speaks with Our Lady, was in the church, where she had gone with her mother to hear

Mass and receive communion. She made her first communion at 7. She is very gentle. She told us — all the while playing with our hands or our lorgnettes — that Our Lady wants the rosary to be prayed every day; that we should ask much pardon for our sins, because Our Lord is very much offended; and that a little chapel should be raised to her in that place. She presents herself under the invocation of Our Lady of the Rosary. She is dressed in white; barefoot; a white mantle on her head and some beads, also white, in her right hand. She announced the end of the war as imminent — the seer says “today” — and that our soldiers are coming back soon. Our Lady told her a secret, which she has been urged to divulge but persists in not telling. She answered a man: — Our Lady told me not to tell anyone; and you are someone.

It was the little boy, who is the brother of little Jacintha and cousin of Lucia, [2v] who yesterday⁸ left me an excellent impression: a very bright look, a very cheerful face, very much at ease; he confirmed (he was interviewed by us alone) that Lucia had said at the moment of the miracle: *Look at the Sun

[…]

The little boy, when the people with me offered him everything they could think of, refused everything and ended by saying very enthusiastically: "Not even if you gave me the world".

But Lucia says, and maintained, that she did not remember either Our L^y having said it to her or her having repeated it. But the fact is that several other trustworthy people who were beside her affirm it. I believe the little girl gets confused, from being so exhausted and tired.

What she confirms is that Our L^y told her that the war would end that day when She reached Heaven and that very soon the soldiers would return to their families. [3] She says she is not quite sure whether Our L^y told her she was Our L^y of the Rosary or whether she wanted the Chapel to Our L^y of the Rosary; it was one of the two.

The secret: she did not tell her to tell it to anyone, and they continue as tenacious as ever in keeping it.

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, and then, on the Sn.^a schoolmistress's orders, the girls came up to the carriage and spoke with other people who were there, where we asked them about Our Lady and they always affirmed the same thing, that they saw her, heard her and spoke with her:

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.

Once some very rich ladies came to their house and offered Jacinta various jewels they were wearing if she would tell them the secret. Jacinta said she would not tell it for anything, not even if they gave her the whole world. Even during her last illness her mother would say to her: “I'll despise you and want nothing to do with you if you don't tell me the secret”. And the daughter would reply that she could not tell it. “At least you must tell me whether it's good or bad,” the mother insisted. She would answer that it was good for those who were willing to believe. “Believe in what?” the mother would ask. “In God,” the daughter would conclude. And she added that it was bad for those who would not believe.

He said many times that he never forgot the prayer that Our L^dy had told him. Oh mother, never forget the prayer that Our L^dy taught you, for I never forget it. But, son, sometimes I forget it. The little boy would say "When you are walking along the road, pray it. O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell, take all the little souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of it".

Franc. died on 4 April 1919. He received the last sacr. with great lucidity and piety [19] And confirmed that he had seen a Lady at the Cova da Iria and Vallinho

Some days later, the eldest daughter, Florinda, said that Jacinta had said to Lúcia: “Speak to her, Lúcia, she's already talking”.

Her husband said that she looked at the Lady and from time to time to the side, and that he asked her why she did that, to which she answered that it was because the radiance she had blinded her eyes.

This vision, with the appearance of a lady of extraordinary beauty, appears to them in the open country in the midst of a cloud, in a fixed place. It speaks to them — the children confining themselves to saying that the Lady had asked the little boy of 3 years to learn to say the rosary³, 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.

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, then deserted, called Cova da Iria.

The eldest, Lúcia de Jesus, was 10 years of age, Francisco nine and Jacinta six^a. These two were brother and sister and the first 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 (five decades) 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,

^a Jacinta was already seven years old. Jacinta's official date of birth is 11 March 1910.

furrowed the sky. Although the sky was clear and cloudless, the children, fearing a thunderstorm, gathered the livestock and were about to go away. When they reached a point near the spot where the water spouts now stand, however, another flash of lightning blazes and, a few paces away, standing upon a small holm oak at the place where the tiny, poor Chapel of the Apparitions now stands, they see, with amazement, the figure of a Lady of incomparable beauty, wrapped in a dress of the purest whiteness; 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, there 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 inviting them to go there every 13th day of each month until October.

As appears from the testimony of the children and of many people, the apparitions were six, all on the 13th day of each month, except in August, when it 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 heaven, entrusted to them a secret that they may reveal to no one, taught them a short ejaculatory 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, stated that Our Lord is very angry at the sins of men and above all at the sin of the flesh, ordered that a chapel be built there in her honour, and declares that she is the Lady of the Rosary...