João Pereira Novo
I saw there an altar over a holm oak and a great many people praying; as they arrived, so they prayed, without ever stopping praying. I never saw so many people together nor so many carriages from the Torres Novas and Ourem side. They came fifteen and twenty carriages together, unable to get past one another.
At the time when the children were about to leave their parents' house, accompanied by some priests who had been questioning them, suddenly a closed carriage5 turns up at the door with the administrator inside and a certain gentleman who they say is a Carbonário6. The two take hold of the children, saying: little girls, come on, let's go there, it's time now; and the children declined the favour, saying: we're going on foot in the company of these people. And the said gentlemen say: no, no, little girls; today is a feast day, I'd like you to go by carriage.
At this they take hold of the children, put them in the carriage, turn the horses round and make off with the children to Ourem. The people run to the place with the news; all the people were weeping, and a motor car at once went after the carriage to see if it could bring the children back, but it could not.
Well; the people who had been there last month encouraged them again, saying: pray, pray, and pay attention, for it's not five minutes now till the hour of last month.
The people fell silent. The weather was clear. Then suddenly a flash of lightning formed from the sky over the altar and made a whirlwind round the altar which covered more than three hundred people with earth. Everyone was running away and falling and weeping. The earth rumbled, and very loudly, the stones changed colour, and then many people began to shout: look, look, look, Our Lady is coming there, see, in a white dress! Those who saw her on the ground were many, but those who saw her in the sky were many more; and more than three thousand people saw no more because, when the earth rumbled and the stones changed colour, all those who were nearest, some fell, others got upset, and I too was so flustered that, wanting so much to see, I saw little. But what I, and all those who were left sobbing, did still see very well was arches and garlands in the sky on the south side, with flowers of all colours. This everybody saw.
And also the flowers that decorated the altar made everyone marvel, because it was hot and they were lovelier and lovelier, and they were not in vases.
If the people had much faith, they were left with much more. If the administrator arrested the children, Our Lady did not fail to appear for all that. She did not speak, naturally because there was no one to answer her.
After all the people had seen and regained their composure, they were saying to one another: let's join up with all these people and go to Ourem and make fresh meat. Since they have stolen our little neighbours from us, we're going there to fetch them. I don't know anything more, but on the 13th I'm going back there, God willing.
The time she appeared was half past twelve.
Vi lá um altar sôbre uma azinheira e muita gente a rezar; confôrme iam chegando assim iam rezando sem nunca cessarem de rezar. Eu nunca vi tanta gente junta nem tanto carro dos lados de Torres Novas e Ourem. Chegavam aos quinze e vinte carros juntos sem que pudessem passar uns pelos outros.
Á hora em que as creanças estavam para sair de casa dos paes acompanhadas de alguns padres que as tinham estado a interrogar, aparece lhes de repente um carro fechado5 á porta com o administrador dentro e um tal sr. que dizem ser carbonario6. Os dois pegam nas creanças, dizendo: meninas, andem, vamos lá, que já são horas, e as creanças dispensaram o favôr dizendo: nós vâmos a pé na companhia desta gente. E dizem os tais srs.: não, não, meninas; hoje é dia de festa, gosto que vão de carro.
Nisto pegam nas creanças, metem-nas no carro, dão meia volta aos cavalos e fogem com as creanças para Ourem. O povo corre ao local com a noticia, todo o povo chorava e seguiu logo um automovel atrás do carro para vêr se conseguia trazer as creanças mas não conseguiu.
Bem; o povo que lá tinha ido o mez passado animou-o de novo, dizendo: rezem, rezem e estejam com atenção que já não faltam cinco minutos para a hora do mez passado.
O povo fez silencio. O tempo era claro. Pois de repente se formou um relampago do céu sôbre o altar e fez de roda do altar um redemoinho que cobriu mais de trezentas pessôas de terra. Tudo fugia e caía e chorava. A terra arruou mas muito forte, as pedras mudaram de côr e então começa muita gente a gritar: olhem, olhem, olhem, a Nossa Senhora ali vem, vejam, com um fato branco! Os que a viram na terra fôram muitos, mas os que a viram no céu fôram muito mais; e mais de trez mil pessôas não viram mais porque quando a terra arruou e as pedras mudaram de côr, tudo que estava mais perto, uns caíram outros agastaram-se e eu tambem fiquei tão atrapalhado que, de tanto que queria vêr, vi pouco. Mas o que eu, e todos os que ficaram em soluços, ainda vimos muito bem foi arcos e grinaldas no céu ao lado sul, com flôres de todas as côres. Isto toda a gente viu.
E tambem as flôres que enfeitavam o altar faziam admirar toda a gente porque fazia calôr e elas cada vez mais lindas, e não estavam em vasos.
Se o povo tinha muita fé com muito mais ficou. Se o administrador prendeu as creanças nem por isso Nossa Senhora deixou de aparecer. Não falou, naturalmente por não ter quem lhe respondesse.
Depois de todo o povo vêr e tornar a ganhar siria diziam uns para os outros: vamos combinar com esta gente toda e vamos para Ourem fazer carne fresca. Visto que nos roubaram as nossas visinhas nós vamos lá buscal-as. Não sei mais nada, mas no dia 13 lá volto se Deus quizer.
A hora que apareceu foi á meia depois do meio dia.
Editor's notes (2)
5 Other reports speak simply of an open “charrette”.
6 Cândido Alho, an official of the administration.
5 Outras notícias falam simplesmente de uma “charrette” aberta.
6 Cândido Alho, funcionário da administração.
