Leonor de Avelar e Silva Constâncio
On that day we were at Caldas da Rainha, but we went to Fatima once again. The morning was lovely; the sky, an intense blue, was completely cloudless; the sun was brilliant and very hot, and there was not the slightest breeze.
We arrived there near noon; the crowd of people was even much larger than in August. I cannot estimate it, but in August it was reckoned that some 5 to 6 thousand people were there, and in September some 15 to 20 thousand.
Everyone feared that the children would again be prevented from coming, but God did not allow it. Meanwhile the people present went on singing the Ave and other hymns, one of them to the Senhora da Carrasqueira*, a hymn made up by the people, whose words I have not yet managed to obtain; others were praying the rosary. The children arrived and began to pray the rosary, which the eldest led; they then prayed the Litany*. Suddenly, without the sky clouding over, a change in temperature was felt, the heat of the sun was seen to have lessened, and the yellow patches were seen on the ground, and could also be noticed above all on the white blouses some ladies were wearing. It was only an instant; it all passed quickly. The people, as in August, fell to the ground on [4] their knees, manifesting their faith.
In August there was not a single priest there; they did not want it said that they went there to influence the people by suggestion. In September I saw a few there, but they were all looking for natural phenomena and trying to convince themselves that there was only that. They said nothing and hardly spoke to the people unless the people spoke to them, and as I passed I heard one of them say that for the time being one should neither affirm nor believe those things.
I saw only the slight eclipse of the sun, but many people saw a star, or rather a very small cloud, like a tiny flake of white cotton wool, which, like a shooting star, crossed the firmament, coming from east to west, and disappeared into space as if suddenly submerged! I heard this from more than one person, told in the same way, without these people being together or hearing the others tell it. It therefore deserves all my credence. This passage of the cloud or star over the holm-oak shrub coincided with the hour at which the children say they saw the Lady.
There were also those who said they had seen two stars, and some people asserted they had seen three! Wouldn't that be rather a lot of stars together?!... I do not know, but what it seemed to me was that those who said they had seen them were convinced they were telling the truth.
We went back to Caldas impressed, and the same happened to many other people who went there from Caldas; it impressed us so much that the acquaintances who came to our house for news at once resolved to go to Fatima in October. And yet we assured everyone that we had seen nothing but a slight eclipse of the sun and an extraordinary manifestation of faith.
Nesse dia estavamos nas Caldas da Rainha, mas lá fomos outra vez á Fatima. A manhã estava linda, o céu de um azul intenso estava completamente limpo de nuvens, um sol brilhante e muito quente, não havia a mais ligeira brisa.
Chegámos ali perto do meio dia, era ainda muito maior a concorrencia de gente, do que em Agosto. Não sei calcular, mas em Agosto avaliaram estarem ali umas 5 a 6 mil pessôas, e em Setembro umas 15 a 20 mil.
Todos receiavam que as creanças fossem de novo impedidas de vir, mas Deus não permittio tal. As pessoas presentes iam no entretanto cantando o Avé, e outros canticos, sendo um á Senhora da Carrasqueira, de que ainda não consegui obter a lettra, cantico feito pelo povo, outras rezavam o terço. Chegaram as creanças e começaram a rezar o terço que a mais velha meditava; rezaram depois a Ladainha. De repente, sem que o ceu se toldasse, sentio-se uma differença na temperatura, vio-se que a intensidade do calor do sol tinha diminuido, e viram-se no chão as manchas amarellas que tambem se notavam sobretudo nas blusas brancas que algumas senhoras tinham. Foi um só instante, tudo passou rapidamente. O povo, como em Agosto cahio por terra de [4] joelhos, manifestando a sua fé.
Em Agosto não havia ali um só padre, não queriam que se dissesse que elles iam ali suggestionar o povo, em Setembro vi lá alguns, mas todos procuravam vêr os phenomenos naturaes e convencer-se de que só isso havia. Nada diziam, quazi não fallavam ao povo, a não ser que com elles fallassem, e a um ouvi eu, ao passar, que não se devia nem afirmar nem dar credito por emquanto aquellas coisas.
Eu só vi o ligeiro eclipse de sol, mas muitas pessoas viram uma estrella, ou antes uma pequenissima nuvem, como que um pequenino floco de algodão branco, que qual estrella cadente, atravessou o firmamento, vinda do nascente para o poente, e desappareceu no espaço como que submergida de repente! Ouvi isto a mais de uma pessôa contado da mesma maneira, sem que estas pessôas estivessem juntas ou ouvissem as outras contar. Merece-me pois todo o credito. Coincidio esta passagem da nuvem ou estrella por cima da carrasqueira, com a hora a que as creanças dizem ter visto a Senhora.
Houve também quem dissesse ter visto duas estrellas, e algumas pessôas affirmavam ter visto trez! Não seria muita estrella junta?!... Não sei, mas o que me pareceu, foi que, os que diziam tê-las visto estavam convencidos de que diziam a verdade.
Voltámos para as Caldas impressionadas, e o mesmo succedeu a muitas outras pessôas que das Caldas lá foram e tanto nos impressionou, que as pessôas conhecidas que a nossa casa foram saber novas, fizeram logo tenção de ir á Fatima em Outubro. E no entanto nós affirmavamos a todos, nada ter visto, senão um leve eclipse de sol, e uma extraordinaria manifestação de fé.
