Last Sunday, the 13th, it was a year since God willed to gather thousands of people on the hills of Fátima so that they might hear, from the mouths of three little shepherds who grazed their flocks in the biblical solitude of those bare hills, promises of Peace, of happiness and of tranquillity for the unhappy and lovely land of Portugal!
Fez um anno, domingo, dia 13, que na serra de Fátima quiz Deus juntar milhares de creaturas para que ouvissem da bocca de trez pastorsitos que na biblica solidão da serra escalvada apascentavam gados, promessas de Paz, de felicidade e de socego para a desgraçada e linda terra portugueza!
The clouds were torn apart in the gloomy, sad sky, and the sun broke through, lighting up the hill!
Rasgaram-se as nuvens no ceu torvo e triste, e rompeu o sol illuminando a serra!
It was the luminous promise of Peace amid the heavy sadness of life, and thousands of creatures, who saw in the blessed light of the sun the smile of God once more blessing the land where such sad evils had spread, fell to their knees, asking that the promise be fulfilled!
Foi a promessa luminosa da Paz na tristeza pesada da vida, e de joelhos cahiram, pedindo que se cumprisse a promessa, milhares de creaturas que viam na luz bemdita do sol o sorriso de Deus, que de novo abençoava a terra onde tão tristes males se tinham espalhado!
The little shepherds, in a state of grace, saw the Virgin's diaphanous mantle pass by; they saw, in the dark lanes, the luminous trail of her bare feet, and the hills grow dark at the hour of bright sunshine, and the hills grow bright, by a miracle, on murky, dark days, when noon rang out far off on the bells of the villages and towns!
Viam, os pastorsinhos em graça, passar o manto diaphano da Virgem, viam, nas azinhagas escuras, o rasto luminoso dos seus pés descalços, e a serra escurecer á hora do sol claro e a serra acclarar, por milagre, nos dias turvos e escuros quando o meio dia ao longe tocava nos sinos das aldeias e das villas!
The Virgin spoke to the little shepherds in their state of grace, and their souls, pure of evil, understood the Lady's words... and so they gave hope to the mothers, to the sweethearts, to the wives of the soldiers whom the war had taken away! They promised that within a year3 the war would end, and the soldiers would return to their homes!
Fallava a Virgem aos pastorsinhos em graça, e as suas almas puras do mal, entendiam as falas da Senhora... assim deram esperança ás mães, ás noivas, ás mulheres dos soldados que a guerra levára! Prometteram que dentro de um anno3 a guerra acabava, e voltariam os soldados para as suas terras!
Along the road, in groups, hands folded in prayer, looking at the sun that had promised Peace, came the mothers, the sweethearts, the wives to whom the sweet promise had been made. They repeated softly, in the hope that God would hear them better: “Within a year the war ends; the soldiers come back within a year!”
Pelo caminho, em grupos, de mãos postas, olhando o sol, que promettera a Paz, vinham as mães, as noivas, as mulheres a quem a dôce promessa tinha sido feita. Repetiam baixinho, na esperança que Deus as ouvisse melhor: "Dentro de um anno acaba a guerra, voltam os soldados dentro de um anno!"
Editors' notes (1)
3 In no document written between October 1917 and this one is this prediction mentioned: that the war would end "within a year". Only Lúcia, in the interrogation of 8 July 1924, says: “my cousin Jacinta told me at home that the Lady spoke like this: be converted, for the war ends within a year” (cf. DCF, vol. 2, Doc. 8, p. 144 and Doc. 9, of 13 April 1930, p. 228 and 257).
3 Em nenhum documento escrito entre Outubro de 1917 e este, se refere esta predição: que a guerra acabaria "dentro de um ano". Apenas Lúcia, no interrogatório de 8 de Julho de 1924 diz: "a minha prima Jacinta disse-me em casa que a Senhora falou assim: convertam-se que a guerra acaba dentro de um ano" (cf. DCF, vol. 2, Doc. 8, p. 144 e Doc. 9, de 13 de Abril de 1930, p. 228 e 257).