Maria Magdalena Trigueiros de Martel Patrício
On Sunday, the 13th, it was a year since God willed to gather thousands of creatures on the hill of Fátima so that they might hear, from the mouths of three little shepherds who grazed flocks in the biblical solitude of the hollowed hill, promises of Peace, of happiness and of tranquillity for the unhappy and lovely land of Portugal!
The clouds were torn apart in the gloomy, sad sky, and the sun broke through, lighting up the hill!
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!
The little shepherds in grace saw the Virgin's diaphanous mantle pass by; they saw, in the dark lanes, the luminous trail of her bare feet, and the hill grow dark at the hour of bright sun, and the hill grow bright, by a miracle, on murky, dark days when noon rang out far off on the bells of the villages and towns!
The Virgin spoke to the little shepherds in grace, and their souls, pure of evil, understood the Lady's words... thus 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!
Along the road, in groups, with hands joined, 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!"
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 escavada apascen-tavam gados, promessas de Paz, de felicidade e de socego para a desgraçada e linda terra portuguesa!
Rasgaram-se as nuvens no ceu torvo e triste, e rompeu o sol illuminando a serra!
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!
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!
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!
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!"
Editor's 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
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
