Little Lúcia, the one to whom the Virgin appeared, was talking with some visitors a little way off. We waited for them to leave her and went up to her. She was a child of about twelve, with coarse features and a very sallow complexion. She was poorly dressed, in country fashion, with a small red paper flower on her breast and in her hands a small box in which some coins jingled. They had a sad and sombre air. She told us of the apparition of the Virgin in the way already known to all: that the Virgin had told her “that we had greatly offended God and that we should mend our ways”; “that we should build a little chapel there and give it the name of the Lady of the Rosary”; “that the war would soon end”. When my sister asked her what she had seen in the sun at the time of the miracle, she answered “that she had seen St. Joseph”. I also asked her whether she had not been afraid the miracle might not happen, since the people might kill her, thinking she had been deceiving everyone; she replied with some force “that she knew the miracle would happen and so had not even thought of such a danger”. She also told us that she had previously heard tell of the miracles of Our Lady of Lourdes.
A pequena Lúcia, aquela a quem a Virgem aparecia, conversava a certa distância com alguns forasteiros. Esperámos que estes a deixassem e aproximámo-nos dela. Esta era uma criança dos seus doze anos, de feições grosseiras e de cor muito macilenta. Estava vestida pobremente, à moda do campo, tendo ao peito uma pequena flor de papel vermelho e nas mãos um pequeno cofre, onde tilintavam algumas moedas. Tinham um ar tristonho e sombrio. Narrou-nos a aparição da Virgem da forma que já é de todos conhecida. Que a Virgem lhe dissera “que nós tínhamos ofendido muito a Deus e que nos emendássemos”. “Que fízéssemos ali uma capelinha e que lhe pusessem o nome da Senhora do Rosário”. “Que a guerra acabaria em breve”. Perguntando-lhe minha irmã o que vira ela no sol na ocasião do milagre, respondeu “que vira S. José”. Perguntei-lhe também se ela não tinha receado que se não desse o milagre pois que o povo a poderia matar julgando que ela estivesse enganando todos, disse-me com certa energia “que sabia que o milagre se daria e que por isso nem em tal perigo tinha pensado”. Disse-nos também que já tinha anteriormente ouvido contar os milagres da Senhora de Lourdes.