Manuel António de Paula
In September he hastened his coming because he was anxious to find out properly and to witness what was happening. On the thirteenth of September he went to the Cova da Iria, but saw nothing except a great many people, whom many reckoned at fifty thousand. He was more or less seven metres away from the children, whom he saw arrive in the midst of a great crowd accompanying them, and he saw them kneeling by the holm oak praying the rosary. At a certain moment the people nearby said that everyone should uncover their heads, because the children had ordered it, Our Lady being present. Where he was, everyone uncovered respectfully. Some were standing, others kneeling. Almost everyone knelt when they gave the order. Some people said they had seen a star. Others lamented that they had seen nothing. Afterwards he went to the children's houses, and first to Jacinta's. There he found many people. Some ladies were questioning Jacinta and asking her to pray that the war might end. So he went to Lúcia's house. She and her parents were there. He spoke with the mother. The house too was so full of people that hardly anyone could move there. He then asked the mother about the outcome. The mother answered that her daughter, after the first apparition, came home at night and told her that she had seen Our Lady at the Cova da Iria. She would not believe it, because her daughter was not what she wished her to be, with merits enough to see Our Lady. She wanted to beat her. Lúcia, afraid of her, began to tell people outside what was happening and would not tell her mother anything more. When her mother found out, she said to her: “So you go around telling people outside that Our Lady appears to you, and you tell me nothing?” The little girl answered: “Well, mother, you wanted to beat me!” Then she asked her daughter how big the Lady was. She said she compared her to a girl from there of fifteen. She was of such beauty that she had never seen the like. A priest from far away asked the father's permission to speak to his daughter, and he said he would not allow it, because he did not believe in the apparitions and they were wearing his daughter out; she was by her father's side, very dejected. He heard that in the end the priest had managed to speak to her after all. Then the deponent went with the father to the house of an aunt of his named Teresa, with whom he wanted to speak, the father accompanying him to show him where she lived. The aunt asked him whether he had seen anything at the Cova da Iria. He answered that he had seen nothing but a white butterfly, to which she said: “There are plenty of those around here; and then, Mr Manuel,” she added, “what will become of us?” “Why?” asked the deponent. “Because people have been passing by here making their comments, threatening and saying that the little ones and their families ought to be prosecuted, because they were deceiving the people.” The deponent spoke to her in this way: “don't worry, because if it is the work of God or of Our Lady, there is no reason to be frightened, because there was not and could not be anything against her”. The father was somewhat worked up, and so he did not speak to him about anything further.
Em setembro apressou a sua vinda por estar ansioso de saber bem e presenciar o que se passava. Em treze de setembro foi à Cova da Iria, mas não viu senão muito povo, que muitos calculavam em cinquenta mil pessoas. Esteve pouco mais ou menos à distância de sete metros das crianças, que viu chegar no meio de uma grande multidão que as acompanhava e viu-as ajoelhadas junto da azinheira a rezar o terço. A certa altura as pessoas que estavam próximo disseram que se descobrissem, porque as crianças o tinham mandado por Nossa Senhora estar presente. Onde ele estava todos se descobriram respeitosamente. Uns estavam de pé, outros de joelhos. Quase todos ajoelharam quando elas deram a ordem. Houve pessoas que disseram ter visto uma estrela. Outros lastimaram-se de não ter visto nada. Em seguida foi a casa das crianças e primeiro à da Jacinta. Ali encontrou muita gente. Umas senhoras estavam interrogando a Jacinta e pedindo-lhe que rezasse para que acabasse a guerra. Por isso foi para casa da Lúcia. Estavam ela e os pais. Falou com a mãe. Também estava a casa tão cheia de povo, que quase ninguém podia lá mover-se. Perguntou então à mãe o resultado. A mãe respondeu que a filha depois da primeira aparição foi para casa à noite e que lhe disse ter visto Nossa Senhora na Cova da Iria. Não quis acreditar porque a filha não era o que ela desejava que fosse, com méritos para ver Nossa Senhora. Quis bater-lhe. A Lúcia com medo dela, começou a dizer por fora o que se passava e não queria contar à mãe mais nada. Como a mãe soubesse, disse-lhe: “Então tu andas a dizer por fora, que Nossa Senhora te aparece e a mim não me dizes nada?” A pequena respondeu: “Então a minha mãe queria-me bater!” Depois perguntou à filha que tamanho a Senhora tinha. Ela disse que a comparava com uma menina dali de quinze anos. Era de uma beleza tal que nunca tinha visto igual. Um sacerdote de longe pediu licença ao pai para falar à filha, e ele disse que não consentia, porque não acreditava nas aparições e davam cabo da filha, que estava ao pé do pai muito sucumbida. Ouviu dizer que por fim sempre tinha conseguido falar-lhe. Depois o depoente dirigiu-se com o pai a casa de uma tia dele, de nome Teresa, com quem queria falar, o qual o acompanhou para lhe indicar onde ela morava. A tia perguntou-lhe se tinha visto alguma coisa na Cova da Iria. Respondeu que não tinha visto senão uma borboleta branca, ao que ela disse: “Isso há por aí muitas; depois senhor Manuel” acrescentou ela, “que será de nós?”. “Porquê?” perguntou o depoente. “Porque passaram por aqui pessoas fazendo os seus comentários, ameaçando e dizendo que os pequenos e as famílias precisavam de ser processados, porque andavam a enganar o povo. O depoente disse-lhe desta maneira: “esteja descansada, porque se for obra de Deus ou de Nossa Senhora, não há razão para se assustarem, porque nada havia nem podia haver contra ela”. O pai estava um pouco exaltado e por isso não lhe falou em mais nada.
