Lúcia de Jesus
Did anything important happen to you at the Cova da Iria? She answered: the following happened to me: On the thirteenth of May of nineteen hundred and
--- seventeen, I was minding the flock at the place called Cova da Iria, in the parish of Fátima, together with my cousins Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto; after saying the rosary, as usual, we began to play, building a wall around a bush, when we saw a flash of lightning towards the east, and, fearing a thunderstorm was coming, although the weather was fine, I told Francisco it was better for us to go home and gather the flock; when we reached the middle of the field there was another flash, and, two steps further on, we saw on top of a holm-oak shrub, which would have been about a metre high, a very beautiful Lady, with the appearance of a young woman, perhaps eighteen to twenty-two years old, wrapped in a light brighter than the sun. We were very frightened at seeing that radiance which surrounded her, but the Lady, in a low but quite intelligible voice, said to us: "Do not be afraid, for I will not do you any harm". I asked her: "where are you from?" to which she answered: – "I am from Heaven" – "What do you want of me?" She answered: – "I want you to come here for six months, and at the end I will tell you what I want". I asked her about Maria, José das Neves's daughter, and she told me she was in heaven; I asked her about Amélia, and she told me she was in purgatory. Whether she told me anything else in this month, I do not remember. Then she disappeared, rising very high towards the east".
– "How was the Lady dressed?". She answered: "She was dressed in white, covered from her head to the hem of her dress by a mantle edged with gold braid, fastened with a golden cord ending in a tassel, also golden, with nothing on her head except the mantle; the sleeves of the dress came down to her hands, which were joined at the height of her breast and from which hung some white beads ending in a cross, also white; it seems to me she was not barefoot, but I cannot say for sure because she was standing on leaves wrapped in light and because I did not look closely at her feet; a little of her ears could be seen, but I cannot say for certain whether she had earrings or not, though it seemed to me she had a little gold chain".
– "What was your age and that of your cousins at that time?". She answered: – "At that time I was ten, Francisco nine and Jacinta six".
– "Did your cousins also see and speak with this Lady?". She said: – "My cousins did not ask questions, but Jacinta said she had heard her, and Francisco saw her but did not hear her".
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– "And do you not remember anything else that happened that day?". She said: "Now I remember this: when the Lady told me that she was from Heaven, I asked her whether I would go to Heaven, and she said yes; whether Jacinta would go, and she said yes; whether Francisco would go, and she said yes, but that he must say the rosary; I also remember that, after the Lady disappeared, a man came to say that the sheep had got into the chickpeas and that he had already thrown stones at them and that the chickpeas would be eaten; he went over there to look so as to warn the owner, and afterwards told the owner, José Matias, that the sheep had got into the chickpeas, but that they had not been eaten".
– "Did the Apparition last a long time? Were you afraid during it? Did you tell anyone what you saw?". She said: "The Apparition lasted a short time and during it I was not frightened at all; as we were going home, I agreed with my cousins not to say anything to anyone, and on the following days we would go, when we could, with the sheep to the Cova da Iria, or we would pass by there when bringing in the flock, saying a Hail Mary there".
Aconteceu-te alguma coisa importante na Cova da Iria? Respondeu: aconteceu-me o seguinte: No dia treze de maio de mil novecentos e dezassete, andava eu a guardar o gado no sítio da Cova da Iria, da freguesia de Fátima, na companhia dos meus primos Francisco Marto e Jacinta Marto; depois de rezarmos o terço, como de costume, começámos a brincar, fazendo um muro à volta duma moita, quando vimos um relâmpago para o lado do nascente, e, receando que viesse trovoada, embora estivesse bom tempo, eu disse ao Francisco que era melhor irmos para casa recolher o gado quando chegámos ao meio da fazenda, deu outro relâmpago, e, dois passos adiante, vimos em cima duma carrasqueira, que teria um metro de altura aproximadamente, uma Senhora muito formosa, com aparências de nova, talvez de dezoito a vinte e dois anos, envolta num clarão mais brilhante que o sol. Ficámos muito assustados por vermos aquele resplendor que a envolvia, mas a Senhora a meia voz, mas bem inteligível, disse-nos: “Não tenham medo, porque eu não vos faço mal”. Eu perguntei-lhe: “donde é Vossemecê?” ao que ela respondeu: – “Eu sou do Céu” – “O que é que Vossemecê me quer?” Ela respondeu: – “Quero que venhas aqui durante seis meses, e no fim te direi o que quero”. Perguntei-lhe pela Maria, do José das Neves, e ela disse-me que estava no céu; perguntei-lhe pela Amélia, e disse-me que estava no purgatório. Se me disse mais alguma coisa neste mês, não me lembro. Nisto, desapareceu, subindo muito alto para o lado do nascente”.
– “Como estava vestida a Senhora?”. Respondeu: “Estava vestida de branco, coberta desde a cabeça até à extremidade do vestido com um manto galoado a ouro, preso com um cordão dourado, terminado por uma borla também dourada, nada tendo sobre a cabeça além do manto; as mangas do vestido chegavam até às mãos postas à altura do peito e donde pendiam umas contas brancas, terminadas por uma cruz também branca; parece-me que não vinha descalça, mas não posso determinar bem porque pousava sobre folhas envoltas em luz e porque não reparei bem nos pés; via-se um pouco das orelhas, mas não posso precisar se tinha brincos ou não, parecendo-me contudo que tinha um fiozinho de ouro”.
– “Qual era a tua idade e a dos teus primos nessa ocasião?”. Respondeu: – “Eu nesse tempo tinha dez anos, o Francisco nove e a Jacinta seis”.
– “Os teus primos também viram e falaram com essa Senhora?”. Disse: – “Os meus primos não fizeram perguntas, mas a Jacinta dizia tê-la ouvido e o Francisco via-a, mas não a ouvia”.
– “E não te lembras de mais nada que acontecesse nesse dia?”. Disse: “Agora lembra-me isto: quando a Senhora me disse que ela era do Céu, eu perguntei-lhe se eu ia para o Céu, e ela disse que sim; se ia a Jacinta e ela disse que sim; se ia o Francisco e ela disse que sim, mas que ele devia rezar o terço; também me lembro que, depois de desaparecer a Senhora, veio um homem dizer que as ovelhas tinham ido para os chícharos e que já lhes tinha atirado com pedras e que os chícharos estariam comidos; foi por lá ver para avisar o dono, e depois disse ao dono, José Matias, que as ovelhas tinham ido para os chícharos, mas que eles não estavam comidos”.
– “A Aparição durou muito tempo? Tiveste medo durante ela? Contaste a alguém o que viste?”. Disse: “A Aparição durou pouco tempo e durante ela não tive susto nenhum; ao irmos para casa, combinei com os meus primos não dizer nada a ninguém, e nos dias seguintes íamos, quando podíamos com as ovelhas para a Cova da Iria, ou passaríamos lá ao recolher o gado, rezando aí uma Avé Maria”.
Editor's notes (2)
1 António Rodrigues Pena. He was parish priest of Fátima between 1909 and 1914.
2 Jacinta was already seven.
1 António Rodrigues Pena. Foi pároco de Fátima entre 1909 e 1914.
2 Jacinta tinha já sete anos.
