Antonio Bastos of Valle de Figueira, who was my fellow student at the Seminary, had /lost the faith and had not known what it was to pray for a good ten years. Well, he told me today that having gone to Fatima much against his will, solely to accompany members of his family, mocking everything and everyone along the way\41, at the sight of the prodigy, he was converted, prayed with devotion, began to pray the rosary (5 decades) every day, and was getting ready to make a general confession.
He read the articles by Pinto Coelho, and convinced /himself\ in view of what he said that he had been the victim of an illusion.
O Antonio Bastos de Valle de Figueira que foi meu condiscipulo no Seminario tinha /perdido a fé e não sabia o que era rezar ha uns bons dez annos. Pois disse-me hoje que pois tendo ido á Fatima muito contrariado unicamente para acompanhar pessoas de familia, troçando de tudo e de todos pello caminho\41, á vista do prodigio, se converteu, rezou com devoção principiou a rezar o terço todos os dias, e estava-se preparando para fazer uma confissão geral.
Leu os artigos do Pinto Coelho, e convenceu-/se\ em vista do que elle dizia de que tinha sido victima de uma illusão.
Editor's notes (2)
28 Added \Let him present to the [crossed out Let him present to the and replaced with Let him send] by all means to the Patriarch [crossed out two illegible words and added his] his testimony, but let him not come out/ /in public in a Catholic newspaper, with the authority given him by his age, his prestige and his long record of service to the cause of the Church, to wound the susceptibilities of believers in good faith, acting with [crossed out an illegible word and that moreover th] last-minute cruelty or nervousness\.
41 Crossed out that he had been converted and replaced with that he had lost the faith and did not know what it was to pray, which he crossed out and replaced with /that at Fátima he had been converted, which he also crossed out and replaced with /having gone to Fátima much against his will solely to accompany members of his family [crossed out in succession did not lose was converted] mocking everything and everyone along the way\.
28 Acrescentou \Apresentasse ao [riscou Apresentasse ao e substituiu por Envi-asse] muito embora ao sr. Patriarca [riscou duas palavras ilegíveis e acrescentou o] seu depoimento mas não viesse para/ /publico num jornal catholico, com a auctoridade que lhe dão a sua edade, o seu prestigio e a sua longa folha de serviços á causa da Egreja, ferir as susceptibilidades dos crentes de boa fé, procedendo com [riscou palavra ilegível e que demais q] crueldade ou enervamento de ultima hora\.
41 Riscou que se tinha convertido e substituiu por que tinha perdido a fé e não sabia o que era rezar, que riscou e substituiu por /que na Fátima se convertera, que também riscou e substituiu por /pois tendo ido a Fátima muito contrariado unicamente para acompanhar pessoas de familia [riscou sucessivamente não perdeu se converteu] troçando de tudo e de todos pelo caminho\.
