Manuel Gonçalves Júnior

On 13 July some companions of his, with bad intent, got him drunk with the aim of leading him to commit some folly at the place of the apparitions. And indeed, although, as always, he let his daughter go to that place, he ordered the people to withdraw. He is the owner of the heath where the holm-oak shrub that serves as pedestal for the Apparition stands. The people, seeing him in a state of drunkenness, paid no heed to this order and a man pushed him, making him fall.

[…]

At first the people did not want to go to the Cova da Iria. Nobody believed the children. On the thirteenth of June, the day of the second apparition, there was a feast at the parish church in honour of St. Anthony. At the Cova da Iria there were only some sixty people at the time of the apparition. Francisco and Jacinta's parents had gone early in the morning to Porto de Mós to the fair called "of the thirteenth", in order to buy oxen, and got back after nightfall. In their absence their house filled with people who wanted to see the children and ask them questions. At present a large part of the people think the children are telling the truth. For my part, I am convinced of it.

[…]

The signs are many. In August almost all who were present saw those signs. A cloud came down to the holm-oak shrub. In July the same was noticed. There was no dust at the place. The cloud made the air dusty, so that it looked misty.

– Was there any other sign?

– In the sky, near the sun, white clouds are seen which turn successively bright red (blood-coloured), pink and yellow. The people take on this last colour. The light of the sun diminishes considerably in intensity.

A rumbling was also felt in July and in August.

[…]

She prays the rosary. When she addresses the Lady, she speaks aloud.

I heard her myself in June, because I was nearby. Some people claim they hear the sound of the answers.

10^a – Is the place of the apparitions much frequented on the other days too by pious people or by the curious?

– It is much frequented, above all on Sundays. The greatest concourse is at night. Many people go there, from far and near, and still more from outside the parish. They pray the rosary and sing hymns in honour of the Virgin.

Manuel Gonçalves Júnior, married, landowner, thirty-four years of age, native and resident of the hamlet of Montelo, in this parish of Fátima, being questioned about what he knew concerning the events that took place at the Cova da Iria, said that on the thirteenth of July nineteen hundred and seventeen he went to that place, where he was at the hour indicated by the child seers for the Apparition, and that he noticed that at that hour the heat, which was excessive, began to abate. At this time the children arrived and prayed the rosary with the people, offered up by Lúcia, – he not knowing whether this was on her own initiative or at the request of some other person. Then he noticed that the same Lúcia, everyone, people and seers, being on their knees, began to speak towards the holm-oak shrub, like someone talking with another person, asking questions and waiting for answers; but he did not make out what she was saying, because of the distance he was at. After a short time she suddenly stands up and, with hands joined, points towards the east, saying:

– Do you want to see Our Lady?!...

At this time he also noticed that at a certain height above the holm-oak shrub a kind of mist or cloud formed, which rose, moving towards the east, even dimming the brightness of the sun, and disappeared.

He further declared that on the thirteenth of August of the same year, shortly after the hour fixed for the Apparition, when the abduction of the children was being discussed, he noticed that there was a loud and inexplicable bang beside the holm-oak shrub, which frightened all the people, who began to run away and to cry out in great emotion, – there were even some fainting fits –, and that near the sun a cloud formed with the colours of the Rainbow.

He likewise declared that also on the thirteenth of September of the same year he had noticed that Lúcia was speaking beside the holm-oak shrub, like someone talking with another person, asking questions and waiting for answers, and that at that moment there passed over the holm-oak shrub an extraordinary something, looking like white flowers, and that the other people also noticed this phenomenon, saying they were stars.

He further said that on the thirteenth of October of the same year, at the hour fixed by the children for the Apparitions, after the rain had stopped, he saw rise several times, coming out of the holm-oak shrub, a kind of smoke, similar to the smoke of incense at the time of incensing, and he heard the people beside him say that it was cigarette smoke or smoke from a fire, but to him it seemed only smoke like that of incensing, and he was not aware that at that moment there were any smokers there or a fire of any kind.

With his eyes always fixed on the holm-oak shrub in order to see something extraordinary, without deliberately looking at the sun, he noticed that, at the same time as the people were shouting aloud and exclaiming at what they saw in the sun, the people as well as the trees, and everything his sight reached in the direction of the holm-oak shrub, took on different colours.

On the same matter the second witness, Manuel Gonçalves Júnior, testifies, saying that "on the thirteenth of October of the said year, at the hour named by the children for the apparition, after the rain had stopped, he saw rising several times, coming out of the holm-oak [42] shrub, a kind of smoke similar to the smoke of incense at the time of incensing, hearing the people beside him say that it was cigarette smoke or smoke from a fire, but to him the smoke seemed just like that of incensing, and he did not know of there being any smokers or fire of any kind there on that occasion.