Fátima 1917
Português

Witnesses /

Rita Basto

Pilgrim

Rita Basto, born 1 March 1896 (aged 21), elder sister of Maria Bettina Basto, of Lisbon; she later married the sculptor Salvador Barata Feyo. It was she who first asked to go to Fátima, and Maria Caminha says she was already known as a painter.

From Lisbon (Estrada de Benfica)Travelled from afar1 passage · 13 October 1917
13 OctSecond-handSaw itLetterTravelled from afarFigures / visions
As told by Maria Caminha
English

It was Rita and Bettina who had that happiness, and many other people.

Português

Rita e Bettina é que tiveram essa felicidade e muitas outras pessoas.

Rita saw in front of the sun the face of Our Lady, only the face, and she was becoming... I don't even know how to put it; she lost all sense of time, and cannot describe what she saw, she doesn't know how; nothing can compare with the beauty and sweetness of that smile.

A Rita via adiante do sol a face de Nossa Senhora, só a face, e ia ficando.... nem sei como dizer, perdeu a noção do tempo, e não pode descrever o que viu, não sabe, nada se póde comparar com a belleza e doçura d'aquelle sorriso.

DCF III-1, Doc. 146 · letter · 21 Oct 1917 (8 days later) · also printed in DCF III-1, Doc. 358Scans (2)Link
Open