Fatima

On May 13, 1917, three children--Francisco Marto (age 9), Jacinta Marto (his sister, aged 7), and Lucia Santos (aged 10)--were tending sheep near the Portuguese village of Fatima at a place called the Cova da Iria (Cove of Irene). Suddenly they saw a flash of lightning, and a moment later a beautiful young woman appeared over a nearby oak tree. “Do not be afraid,” she said. “I will not harm you. I am from heaven.” Lucia asked the lady what she wanted. “I want you to come to this place at this same time on the thirteenth day of the month for the next six months,” the lady replied. “Then I will tell you who I am and what I want.” She also asked them if they would be willing to offer themselves to God “to endure all the sufferings which He may wish to send you in reparation for the countless sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.” Lucia said they would be willing to do that. “Then you will have much to suffer,” the lady said, “but the grace of God will be your comfort.” The children them saw rays of light beaming from her open hands. She concluded her visit by admonishing the children to “say the rosary every day to earn peace for the world and the end of the war [World War I].” Then she disappeared. When the children reported what they had seen, their parents and others scoffed. However, a month later they allowed the children to return to the Cova da Ira, and a few curious adults went with them. After about fifteen minutes, Lucia pointed to the sky. “There comes the lady!” she exclaimed. The adults watched as the branches of the oak tree bent down, even though no human hands were touching them. By the time the encounter was over, the adults were convinced that the children had spoken to the Virgin Mary, and they reported the even far and wide. Word spread rapidly throughout the region. Some 5,000 people showed up at the Cova da Iria to watch the children talk to the lady on July 13. This time she told the children a secret and gave them strict instructions not to tell it to anyone. She also promised that on October 13 she would perform a miracle “so that everyone may see and believe.”

. . . Bible Background on Magic & Miracles . . .

On July 13 before leaving the children, the lady who claimed to be the Virgin Mary held out her hands, and light streamed from them. Lucia said the light penetrated the earth, and she saw a vision of hell. “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go,” the lady said. “To save them God wants to establish devotion to my immaculate heart throughout the world.” The story of the children’s encounter with “the Virgin Mary” spread like wildfire. Even the newspapers reported the event. The next month on August 13, 15,000 people showed up at the Cova da Iria, to see a globe of light move across the sky from the east and settle on the oak tree. By September 13 enthusiasm was running so high that thirty thousand people showed up! Again they saw the globe of light settle on the oak tree, and they saw bright petals falling through the air like snow. And the lady repeated her promise of a miracle on October 13. The rain was coming down in torrents the morning of October 13, but then the sky suddenly cleared. Upward of 75,000 people turned out to see “the miracle.” They were not disappointed. The children saw the “the lady” again, and as she was leaving, she opened her hands, and this time, rays of light beamed toward the sun. As the people watched, the sun grew pale, like a silver disk in the sky. Rays of many colors shone from the sun in every direction: red, blue, yellow, green--all the colors of the light spectrum. Suddenly the sun turned into a giant wheel spinning madly on it axis. It danced wildly in the sky, and them it appeared to break loose from its orbit and fall toward the earth. It turned blue and then yellow. Soon yellow spots began falling all over the landscape. Following this supernatural display, the sun returned to its place in the sky, the rain stopped, and the clouds disappeared. And the people, who had been drenched to the skin by the rain, noticed that their clothes were completely dry. Not only that, the ground was completely dry where just fifteen minutes earlier water had been standing in pools up to three inches (nearly 10 cm) deep!