One year before Our Lady's visits, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, three humble shepherds from Aljustrel, received three visits from the Angel of Portugal, also called the Angel of Peace. He taught them prayers of adoration, penance and reparation, preparing them for the great mission God had entrusted to them. During the visits, the Angel invited them to offer sacrifices and to pray especially «for sinners and for peace in the world».
The Apparitions of Our Lady (1917)
Our Lady presented herself as «coming from Heaven» and asked the children to pray the Rosary every day to bring about peace and the end of the war. She promised them: «You will suffer greatly, but the grace of God will be your comfort.» She also announced that Francisco and Jacinta would soon go to Heaven, while Lucia would remain longer to make known the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Virgin revealed God's desire to establish in the world devotion to Her Immaculate Heart. The crowd surrounded the apparitions, asking for reparation. Lucia received the grace of understanding that her mission would be to spread this devotion, while Francisco and Jacinta would be taken early to Heaven.
Our Lady revealed the famous Secret of Fátima in three parts. The children saw a vision of hell; the necessity of devotion to the Immaculate Heart as a means of salvation and conversion was announced to them; and a prophecy about the future sufferings of the Church, the Pope and the world. Our Lady promised: «In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.»
As the children had been detained on the 13th, the Virgin appeared to them later, at Valinhos, reaffirming the request for sacrifices and prayers for sinners and promising a miracle in October, «so that all may believe».
Before a crowd of about 30,000 people, Our Lady returned and insisted on the Rosary and sacrifices. Many pilgrims witnessed signs, such as the fall of white petals that disappeared before touching the ground, and a luminous cloud over the holm oak.
The last apparition was witnessed by a crowd of 50,000 to 70,000 people, including sceptics and journalists. Our Lady identified herself as «Our Lady of the Rosary» and again asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary and conversion. That day the Miracle of the Sun occurred: the sun appeared to detach itself from the sky, spinning and casting coloured lights, before «dancing» and plunging towards the crowd. The phenomenon, witnessed by thousands, confirmed to the eyes of the world the truth of the apparitions. Francisco and Jacinta died shortly afterwards, victims of the pneumonic influenza epidemic, offering their sufferings «for sinners». Lucia, who would live until 2005, became the principal messenger of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The Later Apparitions to Lucia
Lucia saw the Virgin and the Child Jesus, who asked her for the reparatory devotion of the five First Saturdays in honour of the Immaculate Heart. Our Lady promised: «To all those who practise it, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for salvation.»
The Child Jesus reappeared, confirming the importance of the reparatory devotion and clarifying that confession could be made a few days before or after, provided there was the intention to make reparation to the Heart of Mary.
Lucia had a sublime vision of the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Our Lady then explicitly requested the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope, in union with all the bishops. She later lamented that this request had not been heeded in time, warning of the consequences: the spread of the errors of atheism, persecutions of the Church and suffering of the Holy Father.
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Portugal
Portugal has a particularly rich history of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, expressed in the lives of several contemporary mystics: the Venerable Sister Lucia, Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa and Mother Virgínia Brites da Paixão.
Blessed Alexandrina stood out in an extraordinary way: for years she mystically relived the Passion of Christ every Friday from 1 pm to 3 pm, and lived for 13 years sustained only by Holy Communion, a fact verified by medical examinations. She had mystical experiences similar to those of Lucia, with apparitions of Jesus and Mary, and even of angels who brought her Communion when a priest could not do so. It was through her influence that Pope Pius XII performed the first consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.