Lucia dos Santos

Portuguese child noted for the Miracle of Fatima which occurred on 13 October 1917, 1:30 PM GMT. Near the town of Fatima, Portugal, a small, rural town about 90 miles north of Lisbon, a miracle appeared to three peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto. On a spring day in 1916 Lucia, nine, Francisco, eight and his sister Jacinta, six, were tending sheep at Chousa Velha, a grazing field when they were startled by a brilliant light enclosing a young man of great beauty, who said to them that he was the angel of Peace. All three children saw the visions but Francisco could not hear them. Lucia was the only one to converse with the apparitions. The angel appeared again that summer, and in the fall he gave the children the host to eat and the chalice to drink, a sacrament of the Catholic Church. The children were awed and pious and spent long periods praying as the angel had instructed them.

On 13 May 1917, shortly after noon, the three were watching the sheep at Cova da Iraia when a radiant form appeared above an old oak tree. She told them she had come from Heaven and instructed the three visionaries to return, once each month for six months. The Lady told the children that She had been sent by God with a message for every man, woman and child living in our century. Between 13 May and 13 October 1917, the vision of Our Lady was always on the 13th of the month with one exception, in August when she appeared to them near the village of Valinhos on August 19. The mayor, in an attempt to stop the events, had the youngsters kidnapped and secluded away but when the crowds demanded the return of the children, he soon released them.

At a time when civilization was sickened by war and bloody violence, the Blessed Mother repeated her emphasis on prayer, reparation and consecration during each visit, in return for which She promised that Heaven would grant peace to all the world.