Shrine of Fatima

THE BASIC FACTS

THE DATES
All the Apparition were in 1858

The angel visited them three times between April and October of 1916; twice in Loca do Cabeço and once by the well in Lúcia's garden.

Our Lady's Apparitions

May 13th, 1917
June 13th, 1917
July 13th, 1917
August 19th, 1917
September 13th, 1917
October 13th, 1917

THE LOCATION

Fátima is 116 miles (187 km) south of Porto and 76 miles (123 km) north of Lisbon. It is one of the 18 parishes that make up the municipality of Ourém. The city of Ourém itself has about 12,000 inhabitants. Fátima's population is just under 8,000.

THE SEERS

Lúcia de Jesus dos Santos was the oldest of the three children to whom Our Lady appeared. She was born on March 28th, 1907, and so had recently turned 10 years of age when Our Lady first appeared in May of 1917.

In later years Lúcia entered the religious life and took the religious name of Sister Mary Lucy of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, better known as Sister Lúcia of Fátima. She died on February 13th, 2005, having finished her life as Discalced Carmelite nun

Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto were brother and sister, and also cousins of Lúcia Santos. They were the youngest children in the family of Manuel and Olimpia Marto.

Francisco was born on June 11th, 1908, while Jacinta was born on March 11th, 1910. Therefore, at the time of the first apparition of Our Lady, Francisco was 9 years old, and Jacinta was 7 years old.

Franciso was the first of the three children to die, he passed away on April 4th, 1919, aged only 10, just over two months before his 11th birthday.

Jacinta followed her brother just over 10 months later, on February 20th, 1920, aged 9, just less than a month away from her 10th birthday.

THE MESSAGE

The words of Our Lady spoken at Fatima, during her six apparitions:

1st apparition of Our Lady
On Sunday May 13th, 1917, the children were pasturing their flock as usual at the Cova da Iria, which was about a mile from their homes. They were playing when suddenly a bright shaft of light pierced the air. They described it as a flash of lightning.Frightened by the flash, the children looked around at the sky that was clear and bright without the least spot of a cloud. The children, however, thought that they had better head home in case it might start raining. As they descended the hill. Another flash of lightning took them by surprise. They looked towards the right. There, standing over the foliage of a small holmoak, was a Lady dressed all in white, more brilliant then the sun.

The Lady spoke to them and said: “Fear not! I will not harm you.”
“Where are you from?” the children asked.
“I am from Heaven” the Lady replied. “What do you want of me?”, Lucia asked.
“I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later who I am and what I want. And I shall return here again a seventh time.”
Lucia said : “Do you come from Heaven ... and will I go to Heaven ?”
“Yes, you’ll go”.
“And Jacinta?”
“As well”
“And Francisco?”
“Him too , but he will have to say many Rosaries”.
In the end Our Lady asked : “Do you wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the suffering that He may please to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?”
“Yes, we do.” said the children.
“You will have to suffer a lot, but the grace of God will be your comfort.“

Then she opened her hands with a loving gesture of a mother who offers her heart. From it an intense light departed that seemed to go through them. The vision vanished telling them : “Recite the Rosary every day to obtain the peace for the world and the end of the war.”
And she disappeared.

2nd apparition of Our Lady
On June 13th, 1917, accompanied by about 50 people, the children were reciting the Rosary, when there was again the lightning, and immediately after the Lady on the holmoak appeared like in May.
“What do you want from me?” asked Lucy.
“I wish you to come here the 13th of next month; that you say the Rosary every day, and that you learn to read. In succeeding months I will tell you what else I want.”
“I would like to ask you to bring us to Heaven”, said Lucy.
“Yes, Jacinta and Francisco will be among the few, but you must stay here for a long time. Jesus wants to help Himself of you to make Me known and loved. God wishes you to remain in the world for some time, because He wants to use you to establish in the world a devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and their souls will be loved by God as flowers placed by myself to adorn His throne.”
Lucy asked: “Will I stay here alone”?,
“Don’t be discouraged , I will not abandon you ever. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and through it will conduct you to God.”

Then she opened her hands and emanated her light on the children, Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in the light that went up toward the sky, Lucy in the light that spread on the earth. In front of the palm of the right hand of the Lady there was a heart surrounded by thorns that impaled it. They understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, affronted from the sins of men, and she then asked for reparation.

3rd apparition of Our Lady
On July 13th, 1917 they recited the Rosary with the crowd, they saw the usual reflex of light and then the Lady on the holmoak.

Lucy asked: “What do you want from me?” She answered: “That you come the 13th of the next month, that you continue to recite the Rosary every day to our Lady of the Rosary to obtain peace in the world and the end of the war, because only She will be able to aid you.”
Lucy said “ I want to ask you to tell us who you are, and to make a miracle for the crowd to believe that you appear.”
She answered: “Continue to come here. In October I will tell you who I am, that which I want, and I will do a miracle that all can see and believe. Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say often this prayer, especially during any sacrifice: “O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”.

As she spoke these words, Our Lady stretched out her hands, and bright rays came forth which seemed to penetrate into the earth. All at once the ground vanished, and the children saw Hell, frightened they lifted their eyes to the Lady who told them:
”You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save future souls God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If people do what I tell you, many souls will be saved.”
Then she said: ”If my requests are granted, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will scatter her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecution of the Church. The good will be martyed, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be destroyed...But in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, Russia will be converted, and a certain period of peace will be granted to the world”.
“Do you want to learn a prayer?” the vision asked.
“Yes we do!” the children responded.
“When you recite the Rosary, say at the end of each decade: O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy Mercy.”

4th apparition of Our Lady
In August the children were prevented by the civil authorities to go to the meeting of the 13th in which had gathered an immense crowd. The children for two days were confined and threatened with many torments to make them deny, but they did not surrender, they were ready to offer their lives not to betray the promises made to the Lady. When they had been released on August 19th, while they fed the flock in a place called Valinhos, they saw the Lady above a holmoak.

“What do you want from me?” Lucy asked.
“I Want you to continue to go to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, that you continue to say the Rosary every day. I, in the last month will make the miracle that all will believe.”
Then with a sadder appearance told them: “Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for the sinners. You know that many souls go the Hell because there is none who pray for them.”

5th apparition of Our Lady
On September 13th, the children and about 30,000 persons accompanied them to the Cova da Iria and they there recited the Rosary, soon after appeared the Lady on the holmoak.

“I Want you to come here on October 13th and that you continue to recite the Rosary to obtain the end of the war. In October the Lord, the sorrowful Lady, the Lady of Mt. Carmel, and St Joseph with the child Jesus, will also come to bless the world. God is glad of your sacrifices, He does not want you to sleep with the chord to the sides, use it only during the day.”

6th apparition of Our Lady
On October 13th, 1917, the children were surrounded by a crowd of 70.000 persons under a torrential rain.

Lucy asked again of the Lady:”What do you want from me?” she answered:
“I am the Lady of the Rosary, I desire here a chapel in my honor to be built, that people continue to recite the Rosary every day. Will the war finish. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”
Then Lucy asked: “may I ask you for cures and conversions, will you grant them?”. “Some yes, others no. It is necessary that they ask pardon for their sins, that they don’t offend God our Lord,and that he is already too much offended.”
“Do you want anything else from me?” Lucy asked.
“I do not want anything more.”

Then she opened her hands again and she launched a ray of light in the direction of the sun as Lucy shouted that they should look at the sun.

At this point the promised sign happened, Lucy shouted to look at the sun, the rain stopped suddenly and there appeared an exceptionally bright sun, but not dazzling. The sun began to turn as if projecting in each direction bands of light of each color that lit and colored the clouds, the sky, the trees, and the crowd. It stayed for some moments then it went back to its normal position, it stayed still for a small while and then it happened again.

Suddenly it looked as if it stood out from the sky to fall headlong on the crowd, that was looking terrorized, they fell to their knees and begged mercy. Meanwhile the children saw a Lady dressed like the white of the sun with a blue cope, St. Joseph with the Child Jesus that blessed the world.Then after this vision they saw the Lord bless the world, standing next to Our Lady of Sorrows. After these visions the Lady of Mt Carmel finished the miracle. The people then became aware that there clothes were completely dried.

One of the principal anti-clerical publications of the day was O Dia, a major Lisbon newspaper. On October 17th, O Dia reported the following:

"At one o’clock in the afternoon, midday by the sun, the rain stopped. The sky, pearly gray in color, illuminated the vast arid landscape with a strange light.

"The sun had a transparent gauzy veil so that eyes could easily be fixed upon it. The gray mother-of-pearl tone turned into a sheet of silver which broke up as the clouds were torn apart and the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy gray light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds.

"A cry went up from every mouth and people fell on their knees on the muddy ground. The light turned a beautiful blue as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands. The blue faded slowly and then the light seemed to pass through yellow glass.

"Yellow stains fell against white handkerchiefs, against the dark skirts of women. They were reported on the trees, on the stones and on the serra. People wept and prayed with uncovered heads in the presence of the miracle they had awaited."

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US

1. Fatima is first and foremost a WARNING. Sin can damage your spiritual health and bring fatal consequences.

2. Yet with God, there is always a REMEDY available, even for the worst possible scenario, because God is omnipotent, He is all powerful.

3. The REMEDY that God offers us is twofold: (a) The Holy Rosary and (b) devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

4. However, REMEDIES will only work IF THEY ARE TAKEN AS INSTRUCTED.

5. In sickness and disease, normal nutrition or maintenance medicine is insufficient to battle a dangerous illness or disease. Large doses and frequent doses are required, and intensive care is sometimes needed.

WHERE ON EARTH IS FATIMA?

Ourém is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of about 160 square miles (416.6 km²) and a total population of 44,186 inhabitants. The city of Ourém itself has a population of about 12,000. The municipality is composed of 18 parishes, and is located in the district of Santarém.

Fátima is a civil parish in the municipality of Ourém, in the Portuguese Centro region. With a population of 11,538 inhabitants in 2011, the civil parish of Fátima actually encompasses several villages and localities of which the village of Fátima, with a population of 7,756 residents, is the largest. Fatima is 116 miles (187 km) south of Porto and 76 miles (123 km) north of Lisbon.

An aerial photo of the shrine and surrounding village that has grown into a small town

A view of the Basilica of Fatima and its colonnades. This corresponds to the sections marked 3,4 and 5 on the map below.

ABOVE: A guide-map showing the key points interest at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Each number is explained below.

The Basilica of Fatima

The Chapel of Apparitions

One of the two wings of colonnades, similar to the design of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In this photo you can see the statues of the saints on top of the colonnade

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the niche above the main entrance to the Basilica

The interior of the Basilica of Fatima

The tomb of Blessed Franciso Marto, is located behind the high altar inside the Basilica.

The tomb of Blessed Jacinta Marto is located behind the high altar inside the Basilica.

The pipe organ in the Basilica. The monumental organ, mounted in 1952, has about 12 thousand pipes.

One of the stained-glass windows of the Basilica. This particular window depicts the Angel giving Holy Communion to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta.

The original little chapel or "Capelinha" that was built at the site of the holm oak apparitions, and which was blown-up and partially destroyed by Freemasons in 1922.

In 1922, Portuguese Freemasons placed four bombs in the original Capelinha built on the site where Our Lady appeared to the children. They were detonated on March 5-6, and severely damaged the chapel, blowing a hole straight up through the roof (above).

The rebuilt little chapel or "Capelinho" as it stands today in the grounds of the shrine.

The statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stand on the top of a pillar in the esplanade in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.

The chapel of the rectory

A segment of the Berlin Wall, in memory of the demolition of the Berlin Wall which began on November 9, 1989.

One of the 14 little chapels on the "Via Sacra" or "The Holy Way" which commemorate the Stations of the Cross

The High Cross

The monument at Valinhos

Home of Lucia Santos

The well at Lucia's home

Exterior of the museum in Aljustrel, the village of the three children.

The interior of the museum

Fátima is one of the most important shrines of the world dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This Sanctuary welcomes millions of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. The fame of this place is the result of the Apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary to three shepherd children Lúcia and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, who, between May and October of 1917, witnessed successive monthly apparitions.

The last one, on October 13th, was confirmed by a solar miracle witnessed by 70,000 people "on the day the sun danced."

All of the three children have since died: Francisco in 1919; Jacinta in 1919; and Lúcia in 2005. Francisco and Jacinta are in the process of canonization and were beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 13th, 2005. Therefore, they are now called "Blessed Franciso" and "Blessed Jacinta."

The following numbers correspond to the numbers in the shrine guide shown above.

1. Chapel of Apparitions
The very heart of the Sanctuary. It was the first edifice constructed in the Cova da Iria, at the place of Our Lady's Apparitions. The exact spot is marked by a marble pillar on which the Statue of Our Lady is placed.

Behind the statue is the capelinho ("little chapel") that Our Lady wanted building. The original little chapel was blown-up and partially destroyed by Freemasons in 1922. This is a replica of the original chapel. It is to this spot that over four million pilgrims converge, who visit the Sanctuary each year.

2. The Recint
On the colonnade in front of the Basilica, statues of four Portuguese Saints can be seen: St. John of God, St. John of Brito, St. Anthony and Bl. Nuno of Santa Maria. From one side to the other, from left to right, are the following saints:

St. Teresa of Avila, St. Francis de Sales, Bl. Marcelino de Champagnat, St. John Baptist de la Salle, St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, St. Jonh Bosco with St. Dominic Savio, St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Simon Stock, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Paul of the Cross and St. Beatrice da Silva.

The large white marble statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which stands in the niche above the main entrance of the basilica, shows Our Lady in one of her apparitions when she urged devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

It was sculpted by American priest, Thomas McGlynn, O.P. Father McGlynn spent considerable time with the visionary Sister Lucia, as she described for him in detail how Mary looked during her appearances to the children.

The statue is not what Father McGlynn had in mind when he approached Sister Lúcia, but is more accurately described as a collaboration between visionary and sculptor, producing perhaps the most accurate representation of Our Lady of Fátima ever to be sculpted. The statue was presented as a gift from the Catholic people of the United States to the Sanctuary of Fátima in 1958

3. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
Its construction began in 1928 and it was consecrated in October, 1953. Its 15 altars are dedicated to the 15 mysteries of the Rosary. The Chapel of Apparitions is at the very heart of the basilica (see photo a little above). The exact location of the apparitions is marked by a marble pillar, which holds a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The treasury of the sanctuary holds the Irish Monstrance considered to be one of the most significant works of religious art from Ireland. The monstrance was gifted to the basilica in 1949.

The painting above the high altar depicts the Message of Our Lady to the little shepherds, prepared by the Angel of Portugal, through their encounter with Christ in the Eucharist. The Bishop of the diocese is shown kneeling on the left side, and the figures of Pope Pius XII (who consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1942, and whose Legate crowned the Statue of Our Lady in 1946), of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.

The painting above the high altar

The tombs of Blessed Francisco Marto, Blessed Jacinta Marto and Sister Lúcia, the three children, are in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, behind the high altar, and, in the chancel, are the mortal remains of D. José Alves Correia da Silva, first Bishop of Leiria after its restoration in 1920.

Tombs of Bl. Francisco and Bl. Jacinta

Original burial site of Francisco and Jacinta before their bodies were transferred to the newly built Basilica.

Scenes of the apparitions are represented in stained glass, as well as invocations from the Litany of Our Lady. In the four corners of the Basilica interior are placed the statues of the great apostles of the Rosary and of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: St. Anthony Claret, St. Dominic of Gusman, St. John Eudes and St. Stephen, King of Hungary.

4. Perpetual Adoration Chapel
Placed at the end of the colonnade, on the eastern side, this chapel for perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed, is a place of silent prayer and adoration

5. The Big Holmoak

Remaining Tree from where the Miracle of the Sun took place in Fatima, Portugal.

Above is photo of a the tree, in the grounds of the shrine, under which the little shepherds and the early pilgrims awaited Our Lady's coming, and prayed the Rosary. Complying with Our Lady's request, in her last apparition on October 13th, 1917, a chapel ("capelinha") was built on the spot where Our Lady appeared.

This little chapel was blown up with dynamite by Freemasons and partially destroyed almost 5 years later, in March of 1922. Of course, they had to rebuild the chapel or Capelinha. In the column to the left, you can see the original Capelinha and the the replacement Capelinha as it is today.

A stone column, under the shelter, marks the place where once stood the original holm oak tree, above which Our Lady appeared; this was destroyed by people cutting pieces from it as relics.

6. Monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Esplanade
Which stands in the center of the square, over a spring found there, its waters being the instrument of many graces.

7. House of Our Lady Dolours
Situated behind the Chapel of Apparitions, it is destined to receive the Sick during the great pilgrimages, and also for retreats and accommodation for pilgrims in general.

8. Rectory
A building on the right side of the esplanade, in the House of Our Lady of Carmel.

9. House of Our Lady of Carmel
Which is above and behind the Rectory, with accommodation for 250

10. Berlin Wall
At the entrance of the Sanctuary, on the south side of the Rectory, one may visit a monument of the Berlin Wall's, consisting of a concrete segment that was part of it.
The Wall's construction started during the night between the 12th and 13th of August, 1961 and its demolition began the 9th of November, 1989. This segment was offered by means of Virgilio Casimiro Ferreira, a Portuguese emigrant to Germany and is here placed as a grateful memorial of God's intervention for the fall of Communism as promised at Fatima. The segment weighs 2,600 kilos (5,732 lbs.) and measures 3.60 meters (11 ft. 9 in.) high by 1.20 meters (3 ft. in.) wide. The present monument was designed by the architect J. Carlos Loureiro and was inaugurated on the 13th of August, 1994

11. Via Sacra (Way of the Cross)
The outdoor Holy Way, which are the Stations of the Cross, is composed of 14 little chapels in memory of the Passion of Our Lord. and a 15th corresponding to the Resurrection Beneath the Calvary there is a Chapel dedicated to St Stephen of Hungary.

The first 14 Stations were offered by Catholic Hungarian refugees in western countries, and were inaugurated on May 12th, 1964: the 15th 'Station' on October 13th, 1992, in the presence of the Ambassador of Hungary, the country now liberated from Communism The Holly Way begins at the south Rotunda of Saint Teresa, and follows the path which the little shepherds took when going from Aljustrel to the Cova da Iria.

12. The High Cross
At the extreme south of the esplanade, it commemorates the closing of the Holy Year in 1951.

13. Monument to Pope Paul VI
Marking his pilgrimage to Fatima, on May 13th, 1967.

Pope Paul VI monument

14. Monument to Pope Pius XII
Erected as gift from German Catholics in 1961.

Monument to Pope Pius XII

15. Paul VI Pastoral Center
Inaugurated on May 13th, 1982, by Pope John Paul 11, as a center for study and reflection on the Message of Fatima, and of the problems of the modern world, in the light of the Gospel. The two auditoriums have seating for 2,124 and 700, and accommodation for 400 pilgrims.

The modern Pope Paul VI Pastoral Center

16. Valinhos
Valinhos is only about 400 yards from the three children's village of Aljustrel and around 2 miles (3km) from the main Fatima shrine and Basilica. It was the location of the 4th apparition of Our Lady, which was delayed due to the children being imprisoned on the date that she would have appeared, that is to say on the 13th of August. The location of the apparition is marked by a monument.

17. Loco do Anjo (Place of the Angel)
Where the children received the first and third visit of the "Angel of Peace" (Spring end autumn of 1916).

18. The Homes of the Little Shepherds
In Aljustrel, you can also visit the homes of the little shepherds, which are largely unchanged in the almost 100 years since the apparitions in 1917. Aljustrel is just over 2 miles (3 km) from Fátima. It's a good chance to see what life was like in those times in Portugal. At the bottom of the garden of Lucia's home is the well, where the "Angel of Peace", the "Angel of Portugal", appeared for the second time.

Home of Francisco and Jacinta Marto

19. Ethnographic Museum
(near Lucia's house)

The interior of the museum

MORE COVERAGE TO FOLLOW SOON