Apparitions to Sister Lucia in Pontevedra and Tuy
Europe · Spain
What happened
These are true apparitions, not mere image discoveries, and belong to the Fatima corpus as a continuation of its message. Lucia dos Santos, the eldest of the three shepherd children of Fatima, by then a nun, received further apparitions of the Virgin Mary while living in Spain. At the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, on December 10, 1925, the Virgin appeared to her with the Child Jesus to request devotion to the First Saturdays of the month. Later, at the convent in Tui (Tui, Diocese of Tui-Vigo), on June 13, 1929, she had a vision of the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, in which the request for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was made specific. These apparitions are understood to be linked to Fatima and are well integrated into the teachings of the Church.
The message of the Virgin
In Pontevedra (1925), the Virgin Mary requested the reparative devotion of the Five First Saturdays: confession, communion, recitation of the Rosary, and meditation on its mysteries for five consecutive First Saturdays, in reparation for offenses against her Immaculate Heart, promising her assistance at the hour of death. In Tuy (1929), the request was for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope in union with the bishops of the world. The message is one of reparation, prayer, and consecration to the Heart of the Mother.
The sanctuary today
The sites are preserved as spaces of remembrance and prayer: the chapel of the former Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, where the 1925 apparition is commemorated, and the convent of Tuy, in the diocese of Tui-Vigo. They are destinations for pilgrims connected to the spirituality of Fatima, who come to pray where the Virgin Mary requested the devotion of the First Saturdays and consecration to the Immaculate Heart.
The Church's recognition
These apparitions form part of the corpus of the Fatima apparitions, recognized by the Church, and the associated spirituality—First Saturdays and consecration to the Immaculate Heart—is well integrated into the Magisterium. There is no separate decree from the dioceses of Pontevedra or Tui that classifies them in isolation: they are understood to be linked to Fatima, whose recognition protects them. Therefore, ecclesial recognition here is clear through the Church's teaching on Fatima.
A grace that touches the heart
The consecration of the world, and especially of Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, requested in Tuy, was carried out by the Popes at different times—most notably by Saint John Paul II in 1984 in conjunction with the bishops—fulfilling the request made in those apparitions. The devotion of the First Five Saturdays, which originated in Pontevedra, has spread throughout the world as a lasting fruit of those graces.
Link with the Rosary
The Rosary is at the very heart of this message: the Virgin Mary expressly included it in the devotion of the First Five Saturdays, along with meditation on its mysteries. Praying the Rosary in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is to live today what she asked for in Pontevedra and Tuy.