Marian devotion
First of all, it's not "three secrets."
Es a single secret consisting of three parts. This is the official edition of the Memories in its note 4:
«Nótese que This is a single secret consisting of three parts. Here, Lucia describes the first two. The third, written on 3 January 1944, was published on 26 June 2000. "
— Memories of Sister Lucia Ip. 121, note 4. Own translation.
— Memories of Sister Lucia Ip. 121, note 4. Own translation.
And so says Sister Lucia herself when she began writing it, in the Third Report:
"Now, the secret consists of three different parts, of which I will reveal two. The first was the vision of hell. "
— III Memory, p. 120.
— III Memory, p. 120.
The "third secret" does not exist as a separate thing. It is the third part of the same secret received, according to the story, the 13 July 1917.
Where is everything, documented
| Part | Where it was first written | Date | When it was published |
|---|---|---|---|
| First (the vision of hell) | Third report | August 31, 1941 | 1941-1942, in the editions of the book Jacinta |
| Second (the Immaculate Heart, the sign, Russia, the first Saturdays, the triumph) | Third report (with additions to the Fourth) | 31 August / 8 December 1941 | index |
| Third (the bishop dressed in white) | Folio autograph apart, en Tuy | 3 January 1944 | 26 June 2000 |
📌 A fact of textual criticism by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith itself: the first two parts of the secret are not in the first two Memories. The main text used by the Holy See in 2000 is that of the Tercera Memoria (31-VIII-1941)with notes from the Fourth (8-XI-1941).
Part One: The Vision of Hell
Text by Sr. Lucia, Tercera Memoria, p. (the same wording as the Holy See in 2000):
«Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire, which seemed to be under the earth; immersed in this fire, demons and souls, as if they were transparent and black or tanned coals, in human form, floating in the fire, carried by the flames of themselves that went out together with clouds of smoke, falling to all sides, similar to falling from faults in the great fires, without weight or balance, between cries and groans of pain and despair that horrified and shudled with fear. Demons distinguished themselves by horrible and disgusting forms of amazing and unknown animals, but transparent and black.
This view was a moment, and thanks to our good Mother of Heaven, who had previously warned us with the promise to take us to Heaven (in the first apparition)! If it weren't, I think we would have died of fright and dread.»
This view was a moment, and thanks to our good Mother of Heaven, who had previously warned us with the promise to take us to Heaven (in the first apparition)! If it weren't, I think we would have died of fright and dread.»
Translation of the Holy See (document "The message of Fatima," 26-VI-2000):
"Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire that seemed to be under the earth; submerged in that fire, demons and souls, as if they were transparent and black or bronzed, with human form, fluctuating in the fire, led by the flames that were coming out of them together with clouds of smoke, falling to all sides, like falling from the sparks in the great fires, without weight or balance, between cries and groans of pain and despair that horrified and made them stink. The demons were distinguished by horrible and disgusting forms of horrific and unknown animals, but transparent and black.
This view was a moment, and thanks to our good Mother of Heaven, who had previously warned us with the promise to take us to Heaven (in the first apparition). If it wasn't, I think we'd have died of fear and fear. "
This view was a moment, and thanks to our good Mother of Heaven, who had previously warned us with the promise to take us to Heaven (in the first apparition). If it wasn't, I think we'd have died of fear and fear. "
This part of the secret, with its full theological framework and with Cardinal Ratzinger's comment on how visions are read, it's treated slowly on the page "Hell, purgatory and heaven in the message of Fatima".
Part two: the Immaculate Heart, the sign, Russia, the triumph
The second part starts in the following sentencewithout a cut, and it is the Virgin who speaks:
«— You have seen hell, where the souls of the poor sinners go; to save them, God wants to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and you will have peace. The war will end. But if they do not stop offending God, in the reign of Pius XI another worse will begin. When you see one night, lighted by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that he will punish the world of his crimes., through war, hunger and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the healing communion on the first Saturdays. If you answer my requests, Russia will convert and have peace; if not, it will spread its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated, At last My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate to me Russia, which will convert, and will be granted to the world some time of peace.»
— III Memory, p. 121.
— III Memory, p. 121.
Official Spanish translation published by the Holy See:
"- You saw hell where the souls of poor sinners go; to save them, God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I will tell you is done, many souls will be saved and they will have peace. The war will soon be over. But if they do not stop offending God, another worse will begin in the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that it will punish the world for its crimes, through war, hunger and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent it, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the repairing Communion of the First Saturdays. If my wishes are met, Russia will become and there will be peace; if not, it will spread its mistakes throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions to the Church. The good will be martyred and the Holy Father will have much to suffer; several nations will be annihilated. Finally my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate me to Russia, which will become, and will be granted to the world some time of peace."
The addition of the Fourth Memory, and the "etc." that no one can complete
En la Fourth report (8 December 1941), p. 177, Sister Lucia adds:
«In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc. This don't tell anyone. To Francis, yes, you can say it."
("In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc. You don't tell anyone this. To Francis, yes, you can tell.")
("In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc. You don't tell anyone this. To Francis, yes, you can tell.")
And then the chaculatory of the rosary:
«O my Jesus, forgive us, deliver us from the fire of hell; take all your souls to heaven, especially those who need it most.»
⚠️ Important film accuracy: the "etc." is in the original. The official edition no desarrolla I was coming after you. Cualquier versión que «complete» esa frase está añadiendo texto que no consta. And it's not a minor detail: about that "etc." much of the speculation about a hidden text has been built.
Part Three: the Bishop dressed in white
No es una «septima memoria». Es un folio autograph apart, written in Tuy, 3 January 1944, kept on top of it. Its literal heading:
«J.M.J.
Third part of the secret revealed on 13 July 1917 at the Cova da Iria-Fatima.
I write in an act of obedience to you my God, who send me through his Ex.cia Rev.ma the Bishop of Leiria and yours and my Most Holy Mother.»
Third part of the secret revealed on 13 July 1917 at the Cova da Iria-Fatima.
I write in an act of obedience to you my God, who send me through his Ex.cia Rev.ma the Bishop of Leiria and yours and my Most Holy Mother.»
The text, in original Portuguese, respecting the score of the manuscript as published by the Holy See:
«After the two parts that I have already exposed, we saw on the left side of Our Lady a little higher an Angel with a fire sword in his left hand; at the centillar, he fired flames that seemed to ignite the world; but they were extinguished with the contact of the brightness that of the right hand sent Our Lady to meet him: The Angel pointing with his right hand to the earth, with a strong voice said: Penance, Penance, Penance! E vimos n’uma luz emensa que é Deus: «algo semelhante a como se vêem as pessoas n’um espelho quando lhe passam por diante» um Bispo vestido de Branco «tivemos o pressentimento de que era o Santo Padre». Several other Bishops, priests, religious and religious rise a wild mountain, on top of which there was a great Cross of rough trunks like the oak with the bark; the Holy Father, before arriving there, went through a great city half in ruins and half a trembling with vacillation, crammed with pain and pen, prayed for the souls of the corpses he found along the way; reached the top of the hill, prostrated with juelhos at the foot of the great Cross was killed by a group of soldiers who shot him several shots and arrows, e assim mesmo foram morrendo uns trás outros os Bispos Sacerdotes, religiosos e religiosas e varias pessoas seculares, cavalheiros e senhoras de varias classes e posições. Sob os dois braços da Cruz estavam dois Anjos cada um com um regador de cristal em a mão, n’êles recolhiam o sangue dos Martires e com êle regavam as almas que se aproximavam de Deus.
Abs-3-1-444.»
Abs-3-1-444.»
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith itself warns in its note 8 that no ha corrigido el original:
"In the translation the original text has been respected even in the inaccuracies of score which, on the other hand, do not prevent the understanding of what the seer has meant."
The story of the lacquered envelope, according to the Holy See itself
| Date | Done |
|---|---|
| 3 January 1944 | Sister Lucia writes the third part in Abs |
| — | The lacquered envelope is held by the Bishop of Leiria |
| 4 April 1957 | The envelope passes to Secret architect of the Holy Oficius |
| August 17, 1959 | El P. Pierre Paul Philippe OP takes the envelope to Juan XXIII"Let's hope. I'll pray. I'll let you know what you decide." Decides no revelarlo |
| 27 March 1965 | Pablo VI lo lee con monseñor Dell’Acqua y decide no publicarlo |
| 18 July 1981 | After the May 13 attack, the Cardinal Sheper to Monsignor Martínez Somalo dos sobres: one white with the original Portuguese, one orange with the Italian translation. The August 11, 1981 |
| 13 May 2000 | El cardenal Sodano announced in Fatima that it will be published |
| 26 June 2000 | Full publicationwith the theological comment of the Cardinal Ratzinger |
Source: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "The Message of Fatima," 26 June 2000 (HTTP 200).
Why "1960"? She says it herself.
It's another thing that's told the other way around. Date 1960 The Virgin did not put it.. It was declared by Sister Lucia to Monsignor Bertone the 27 April 2000at the colloquium that CDF itself published:
«It was not the Lady, but I who set the date of 1960, because, according to my intuition, before 1960 it would not have been understood, it would have been understood only later. Now you can understand better. I have written what I have seen, it is not for me to interpret, but for the Pope.»
And on who is the bishop in white:
«We did not know the name of the Pope, the Lady has not told us the name of the PopeWe did not know whether it was Benedict XV or Pius XII or Paul VI or John Paul II, But he was the Pope who suffered and made us suffer too..»
Official interpretation - which is interpretation, not text
This has to be done well, because it's where it gets the most confused:
Cardinal Angelo SodanoFatima, 13 May 2000:
"This text is a prophetic vision comparable to that of Holy Scripture, which does not describe with photographic sense details of future events [...]. The key to reading the text must therefore be symbolic. "
Cardenal Joseph Ratzinger, theological comment of 26 June 2000:
"Whoever reads the text carefully [...] may be disappointed or astonished after all the speculations that have been made. No great mystery is revealed; the veil of the future has not been removed.»
And on the promise of triumph:
«My Immaculate Heart will triumph. ¿Que quirere decir esto? That the heart opened to God, purified by the contemplation of God, is stronger than the rifles and that any kind of weapon. "
And against all fatalistic reading:
«The future is not determined in an immutable way, and the image the children saw is not an early film of the future, of which nothing could be changed. […] Por eso están totalmente fuera de lugar las explicaciones fatalísticas del «secreto» that, for example, they say that the attacker of May 13, 1981 would ultimately have been an instrument of the divine plan guided by Providence and that, therefore, would not have acted freely... "
And the status of all of this, which Ratzinger sets by quoting Prospero Lambertini (the future Benedict XIV):
«It is not due to a concurrence of Catholic faith to revelations approved in such a wayIt's not even possible. These revelations rather require a concurrence of human faith, according to the rules of prudence, which presents them to us as likely and pious credible. "
And the ultimate criterion, which is valid for the whole module:
«The criterion of truth and value of a private revelation is therefore its orientation to Christ himself. When she takes us away from Him, when she becomes autonomous or, more so, when she impersonates herself as another and better plan of salvation, more important than the Gospel, then she certainly does not come from the Holy Spirit. "
The controversy: was the whole secret published?
Here. not taken sides. It says what each part holds and on which document.
What the Holy See affirms
That the text published on 26 June 2000 is integrity y que there is a single manuscript, reproduced in facsimile within the document itself:
«There's an único manuscript, que se aquí se reproduce en facsímile. El sobre lacrado estuvo guardado primero por el Obispo de Leiria. Para tutelar mejor el «secreto», el 4 de abril de 1957 el sobre fue entregado al Archivo Secreto del Santo Oficio.»
- CDF, "The message of Fatima," Presentation.
- CDF, "The message of Fatima," Presentation.
What those who disagree hold
| Who? | Where | What's holding up |
|---|---|---|
| Antonio Socci | Fàtima's fourth secret, Milán, Rizzoli, 2006, 251 pp., ISBN 9788817009935 (English: The Fourth Secret of FatimaLoreto, 2009) | That a text would be missing |
| Christopher A. Ferrara | The Secret Still Hidden, Good Counsel Publications, 2008 — PDF: https://fatima.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Secret-Still-Hidden.pdf (HTTP 200) | Develop and document Socci's thesis |
Statement of honesty that this module expressly makes: We've checked those books. exist and where the thesis is formulated; We haven't read them.. So it's documented here that the position exists and where it is, its argument is not summarized or valued.
And who has refuted it in writing
- SYMONDS, Kevin J., On the Third Part of the Secret of Fátima, 2.ª ed., St. Louis (Missouri), En Route Books and Media, 2024. Apéndices oficiales en PDF:
https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Secret-of-Fatima-Book_Appendices-ALL.pdf(HTTP 200).
The criterion of this website
This is exactly the kind of material that is not simplified and not taken sides. Se dice: the Holy See affirms X, with this document; such authors hold Y, in such books. Period. Whoever wants to judge, read both.
Sources of this page
- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "The message of Fatima", 26 de junio de 2000 — texto español:
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_sp.html(HTTP 200); texto portugués (con el original portugués de sor Lucía):…_message-fatima_po.html(HTTP 200). - Memories of Sister Lucia I — PDF oficial del Santuário, ficha F002:
https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F002_Memorias1.pdf(HTTP 200). Páginas 120-122, 176-177 y notas 4 y 8. - Santuário de Fátima, «Narrativa das aparições»:
https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/narrativa-das-aparicoes(HTTP 200).
Portuguese quotes have been taken from the text downloaded from the official edition and from the flat text of vatican.va, not from the renderized HTML, so as not to lose accents or quotes.
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