Fátima — The Complete History
Cova da Iria · Portugal · 1917
Three little shepherds, six apparitions and a miracle before 70,000 witnesses that shook the world. The most thoroughly documented history of a Marian apparition in the modern era.
The Angel of Portugal — The preparation (1916)
The history of Fátima does not begin on 13 May 1917. It begins a year earlier, in the spring of 1916, with three apparitions of an angel whom the little shepherds first called the «Angel of Peace» and, at the second apparition, the «Angel of Portugal.» Lúcia was 9 years old, Francisco 8 and Jacinta 7.
The world was in the midst of the First World War. Portugal had entered the conflict in March 1916. While Europe burned, on the hills of Aljustrel three shepherd children were receiving a spiritual preparation that would leave them ready to receive the Virgin.
Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta had taken shelter from the rain in a rocky hollow on the hill of Cabeço, known as the Loca do Cabeço. Suddenly they saw approaching a light whiter than snow, which took the form of a young man of about 14, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it. He was of a more than human beauty.
The angel prostrated himself on the ground and said three times:
Then he rose and said: «Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy upon you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.» The children remained for hours in that posture, repeating the prayer, as though God were holding them captive.
The little shepherds were playing beside the well in the garden of the Santos family, at Aljustrel, when the angel appeared again. This time he identified himself by name: «I am the Angel of Portugal.» His words were more demanding:
This second visit taught them that daily sacrifice —the small discomforts and humiliations— could become efficacious prayer. The children began to practise voluntary penances with an intensity that astonished the adults.
Back at the Loca do Cabeço, this was the most solemn of the apparitions. The angel bore in his hands a chalice and, above it, a consecrated host from which drops of blood fell into the chalice. He left the chalice suspended in the air, prostrated himself on the ground beside the children and taught them a new prayer:
Then he gave them Communion. To Lúcia he administered the Sacred Host; to Francisco and Jacinta he gave to drink from the chalice. He said to them: «Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God.»
The three little shepherds remained prostrate on the ground for a long time, absorbed. Francisco and Jacinta had not yet made their First Communion; to receive Communion from the hands of an angel was for them an experience that could not be put into words.
The six apparitions (May–October 1917)
At midday, in the Cova da Iria, Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta were pasturing their sheep when they saw a woman «brighter than the sun» above a holm oak. The Lady asked them to pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world, and to return there for six months.
The Virgin confirmed that she would soon take Francisco and Jacinta to heaven. Lúcia she asked to remain on earth to spread her devotion: «My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.»
The most important apparition. The Virgin revealed the three secrets of Fátima: the vision of hell, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with the consecration of Russia, and the vision of the «bishop dressed in white.» She also announced that in October she would perform a miracle so that all might believe.
The children had been seized on 13 August by the anticlerical mayor to force them to reveal the secrets. He imprisoned them and threatened to burn them alive. When they were freed, the Virgin appeared to them on the 19th at Valinhos: «Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray for them.»
The Virgin repeated the call to the daily Rosary, announced the imminent end of the war and reaffirmed that in October she would work the promised miracle. The thousands gathered there saw a globe of light descend upon the tree.
The Lady identified herself as «Our Lady of the Rosary» and insisted that a chapel be built. After the apparition, the sun «danced» in the sky for ten minutes, drawing cheers and tears from the crowd. Clothing soaked by the rain dried instantly.
The three seers
Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2005)
The eldest and the spokeswoman. After the apparitions she entered the Dorothean Sisters (1921) and later the Discalced Carmelites of Coimbra (1948). It was she who, in obedience to the bishop, wrote the four memoirs that reveal the secrets and the complete history. She died on 13 February 2005 at the age of 97. The Vatican declared her Venerable in 2023; her beatification is in process.
Francisco Marto (1908–1919)
The silent one: he saw the Virgin but did not hear her. He died of the Spanish influenza on 4 April 1919, barely 10 years old. Canonised by Pope Francis on 13 May 2017 at Fátima, on the centenary of the apparitions. Feast day: 20 February.
Jacinta Marto (1910–1920)
The youngest —7 years old when the apparitions began. She died alone in a Lisbon hospital on 20 February 1920, of pleurisy aggravated by the influenza. Before dying she foretold the papal future with details that the religious attributed to divine revelation. Canonised on the same day as Francisco. Feast day: 20 February.
The three secrets of Fátima
First secret: the vision of hell
Revealed on 13 July 1917. Published by Sister Lúcia in 1941. The Virgin opened her hands and showed the children hell:
Second secret: Russia and the Immaculate Heart
The Virgin asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and for the devotion of the Five First Saturdays. She warned that, if this were not done, Russia «will spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church.» In 1984, Pope John Paul II consecrated the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, an act confirmed by Sister Lúcia as the one the Virgin had asked for.
Third secret: the bishop in white
Written down by Sister Lúcia in 1944 and kept in a sealed envelope until the year 2000, when Pope John Paul II ordered its publication. It describes an angel with a flaming sword and a figure —»a bishop dressed in white»— who falls under gunfire while praying. The Church interpreted this vision as referring to the assassination attempt on John Paul II of 13 May 1981 —the exact anniversary of the first apparition— which the Pope miraculously survived. In 1984 he gave the Shrine the bullet extracted from his body, which today is set in the crown of the image of the Virgin.
The Miracle of the Sun (13 October 1917)
It was a morning of torrential rain. Nearly 70,000 people —believers and sceptics, journalists and scientists— had come to the Cova da Iria, drawn by the announcement that something prodigious would happen that day. At midday, after the apparition, the sun began to «dance»: it spun upon itself giving off flashes of colour, plunged three times in a zigzag towards the earth, and then returned to its place. It lasted some ten minutes. Rain-soaked clothing was instantly dry; so was the waterlogged ground.
The testimony of Almeida —a freemason and critic of the Church— was decisive because of its credibility. The science professor of the University of Coimbra, José Maria de Almeida Garrett, documented the phenomenon in a scientific description. The event was visible from several kilometres away, to people who were not in the Cova da Iria.
The shrine today
The Capelinha das Aparições (1919)
Built between 28 April and 15 June 1919 on the exact spot of the tree above which the Virgin appeared. On 6 March 1922, anticlericals attacked it with dynamite; the image was saved because the devout María Carreira took it home with her every night. Rebuilt on 13 January 1923, it remains the heart of the Shrine.
Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary (1928–1953)
Begun on 13 May 1928. Neoclassical-baroque in style, with a tower 65 metres tall. Consecrated on 7 October 1953 and raised to the rank of Minor Basilica by Pius XII in 1954. For decades it was the centre of the great pilgrimages.
Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity (2007)
Inaugurated on 13 October 2007, on the 90th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun. Designed by the Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis: circular in form, 125 metres in diameter, without interior columns, with a translucent roof. Capacity: 9,000 seated. It is the answer to the continual growth of the pilgrimages and today the setting of the great Masses.
The messages of Fátima
- The daily Rosary — asked for in every one of the six apparitions.
- The Five First Saturdays — confession, Communion, the Rosary and fifteen minutes of meditation, in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for five consecutive months.
- Sacrifice for sinners — offering small daily penances for the conversion of those who are being lost.
- The consecration of Russia — finally carried out by John Paul II on 25 March 1984.
The pilgrimages today
The dates of greatest attendance are 13 May (anniversary of the first apparition) and 13 October (Miracle of the Sun). The Shrine organises a pilgrimage on the 13th of every month. In 2024 it welcomed 6.2 million pilgrims, the highest figure up to then; for 2025 the estimate is 6.5 million.
An unforgettable story: the bullet in the crown
On 13 May 1981 —the exact anniversary of the first apparition at Fátima— the Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Ağca fired four shots at Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square. The Pope survived in a manner the doctors described as extraordinary. Convinced of the Virgin’s intercession, in 1984 he went on pilgrimage to Fátima and gave the bullet extracted from his body, which today is set in the crown of the image of the Virgin that presides over the Capelinha. Every pilgrim who enters the Shrine can see it, a silent witness of that 13th of May.