Marian devotion
Unknown photographer — Public domain, vía Wikimedia Commons
Why this page is the most important in the module
Because almost everything we know about Fatima we know about her. Francisco died ten years old in 1919; Jacinta died nine years old in 1920. Only Lucia wroteand wrote between 1935 and 1993, that is, between eighteen and seventy-six years after the events.
Whoever wants to understand Fatima really needs to know what document says what and what year it was written. Without that, everything becomes an indistinct mass of quotes, which is exactly the state in which it usually circulates.
And there's one thing to say from the beginning, because the official edition itself says:
"Clearly, Sister Lucia had no literary claim in writing these admirable documents. She was writing because they sent it to her. And it can be said that Lucia never wrote anything of her own free will.»
— Memories of Sister Lucia I, « Literary genre of Memories», p. 13. Own translation.
— Memories of Sister Lucia I, « Literary genre of Memories», p. 13. Own translation.
None of the six Memories were born on his own initiative. They were all written by obedience.
FIRST MEMORIA - December 1935
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | Starting in the second week of December 1935; Christmas Day ended, December 25, 1935 |
| Destinatario | El Bishop of Leiria, D. José Alves Correia da Silva |
| By order of | The Bishop of Leiria |
| Occupation | On September 12, 1935, the remains of Jacinta de Vila Nova de Ourém were transferred to the cemetery of Fatima; the bishop sent Lucia a photograph of the body; she responded on November 17, and those memories moved the bishop to send him to write |
| What is it? | A look at Jacinta. It is not a story of the apparitions: these only appear as a framework |
| Where is he? | Official edition, pp. 33-64 |
Sus primer palabar:
"After having implored the protection of the Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary, our tender Mother; [...] Here I am following the given order.»
What's here and nowhere else: Jacinta's intimate portrait - her character before the apparitions, her love for sinners, her mortifications, her disease and her death. Also the famous "meditation on hell" (pp. 44-45), the conversation in which a seven-year-old girl discovers what it means Eternity.
Which is NOT here: the apparitions of the Angel of 1916 not counted. They'll show up for the first time two years later.
SECOND MEMORIA - 7-21 November 1937
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | Comenzada el 7 November 1937, November 21 - 14 days, 38 folios written on both sides |
| Destinatario | El Bishop of Leiria |
| By order of | The Bishop, agreed with the Provincial Mother of the Doroteas, M.ª do Carmo Corte Real; the idea is part of a letter from Fr. Fonseca to the Bishop, April 1937 |
| Qué aporta que no esté en la anterior | The apparitions of the Angel of 1916 - for the first time -; 1915His first communion; the apparition of the Immaculate Heart in June 1917Ourém prison; interrogations |
| Where is he? | pp. 65-118; el Ángel, en pp. 76-79 |
Lucia herself defines it as "the story of Fatima as she is».
📌 Documentary critical capital data: the apparitions of the Angel - one of the best known parts of the story - not written until 1937Twenty-one years later. The editor himself highlights this: "In this memory the themes are surprising: the apparitions of the Angel..." (p. 65).
⚠️ And here's the date error that the editor fixes: in this Memory Sr Lucia places the apparition of Valinhos the August 15. Note 21 of the official edition responds: "It's a mistake.The day of return was, for sure, August 15; but the apparition will have been the following Sunday, on August 19. "The correction is based on the parish priest's interrogation of 21 August 1917.
THIRD MEMORIA - August 31, 1941: the secret
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | The August 31, 1941 |
| Destinatario | El obispo of Leiria-Fatima |
| By order of | Letter from the Bishop of 26 July 1941. Lucia herself says this in the prologue: "In obedience to the order that V. Excia. Rvma. gives me, in letter of July 26, 1941..." |
| Occupation | Prepare a new edition of the book Jacinta of Dr. Galamba de Oliveira for the Jubilee Year of 1942 |
| Qué aporta que no esté en las anteriores | The first and second part of the secret of July 13, 1917: the vision of hell, devotion to the Immaculate Heart, the sign of the illuminated night, the request for the consecration of Russia and the repairing communion of the first Saturdays, and the final triumph |
| Why it matters | This is the text that the Holy See chose in 2000 to publish the first two parts of the secret. |
| Where is he? | pp. 119-131 - What is the secret? p. 120; vision of hell, p. 121The Immaculate Heart, p. 125; Jacinta sees the Holy Father, p. 126; visions of war, p. 127 |
How she was born, told by her in letter to Fr. Gonçalves:
«This order fell at the bottom of my soul like a ray of light, telling me that it was time to reveal the first two parts of the secret [...]. The notes are made; but I doubt whether I give them away or rather I put them in the stove.»
- Introduction to the Third Report, p. 119.
- Introduction to the Third Report, p. 119.
Lease that last sentence. He was about to burn the text of Fatima's secret. In fact, he had already burned another: his first writing on the first five Saturdays (DCF, Doc. 93 of 27 January 1928).
CUARTA MEMORIA - 8 December 1941: the most extensive
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | The 7 October 1941 in Valença do Minho; primer cuaderno sent el 15 de noviembre; ended on 8 December 1941 |
| By order of | El Bishop of Leiria y el Dr. Galamba de Oliveira |
| What does it provide? | Seven explicit orders, including writing about Francisco as he had done about Jacinta; write with more details the apparitions of the Angel; y a new story of the apparitions. Here is the more detailed wording of the Angel (pp. 168-171) and from 13 May to 13 October (pp. 172-181) |
| What adds to the secret | The phrase "In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved, etc."and the chaculatory of the rosary (p. 177) |
| Where is he? | pp. 133-190 |
This is the Memory that is quoted when "the account of the apparitions" is quoted. Almost all the texts of the six apparitions circulating around the world come from these ten pages, written in 1941.
And what you keep quiet, deliberately: The third part of the secret. The editor says: "It is therefore only one third of the secret" (p. 133). And she says this herself, in a passage that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith itself contains in its note 6:
"So I begin my new work and will do the orders of V. E. Rvma. and Mr. Galamba's wishes. Except for the part of the secret that, for now, I'm not allowed to reveal, I'll say everything.»
QUINTA MEMORIA - 23 February 1989: about his father
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | 23 February 1989 |
| Place | Carmelo de Santa Teresa de Coimbra |
| By order of | Luciano Guerrathen rector of the Santuário de Fatima - the official chronology says: "a text that was repeatedly requested by Luciano Guerra, at that time rector of the Shrine of Fatima» |
| What does it provide? | The figure of his father, António dos Santosthe portrait of the family, the domestic life and the religious practice of Aljustrel |
| Where is he? | Memories of Sister Lucia II (1.ª ed. 1999; 6.ª ed. 2016) |
In this Memory is the explanation of the double date of his birth: her father declared her to be born on March 22, instead of March 28, so that she could be baptized without a fine.
SEXTA MEMORIA - 25 March 1993: about her mother
| Date | Content |
|---|---|
| Date | 25 March 1993 - the official chronology: "The Carmelite ends her sixth memory, dedicated to her mother's figure» |
| Place | Carmelo de Coimbra |
| By order of | El rector of the Santuário ⚠️ |
| What does it provide? | The figure of his mother, Maria Rosa |
| Where is he? | Memories of Sister Lucia II |
⚠️ Honest precision: the official chronology names Luciano Guerra for the Fifth Memory, but does not repeat the name for the Sixth. To say "Luciano Guerra asked both of you" is likely, but not verified at source. It's left here as it is.
The writing that is NOT a Memory: the third part of the secret (January 3, 1944)
No es una «septima memoria». Es o folio autógrafo, written in Tuy, 3 January 1944, kept on top of it. Its heading:
«J.M.J.
Third part of the secret revealed on July 13, 1917 in the Cova da Iria- Fatima.
I write in an act of obedience to you, my God, that you send it to me through His Excia. Rvma. the Lord Bishop of Leiria and of You and My Most Holy Mother.»
Third part of the secret revealed on July 13, 1917 in the Cova da Iria- Fatima.
I write in an act of obedience to you, my God, that you send it to me through His Excia. Rvma. the Lord Bishop of Leiria and of You and My Most Holy Mother.»
His story - the envelope, the two potatoes who read it and decided not to publish it, the publication of 2000 - is on the page "The Secret of Fatima".
WHERE IT IS LEEN: the editions, with their verified links
Official editions with PDF accessible
| Edition | Content | URL | HTTP |
|---|---|---|---|
| ** Shrine of Fatima — Memories of Sister Lucia I (record F002 * * from the collection Fonts, 13.ª ed., 2007, 240 pp.) | Memories I-IV + Appendices I (Pontevedra), II (Tuy) and III (CDF 2000 document) | https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F002_Memorias1.pdf | 200 |
| Secretariat of the Shepherds - the same book, own PDF | Memorias I-IV + Appendices (243 pp.) | https://pastorinhos.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/memorias-1.pdf | 200 |
| ** Shrine of Fatima — Critical Documentation of Fatima: Selection of documents (1917-1930) (record F001, 2013, 651 pp.) | 138 primary documents: 1917 interrogations, press, canonical process, letters from Lucia, pastoral letter 1930 | https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F001_DCF_selecao.pdf | 200 |
Useful data: The first two are the same book * * (13th ed., October 2007, ISBN 978-972-8524-18-0, printed de Leiria), with identical pagination. That the Sanctuary houses one of them as F002 gives it the character of official source online. All the quotes in this module have been made about that PDF.
Digitization in archive.org
| Edition | Content | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Memories of Lucia de Fatima - Spanish translation of the Joaquín M. Alonso, 10th edition of Spanish, September 2008 | I-IV + Appendices + CDF document, in Spanish | https://archive.org/details/MemoriasdeLuciadeFatima (HTTP 200) |
| Memories and Letters from Sister Lucia (1973), ed. facsímil del P. António Maria Martins | Memories and cards in facsimile - different historical edition | https://archive.org/details/memorias-e-cartas-irma-lucia-fac-simile (HTTP 200) |
What does NOT exist in open, said clearly
⚠️ There is no free and verifiable PDF of Memories V and VI (Memories of Sister Lucia II). Ni en
fatima.pt ni en pastorinhos.com (se probó …/memorias-2.pdf: HTTP 404). It only exists for sale in the Shrine store. Who cites Memories V and VI without having the book in his hand is citing second hand - and this module, which has not read them, only says of them what is contained in the editorial document and in the official chronology.⚠️ La ***Documentação Crítica de Fátima* completa —15 tomas, 8,217 pages, 3,811 documentspublished between 1992 and 2013 - It's not open. The consulting is the Selection de 2013, con 138 documents and an annex. When this module cites a document by number in the DCF, if you are quoting the reference that da la Selection, no el volumen original.
LAS DOS CAUTELAS QUE PONE LA PROPIA EDICIÓN OFICIAL
And with this the page is closed, because it is the most valuable thing to read before opening any book about Fatima. It's written by P. Joaquín M. Alonso, C.M.F. († 1981), author of the notes of the official edition, in its introduction (pp. 11-12):
"As for dates, is already known the insecurity of Lucia. [...] In fact, an intelligent criticism finds some purely accidental errors of dates, facts, circumstances. And even on the very occasion to make sure he transmits us ipsissima verbathe very words of the Virgin, that does not mean but that, in truth, she puts in it all her sincerity. What Lucia is always sure of - and says so - is the meaning of what it transmits.»
«Es necesario distinguir entre aquello que la Hermana Lucía nos presenta como Mensaje del Cielo y aquello que ella misma nos presenta como «reflexión» o «interpretación suya». […] Pero Lucía se presenta muchas veces como «reflexionando» sobre las palabras y los acontecimientos… ciertamente es un intérprete privilegiado, pero siempre y sólo «un» intérprete.»
And Sister Lucia herself, quoted right there, about a word she had used:
«La palabra «inspirados» quiere decir que, interiormente, nos sentíamos movidos a ello.»
This is the opposite of textual fundamentalism. And it comes from the official editor of the Memories, with printed of the Bishop of Leiria. Whoever runs Fatima more rigidly than the Fatima Sanctuary itself is doing something the Sanctuary does not do.
Sources of this page
- Memories of Sister Lucia I, 13.ª ed., Fátima, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007 — PDF oficial del Santuário, ficha F002:
https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F002_Memorias1.pdf(HTTP 200). Páginas 4-5, 11-13, 33-34, 44-45, 65, 119-133, 168-181 y notas 13, 14 y 21. - Shrine of Fatima, Annotated chronology of the three seers:
https://www.fatima.pt/pt/pages/cronologia-dos-videntes(HTTP 200). - Critical Documentation of Fatima. Selection of documents (1917-1930), Santuário de Fátima, 2013 — PDF oficial, ficha F001:
https://www.fatima.pt/files/upload/fontes/F001_DCF_selecao.pdf(HTTP 200). - Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "The Message of Fatima," June 26, 2000 (HTTP 200).
- Ficha editorial de Memories of Sister Lucia II:
https://store.fatima.pt/pt/produto/memorias-da-irma-lucia-ii/1010212660025(HTTP 200).
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