Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/581284
15 continued on page 16 The First Apparition of Our Lady In the following spring, on May 13th 1917, the children were pasturing their flock as usual at the Cova, 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, but it was rather the reflection of a light that approached little by little. Frightened by the flash, the children saw that the sky was clear and bright without any clouds. No breeze stirred, the sun was strong, and there was no hint anywhere of a storm. But, the children thought it best to head home in case it might rain. As they descended the hill, another flash of lightning took them by surprise. There, standing over the foliage of a small holm oak, was "a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun, shedding rays of light, clear and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water, pierced by the burning rays of 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 beautiful lady replied, gently raising her hand towards the distant horizon. "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." Second Apparition of Our Lady On June 13, 1917, accompanied by about 50 people, the children were reciting the rosary, there was again the lightning, and the Lady on the holm oak appeared. "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 Francis 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 shown her light on the children. Jacinta and Francis 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 Lady's right hand there was a heart surrounded by thorns. They understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary offended by the sins of men, and she asked for reparation. Third Apparition of Our Lady On July 13, 1917, as the children recited the rosary with the crowd, they saw the usual light and then the Lady on the holm oak. 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 1 2 3 A crowd of people watches the Miracle of the Sun during an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal on October 13, 1917.