"The war
raged on. Europe was no stranger to war; but the ferocity and the scope
of this war were unprecedented. The slaughter proceeded on an industrial
scale. And there were the new horrors, beyond all description: the blood
and mud of trench warfare; poison gas; primitive tanks, whose operators could
not expect to survive more than a few minutes in an engagement; and air raids
over cities. While the three shepherd children of Fatima were keeping
their appointment with the Mother of God in the Cova da Iria on June 13, 1917,
18-20 German bombers struck the city of London in broad daylight, in one of the
worst air raids of the war. Four hundred people were injured, and 162 --
including 46 children -- perished.
The peace that had fled the world had also fled Fatima, particularly in the home of Lucia dos Santos. After the first apparition of Our Lady at the Cova da Iria, her little cousin, Jacinta, promptly broke the children's firm resolution not to tell anyone what they had seen; and thus began in earnest the sufferings the children promised to undergo for the conversion of sinners. From this point forward, the children were hounded by inquisitors, both pious and profane, and curiosity-seekers. But Lucia bore the added burden of persecution right at home. Her family treated her with contempt; and her mother, who had a great horror of lying, employed every means, including corporal punishment, to make her daughter admit that she was lying. It was hoped that the children would forget about the alleged apparitions amid the festivities of June 13th, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua.
But the children did not forget. At noon on the feast of St. Anthony, the children were not at the festa, but at the Cova. Lucia records in her Fourth Memoir:
The peace that had fled the world had also fled Fatima, particularly in the home of Lucia dos Santos. After the first apparition of Our Lady at the Cova da Iria, her little cousin, Jacinta, promptly broke the children's firm resolution not to tell anyone what they had seen; and thus began in earnest the sufferings the children promised to undergo for the conversion of sinners. From this point forward, the children were hounded by inquisitors, both pious and profane, and curiosity-seekers. But Lucia bore the added burden of persecution right at home. Her family treated her with contempt; and her mother, who had a great horror of lying, employed every means, including corporal punishment, to make her daughter admit that she was lying. It was hoped that the children would forget about the alleged apparitions amid the festivities of June 13th, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua.
But the children did not forget. At noon on the feast of St. Anthony, the children were not at the festa, but at the Cova. Lucia records in her Fourth Memoir:
As soon as
Jacinta, Francisco and I had finished praying the Rosary, with a number of
other people who were present, we saw once more the flash reflecting the light
which was approaching (which we called lightning). The next moment, Our
Lady was there on the holmoak, exactly the same as in May.
"What do you want of me?" I
asked.
"I wish you to come here on the
13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read.
Later, I will tell you what I want."
Amid the
rending torments of nations, heaven remembers individuals, even the least of
them, down to the last detail.
I asked for
the cure of a sick person.
"If he
is converted, he will be cured during the year."
"I would like to ask you to take us
to heaven."
"Yes. I will take Jacinta and
Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer. Jesus
wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to
establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."
Some time
longer...The Mother of God has a gift for
understatement. Jacinta and Francisco would both leave this world within
three years, but another 88 years would pass before Our Lady would come for
Lucia.
"Am I
to stay here alone?" I asked, sadly.
"No, my daughter. Are you
suffering a great deal? Don't lose heart. I will never forsake
you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead
you to God."
As Our Lady spoke these last words, she
opened her hands and for the second time, she communicated to us the rays of
that same immense light. We saw ourselves in this light, as it were,
immersed in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in that part of the
light which rose towards heaven, and I in that which was poured out on the
earth. In front of the palm of Our Lady's right hand was a heart
encircled by thorns which pierced it. We understood that this was the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity, and seeking
reparation.
In her
Third Memoir, Lucia looks back on the effects of this second apparition on her
and her cousins:
...Our Lady
told me on June 13, 1917 that she would never forsake me, and that her
Immaculate Heart would be my refuge and the way that would lead me to
God. As she spoke these words, she opened her hands, and from them
streamed a light that penetrated to our inmost hearts. I think that, on
that day, the main purpose of this light was to infuse within us a special
knowledge and love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as on the other two
occasions it was intended to do, as it seems to me, with regard to God and the
mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.
From that day onwards, our hearts were
filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From
time to time, Jacinta said to me: "The Lady said that her Immaculate Heart
will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don't you love
that? Her Heart is so good! How I love it!"
In the Fourth Memoir, Lucia describes more particularly the effects of this apparition on Francisco:
...Francisco
was deeply impressed by the light which, as I related in the second account,
Our Lady communicated to us at the moment when she said: "My Immaculate
Heart will be your refuge and the way which will lead you to God."...
He remarked
sometimes:
"These people are so happy just
because you told them that Our Lady wants the Rosary said, and that you are to
learn to read! How would they feel if they only knew what she showed us
in God, in her Immaculate Heart, in that great light! But this is a secret;
it must not be spoken about. It's better that no one should know
it."
But greater secrets -- and greater sufferings -- were to come."
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