Three children reported seeing apparitions of an angel who identified himself as Guardian Angel of Portugal followed by apparitions of Mary. Mary revealed to the children three secrets: first, the reality of hell and the means of saving people from it through personal sacrifices and Acts of reparation; second, a prediction of future upheavals (beginning with World War II), the spiritual means of ending them (a Consecration of Russia and Communions of reparation on First Saturdays), and a prediction of an eventual “triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary” third, an obscure vision of future persecution of the Church. The apparitions culminated with the Miracle of the Sun, an astronomical phenomenon witnessed by a crowd of approximately 70,000 people, and even by others located miles away. All nine popes since the apparitions Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have indicated their belief in the authenticity of the apparitions. Pope John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on the May 13 feast day of the apparition in 1981, and donated the bullet that wounded him to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima. In 1925, eight years after the Fátima events, Lúcia, then Sister Lúcia, reported another set of related apparitions, which became known as the Pontevedra apparitions. The Apparitions was approved in October 13, 1930.
1915 Occurrences
In 1915, on the top of Monte do Cabeço, Lucia and her three companions – Teresa Matias, her sister Maria Rosa and Maria Justino – witnessed manifestations thus described in the seer’s Memoirs:
We had hardly begun when, there before our eyes, we saw a figure poised in the air above the trees; it looked like a statue made of snow, rendered almost transparent by the rays of the sun.
– “What is that?” asked my companions, quite frightened.
– “I don’t know!”
We went on praying, with our eyes fixed on the figure before us, and as we finished our prayer, the figure disappeared”
Apparitions of the Angel in 1916
First apparition of the Angel
Location: Loca do Cabeço, Pregueira in Valinhos
Date: 1916 Spring
“Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.”
Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the earth. Led by a supernatural impulse, we did the same, and repeated the words which we heard him say:
“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You!”
Having repeated these words three times, he rose and said:
“Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.”
Second apparition of the Angel
Location: Backyard of Lucia’s house, next to Poço do Arneiro
Date: 1916 Summer
– “What are you doing?” he asked. “Pray! Pray very much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.”
– “How are we to make sacrifices?” I asked.
– “Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission, the suffering which the Lord will send you.
Third apparition of the Angel
Location: Loca do Cabeço
Date: 1916 Fall
[…] holding a chalice in his hands, with a host above it from which some drops of blood were falling into the sacred vessel. Leaving the chalice and the host suspended in the air, the Angel prostrated on the ground and repeated this prayer three times:
– “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference with which He Himself is offended. And, through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.”
Then, rising, he once more took the chalice and the host in his hands. He gave the host to me, and to Jacinta and Francisco he gave the contents of the chalice to drink, saying as he did so:
“Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God.”
Once again, he prostrated on the ground and repeated with us threetimes more, the same prayer. “Most Holy Trinity…”