When the sun danced

The beatification of two of the three witnesses of Our Lady of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, was to take place in Rome on 9 April. It has now been rescheduled for 13 May in Fatima, where up to a million people will attend - here’s how it all started

By Renzo Allegri

With Spring this year will come the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the three little shepherds to whom, at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, Our Lady appeared, turning Fatima into one of the best-known Marian shrines in the world. At the time, Francisco was nine, and Jacinta just seven years old. With them was their cousin, Lucia Dos Santos, who was ten. Francisco died in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920, as the apparition of Our Lady had prophesied, while Lucia, who became a cloistered nun, is still alive. Today she is 92 years old and lives in Coimbra, Portugal, the birthplace of Saint Anthony.

Where it all began

In view of the beatification which will make Jacinta and Francisco the youngest saints in the history of the Church, we propose to get to know them better. In the last issue of the Messenger, we looked at their short lives in this world with the help of one of their brothers, João Marto, today a sprightly 93-year-old, who gave his important testimony. We will now look at the  startling events in which the two young shepherds and their cousin, Lucia, played an important part.
It all began in the Spring of 1916. These were difficult times for the countries of Europe which were locked in the fratricidal conflict of the First World War. The Bolshevik Revolution was about to explode in Russia. Economic and political conditions in Portugal were desperate. Furthermore, the ruling classes were bringing a widespread and violent conflict against the Catholic Church. The authorities were sending primary school children to demonstrate on the streets with placards which read ‘Neither God nor religion’.
Fatima, located in the central region of Portugal about 50 km from the Atlantic coast, was at the time a small farming village which was scarcely affected by the changes taking place in the big cities. The town’s name derived from the years of the Moor invasions: Fatima was the daughter of Mohammed, the great prophet of Islam. In a district of the town called Aljustrel, a couple of miles from the centre, lived the Dos Santos and Marto families, which were related. They were farmers, and earned their daily bread from their toil on the land.
Their youngest children of these families, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and Lucia Dos Santos, had the chore of looking after the flock. Every day they would take the sheep to pasture in the hills near the village. They were normal, lively children who had received a traditional religious education from their parents.

An angel cometh

One day, in the spring of 1916, they were with the flock on a hill in front of their village. Since it had begun to rain, they took refuge among the rocks. But then the sun came out again, and they recommenced their games. At that moment, a brilliant light descended among them in which, Lucia later recounted, they saw a young man of about 14 or 15 years old, extremely handsome, whiter than snow and clearer than crystal cut from the rays of the sun.
The young man approached them and said: Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me. He knelt, lowering his head towards the ground. The three young shepherds did likewise, and prayed with him. They were so struck by the vision that for some days, they couldn’t even manage to speak among themselves.

Some months later, in the summer, while the children were playing near the well behind Lucia’s house, they again met the angel, who instructed them to pray, because Jesus and Mary wanted them as their messengers of mercy.

They saw the angel a third time in the autumn, once again while they were pasturing the sheep in the hills. In his hands, the angel held a chalice, above which there was a host which was dripping blood. Leaving the host and chalice suspended in the air, the angel lay down on the ground next to the three shepherds and prayed with them. Then he took the chalice and host and administered Holy Communion to the children.

Vision of a Lady

Six months passed. May 13, 1917, was a Sunday. It was a beautiful, sunny day. After Mass, the three little shepherds took the sheep from their pen, and headed towards Cova da Iria, a small valley two kilometres from their village of Aljustrel.

While the sheep pastured, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta prayed. And all of a sudden, towards midday, an extraordinary thing happened. We saw a brilliant light, like a bolt of lightning, tells Lucia. We thought a summer storm was in the offing, and decided to head for home. We had just begun to move the flock along when, on a holm oak a little way in front of us, we saw a Lady dressed in white. She was brighter than the sun, and the light emanating from her was brighter and more intense than that of a sunbeam passing through a glass of crystal-clear water.

The children were at one time awe-struck and amazed.
Do not be afraid, said the Lady. I will do you no harm.
Where did you come from? asked Lucia.
From Heaven, was the reply.
What do you want? asked the children.
I have come to ask you to return here at this hour on the thirteenth day of each month for six consecutive months. Then I will tell you who I am and what I want. After some moments, she went on: Are you willing to offer yourselves to God, and to bear all the pain that He will send you, as an act of redemption for the sins which have offended him and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?
We are willing, replied Lucia.
Say the Rosary every day in order to bring about the end of the war and to have peace in the world, said the Lady. She then began to rise slowly towards the heavens until, finally, she disappeared from sight.

Jacinta spills the beans

The three children remained there, transfixed, for some time, gazing into the blue skies. Then, when they recovered their senses, they spent the whole afternoon talking about what they had seen. They decided not to say anything to anyone, since they realised that nobody would have believed them. But when she arrived home Jacinta, who was the youngest, was unable to keep the secret from her own mother. The mother was worried and talked about Jacinta’s affirmations with her family and friends. Word spread, and trouble began for the three children. Nobody believed them, and so everyone made fun of them.

June 13 soon arrived. The three little shepherds went anxiously to the appointed place. At Cova da Iria, they saw about fifty other people who had come out of curiosity. As She had promised, the Lady returned to see the children. She reminded them to pray, and then said that she would soon take Francisco and Jacinta to Heaven, while Lucia would remain on Earth to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary throughout the world. Lucia was saddened by the idea of being left alone, but the Lady reassured her: I will never abandon you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge, and the way which leads you to God. Then she disappeared.

An apocalyptic prophecy

During the third apparition, on July 13, Lucia asked Our Lady for a miracle. She said that nobody believed what they saw, and that some priests had said that their visions were the work of the devil. She wished for a miracle so that people would stop making fun of the three children and believe in what had happened. The Lady replied: In October I will say who I am and what I want, and I will work a miracle which all who are present will see.

Then she opened her hands and the three children saw the ghastly vision of Hell. The woman told them: To save people’s souls, God wants to establish the devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. If they do what I say, many will be saved and find peace. The war is about to end, but if humanity does not stop offending God, there will come another, more terrible war. When you see a night lit up by an unknown light, know that that is the great sign that God will give you before punishing the world for its crimes through war and hunger, and through the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. If my requests are heeded, Russia will convert and there will be peace; if not, that country will spread its errors around the world, bringing war and persecution against the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will suffer much, many nations will be wiped out, but in the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.
News of the apparitions had reached Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. The political authorities were indignant. The newspapers wrote about a ‘hoax’ which would have to be discredited. The mayor of Vila Nova, who had jurisdiction over the town of Fatima, felt this as a personal affront. On the morning of 13 August, he decided to ‘kidnap’ the three young prophets. On a spurious pretext, he brought them to the town hall, and kept them there so that they could not keep their appointment with the Lady. They had to undergo hours of interrogation and threats intended to make them recant their affirmations, but the children would not give in. After two days of being held in the town hall, on 15 August they were taken home. On August 19, while they were pasturing the flock in Valinhos, the Lady appeared to them and comforted them for all they had suffered. She also reassured them that in October she would give a Great Sign.

Political opposition

The political authorities practically declared war on the apparitions, more so because many people had begun to take the declarations of the three children seriously. Journalists had even begun to arrive from abroad, spreading the news of the apparitions and the irritation that the political authorities were demonstrating because of them. From Lisbon, the order came to put a definitive end to this comedy.
But by now the politicians were no longer in control of the situation. Fatima was crowded with people who had arrived from all parts of the country, and many others from abroad. Believers and those who were just curious kept a close watch on the political authorities, whose every move was reported by the press.
As September 13 approached, the number of pilgrims increased. When the day itself arrived, a crowd of 25,000 people thronged Cova da Iria. On that day, too, the Lady reminded the children to pray fervently, and confirmed that she would give them a great sign the next month.

The word spreads

Lucia always told of what the Lady had said to her. News of the forthcoming miracle swept around Europe. There was a great deal of anticipation and curious interest. The Portuguese authorities intensified their attacks, with the help of Church authorities. Priests and bishops looked ahead with trepidation because, if no miracle were forthcoming, the reputation of the Church in Portugal could suffer irreparable damage. Many priests approached the three children, begging them to retract all their claims. On 12 October, Lucia’s mother said to her daughter: If tomorrow Our Lady doesn’t perform a miracle, the people are going to kill us.
On October 13, 1917, Cova da Iria was packed with people. There were seventy thousand in all: devotees, the curious, those who didn’t believe in the apparitions, atheists, and many journalists and photographers.
It was an awful day. It was raining heavily, and the people, who had begun gathering at the site of the apparitions since the early morning, were soaked to the skin.
At precisely midday, the Lady arrived. She said to the three children: I am Our Lady of the Rosary. I want to ask you to build a chapel in my honour. Continue to say the Rosary every day. The war is about to end.
Then, she opened her arms and turned her palms towards the cloud-filled sky. At that instant, the clouds parted and the sun appeared, its rays shining directly onto the hands of Our Lady. She began to rise towards the sky, and the young prophets saw other heavenly characters - angels and saints - appear from the breach in the clouds. They formed a crown for Our Lady, rising towards the sun with her.

The dancing sun

At a certain moment, Lucia turned to the crowd and shouted: Look at the sun! People looked skywards and were struck by an amazing sight. As reported in an article published by a Lisbon newspaper, O Secolo: the sun was like a disc of dull silver. One could look at it directly without straining the eyes. It didn’t burn and it didn’t blind. Then it began to jump and dance in the sky. It almost seemed as if it were about to detach itself from its orbit and come hurtling down to earth. The people were frightened and began to  shout and cry, desperately searching for some place to hide. Then the sun stopped moving and returned to its normal position. At that moment everyone realised that their clothes, which only a few minutes before had been dripping wet, were now bone dry.
This event made a huge impression. All the newspapers reported the story. Even the biggest cynics were struck by what had happened. The event had been predicted months before by the children, and had been witnessed by 70,000 people. What had happened could not have been the fruit of suggestion or mass hysteria.
That October 13, 1917, was officially the last time that the three young prophets would see ‘the Lady in white’. But on that day, the real story of Fatima began. The ecclesiastic authorities and faithful Christians realised that perhaps those events deserved their attention. Many studies were thus begun, many reflections made. There was great interest in the messages of Our Lady, and the secrets she had confided to the three young prophets. This interest is still very much alive, especially with respect to what is known as the ‘Third secret of Fatima’. Thousands of guesses have been made as to the nature of this secret, but its true content has not yet been revealed.