A woman asked Francisco for the grace of reconciliation between her son and his father, because her husband had expelled the son from home. Francisco replied that he would soon go to Heaven and then ask Our Lady for this grace.
On the afternoon of the day Francisco died, the woman’s son asked his father for forgiveness for the second time, because he had been denied the first time, not wanting to submit to the conditions his father had imposed. This time he submitted to everything his father imposed and peace was restored to that home.
Category: An example of sanctity
Jacinta’s healings
While Lúcia went to pray the Rosary with the people, Jacinta agreed to stay for a while in the house of a family where there was a man who had been suffering from hiccups for more than three years and therefore he could not rest. After three days, they learned that the man had been cured of his hiccups, as well as his excessive nervousness and weakness.
Jacinta prayed for the son of Lucia’s aunt, named Vitória. The boy had abandoned his parents’ home, his whereabouts were unknown, he squandered everything he had stolen from his parents, became a vagabond and ended up in prison.
One night he managed to escape and, walking among hills and pine forests, lost in the darkness of the night, the only resource he still had was prayer.
He began to pray and shortly afterwards, Jacinta appeared to him, took him by the hand, led him to a certain place and then gave him instructions to reach a known path. When he arrived at his parents’ house, he asked their forgiveness.
Jacinta claims to know nothing and the only thing she did was pray a lot to Our Lady.
Inspirations, desires, and visions of Francisco and Jacinta
Francisco and Jacinta hid in the cave of a rock, Loca do Cabeço, to avoid the people who were looking for them. The cave protected them from the rain and the hot sun. It was in this place that Jacinta offered countless prayers and sacrifices.
Lúcia’s mother began marking her pastures so that she would always know where her daughter was in case she needed to call her.
Later, she decided to sell the flock so as not to waste time constantly calling Lúcia and having to send one of her sisters to replace her.
Later, the mothers of the three shepherd children decided to send them to school.
When they spoke of the Angel of Peace, they didn’t know what they felt. Jacinta said that she could no longer speak, sing or play, and had no strength for anything.
Francisco confirmed the same symptoms as Jacinta and added that it didn’t matter, the Angel of Peace was more beautiful than all of that, and they should think about him.
Inspirations, desires and visions of Jacinta and Lúcia
On one of the occasions, when Lúcia was questioned by Dr. Manuel Nunes Formigão Júnior, he advised her to love Our Lord very much for the many graces and benefits that must have been granted to her.
Lúcia felt inspired by those words and formulated this short prayer: “My God, I love You, in gratitude for the graces You have granted me.” Then she communicated her short prayer to Francisco and Jacinta. Jacinta appreciated it very much and frequently reminded them, even during playtime, to tell Our Lord that they loved Him.”
Jacinta and Lúcia saw and heard the Angel of Peace.
Inspirations, desires, and visions of Francisco, Jacinta, and Lúcia
Lúcia began to consider the possibility that those manifestations could be the work of the devil, lost her enthusiasm for the practice of sacrifice, and considered whether she should say that she had lied and thus end it all. Francisco and Jacinta persuaded her not to consider the apparitions a work of the devil and not to lie to regarding them.
Lúcia felt relieved when she isolated herself, even from Francisco and Jacinta.
The idea that the apparitions could be the work of the devil had resurfaced in Lúcia; she began to consider that she should not attend the apparition of July 13th and ended up making that decision.
In the apparition of the Angel of Peace in 1916, along with Francisco and Jacinta, Lucia mentions that she felt the presence of God in a very intense and intimate way, to the point that even they could not speak of such a phenomenon among themselves. None of them thought of speaking or recommending secrecy, and it was not easy to utter the slightest word about it.
The words of the Angel of Peace were engraved in their souls like a light that made them understand who God was, revealing to them how He loved them and wanted to be loved, the value of sacrifice and how pleasing it was to Him, as well as making sacrifices for the conversion of sinners.
Jacinta recounts what they saw on May 13th. 1917: “(…) we saw another flash of lightning and, after taking a few steps further on, we saw, on a holm oak tree, a Lady, dressed all in white, brighter than the sun, scattering light, clearer and more intense than a crystal glass, full of crystal-clear water, pierced by the rays of the most ardent sun. We stopped, surprised by the apparition. We were so close that we were within the light that surrounded Her or that She scattered, perhaps a meter and a half away, more or less.”
After the dialogue with Our Lady, Lúcia recounts what happened: “Our Lady opened her hands for the first time and directed to them a beam of light so intense, as if a reflection emanating from them, that penetrating our chests and the innermost part of our souls, it made us see ourselves in God, who was that light, more clearly than we see ourselves in the best of mirrors.”
Inspirations, desires and visions of Jacinta
Jacinta exclaimed that they would have to make many sacrifices for the souls that were in hell and blessed Our Lady, as well as her promise to take them to Heaven.
Jacinta expressed several times that she would like to see the Holy Father.
Jacinta asked Lúcia to tell the Administration in Ourém, in case they wanted to kill her, that they were like her and also wanted to die.
She wished her parents had visited her when she was in prison in Ourém.
Francisco and Jacinta’s mother handed over the task of shepherding to her son João, thus going after the two younger children and replacing them, whenever someone appeared to talk to them, was no longer necessary.
It was a painful decision for Jacinta because she didn’t want to talk to everyone who sought her out; she preferred to stay with Lúcia all day.
At school, during recess, Jacinta liked to visit the Blessed Sacrament, but when she entered the Church, a number of people would appear to question her.
Jacinta wished to spend a lot of time alone with the hidden Jesus, but it was never possible because the people who approached them wouldn’t allow it. They would divert their attention to their needs, afflictions and personal problems. Jacinta reacted with pity and sometimes exclaimed: “We have to pray and offer sacrifices to Our Lord so that He may convert and save him from hell, poor fellow!”
Jacinta tried to avoid the people who sought them out and did so whenever possible.
When the Priest Cruz visited the shepherd children to question them, he taught Jacinta and Lúcia a litany of ejaculatory prayers. Jacinta chose these two ejaculatory prayers, which she frequently repeated: “O my Jesus, I love you” and “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation.”
Jacinta wished to visit Francisco, she expressed this interest on several occasions, but she never went to visit him.
Jacinta very much wanted Lúcia to go with her to the hospital, but she understood that this would not be possible and added: “Perhaps the hospital is a very dark house, where you can’t see anything; and I am there suffering alone! But it doesn’t matter, I suffer for the love of Our Lord, to repair the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father.”
When the time came for Francisco to leave for Heaven, Jacinta asked him to tell Our Lord and Our Lady that she missed them very much and that she would suffer everything They wanted for the conversion of sinners and for the reparation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
When Jacinta was at the hospital, she expressed interest in seeing Lúcia.
On the next visit, despite the numerous sacrifices, her mother took Lúcia to the hospital. Jacinta was very happy with her visit.
When Jacinta was about to go to the hospital in Lisbon, she asked Lúcia to pray a lot for her to console her, because she would not see her again, because she would not visit her and because she would die alone.
Jacinta said that before dying she would like to receive the hidden Jesus. Once in Heaven, it was her desire to love Jesus very much, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to pray a lot for Lúcia, for sinners, for the Holy Father, for her parents, for her siblings and for all the people who asked Our Lady through her intercession.
Our Lady appeared to Jacinta when she was already in the hospital, telling her the day and hour she would die.
Jacinta, in a message to Lúcia, recommended that she be very good.
The vision of hell horrified her so much that she considered all penances and mortifications to be almost worthless in freeing some souls from hell.
Jacinta was motivated to practice mortification and penance despite being only six years old.
The only known source of this motivation, according to Lúcia, is that God granted Jacinta a special grace through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and also because she acquired knowledge about hell through a vision she had during one of the apparitions.
She would often say, thoughtfully:
“Hell! Hell! What a pity I feel for the souls that go to hell! And the people there alive, burning like firewood in the fire!” and then she would pray the prayer that Our Lady had taught her:
O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell; lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need.
Jacinta liked Our Lady to show hell to sinners so that they would stop sinning, and she asked Lúcia to make this request to Our Lady.
Several times, Jacinta mentioned, after a period of reflection, that many souls were going to hell, she said:
“So many people falling into hell, so many people in hell!”
In the Lisbon hospital, Jacinta mentioned that the class of sins that most offended God were sins of the flesh.
Jacinta had a vision of the Holy Father:
“I saw the Holy Father in a very large house, kneeling before a table, with his hands on his face, crying.
Outside the house there were many people and some were throwing stones at him, others were cursing him and saying many ugly words to him.”
Jacinta had a second vision of the Holy Father:
“Don’t you see so many roads, so many paths and fields full of people, crying from hunger, and there is nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a Church, before the Immaculate Heart of Mary, praying? And so many people praying with Him?”
Jacinta had a vision of the war: “So many people will die! And almost all will go to hell! Many houses will be destroyed and many priests killed.”
Jacinta thought about the war that was to come: “In this war that is to come, so many people will die and go to hell. What a pity! If they stopped offending God, neither the war would come, nor would they go to hell!”
While hospitalized, Jacinta repeatedly expressed her desire to receive the hidden Jesus. She said it this way once, and on another occasion, shortly before going to the hospital, she said she would like to receive the hidden Jesus in the Church and added that if the Angel of Peace came to the hospital to bring her Holy Communion, she would be very happy.
On one occasion after Mass, Jacinta mentioned that she didn’t know what it was like, but she felt Our Lord inside her and understood what He was saying to her even though she couldn’t see or hear Him.
On another similar occasion, she mentioned that Our Lord was sad because we did not heed Our Lady’s request when she asked not to offend Him anymore, as He was already very offended, and no one paid attention, they continued committing the same sins.
Jacinta reprimanded anyone who, in her presence, said or did something displeasing to God. She would tell them: “Don’t do that, you offend God Our Lord; And He is already so offended!”
Other examples of Jacinta’s reaction were these:
“Don’t say that, it offends God Our Lord.”
“Don’t let your little children commit sins, they could go to hell.”
“Tell them not to do that, it’s a sin; that they offend God Our Lord and then they can condemn themselves.”
When the day came for Jacinta to leave for the Lisbon hospital, during the farewell, Lúcia felt heartbroken. Jacinta asked her to pray a lot for her until she went to Heaven, then she would pray a lot for her.
She also asked her not to tell the secret to anyone even if they tried to kill her and to love Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary very much and make many sacrifices for sinners.
Inspirations, desires and visions of Francisco
When they were in prison, Francisco comforted Jacinta, persuading her not to cry and to offer that suffering as a sacrifice to Jesus for the conversion of sinners.
Francisco only saw the Angel of Peace, but did not hear what he said, while Jacinta and Lúcia saw and heard the Angel of Peace.
While grazing sheep on a farm called Pedreira, Francisco wandered away from Jacinta and Lúcia and went into the hollow of a quarry.
After a while they heard him shouting. He saw a creature from hell and was very frightened.
Jacinta confronted him with this question: “You never want to think about hell, so you won’t be afraid, and now you’re the first to be afraid!?”
Francisco wished to confess so that he could receive Communion before he died.
Inspirations, desires and visions of Lúcia
When they were in prison, at a certain point, the three of them were brought together in a room. Lúcia consoled Jacinta, persuading her to offer that suffering as a sacrifice for the conversion of sinners.
Lúcia consoled Jacinta so that she would not be afraid to die alone, for Our Lady would come to her aid. Reminding her of this fact brought her some relief, for Jacinta’s mind focused mainly on the fact of dying alone, as if she had forgotten Our Lady’s words and could only keep present the fact that Lúcia could not be with her at the moment of death.
Lúcia wished she could make her First Communion, but since she had not yet turned seven years old, it seemed impossible. She was saddened, sobbing and crying because she could not make her First Communion the next day. Meanwhile, a priest from outside entered the church to assist the Parish Priest with confessions.
It was the Priest Father Cruz who, seeing Lúcia in that state, consoled her and, together with the local Parish Priest, managed to reverse the situation. They gave Lúcia the opportunity to confess that day and receive her First Communion the following day, even though she had not yet reached the minimum age.
Lúcia was very happy; she confessed that afternoon to Priest Father Cruz, who blessed her: “My daughter, your soul is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Keep it forever pure so that He may continue His divine action in it.”
Lúcia felt touched by Father Cruz’s words and asked how she should act.
On the morning of July 13, Lúcia felt impelled by a strange force to go to the site of the apparitions at Cova da Iria. Before setting out, she passed by Francisco and Jacinta’s house and found them both in their room. Jacinta was kneeling by the bed, crying.
On the way to the Parish Priest’s house, Lúcia questions her mother and calls her to reason – her request is for her to lie about the facts. However, if she saw the apparitions, then it is right that she say what she saw, that is, tell the truth. Her mother agreed with her and asked her to tell only the truth.
Lúcia mentioned that she offered her Memoirs to God and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which resulted from her poor and humble submission to those who represent God on Earth and He asked that they be made fruitful for the glory and good of souls.
The Angel of Peace first appeared to Lúcia and three of her companions in 1915. While they were praying the Rosary outside, Lúcia saw a kind of cloud hovering over the trees in the valley, whiter than snow and somewhat transparent, with a human form. Her companions asked her what it was, and she replied that she did not know. The phenomenon was repeated two more times on different days.
In these apparitions, the Angel of Peace never spoke to anyone; he was only seen.
Lúcia was not indifferent; a strange impression remained within her, which faded over time.
Lúcia mentions that the apparitions of the Angel of Peace and Our Lady produced in them, in certain aspects, identical feelings and in other aspects, opposite feelings.
The feelings common to the apparitions of the Angel of Peace and Our Lady were inner joy, peace, and happiness.
In the apparitions of Our Lady, they felt a certain expansive agility, an exultation of joy, and a certain communicative enthusiasm instead of physical dejection, annihilation in the Divine presence, and difficulty in speaking.
Lúcia asked Our Lady for the healing of a sick person. She replied that if he converted, he would be healed during the year. Then he asked Her to take them to Heaven. Our Lady told her that she would take Francisco and Jacinta soon, but she would remain on Earth for some time longer.
Current situation and God’s will in the present
Our Lady told them that many souls were going to hell.
At the end of the apparition of August 19, Our Lady again recommended the following to them: “Pray, pray much, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to sacrifice and pray for them.”
In the apparition of September 13, Our Lady told them that God was pleased with their sacrifices, but did not want them to wear the rope while they slept; they should only wear it during the day.
So they did, exactly as God had asked them.
In the apparition of October 13, Our Lady requested the following: “Do not offend God Our Lord any more, for He is already greatly offended.”
Our Lady revealed to them a secret that was divided into three parts: (1) the vision of hell, (2) devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and (3) a scene from the life of the Holy Father that would later be transmitted to him by letter.
The vision of hell according to Lúcia’s description: “Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire that seemed to be underground. Immersed in this fire were demons and souls, like transparent, black or bronze-colored embers, in human form, floating in the conflagration, carried by the flames that issued from themselves along with clouds of smoke, falling on all sides, like sparks falling in a great fire without weight or balance, amidst cries and groans of pain and despair that horrified and made one tremble with terror.
The demons were distinguished by horrible and disgusting forms of terrifying and unknown animals, but transparent and black.”
Our Lady added: “You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go; to save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war will end. But, if you do not stop offending God, in the reign of Pius XI another worse war will begin.
When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you. He is going to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and the Holy Father.
To prevent your punishment, I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and for Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.
If you heed my requests, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated, and in the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph.
The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted, and some time of peace will be granted to the world.”
The three shepherd children fell to their knees, after seeing themselves in God, through the light that Our Lady directed to them, and repeated: “O Most Holy Trinity, I adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Most Blessed Sacrament.”
Finally, she added: “Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.”
Our Lady told them: “Jesus wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world.”
Lúcia said that when Our Lady uttered her last words in the June apparition, she opened her hands and communicated to them, for the second time, the reflection of that immense light. “We saw ourselves in that light as if submerged in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in the part of the light that rose to Heaven and I in the part that spread over the Earth.
In front of the palm of Our Lady’s right hand, there was a heart surrounded by thorns that seemed to be embedded in it.
We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity, which required reparation.”
In the July apparition, Our Lady gave them a vision of hell: “(…) we saw as it were a sea of fire. Immersed in this fire, the demons and souls, like transparent and black or bronze embers, in human form, floated in the conflagration, carried away by the flames that issued from themselves along with clouds of smoke, falling on all sides, like sparks falling in great fires, without weight or balance, amid cries and groans of pain and despair that horrified and made one tremble with terror (…). The demons were distinguished by horrible and disgusting forms of terrifying and unknown animals, but transparent and like black burning coals.”
Our Lady also told them that God wanted to establish devotion to Her Immaculate Heart to save the souls of poor sinners who had fallen into hell.
Our Lady continued her request, saying: “If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war will end. But, if you do not stop offending God, in the reign of Pius XI another worse war will begin.
In the October apparition, Our Lady told them: “Build a chapel here in my honor, for I am Our Lady of the Rosary, and continue to pray the Rosary every day. The war will end and the soldiers will soon return to their homes.”
Lúcia asked her for the healing and conversion of certain people. Our Lady told her that she would heal and convert some, but not others, because it is necessary that they amend their ways, that they ask forgiveness for their sins.
REFER TO OUR LADY OF QUIBEO
She added: “Do not offend God Our Lord any more, for He is already greatly offended.”
As Lúcia recounted: “And after opening her hands, she made them reflect in the Sun. And as she rose, the reflection of her own light continued to project onto the Sun.” Moved by an inner impulse, Lúcia indicated to the people that they should look at the Sun.
When Our Lady disappeared into the sky, everyone saw: “Beside the Sun, Saint Joseph with the Child and Our Lady dressed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph with the Child seemed to bless the world with gestures that they made with their hands in the form of a cross.
Shortly after, this apparition faded, and I saw Our Lord and Our Lady, who gave me the impression of being Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord seemed to bless the world in the same way as Saint Joseph.
This apparition faded, and I seemed to see Our Lady again in a form similar to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”
The duties of Francisco
Francisco learned of Our Lady’s request through Jacinta and Lúcia that he should pray many Rosaries, and reacted thus: “O my Lady, I will pray as many Rosaries as You wish.”
Francisco wanted to console Our Lord and then convert sinners so that they would no longer offend Him.
Sometimes, upon arriving in Fátima, he would say to Lúcia: “You go to school. I will stay here in the Church, together with the hidden Jesus.”
Francisco was not very talkative and liked to make his prayers and sacrifices completely alone.