Page1 1 Fatima: Chronological Outline The Location According to tradition, the small village of Fatima was named after a young Muslim woman who was captured by the Portuguese after a victory over the Muslims in 1158. The Portuguese were seeking to reconquer the territories seized by the invading Muslims in the 8 th century. This young woman was named Fatima after one of the daughters of Muhammad. According to reports, one of her captors, the Portuguese knight, Gonçalo Hermingues, fell in love with her. He asked for her hand in marriage. Fatima agreed and was baptized a Christian with the name Oureana, the golden one. Sadly, Oureana (Fatima) died soon after her wedding. Heart-broken, Gonçalo, eventually entered a monastery. He did, though, have a small chapel built over the site where his young bride s body was buried. This site came to be known as Fatima. The Visionaries Sister Lúcia de Jesus dos Martos, OCD (March 28, 1907 Feb. 13, 2005) She was 9 during the angelic apparitions of 1916 and 10 during the Marian apparitions of 1917; she moved to Porto, Portugal in 1921 to learn to read and write; she became a postulant with the Dorothean Sisters in 1925 and moved to Tuy, Spain; she entered the Carmelites in Coimbra, Portugal in 1948 where she spent the rest of her life except for some brief visits to Fatima. Blessed Francisco Marto (June 11, 1908 April 4, 1919); he was 7 and 8 during the angelic apparitions of 1916 and 8 and 9 during the Marian apparitions of 1917; he died at age 10 in 1919, 2 months shy of his 11 th birthday; he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 13, 2000. Feast Day: Feb. 20. Blessed Jacinta Marto (March 11, 1910 Feb. 20, 1920); she was 6 during the angelica apparitions of 1916 and 7 during the Marian apparitions of 1917; she died a month before her 10 th birthday; she was beatified by John Paul II on May 13, 2000; Feast Day: Feb. 20. The Angelic Apparitions of 1916 Spring 1916: location = Loca do Cabeço: the Angel of Peace teaches them the pardon prayer My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee! I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee. Summer 1916: location: the well near the Santos home: the Angel of Peace, the Angel of Portugal, teaches the importance of sacrifices Autumn 1916: location = Loca do Cabeço; the Angel of Peace gives Holy Communion to the children and teaches them this prayer:
Page2 2 O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee 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 by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners. The Marian Apparitions of May 13, 1917 to Oct. 13, 1917 May 13, 1917 The Lady appears at Cova da Iria: some basic points: Purgatory is real; pray the Rosary daily for peace; the call to suffer for the conversion of sinners. The Eucharist prayer is taught to the children: Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament! June 13, 1917 Invitation to return on July 13; pray the Rosary daily; Lucia asked to learn to read and write; healing follows conversion; The Lady reveals that she will take Jacinta and Francisco soon; God wishes devotion to Mary s Immaculate Heart July 13, 1917 Lucia asks for a miracle so people may believe; the Lady says in October she will reveal who she is and perform a miracle; the three part secret is revealed: 1) the vision of hell; 2) the spread of the errors of Russia; wars and persecutions of the Church will come; the present war (World War I) will end but a worse war will come if people do not pray for peace; the prediction of an unknown light coming to illumine the night sky as a sign of God s impending punishment; the Lady will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart and communions of reparation on First Saturdays; in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. 3)The third part of the secret is revealed, but it is only written down later by Lucia in her Third Memoir dated August 31, 1941;Lucia writes down the third part of the secret by order of the Bishop of Leiria; this letter was placed in the Secret Archives of the Holy Office in 1957; St. John XXIII read the letter on August 17, 1959, but he decided not to reveal the secret; Bl. Paul VI read the letter on March 27, 1965, and he decided not to publish it; after the assassination attempt on his life (Mary 13, 1981), St. John Paul II asked to read the letter; he later decided to announce the disclosure of the secret on May 13, 2000 in conjunction with the beatification ceremony of Jacinta and Francisco. On July 13, 1917, the Blessed revealed to the children the pardon prayer to be recited after each decade of the Rosary:Pardon Prayer: O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.
Page3 3 The Blessed Mother also gives to the children the Sacrifice Prayer: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. August 13, 1917: the children miss their scheduled meeting with the Lady at the Cova da Iria because they are detained by the civil authorities who try to persuade them to deny the apparitions; the children are told they will be placed in boiling water, but they still will not deny what they saw or disclose the secret. The children are not killed. They are put in prison and released on August 15, the Feast of the Assumption. August 19, 1917 (at Valinhos near Aljustel), The Lady appears and asks the children to continue to come to the Cova da Iria on the 13 th of each month and to pray the Rosary every day. She said that she would perform a miracle on the last month (October). September 13, 1917 The Lady appears and asks them to continue to pray the Rosary for the end of the war. She predicted that Jesus would appear in October as well as St. Joseph. October 13, 1917: 70.000 people gather and around noon the miracle of the Sun takes place. The Lady reveals herself as the Lady of the Rosary and she asks that a chapel be at the Cova da Iria in her honor. She says the war will come to an end and the soldiers will return home. While the people are looking at the Miracle of the Sun, the three children see a sequence of apparitions: St. Joseph with the Christ Child and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantel; St. Joseph and the Christ Child appear to bless the world; the Mary appears as Our Lady of Sorrows and then as Our Lady of Carmel. April 4, 1919: Francisco dies. April 28, 1919-the beginning of the construction of the Chapel of the Apparitions] Feb. 20, 1920: Jacinta dies. Dec. 10, 1925: apparition at Pontevedra, Spain: Mary appears with the Child Jesus; she requests the devotion of the five first Saturdays. June 13, 1929: The Vision of the Most Holy Trinity; Mary says that the time has come for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Oct. 13, 1930: the letter of the Bishop of Leiria declaring the apparitions of Fatima as worthy of belief and authorizing devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.
Page4 4 May 13, 1931: First consecration of Portugal to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Jan. 25 26, 1938: a strange light fills the skies of northern Europe and parts of the USA. Lucia says this light is a sign that another war is about to begin. Oct. 13, 1942: Pius XII consecrates the world the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Oct. 13, 1951: Cardinal Tedeschi reveals that Pius XII had witnessed the Miracle of the Sun at the Vatican in 1950. May 13, 1956: Cardinal Roncalli, the future John XXIII, presides at the annual pilgrimage to Fatima. Nov. 21, 1964: Paul VI declares Mary to be the Mother of the Church, and he announces the sending of a golden rose to Sanctuary at Fatima. May 13, 1967: Paul VI comes to Fatima for the 50 th anniversary of the May 13, 1917 apparition. July 10, 1977: Cardinal Luciani, the future John Paul I, comes to Fatima on pilgrimage. May 13, 1981: the assassination attempt on the life of John Paul II; the bullet that narrowly missed taking his life is later sent to Fatima to be placed in a crown of Our Lady of Fatima. May 12 13, 1982: John Paul makes a pilgrimage to Fatima in thanksgiving to her for intervening to save his life. March 25, 1984: at St. Peter s Square, with statue of the Chapel of the Apparitions present, John Paul II carries out the consecration of the world and the countries intended by the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in communion with the bishops of the world. May 12 13, 1991: John Paul II makes a pilgrimage to Fatima on the 10 th anniversary of the assassination attempt. May 12 13, 2000: John Paul II comes to Fatima to beatify Jacinta and Lucia; Cardinal Sodano reveals the contents of the third part of the secret of Fatima and announces the coming of a commentary on the third secret by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF]. June 6, 2000: the CDF publishes the complete text of the third part of the secret together with a commentary. Nov. 17, 2001: Cardinal Bertone, with the agreement of Cardinal Ratzinger, meets for two hours with Sister Lucia at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal. Sister Lucia, with several other witnesses, confirms that the full third part of the secret of Fatima was revealed and that the consecration desired by Our Lady was made in 1984 and accepted in Heaven. Feb. 13, 2005: Sister Lucia dies.
Page5 5 Oct. 13, 2013: in St. Peter s Square, Pope Francis carries out an Act of Entrustment to Our Lady of Fatima.