On May 13 th 1917, in the midst of the First World War, Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children near the small village of Fatima, in Portugal. The eldest of those children was 10-year old Lucia dos Santos.
Our Lady appeared to them six times between May and October, on the 13th day of the month, telling them to pray the Rosary for an end to the war, for the conversion of Russia, and for peace in the world.
Lucia’s younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, died soon afterwards. When Pope Francis canonized them in 2017, on the 100 th anniversary of the apparitions, they became the youngest non-martyr saints in Church history.
In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pope also publicly consecrated both nations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as Our Lady had requested at Fatima.
Sister Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97 and is recognized as a “Servant of God”. The holiness of her life leaves little doubt concerning her sainthood, but the official process for her beatification and eventual canonization, is still
underway. Recently, though, it made an important step forward when Pope Francis recognised what the Vatican calls her “heroic virtues”. These include acknowledging how Sister Lucia dedicated her entire life to documenting and preserving the message that Our Lady confided to her at Fatima, and the suffering she endured as a result…
Fr. MARCO CHIESA
Postulator for Cause of Beatification
On 13 May 1917 she said ‘Yes’ to Mary who appeared to her, and so she made herself completely available. Her entire life was a renewal of this ‘Yes’ in the face of every difficulty. Because there were many people who tried to discredit her, or the message of Fatima. There were so many difficulties that she had to face out of obedience.
The Marian apparitions stirred controversy from the start. At one stage they were believed to be politically motivated and the three children were taken into custody. In later life, after she published her memoirs, Sister Lucia was often challenged to repeat and clarify exactly what she had seen and heard back in 1917…
Fr. MARCO CHIESA
Postulator Cause of Beatification
Throughout her life she had to face very difficult trials. But she always renewed that first 'Yes' with which she dedicated herself to Mary. Even when she entered the convent of the Discalced Carmelites at Coimbra. It was a decision she took freely and peacefully, because that would be where she would spend the rest of her life. Sister Lucia continued to experience visions throughout her life. Her third memoir reveals the famous three secrets of Fatima, describing an image of hell, the need to consecrate Russia, and what is generally believed to foretell an assassination attempt on a pope.
When Pope John Paul II was shot by a would-be assassin in St Peter’s Square on her feast day of May 13 th in 1981, he attributed his survival to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. Sister Lucia´s cause for beatification got off to an exceptional start when Pope Benedict XVI waivered the usual five-year wait to begin the canonical process. But that still means the Vatican has to wade through literally thousands of documents, including the almost 400,000 letters Sister Lucia wrote during her lifetime.
Some are hoping that when Pope Francis is in Fatima this August as part World Youth Day celebrations, he might just decide to speed up the process further – and do a bit of “waivering” himself.
