I am pleased and very happy. It is from here that I hope to go to Heaven, that God will give me mercy. I desire to wear the holy habit and make solemn vows, but God knows when it will be. Now here I am, ignorant; I need to learn many things to be a good Carmelite and if it is His Will, a saint. To conquer this honor that I want to put forth, I hope for the grace of Heaven.
Venerable Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart
Message to Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva
Good Friday, 26 March 1948
The Venerable Servant of God Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart (born: Lúcia dos Santos) was born on 28 March 1907, in Aljustrel (Fatima, Portugal). In 1915, while she and her friends were taking the family flock to pasture, she received the silent apparition of the Angel of Peace three times. This triple vision was repeated in 1916 while she was in the company of her cousins, Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto. In 1917, on the 13th day of the months of May, June, July, September, and October (in August the extraordinary event occurred on the 19th), the Virgin Mary appeared to the three children.
She diligently lived the message of the Mother of God throughout her life. After the untimely death of her two cousins, she remained in Fatima until 1921 when, through the intervention of Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva, who took it upon himself to protect her, Lúcia entered the Dorothean Sisters’ College of Vilar (Porto). There she took the name Maria das Dores with the intention of not revealing her real identity.
On 24 October 1925, she entered as a Postulant in the same religious institute, in Tui, Spain, making her temporary profession on 3 October 1928, and her perpetual profession on 3 October 1934.
Between 1935 and 1941, on the orders of Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva, she wrote four documents entitled “Memoirs,” in which she described the events of the Apparitions experienced and received in the company of Francisco and Jacinta. On 3 January 1944, she wrote another document containing the so-called “third secret,” and in a sealed envelope, she gave it to Monsignor José Alves Correia da Silva, who, in turn, without reading it, forwarded it to the Holy Office in Rome.
In 1946, she returned to Portugal, to the Dorothean community of Sardão College in Vila Nova de Gaia.
Wishing to live her vocation more intensely, in 1948 she decided to enter the Carmel of Coimbra, where she made her solemn vows on 31 May 1949. There she lived her life according to the monastic rhythms of prayer and work, continuing an intense letter-writing activity, in which she gave wise spiritual advice and promoted works of charity.
Venerable Maria Lucia at her solemn profession and veiling in the Carmel of Coimbra. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites On 13 May 1967, she traveled to Fatima to meet St. Paul VI. She did the same on 13 May in the years 1982, 1991, and 2000, to meet St. John Paul II.
She died on 13 February 2005, in Coimbra, Portugal. In 2006, her mortal remains were moved to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima.
From childhood, the Venerable Servant of God had a deep desire to walk the path of holiness, carrying the Cross with Christ.
Together with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, she was the recipient of extraordinary apparitions, the principal ones in Cova da Iria beginning on 13 May 1917, on land owned by her father.
She possessed a keen intelligence, which enabled her to learn to read and write, so she kept a diary and entertained a rich correspondence. Silence and hiddenness characterized her experiences of religious life. She was generous to the needy, for whom she performed works of charity through people she commissioned from time to time.
Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints
Causes of the Saints: Venerables
Note: On Thursday, 22 June 2023, the Dicastery of the Causes of the Saints published the promulgation of the decree recognizing Sister Lucia’s heroic virtues with the approval of Pope Francis. Listen to this episode of the Carmelite Quotes Podcast to learn more about Venerable Maria Lucia’s visit with St. John Paul II on 13 May 1991 in Fatima.
In this episode, we explore a poignant moment from May 1991 when Venerable Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, one of the Fatima seers, receives an unforeseen directive to meet the pope in Fatima. Pope Francis approves decrees recognizing the heroic virtues of five Servants of God, including Sr Lucia de Juesus Rosa dos Santos, one of the visionaries of Fatima; along with the martyrdom of twenty martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.https://t.co/olIBjG14Dh
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) June 22, 2023
of St. Teresa Coimbra Portugal, C 2015, A pathway under the gaze of Mary : biography of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart O.C.D., translated from the Portuguese by Colson, J, World Apostolate of Fatima USA, Washington NJ.
Translation from the Italian text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Venerable Maria Lucia in her later life as a professed nun in the Carmel of Coimbra, Portugal. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites
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