Around noon the shepherds came out of their homes and headed towards the Cova da Iria. They did so with great difficulty because of the huge influx of people who pressed everywhere wanting to see them up close, touching and talking to them.

Lucia said it was a little like what Jesus went through as He walked through Galilee and Judea. She wrote that some gentlemen helped pave a path through the crowd for them:

Lucia: We finally arrived in the Cova da Iria near the holm oak and began praying the Rosary with the people. Shortly afterwards we saw the flash of light and then Our Lady on the holm oak.

Our Lady: Continue to pray the Rosary in order to obtain the end of the war. In October Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. St. Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world. God is pleased with your sacrifices. He does not want you to sleep with the rope on, but only to wear it during the daytime.

Lucia: I was told to ask you many things, the cure of some sick people, of a deaf-mute.

Our Lady: Yes, I will cure some, but not others. In October I will perform a miracle so that all may believe.

Then Our Lady began to rise as usual and disappeared. A tender Mother, Our Lady is concerned with her children who have no one to lead them to do penance. Her words were a balm in the midst of all the suffering that would come to them: God is pleased with your sacrifices.

But God would not let any more time pass before sending someone to help them see His will and lead them in the right way. He usually wants His chosen ones to go through human mediation, so they walk safely in the light of obedience according to His will.

On September 13 the Rev. Manuel Nunes Formigão arrived in Fatima. Fr. Formigão came to investigate the shepherds and events at Fatima. He was present at the time of the apparition but saw nothing unusual except a slight decrease in sunlight, which could mean little or nothing. That day he did not speak to the seers or anyone there.

On September 27th he was back in Aljustrel and proceeded with the first interrogation. Lucia was able to breathe easier with the visit of this holy priest who questioned her and her cousins and gave them practical advice for life:

He interrogated me seriously and thoroughly. I liked him very much, for he spoke to me a great deal about the practice of virtue, and taught me various ways of exercising myself in it. He showed me a holy picture of St. Agnes. He told me about her martyrdom and encouraged me to imitate her. His Reverence continued to come every month for an interrogation, and always gave me some good advice, which was of help to me spiritually. One day he said to me: “My child, you must love Our Lord very much in return for so many favors and graces that He is granting you.” These words made such an impression on my soul that, from then on, I acquired the habit of constantly saying to Our Lord: “My God, I love You, in thanksgiving for the graces which You have granted me.

Then she shared this ejaculation with her cousins who recited it frequently. What belonged to one belonged to all—a passion among early Christians who had everything in common, material and spiritual goods, and who walked with each other.

The storm in Lucia’s home intensified after September 13. She had hoped her mother was becoming more convinced of the apparitions during the month of August, but Maria Rose became discouraged and her suffering took on new proportions.

In addition to her painful doubts about the apparitions and Lucia’s truthfulness, the irretrievable loss of crops from their land due to the crowds, and the constant harassment from people coming to their home to see and talk to the little one caused great emptiness in her that was felt in her family.

It was hard for mother and daughter. Lucia suffered silently her personal cross and saw her mother whom she idolized filled with so much pain and without any relief.

In the midst of this dark night, Lucia looked up to Heaven and trusted in the Lord from Whom she knew aid would come (Ps 121:1–2) and repeated in her wounded heart:

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.

How this child grew spiritually inside of just 10 years!

Discalced Carmelites of Coimbra

A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, Chapter III
No. 15, Apparition of Our Lady on September 13th (excerpt)

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.

Featured image: This stained glass window from the Shrine of Our Lady of Tylicz, Poland, depicts the three seers of Our Lady of Fatima. Image credit: Adam Ján Figeľ / Adobe Stock (Stock photo)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/09/12/lucia-sept13/

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