The Sixth Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary
as taken from The Whole Truth about Fatima: Science and Facts,
by Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité
Saturday, October 13, 1917
“People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.”
In 1937, Lucia writes:
“A…persistent rain fell.”
“Once we arrived at the Cova da Iria, near the holm oak,” Lucy recalls, “moved by an inner impulse, I asked the people to shut their umbrellas and say the Rosary.”
The miracle that will be manifested on this day makes it important to understand just how drenched the people and the ground were from the heavy rainfall. Author Frère Michel de la Sainte Trinité includes this eyewitness report from one of the people who were sheltering in their cars:
“At a given moment, this confused and compact mass shuts the umbrellas, uncovering itself either in a gesture of humility or respect, but leaving me surprised and full of admiration, for the rain went on insistently, moistening everybody’s heads, soaking and flooding everything.”
(p. 290)
An eye witness related how Lucia looked when the Blessed Virgin arrived, that she seemed to go into an ecstasy:
“The child’s face became more and more beautiful and took on a rosy tint, and her lips became thinner.”
In fact, Jacinta noticed and poked Lucia, saying:
“Speak, Lucy, Our Lady is already here!”
A priest who was near the children reported that “Lucia came back to herself, breathed deeply two times, like someone out of breath, and began her conversation with Our Lady.”
--“What does Your Grace want of me?”
--I want a chapel to be built here in My honour. I am Our Lady of the Rosary. Continue to say the Rosary every day. The war will end soon and the soldiers will return to their homes.
--I have many things to ask of You: to heal some sick people and to convert some sinners, etc.
--Some, yes; others no. People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins.
Then, growing sadder, the Blessed Virgin continues:
--They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended.
--Do You want anything more?
--Nothing more.
--Then neither will I ask anything more of You.
When Our Lady was ascending into the sky, Lucia shouted:
--She’s going! She’s going!
“At this moment, reports Maria dos Anjos, “my mother smelled the same perfume as on August 19.”
Then Lucia shouted:
--Look at the sun!
Ti Marto, Jacinta’s father, gives this report:
“We looked easily at the sun, which did not blind us. It seemed to flicker on and off, first one way and then another. It shot rays in different directions and painted everything in different colours – the trees, the people, the air and the ground. What was most extraordinary was that the sun did not hurt our eyes at all. Everything was still and quiet; everyone was looking upwards. At a certain moment the sun seemed to stop and then began to move and to dance until it seemed that it was being detached from the sky and was falling on us. It was a terrible moment!”
Lucia writes of the visions then witnessed by everyone present, which fulfilled the promises given by the Mother of God at the August 19 and September 13 apparitions:
THE VISION OF THE HOLY FAMILY: “After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the sign of the Cross with their hands.”
THE VISION OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS: “When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as Saint Joseph had done.”
THE VISION OF OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL: “This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel.”
(pp. 289-294)
People also became aware that everything was completely dry suddenly: their hair, their clothes, their skin, and the ground upon which they were kneeling. Considering that there were some 50,000 to 70,000 people present, this is an impressive miracle in itself, which was also reported upon in the newspapers.
One of the pilgrims, a soldier, helped little Jacinta to get to the apparition site by carrying her through the dense throngs of pilgrims.
Blessed man to have the memory of carrying this little Saint
to her meeting with the Mother of God!
Jacinta and Lucia wore dresses and chapel veils adorned with flowers, that were given to them earlier that morning by a pious lady.