On Sunday May 13th 1917 Lucia Abóbora, Francisco & Jacinta Marto were
pasturing their flock as usual at the Cova da Iria, which was about a mile
from their homes. They were playing when suddenly a bright shaft of light
pierced the air. They described it as a flash of lightning. It was not really
lightning, but rather the reflection of a light that approached little by little.
Frightened by the flash, the children looked around at the sky that was clear
and bright without the least spot of a cloud. No breeze stirred, the sun was
strong, and there was no hint anywhere of a storm that might be responsible
for a flash of lightning. The children, however, thought that they had better
head home in case it might start raining. As they descended the hill. Another
flash of lightning took them by surprise. Panicky with fear, they took a few
steps and looked towards the right. There, standing over the foliage of a
small Holm oak, “a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant then the sun,
shedding rays of light, clear and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the
most sparkling water, pierced by the burning rays of the sun”. The lady
spoke to them and said: “Fear not! I will not harm you.” “Where are you
from?” the children asked. “I am from heaven” the beautiful lady replied,
gently raising her hand towards the distant horizon. “What do you want of
me?” Lucia asked. “I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive
months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later who
I am and what I want. And I shall return here again a seventh time.”
Lucia said, “Do you come from heaven…and will I go to heaven?” “Yes,
you’ll go.” “And Jacinta”? “As well” “And Francisco”? “Him too, but he
will have to say many Rosaries”. In the end Our Lady asked: “Do you
wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the suffering that He may
please to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is
offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?” “Yes, we do.” said the
children. “You will have to suffer a lot, but the grace of God will be your
comfort.” Then she opened her hands with a loving gesture of a mother who
offers her heart. From it an intense light departed that seemed to go through
them. The vision vanished telling them, “Recite the Rosary every day to
obtain the peace for the world and the end of the war.” And she
disappeared.