Fatima, Portugal is the site of one of the most extraordinary events in Christianity. In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three poor shepherd children, Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia; ages 10, 9, and 7. She appeared to them several times, giving them a message to the world. Her message implored the world to pray and fast to obtain peace and conversion of the world through her Immaculate Heart, the Rosary, penance, and devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist.
Preceding Mary’s apparitions, an angel appeared three times to the children in 1916 in order to prepare them for Mary’s arrival, teaching them prayers and giving them Jesus in the Eucharist.
First Apparition of the Angel
One day while playing out in the field, the children began to see, in the distance, “a light whiter than snow in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun. As he came near we were able to see his features: a young man about 14 or 15 years old and very beautiful. We were surprised and quite taken aback. We did not say a word.” The angel reached them and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.”
He knelt, bending his forehead to the ground. The children did the same, repeating the words they heard him say:
“My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.“
The angel continued “Pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to your prayers. And he disappeared. The supernatural atmosphere that he left us in was so intense we were for a long time unaware of our own existence…”
Second Apparition of the Angel
Another time, while the children were playing, the angel appeared again.
He said “What are you doing? You must pray! Pray a lot! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. You must constantly offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High.”
The children asked him how they should sacrifice. “In every possible way offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. In this way, you will bring peace to your country. I am the Guardian Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with submission the sufferings God will send you.”
And he disappeared. These words of the angel cut the children to the heart, “to our spirits like a light, making us understand who God is, how He loves us, and how He wants us to love Him; the value of sacrifice and how it pleases Him; how He receives it for the conversion of sinners.”
Third Apparition of the Angel
The children saw him again. They reported “We saw the angel holding in his left hand a chalice and suspended in the air above it, was a Host from which drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and the Host suspended in the air, he knelt near us and repeated three times the prayer:
“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.’
Lucia recalled “After that he rose, took again in his hand the chalice and the Host. The Host he gave to me and the contents of the chalice he gave to Jacinta and Francesco, saying at the same time: ‘Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ terribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Offer reparation for their sakes and console God.’ and then he disappeared”.
© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / The Real Presence Association, Inc.
