13 July 1917

A few moments after arriving at the Cova da Iria, near the holmoak, where a large number of people were praying the Rosary, we saw the flash of light once more, and a moment later Our Lady appeared on the holmoak.

— Your Grace, what do you want of me? — I asked.

— I want you to come here on the 13th of next month, to continue to pray the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, because only she can help you.

— I would like to ask you to tell us who you are, and to work a miracle so that everybody will believe that you are appearing to us.

— Continue to come here every month. In October, I will tell you who I am and what I want, and I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe.

I then made some requests, but I cannot recall now just what they were. What I do remember is that Our Lady said it was necessary for such people to pray the Rosary in order to obtain these graces during the year. And she continued:

— Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation (порт. reparação) for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

As Our Lady spoke these last words, she opened her hands once more, as she had done during the two previous months. The rays of light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke now falling back on every side like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. (It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. Terrified and as if to plead for succour, we looked up at Our Lady, who said to us, so kindly and so sadly:

— You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion (port. a devoção) to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

— To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation (port. a Comunhão reparadora) on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved; etc… Do not tell this to anybody. Francisco, yes, you may tell him.

— When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need.

After this, there was a moment of silence, and then I asked:

— Your Grace, is there anything more that you want of me?

— No, I do not want anything more of you today.

Then, as before Our Lady began to ascend towards the east, until she finally disappeared in the immense distance of the firmament.

2. The Vision of Hell
    Well, the secret is made up of three distinct parts, two of which I am now going to reveal.^[4]
    The first part is the vision of hell.^[5]
    Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, Iike transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to Heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.
    We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly:
    “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart.^[6] If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war^[7] is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius Xl.^[8] When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign^[9] given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

    “To prevent this, I shall come^[10] to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me,^[11] and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.^[12]

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^[4] It should be noted that it concerns one single secret consisting of three parts. Here, Lucia describes the first two parts. The third, written on 3 January 1944, was published on 26 June 2000 (see Appendix III).
^[5] Lucia describes the vision of hell with great realism.
^[6] In the Message of Fatima, the great promise of the salvation of souls is very often associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary’s intercession.
^[7] This refers to the First World War, 1914-1918.
^[8] Lucia has again explicitly confirmed the name of Pope Pius Xl. To the objection that the Second World War, 1939-1944, actually started during the Pontificate of Pius Xll, she replied that in fact the war began with the occupation of Austria in 1938.
^[9] Lucia presumed that the “extraordinary” aurora borealis during the night of 25th to 26th of January, 1938, was the sign given by God to announce the imminence of war.
^[10] This 'promise' to come back was fulfilled by the Blessed Virgin on December 10th, 1925, when she appeared to Lucia at Pontevedra (see Appendix I). On the 13th of June, 1929, Lucia had a further vision at Tuy, when Our Lady asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
^[11] Sister Lucia affirms that the Consecration made by John Paul II, in union with the Bishops, on 25 March 1984, corresponded to the request of Our Lady and was accepted by Heaven. “Yes, it was done as Our Lady requested, since 25 March 1984” (Letter of 8 November 1989 to the Holy Father). Therefore, any discussion and further petition has no foundation (see Appendix III).
^[12] This is an unconditional promise, one which will certainly be fulfilled. However, we do not know when it will come true.

5. The Immaculate Heart of Mary

The second part refers to the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

As I have already written in the second account, Our Lady told me on June 13th, 1917, that she would never forsake me, and that her Immaculate Heart would be my refuge and the way that would lead me to God. As she spoke these words, she opened her hands, and from them streamed a light that penetrated to our inmost hearts. I think that, on that day, the main purpose of this light was to infuse within us a special knowledge and love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary^[1], just as on the other two occasions it was intended to do, as it seems to me, with regard to God and the mystery of the most Holy Trinity.

From that day onwards, our hearts were filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From time to time, Jacinta said to me: “The Lady said that her Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don’t you love that? Her Heart is so good! How I love it!”

As I explained earlier, Our Lady told us, in the July secret, that God wished to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart; and that to prevent a future war, she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. From then on, whenever we spoke of this among ourselves, Jacinta said: “I am so grieved to be unable to receive Communion in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary!”

I have also mentioned already how Jacinta chose from the litany of ejaculations which Father Cruz suggested to us, this one: “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation!” After saying it, she used to add sometimes, with the simplicity that was natural to her: “I so love the Immaculate Heart of Mary! It is the heart of our dear Mother in Heaven! Don’t you love saying many times over: ‘Sweet Heart of Mary, Immaculate Heart of Mary’? I love it so much, so very much.”

At other times, as she gathered wild flowers, she sang a little tune that she made up herself as she went along: “Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation! Immaculate Heart of Mary, convert sinners, save souls from hell!”

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^[1] Jacinta’s love for the Immaculate Heart was like an ‘infused gift’, as Lucia tells us, which can only be explained as a great mystic grace bestowed on her.

6. Jacinta’s Visions of the Holy Father

‹…›

“Didn’t you see the Holy Father?”

“No.”

“I don’t know how it was, but I saw the Holy Father in a very big house, kneeling by a table, with his head buried in his hands, and he was weeping. Outside the house, there were many people. Some of them were throwing stones, others were cursing him and using bad language^[1]. Poor Holy Father, we must pray very much for him.

I have already told you how, one day, two priests recommended us to pray for the Holy Father, and explained to us who the Pope was. Afterwards, Jacinta asked me:

“Is he the one I saw weeping, the one Our Lady told us about in the secret?”

“Yes, he is,” I answered.

‹…›

“Can’t you see all those highways and roads and fields full of people, who are crying with hunger and have nothing to eat? And the Holy Father in a church praying before the Immaculate Heart of Mary? And so many people praying with him?”

Some days later, she asked me: “Can I say that I saw the Holy Father and all those people?”

“No. Don’t you see that that’s part of the secret? If you do, they’ll find out right away.”

“All right! Then I’ll say nothing at all.”

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^[1] With the revelation of the third part of the “secret” one understands better why Jacinta recognized, in her visions, the Holy Father. On 27 April 2000, Lucia, responding to the question of Monsignor Bertone if the principal person in the vision was the Pope, said: We did not know the name of the Pope; Our Lady did not say the name of the Pope. We didn’t know if it was Benedict XV, Pius XII, Paul VI or John Paul II, but it was the Pope who was suffering and that made us suffer too (Appendix III, pg. 217-218).

7. Visions of War

One day, I went to Jacinta’s house to spend a little while with her. I found her sitting on her bed, deep in thought.

“Jacinta, what are you thinking about?”

“About the war that is coming.^[1] So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to hell!” Many homes will be destroyed, and many priests will be killed. Look, I am going to Heaven, and as for you, when you see the light which the Lady told us would come one night before the war, you run up there too.”^[2]

“Don’t you see that nobody can just run off to Heaven!”

‹…›

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^[1] This is the Second World War. Jacinta experienced this part of the secret in a mystic way.
^[2] Lucia wants to convey, in these words, how such visions caused terror in the soul of little Jacinta.