The Three Secrets Of Fatima
ANGELS, flower-filled fishing boats and a fluorescent mobile cross.
On May 13, Fremantle’s Portuguese community celebrates the 50th anniversary year of Our Lady of Fatima in a mass and candlelight procession through the City.
The annual event commemorates the appearance in Portugal in 1917 of Mother Mary to three Portuguese children – Lucia Santos, aged 10, and her cousins, Francisco, seven, and Jacinta Marto, nine. Hundreds of people take part in the annual procession that starts and ends at St Patrick’s Basilica on Adelaide Street.
Lucia described their vision, “Like a cloud, whiter than snow, slightly transparent, with a human outline”. During these apparitions, Our Lady spoke about the importance of prayer in a world moving further away from God. During the final apparition, thousands who gathered at Cova da Iria witnessed the sun move and change in colour.
The ‘Three Secrets of Fatima’ consist of a series of apocalyptic visions and prophecies supposedly revealed to the three young shepherds. On July 13, 1917, Mother Mary is said to have entrusted the children with three secrets, ”that was good for some and bad for others”.
Two of the Fatima secrets were revealed in 1941 in a document written by Lúcia at the request of Jose Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria. In 1943, Lucia wrote down the third secret and sealed it in an envelope, not to be opened until 1960 when, “it will appear clearer”.
The text of the third secret was officially released by Pope John Paul II in 2000, although some claim it was not the entire secret. According to Catholic interpretations, the three secrets include references to WW1, WW2 and the 20th century persecutions of Christians.
“Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth,” according to Lucia’s 1941 memoir describing the first secret. The second secret was that WW1 would end, but another war would be waged during the reign of Pope Pius XI if men continued to offend God. “The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI.”
Sister Lucia chose not to disclose the third secret in her 1941 memoir. When she fell seriously ill, Bishop da Silva visited her on September 15, 1943, and suggested she write it down. In June 1944, the third secret was recorded and delivered to Bishop Silva, who kept it secret until 1957.
In 1960, the Vatican stated, “most probable the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal”, only increasing speculation and conspiracy theories over the content of the final Fatima prophecy.
A French newspaper reported that Pope Paul VI fainted when he read it.
