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Fatima: the apparition of Sunday August 19, 1917

 

 

On the way to Valinhos ...

 

On this sunny Sunday, Lucie, François and her brother Jean left to graze their flocks. On the way to the Valinhos (the valleys), Lucie noticed changes in the atmosphere which preceded the apparitions: a sudden cooling of the temperature and a decrease in sunlight, before the characteristic flash. Knowing that Our Lady was going to appear, Jean hurriedly went to look for his sister Jacinthe.

 

The apparition of Notre-Dame.

 

Our Lady indeed appeared above a holm oak in a reflection of light and said to the three shepherds:

 

  “I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the 13th, and that you continue to say the Rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform the miracle so that all may believe. If they hadn't imprisoned you in town, the miracle would have been better known. Saint Joseph will come with the Child Jesus to give peace to the world. Our Lord will come to bless the people. Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows will also come. "

 

Some money had been left by the pilgrims at the foot of the evergreen oak of Cova da Iria. Lucie asked what use should be reserved for this money.

Our Lady replied:

 

“I want us to make two procession stretchers. You will wear one with Jacinthe and two other little girls dressed in white. The other, François will wear it with three other boys like him, dressed in a white alb. It will be for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. What will remain will be to help build a chapel that will be made. "

 

Lucie insisted:

 

“I would like to ask you to heal some sick people. "

 

Our Lady :

 

"Yes, I will cure some of them within a year."

 

Then, assuming a sad expression, she added:

In addition to this, you need to know more about it.

“Pray, pray a lot and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one who sacrifices and prays for them. "

 

Then She rose in the direction of the east.

 

An extraordinary fragrance.

 

Before returning to Aljustrel, François and Jacinthe plucked a branch of the holm oak on which the Virgin Mary had just set foot. The bough in hand, They were returning to the hamlet when they met Maria Rosa on her doorstep, with other people. All moved, Jacinthe immediately told her aunt that they had once again seen Notre-Dame aux Valinhos, but Lucie's mother called them liars. The little one insisted, showing him the holm oak branch she was holding in her hand:

 

“See, my Aunt! Our Lady had one foot on this little branch and another on this one. "

 

The latter asked him to give her this branch. Jacinthe gave it to her and Maria Rosa felt a delicate perfume at that moment. All wanted to smell the branch, and all found the smell very delicate. Jacinthe took the branch again to give it to her father when she got home. When she arrived, all joyful, the branch in her hand, she told her father that Our Lady had appeared in the Valinhos. As she entered, an extraordinary scent filled the room.

 

The apparition of August 19 and the salvation of souls.

 

This August 19 apparition highlights the fact that the salvation of souls depends on our prayers and sacrifices. Pope Pius XII had said in his encyclical Mystici Corporis:

 

“The salvation of many depends on the prayers and voluntary penance of members of the Body of Christ”. The Virgin insisted that day on this truth: “Many souls go to hell because they have no one who prays or sacrifices himself for them! "

 

Through the communion of saints, generous souls are called to pray for souls far from God and we are charged by the Mother of the Redeemer to intercede on their behalf.