During this short period of time, Mary had appeared and spoken with unprecedented historical frequency – even with a certain sense of urgency. In these five apparitions Mary spoke an incredible 2, 222 words. When one considers that in the entire Bible there are just 177 recorded words spoken by her, the significance of these apparitions takes on a new importance.
Sadly, the vast majority of mankind ignored her messages and warnings, as she lamented at Marienfried: “I have already given many signs and spoken often to the world, but people have not taken them seriously.”
Let us not be among the number who has “not taken them seriously.” Rather, let us listen attentively to Our Mother and put into practice those things which she has been requesting of us.
She looked at them a bit sadly, as though to reproach their lack of confidence.
"Where are you from? Asked Lucia."
"I come from Heaven," the Lady said.
"And what do you want of me?" Lucia asked.
"I want you to return here on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months, and at the very same hour," the Lady said. "Later I shall tell you who I am, and what it is that I most desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time."
"And shall I go to Heaven?"
"Yes, you will," the Lady said.
"And Jacinta?"
"She will go too."
"And Francisco?"
"Francisco, too, but he will first have many Rosaries to pray."
"Is Maria Neves in Heaven?"
"Yes, she is."
"And Amelia?"
"She will be in Purgatory until the end of the world," the Lady said. "Will you offer yourselves to God, and bear all the sufferings He sends you? In reparation for all the sins that offend Him? And for the conversion of sinners?"
"Yes, we are willing." Lucia said for them all.
"Then you will have a great deal to suffer," the Lady said, "but the grace of God will be your comfort."
"Pray the Rosary every day," she directed, "to bring peace to the world and an end to the war."
"I want you to come here on the thirteenth of next month," the Lady said. "I want you to continue praying the Rosary every day. I want you to learn to read and write, and later I will tell you what else I want of you."
Lucia interceded then for an afflicted person whose cause had been recommended to her.
"If he is converted, he will be cured during the year."
"Will you take us to Heaven?"
"Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain some time longer. Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."
"Am I to stay here alone? " Lucia sadly asked.
"No my daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don’t lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God."
"Yes," said Lucia, "yes."
"Continue to come here every month," the Lady said, "and in October I will tell you who I am and what I want. I will perform a miracle for all to see and believe."
Thus assured, Lucia began to place before the Lady the petitions for help, that so many had entrusted to her. The Lady said gently that she would cure some, but others she would not cure.
"And the crippled son of Maria da Capelinha?" asked Lucia.
"No," the Lady said, "neither of his infirmity nor of his poverty will he be cured, and he must be certain to pray the Rosary with his family every day."
Another case recommended by Lucia to the Lady's assistance was a sick woman from Atougia who asked to be taken to Heaven.
"Tell her not to be in a hurry," the Lady said. (The tone here is almost like that of any harried mother importuned unreasonably.) "Tell her I know very well when I shall come to fetch her."
"Sacrifice yourself for sinners," she instructed them, "and pray many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."
As she spoke these words (Lucia tells us in her memoirs), "the Lady opened her hands, as she had in the preceding months, but instead of the glory and beauty of God that her opened hands had shown us before, we now were able to behold a sea of fire. Plunged in this flame 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 the by 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. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals.
"You have seen Hell," the Lady said, "where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wished to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. This 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 the 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 on the First Saturdays."
"If my requests are heeded," the Lady continued, "Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, then Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecution 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, a period of peace will be granted to the world. In Portugal, the dogma of faith will always be preserved,… [It was here that Our Lady told the children what has become known as the "Third Secret.] “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 our sins, save us from the fire of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need."
"Is there anything more that you want of me?" Lucia had asked the Lady.
"No, my child; there is nothing more for today."
"Come again to the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth and to continue to pray the Rosary every day."
Again Lucia requested the Lady to bring to these hills a miracle so that all would know she came from Heaven.
"I will," the Lady promised. "In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe."
"What are we to do with the offerings of money that people leave at the Cova da Iria?" asked Lucia.
"I want you to have two litters made," the Lady instructed, "for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I want you and Jacinta to carry one of them with two other girls. You will dress in white. And then I want Francisco, with three boys helping him, to carry the other one. What is left over can be used to help towards the construction of a chapel that is to be built here."
Lucia accepted these instructions humbly and thankfully, then fervently asked for the cure of the sick who had begged her intercession.
"Some I will cure during the year," the Lady said; then gazing down at them, she added, sadly, "Pray, pray very much. Make sacrifices for sinners. Many souls go to Hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them."
"God is pleased with your sacrifices," she said, "but He does not want you to wear the cords to bed. Keep them on only in the day."
"I have the petitions of many for your help," Lucia said. "Will you assist a little girl who is deaf and dumb?"
"She will improve within the year," the Lady said.
“And the conversions that some have asked to have brought about? The cures of the sick ones?”
"Some I will cure," the Lady said, "and some I will not."
"In October," the Lady said, repeating her earlier promise, "I will perform a miracle so that all may believe."
"I have many petitions from many people. Will you grant them?" Asked Lucia.
"Some yes, but not others."
"People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord anymore, for He is already too much offended!"
"And is that all you have to ask?" Lucia inquires.
"There is nothing more."
The Miracle of the Sun took place after this conversation with Our Lady, but she said nothing more to the three children.
"Stretch out your hands into the water," Mary said. “This stream is reserved for me, Good night and we’ll meet again."
January 19 - Who are you, beautiful lady? "I am the Virgin of the poor." "This spring is reserved for all the nations – I come to relieve those who suffer. I shall pray for you. Good bye for now."
January 20 - "I would like a small chapel built."
February 11 - "I have come to relief the suffering, I shall see you again soon."
February 15 - "Believe in Me: I shall believe in you." She then entrusted Mariette Beco with a secret. Finally She said: "Pray much, goodbye for now."
February 20 - "My beloved child, pray very much." Then very seriously, She said. "Goodbye for now."
March 2 - "I am the Mother of the Saviour, Mother of God. Pray much. Adieu." {a [to] dieu [God]: I commend you to God}
December 2: "Always be good."
December 21: "I am the Immaculate Virgin."
December 28: "Soon I shall appear for the last time."
December 29: "Pray, pray very much."
December 30: Our Lady appeared with a heart of gold surrounded by rays, and said: "Pray, pray very much."
January 1, 1933: "Pray always." Our Lady emphasized the word "always."
January 2: "Tomorrow I will speak to each one of you separately."And then Our Lady entrusted to each one a secret.
January 3: (To Big Gilberte) "I will convert sinners."
January 3: (To Andree) "I am the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven. Pray always!"
January 3: (To Fernande) "Do you love my Son? Do you love me?"Fernande replied in the affirmative. "Then sacrifice yourself for me."
The children first saw Our Lady in the cemetery while they were on their way to the church to gain the "Toties Quoties" indulgence for the Poor Souls. She spoke very little. On April 5, 1939, one of the children asked Our Lady how she wished to be invoked.
"As Queen of the Universe and Queen of the Poor Souls," Our Lady replied. She also requested to be invoked by the Litany of Loreto.
On November 3, 1940, the children saw Our Lady for the last time. Our Lady said to them, "Be good and resigned to the will of God. Pray often, especially the Rosary. Now, farewell, my children, until we meet in Heaven."
As at Fatima, an angel had appeared prior to the visits of Our Lady, calling himself the Angel of the Great Mediatrix of Graces. Preceding the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 25th, the Angel told Barbara to kneel in profound reverence as he prayed: "Act as the Mother of Grace; act as the thrice miraculous Mother; the thrice admirable Mother of Grace, Thou Great Mediatrix of Graces!"
"I am the powerful Mediatrix of Graces. As the world can find mercy only through the sacrifice of the Son with the Father, so can you only find favor with the Son through my intercession. Christ is so unknown because I am not known. Because the nations rejected His Son, the Father poured out His cup of wrath upon them. It is true that the world was consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, but this consecration has become a fearful responsibility for many men. I demand that the world live this consecration."
"I am the sign of the Living God. I place my Sign on the foreheads of my children (those who consecrate themselves to my Immaculate Heart). The star (Lucifer) will persecute the Sign. But my Sign will conquer the star."
"Have unreserved confidence in my Immaculate Heart! Believe that I am able to do everything with my Son. Substitute my Immaculate Heart in place of your sinful hearts. Then it will be I who will draw the power of God, and the love of the Father will renew the fullness of Christ in you. Fulfill my request so that Christ may reign as the King of Peace."
"The world will have to drain the cup of wrath to the dregs because of the countless sins through which His Heart is offended. The Star of the infernal regions will rage more violently than ever and will cause frightful destruction, because he knows that his time is short, and because he sees that already many have gathered around my sign. Over these he has no spiritual power, although he will kill the bodies of many; but through these sacrifices, my power to lead the remnant host to victory will increase."
"Some have already allowed my Sign to be impressed on them; their number will increase. But I want to tell you, my children, not to forget that the very cross of those bloody days is a grace."
"Pray, make sacrifices for sinners. Offer yourselves and your works to the Father through me, and put yourselves at my disposal without reserve. Pray the Rosary. Pray not so much for external things - weightier things are at stake in these times. EXPECT NO SIGNS OR WONDERS (such as the many phony visions and apparitions deluging the world today). I shall be active as the powerful Mediatrix in secret."
"After this, the Devil will be possessed of such power that those who are not firmly established in me will be deceived. There is a time coming when you will stand in this place all alone and will be frightfully calumniated. Because the Devil knows how to deceive men, they permit themselves to be completely blinded to the higher things. But you should establish everything on confidence (in my Immaculate Heart)."
"The devil has power over all people who do not trust in my Heart. Wherever people substitute my Immaculate Heart for their sinful hearts, the devil has no power. But he will persecute my children. They will be despised, but he can do them no harm."
"I am the powerful MEDIATRIX OF GRACE. It is the will of the Father that the world acknowledge this position of His Handmaid. People must believe that I am the permanent Bride of the Holy Ghost and the faithful Mediatrix of All Graces. God wants it so. Only my children recognize this Sign because it reveals itself in secret, and for it they give glory to the Eternal God. I cannot manifest my power to the world in general. I must still hold myself aloof with my children."
"In secret I shall work marvels in souls until the required number of victim souls will be filled. Upon you it depends to shorten the days of darkness. Your blood and your sacrifices shall destroy the image of the beast. Then I can manifest myself to the world for the glory of the Almighty. Choose my Sign, so that the Triune God may soon be adored and honored."
"Apostles and Priests should consecrate themselves to me especially, so that the great sacrifices which the Inscrutable One demands above all from them may, when placed in my hands, increase in sanctity and worth."
"Pray and offer sacrifices through me. Pray always; pray the Rosary. Make all your entreaties to the Father through my Immaculate Heart. If they are conducive to His honor, He will grant them. In your prayers ask Him not for things of temporal worth, but implore graces for individual souls, for the community; for the nations, so that all may come to love and honor the Divine Heart. Keep the Saturdays, which have been dedicated to me, as I have requested."
"Bring many sacrifices and offerings to me. Offer your prayers to me as sacrifices. Be not seekers of self. That honor be shown to the Eternal and atonement be made to Him is required of these times. If you consecrate yourselves without reserve, I shall take care of all the rest. Crosses weighty and deep as the sea I shall lay upon my children, because I love them in my Sacrificed Son. I beseech you, be prepared to carry the cross that peace may soon be achieved."
"I have already given many signs and spoken often to the world, but people have not taken them seriously. On account of these outward signs the greater multitude do not even grasp the essential things. Outward signs only succeed in distracting many, who do not draw the necessary conclusions from them."
"I urge my people to fulfill my wishes quickly, because today more than ever such fulfillment of my will is necessary for God's greater honor and glory. The Father pronounces a dreadful woe upon all who refuse to obey His Will."