Chronology of the three seers

Lucia de Jesus was born in Aljustrel, last of six children of Maria Rosa and Antonio dos Santos. Birthdate mentioned in the Parish Register is March 22, a difference explained by Lucia herself in her Vth Memoir: "When I was born – so I heard from my mother in an interview with Dr. Formigão, who had asked her about my birthday, and she replied “We say it is on March 22, because she was registered as being born on this day, but in fact it is not so. She was born on March 28, 1907. It was Holy Thursday; in the morning, I went to Mass and received Holy Communion, thinking of coming back, in the afternoon, to visit the Blessed Sacrament, but that did not happen, because she was born in that afternoon [...]. Father, immediately, tried to put things in readiness for baptism. Having it next week did not suit him by reason of his work, but, as it was required that parents present their children for baptism eight days after being born – otherwise they were liable to penalty – Father decided to present her as born on 22, so that the parish priest might baptize her in the Holy Saturday, which was the 30th of the same month.”

Lucia was, therefore, baptized in Fatima, on March 30, 1907, as confirmed by the baptism register book, signed by the parish priest.

Memórias da Irmã Lúcia [Memoirs of Sister Lucia], II, Fatima, Sanctuary of Fatima, 2010, p. 13; cf. register No. 30/1907 of the Baptism Book of the Parish of Fatima, Civil Registry of Vila Nova de Ourém

Francisco was born in Aljustrel, the penultimate of seven children of Manuel Pedro Marto and Olímpia de Jesus. He was baptized on June 20, 1908, in the parish church of Fatima, as set out in the baptism register book

Cf. register No. 39/1908 of the Baptism Book of the Parish of Fatima, Civil Registry of Vila Nova de Ourém

Jacinta born in Aljustrel, seventh and last child of Manuel Pedro Marto and Olimpia de Jesus. She was baptized on March 19, 1910, in the parish church of Fatima, as recorded on the baptism register book.

Although her official birthday is the 11th March, it is likely that Jacinta's birth date has been changed by the parents, as it happened with Lucia and for the same reasons. A brief record of Manuel Nunes Formigão brings the following explanations related to the seer: "Jacinta, March 5" and "Jacinta de Jesus, 7 years old on March 5”.

Cf. register No. 19/1910 of the Baptism Book of the Parish of Fatima, Civil Registry of Vila Nova de Ourem; cf. Documentação Crítica de Fátima, Vol. I, Fatima, Sanctuary of Fatima, 1992, p. 92 and 97

Lucia received First Communion in the parish church of Fatima. As she was only six years old, the parish priest saw as advisable to postpone Lucia's reception of holy communion for the following year, as she herself recounts in her Second Memoir, written in 1937. But Fr. Cruz who, at the time, made a visit to the parish and was surprised by the child's catechetical knowledge, interceded for her with the parish priest. In communion day, Lucia formulates this prayer: "O Lord, make me a saint. Keep my heart always pure, for You alone.”

Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 73

In her Fourth Memoir, Lucy says, in that year, "with three companions [...] I saw, poised in the air above the trees that stretched down to the valley which lay at our feet, what appeared to be a cloud in human form, whiter than snow and almost transparent. My companions asked me what it was. I replied that I did not know. This happened on two further occasions, but on different days”.

Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 170

Francisco, 8 years old, and Jacinta, 6, begin to tend the flock of their parents.

In the Second and Fourth Lucia's Memoirs, written respectively in 1937 and 1941, she leaves the most complete record of the Angel apparitions, three times, in the spring, summer and fall, to the three shepherds of Fatima, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia herself. The Angel, who introduces himself as Angel of Peace and also as Angel of Portugal, invites them to a life committed to the God's "designs of mercy".

Cf. Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 76-79; 170-173.

At the Cova da Iria, where they tend the flocks, the seers become aware of the presence and apparition of a Lady "more brilliant than the sun", who tells them to be from "Heaven." The Lady asks them to return to the Cova da Iria 'six consecutive months, on the 13th and at the same hour", telling them that in the final apparition she would reveal to them who she really was and what she wanted. In the meantime, she calls the little shepherds: "Will you offer yourselves to God?"

Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 82-84.

Lucia is exposed to the first of many questionings about the apparitions. The first interviewer is the parish priest of Fatima, Manuel Marques Ferreira, who registers some notes of his various dialogues with the seers. These notes are conserved as a historical record of the Fatima-event, together with the notes of many other interrogations to the three seers performed by, among others, Manuel Nunes Formigão, Carlos Azevedo Mendes and Jose Ferreira Lacerda.

Documentação Crítica de Fátima, vol. I, Fátima: Santuário de Fátima, 1992. The first questionings by the parish priest of Fatima are in the pages 5-9.

The second apparition presents as a distinctive trait the promise of the Lady of the Rosary to Lucia saddened by the prospect of being alone: “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.”

Cf. Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 177

In the apparition of July, the Lady revealed to the three children what became known as the Secret of Fatima; it consists of a vision as in a triptych: the first scene presents a vision of hell; the second shows the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the third depicts the Martyr Church on the way to the Cross.

Cf. Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 178; 207-215

According to several witnesses, the three children are taken to Vila Nova de Ourém by the Municipality Administrator, Artur de Oliveira Santos. He himself corroborates that, writing with his own hand: «At the time I held the position and duty of municipality Administrator and in the early hours of the 13th, after having put a G.N.R. task force for prevention at the city hall, I went to the Aljustrel village with the municipality official Candido Alho, with the aim of bringing the three protagonists to this town and, by this means, of preventing the continuation of the increasing clerical speculation about them. Near the dwelling house of the parents of Francisco and Jacinta, already was Fr. João, parish priest in Porto de Mós, talking to the mother, and next to a small square a lot of seminarians. Lucia was interrogated at my request, by the priest and she uttered again what she had previously said. I convinced the parents of Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta, and also the priests that the children be interviewed by the parish priest of Fatima, in order to determine something concrete; but as soon as we arrived at Fatima, the children did not go to the Cova da Iria, as expected more than a dozen priests, but I brought them to my family house in a car previously rented. »

After three days in Ourém, the three children, after having been submitted, if we accept the Lucia’s story, to various threats to reveal the secret entrusted by Lady, were returned to their families on 15 August.

Documentação Crítica de Fátima, vol. I, Fátima: Santuário de Fátima, 1992, pp. 377-378; cf. Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, Fátima, p. 50-53; 92-93; 147-149.

The roads “were packed with people” on that September 13.  "There appeared all (the) miseries of poor humanity," says the Lucia’s compassionate look, remembering the crowd. At the meeting with the Lady of the Rosary, the sacrifice of children is reoriented towards the essential: "God is pleased with your sacrifices, but He does not want you to sleep with the rope on." The joy of God lies on the willingness of the seers to their self-giving in behalf of mankind.

 Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, p. 180-182

On the last apparition day, on October 13, the Cova da Iria is presented with a sea of people. The account of the newspaper O Século, October 15, describes what the 70 thousand people could see on the spot: “Before the dazzled eyes of those people, whose attitude transfers us to the biblical times, and which, dumbfounded, with the head uncovered, look up into the blue sky, the sun trembled, the sun had never seen sudden movements against all cosmic laws - the sun "danced", according to the typical expression of the peasants.”

In this last apparition, the Lady presents herself to the seers as the Lady of the Rosary.

Avelino de Almeida, O Século, Lisboa 37 (12876), 15 oct. 1917, in: Documentação Crítica de Fátima, vol. III, Fátima: Santuário de Fátima, 2002, p. 241; cf. Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, Fátima, p. 182-183

Sick since October 18, 1918, with the epidemic of pneumonic, Francisco receives the sacrament of reconciliation on April 2, 1919, and the Viaticum the next day. He died at his home, about 22.00 on April 4. In his parish registration process, the priest makes the following addition: 'Francisco – the Seer - died at ten o'clock in the evening of April 4th, consumed by a prolonged suffering of 5 months of pneumonic, and received the sacraments with great lucidity and devotion - He confirmed that he saw a Lady at the Cova da Iria and Valinho."

Register No. 21/1919 of the Baptism Book of the Parish of Fatima

The youngest of the three children of Fatima became ill, as her brother, in the fall of 1918. She was interned in the Hospital of Vila Nova de Ourém from 1 July to 31 August, 1919, and was again hospitalized, now in the Hospital D. Estefania, in Lisbon, on February 2, 1920, where she was operated and eventually died. Her body was buried in the cemetery of Vila Nova de Ourém.

Eurico Lisboa, one the doctors responsible for the hospitalization of Jacinta in the capital, reports that “on the evening of February 20, Friday, at 6 pm, the child said she felt ill and wanted to receive the sacraments. Was then called the worthiest priest of the parish of Anjos, Fr. Pereira dos Reis, who heard her confession, about 8 pm. I was told that the little girl had insisted on receiving the Holy Viaticum, but Fr. Pereira dos Reis did not agree, because he saw that she was apparently well, promising to take her our Lord, the next day. The child insisted on asking Communion, and said that she would die soon. And indeed, about 10.30, she died with great serenity, without having received the Eucharist.”

João de Marchi, Era uma Senhora mais brilhante que o sol, Fátima: Missões Consolata, 19667, p. 298; cf. Register No 36/1920? Livro de Óbitos da Paróquia dos Anjos, Lisboa.

Lucia visits the Cova da Iria, where takes place the seventh apparition of the Mother of God, alluded to on May 13, 1917. The Bishop of Leiria had invited Lucia to leave Aljustrel and to take refuge in the Asilo de Vilar, in Oporto. Lucia agreed, but soon regretted, because she felt the weight of the separation from family and from the places she was well-acquainted with. Years later, she recalls in her diary how, in that day, she went to the Cova da Iria, where «kneeling and leaning over the small fence as protection of the land that had fed the happy holmoak where Our Lady landed on His immaculate feet, I left the tears run in abundance, while asking Our Lady forgiveness, because I was not able, this time, to offer her such a sacrifice, that seemed superior to my strength. I remembered, indeed, that most beautiful day May 13, 1917, when I had given my "Yes", promising to accept all the sacrifices that God would send to me. And this remembrance was like a light at the bottom of the soul, a scruple that deprived me of peace, and made me shed a torrent of tears. [...] Certainly, from Heaven, Your motherly gaze followed my steps and in the immeasurable mirror of Light that is God you saw the struggle she faced to whom you promised special protection. “I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God." So careful and solicitous, You, once again, came down to earth, and then I felt your friendly and maternal hand touching me on the shoulder; I looked up and saw You; it was You, the Blessed Mother, giving me a hand and showing me the way. Your lips opened and the sweet timbre of your voice brought back again light and peace to my soul: “Here I am for the seventh time, go, follow the path along which the Bishop wants to take you, this is the will of God. Then I repeated my 'yes', now a 'yes' much more conscious than that of May 13, 1917; and while you were again raising towards heaven, it came to my mind, at a glance, a whole series of wonders which in that same spot, only four years ago, I was given to contemplate. I remembered my beloved Our Lady of Mount Carmel and at that moment I felt the grace of a vocation to religious life and the attraction for the Carmelite cloister. »

The next day, Lucia departs from Aljustrel, towards the Asilo of Vilar, in Oporto, to which she is admitted on June 17, taking the name of Maria das Dores.

Diário da Irmã Lúcia, n. p.

Lucia writes the first report of the apparitions in the Asylum of Vilar.

Cf. Cartas da Irmã Lúcia, Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 19792, pp. 80-84

The last seer of Fatima responds, in Oporto, to the official interrogation of the Diocesan Canonical Commission, named by José Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, about the events of Fatima. This statement was enclosed with the Diocesan Canonical Process. Following this process, the Bishop of Leiria declared on October 13, 1930, in the Pastoral Letter on the cult of Our Lady of Fatima, «worthy of belief the visions of the children in the Cova da Iria, parish of Fatima, of this Diocese, on 13 May through October 1917».

Cf. Documentação Crítica de Fátima, vol. II. Fátima: Santuário de Fátima, 1999, p. 123-146; 261-276.

Lucia welcomes the apparition of Our Lady and of the Child Jesus, during the postulancy of the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra, into which the seer entered on October 25, 1925. In a 1927 manuscript, written at the request of her confessor, Lucia gives notice of the devotion of the first Saturdays as the specific call of this apparition. Two months later, on February 15, 1926, takes place a new apparition of the Child Jesus, who "asked her if she already had spread the devotion to His Most Holy Mother".

Cartas da Irmã Lúcia, Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 19792, p. 39-40; Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, Fátima, p. 193

Lucia begins the novitiate at Tuy, taking the name of Maria Lucia das Dores. She will pronounce her temporary vows in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Dorothy on October 3, 1928, and will make the perpetual vows precisely six years later.

Restless with the difficulty of satisfying Jesus’ request without revealing the secret that she had been given, Lucia prays in front of the Blessed Sacrament, in the community chapel, at Tuy. «Jesus made her hear very distinctly these words: “My daughter, write what they ask of you. Write also all that the most holy Virgin revealed to you in the Apparition, in which she spoke of this devotion."

Cartas da Irmã Lúcia, Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 1979, p. 39; Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, Fátima, p. 193-194

Lucia has the vision of the Most Holy Trinity, illustrated with the words "Grace and Mercy". According to the appointment made by her spiritual director, José Bernardes Gonçalves, the vision is followed by the request made by the Virgin of the Immaculate Heart concerning the consecration of Russia.

Fatima in Lucia's own words, Secretariado dos Pastorinhos, 2007, Fátima, p. 196-198

The body of the seer Jacinta Marto is transferred to the cemetery of Fatima. Lucia’s indirect testimony states that "the face of the Servant of God was found intact."

Lúcia de Jesus, “Processo de Coimbra”, Positio super virtutibus Hyacinthae Marto. Roma, 1988, p. 340.

The last seer finishes the handwriting of the first memoir, dedicated to the evocation of her cousin Jacinta and composed in response to a request of the Bishop of Leiria.

Lucia concludes her second memoir.

Lucia writes a letter to Pius XII, asking the Holy Father for “blessing and extending this devotion [to the Immaculate Heart of Mary] to the whole World”, and for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, with special mention of Russia. "

António Maria Martins, Cartas da Irmã Lúcia. 2.ª ed. Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 1979, p. 58-59.

The religious woman puts an end to the third memoir, which had been requested by the Bishop of Leiria, on July 26, 1941.

Lucia completes the composition of the fourth memoir in response to the request of the bishop of Leiria, 7 October 1941.

The religious woman is sent to the Dorothean community of Colégio do Sardão in Vila Nova de Gaia. From 20 to 22, May, Lucia returns to Fatima, after two decades of absence. She visits Cova da Iria, Loca do Cabeço, Valinhos and Aljustrel.

Lucia enters the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra. On 13 May, she takes the habit with the name of Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart, making solemn vows on 31 May 1949. In a letter drafted in 1954, Lucia describes her entry into the Carmelite cell: “When I was fortunate to enter the Carmel, I was led to the cell and, upon entering, I stared a few moments at the great naked cross, with its arms opened to me. Our Reverend Mother Prioress asked me: "Do you know what is this cross here for, without image?" And not allowing me to have time to answer, she added, "It is for the Sister’s crucifixion". Such a beautiful ideal, to be crucified with Christ!”

António Maria Martins, Cartas da Irmã Lúcia. 2.ª ed. Porto: Livraria Apostolado da Imprensa, 1979, p. 65.

The remains of Jacinta are identified and on 1 May of that year transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.

The remains of Francisco are exhumed. The identification, hampered by the fact that the same grave has received several bodies, is due and ascribable, largely, to the 148 beads of the rosary with which he was buried, found next to his bones and readily recognized by the seers’ father. The body is transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima Rosary on March 13 this year.

Mgr. José Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, begins and opens the two Diocesan Informative Processes on the reputation of holiness and virtues of Francisco and Jacinta. At first, the causes of beatification of Francisco and Jacinta followed independent procedures, having become a common cause only after the decree on the virtues of Marto brothers. The process of Francisco Marto had 63 sessions and 25 witnesses. And that of Jacinta Marto had 77 sessions and 27 witnesses.

On the occasion of Paul VI's pilgrimage, in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, Lucia moves to Fatima and encounters with the pope.

Lucia receives Albino Cardinal Luciani, patriarch of Venice and future Pope John Paul I, at the Carmel of St. Teresa, in Coimbra.

Closing of the Diocesan Informative Process relative to Jacinta.

Closing of the Diocesan Informative Process concerning Francisco.

John Paul II is pilgrim, for the first time, to Fatima, in a journey marked by the sign of gratitude for the maternal protection of the Mother of God in the attack that he had suffered, exactly a year before, in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The words the Pontiff offers at the Chapel of the Apparitions, in Fatima, are words of gratitude: “I saw in everything that was happening – I do not get tired of repeating it – a special maternal protection of Our Lady. And in this striking occurrence – and there are no mere coincidences in the designs of Divine Providence – I also saw an appeal and, perhaps, a call to attention for the message here sent and left, sixty-five years ago, through three children, borne to humble people of the countryside, the little shepherds of Fatima, as they are universally known.”

There occurs the first meeting of the seer Lucia with the Polish pope.

Discourse of pope John Paul II to the bishop of Leiria in his arrival at Fátima, on 12 May1982

Lucia finishes the writing of the fifth memoir, evoking the figure of her father, a text repeatedly requested by Luciano Guerra, then Rector of the Shrine of Fatima. The author made also two additions to the memoir in April of that year.

John Paul II asserts by decree the heroic virtues of Francisco. So he does for his sister Jacinta. The decrees on the virtues of Marto brothers, and the subsequent award of the title of Venerable, represent a truly significant moment for the Church History, in that, for the first time, and after a long period of theological reflection, initiated precisely in response to the Cause of the two shepherd children of Fatima, are recognized the heroic virtues and maturity of faith of children non-martyrs; thus is paved the way and precedent for the recognition of sanctity of children.

Part of this theological debate is published in Osservatore Romano, April 10, 1981.

John Paul II makes his pilgrimage, for the second time, to Fatima, and encounters with again the last seer, Lucia de Jesus.

The Carmelite finishes her sixth memoir dedicated to the figure of her mother.

John Paul II promulgates the decree on the miracle of healing on behalf of Emilia Santos, obtained through the intercession of Francisco and Jacinta.

In his third and final pilgrimage to Fatima, during the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified the seers Francisco and Jacinta Marto, presenting them to the Church and to the world as "two candles which God lit to illuminate mankind in its dark and anxious hours." Delivered at the Fatima precinct, the papal decree announced: “Welcoming the desire expressed by our brother Mgr. Serafim Bishop of Leiria-Fatima, by many other brothers in the episcopate and so many faithful Christians, after having heard the statement of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with our apostolic authority we grant that, from now on, the venerable servants of God, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, be called blessed, and also be celebrated annually, in the places and according to the norms of law, the feast of Francisco and Jacinta Marto on 20 February. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

On that same date, Lucia, present at the beatification of her cousins, has a meeting with the Pope. In the following days, the Carmelite returns to the places of her childhood: Loca do Cabeço, Aljustrel and the parish church of Fatima.

Cf. Beatification decree of venerable Francisco and Jacinta Marto; Homily of Pope John Paul II at the beatification ceremony of Venerable Francisco and Jacinta, May 13, 2000

Lucia dies in the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra. In a message sent to the bishop of Coimbra, at the funeral of the Carmelite, John Paul II leaves a friendship testimony: "I remember with emotion the various meetings I had with her and the bonds of spiritual friendship which over time became stronger. I always felt supported by the daily gift of her prayer, especially in the hard times of trial and suffering. May the Lord recompense her eminently for her great and hidden service to the Church. I like to think that Sister Lucia, in her pious departure from earth to heaven, has been welcome precisely by the one she saw in Fatima, so many years ago. "

John Paul II's Message for the funeral of Sister Lucia, the Vatican, February 14, 2005

The remains of Lucia are transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, and are deposited near the tomb of her cousin Jacinta.

In the Carmel of Coimbra, José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, says that “Benedict XVI, graciously accepting the request made by the bishop of Coimbra, Mgr. Albino Mamede Cleto, and shared by numerous bishops and faithful from all over the world, waived the five-year waiting established by the canonical norms, and provided for the initiation, just three years after the death, of the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification of the Carmelite."

The Bishop of Coimbra opens the process and cause of beatification of Sister Lucia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart.