Sister Lúcia of Fatima
Biography of Lúcia Dos Santos
Lúcia dos Santos was born on 22 March 1907 in Aljustrel, a hamlet near Fatima in Portugal. Her parents worked the land and, like her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, she was a shepherd. She took her first communion at the age of six and pronounced this prayer: “Lord, make me a saint! Keep my heart always pure, for yourself alone! ” Beginning in 1915, Lúcia saw an angel several times and in 1917, the great apparitions of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima took place. Lúcia was the eldest of the three seers, and it is she who would speak with the Blessed Virgin during the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. In the years following the apparitions, Fatima's fame grew and the young Lúcia was in great demand. The bishop decided to put her aside to protect her and placed her in the Dorothean sisters' college in Vilar. The sisters noticed that her love of the Blessed Virgin and her relationship with her were out of the ordinary. She was obedient in everything and accepted the most unpleasant tasks.
In 1926, she entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Saint Dorothy in Tuy, Spain. She spoke her perpetual vows in 1934 and received the name of Sister Maria of Pain. Beginning at the time of her entry into the convent, Lúcia received great revelations from the Virgin: between 1925 and 1926 in Pontevedra, the Virgin asked for the approval of the restorative devotion of the first Saturdays. Then, in 1929, in Tuy, she asked for the consecration of Russia by the bishops united to the Pope. Sister Lúcia encountered the indifference and even hostility of the Pope, as well as the reserve of her bishop, Monsignor da Silva, who initially neglected her requests. In 1929, Lúcia had a vision of the Most Holy Trinity.
After a special authorization from the pope, she entered the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1948, where she remained for the rest of her life. In May 1949, she made her solemn vows and took the name of Sister Mary of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart. At the convent, the life of Sister Lúcia was made up of contemplation, solitude and silence, far from the curiosity of people. Every day she recited the rosary, along an aisle, the superior often found her “scolding the little shepherds for going to heaven and leaving her alone.”
Sister Lúcia was called to God on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97. She was buried at the Carmel in Coimbra. Her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, were already saints, and Sister Lúcia would follow them on this path. The cause of beatification was opened in the diocese of Coimbra on February 13, 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI renounced the five-year waiting period after her death. The diocesan survey was closed and sent to Rome in 2017. The next step was the recognition of the heroic virtues of Sister Lúcia by the Holy See. Then, the recognition of a miracle will allow the beatification and then the canonization of the Servant of God.
Writings and Prophecies of Sister Lúcia of Fatima
Our Lady had asked little Lúcia to learn to read and write. Indeed, this was going to be essential for the mission to which she was called. In 1925, she received a mission from the bishop to write her memories on Jacinta. This work, the first of Sister Lúcia's Memoirs, had a great impact. In all, Sister Lúcia wrote six Memoirs during her lifetime, the first four of which were written between 1935 and 1941. The last two were written in 1989 and 1993. She also wrote the book “The Calling of the Message of Fatima”.
Lúcia wrote many letters to respond to those who wished to know “the Third Secret of Fatima,” revealing it only to the bishop and the pope. He was also asked to interpret the requests of the Virgin Mary, especially with regard to the “Consecration of Russia”. Sister Lúcia met Pope John Paul II several times to talk to him about the three secrets.
The interview that took place between Sister Lúcia and Father Fuentes in 1957 contains important prophecies. Here is an excerpt: “The Most Blessed Virgin did not tell me that we are in the last times of the world, but I understood it for three reasons: The first is because she told me that the demon is fighting a decisive battle with the Virgin. [...] The second, because she said, (...) that God gave the last two remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and these being the last two remedies, it means that there are no others.”
Message of Fatima transmitted by Sister Lúcia
Sister Lúcia never ceased to transmit the message received from the Blessed Virgin to Fatima. To sum up the call of the Blessed Virgin to Fatima, Sister Lúcia said: “There are two ways to save the world: prayer and sacrifice. Then the Holy Rosary. Finally, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. ”
Prayer and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners
Sister Lúcia kept repeating that prayers and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners were the fundamental point of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She said: “The conversion of sinners, and the return of souls to God. This idea has been repeated in all the apparitions; that is why I consider it to be the essence of the message. “ When Sister Lúcia was asked what she meant by sacrifice, she replied: “By sacrifice, Our Lady said that she meant the faithful fulfillment of the duty of the daily state of each one.”
The prayer of the rosary
Here's what Sister Lúcia says about the rosary: “the Most Blessed Virgin, in these last times that we live, has given a new effectiveness to the recitation of the Rosary. In such a way that there is no problem, however difficult it may be, temporal or especially spiritual, relating to the personal life of each of us, of our families, whether it be families living in the world or religious communities, or to the life of peoples and nations, there is no problem, I say, however difficult it may be, that we cannot solve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves, we will sanctify ourselves, we will console Our Lord and we will obtain the salvation of many souls “.
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary entrusted to Sister Lúcia
The Virgin appeared to Sister Lúcia on December 10, 1925, in Pontevedra, to give her the details of her devotion to her Immaculate Heart and to ask her to start spreading it. She said to her: “You, at least, endeavor to console me and say that all those who, for five months, on the first Saturday, will confess, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes by meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, in the spirit of reparation, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their soul.”
Prayers to Sister Lúcia
Prayer for the Beatification of Sister Lúcia:
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore you deeply and I thank you for the apparitions of the Most Holy Virgin to Fatima to manifest to the world the riches of her Immaculate Heart. Through the infinite merits of the Most Holy Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I ask you, if it is for your greatest glory and the good of our souls, to deign to glorify, before the Holy Church, Sister Lúcia, little shepherdess of Fatima, by granting us, through her intercession, the grace that we ask of you. .
Amen. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
