On this page we document a well known vision and leave it up to you to believe it or not. What did happen in this case? Mass hysteria, as some would have us believe? Outright fraud and trickery? Or is it a true vision, a message from God that is visited upon us for the betterment of mankind? You be the judge, and enjoy our journey into the mystical world of visions. 

There have been countless recorded occurrences of Visions down the ages, the majority of which were visions of a woman, dressed in white and sometimes surrounded by angles. It is interesting to note that this same vision is documented by many different cultures. In China, this vision is associated with a Goddess. In Catholic religion it is most commonly held to be the Virgin Mary. Many people today write these events off as flights of fancy from a largely ignorant population. It is true that a large number of these happenings can be explained as mere trickery by whichever party interested in furthering their own cause or beliefs. But not all. Some, especially modern day visions, cannot be so easily discredited.

It is often the case that only very religious people witness these events. Perhaps this is because when someone such as this sees something they cant explain they immediately endow it with religious significance, whereas an agnostic or atheist would just put it in the 'weird' category. In the same way that an Elvis fan may spot the 'King' everywhere, stains on the floor, clouds, and tea-leaves, among others, might a devoutly religious person be predisposed to witnessing a holy vision? It is almost certain that many people who witness the same event, no matter what it may be, will see something completely different. Try an experiment. When outdoors with a friend, look for a cloud, no matter what shape, and ask your friend what they think it looks like. Then compare notes, you will find that they see something different. However, tell your friend what you think it looks like, and suddenly they say, "Hey cool, yeah, that's what it is". Similarly, you will see what your friend sees, when your friend explains to you how they came to their conclusion. This is the way a lot of the so-called vision stories propagate. One person tells the rest what to look for and suddenly everyone 'sees' it. We have chosen a case that defies this explanation, and we feel it is a classic example of a 'true' vision, i.e.; one that is not explained by any rational theory. 

Our case takes place in Fatima, Portugal. The main account comes from the autobiography of Lucia de Santos, the daughter of poor landowners. The initial witnesses, or seers, were three young shepherds, two girls and a boy. (Interestingly, throughout the ages it has been shepherds who have been the most frequent seers of these visions, perhaps religiously significant because of the Jesus-followers / shepherd-flock analogy. That said, it is also hard to dispute something that was seen in the hills, remote from the eyes of other villagers).

The three children, Lucia de Santos, Francisco and Jacinto Marto, were devoutly religious and had born witness to visions before. Previously, when tending their herd in the hills, a vision of a young boy appeared to them on at least three occasions and told them that they would be visited by the Virgin Mary, and that Lucia was to be the chief seer.

In all, the girls witnessed the vision of the Virgin Mary (called Marion visions) six times, the first on Sunday, 13 March, 1917. The children were playing and suddenly there appeared before them a beautiful woman (in all records the woman has always been described as 'beautiful'). The girls described her as small, about 18 years old, wearing a white veil bordered with gold and surrounded by light. The boy, Francisco, could neither see nor hear the woman. Lucia ventured to speak to the woman and asked her why the boy could not see her, and the woman replied that he would have to say many Rosaries before he could see her. (Under the girls instruction the boy eventually did see the vision, but did not hear it speak). The woman told the girls she would be returning to this spot on the 13th of the next month, then disappeared.  

At this point we could be forgiven for thinking the whole thing is merely a 'game' or that the vision was dreamt up by the two girls and only after cajoling would the boy admit that he too could see the woman. If this was all the evidence then this case would surely have been written off long ago, but there is more to tell. 

The three swore themselves to secrecy but somehow the story leaked out, and the children found themselves ridiculed and laughed at by the villagers. Even the local priest was unhappy about this news of 'The Virgin' being seen in his village. (Often, signs and visions such as this were decried by the Church because they did not sit well with the beliefs of the clergy). The children were told that they could go to the next 'meeting' but if the vision was seen they were forbidden to return there later. Needless to say, on the 13th of the following month a large crowd had gathered at the Cova, the meeting point. Some were ill or handicapped and had travelled from afar in the hope of a cure. The Virgin appeared in the upper branches of an Oak tree and Lucia asked her what she wanted of her (Lucia). The Virgin replied "I want you to come here on the thirteenth of the next month. Say the Rosary and between the mysteries say the following... 'O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all our souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy." Then, "I want you to learn to read and write and later I will tell you what else I want."  

By the time of the third apparition the village found itself divided. The Church, and Lucia's own mother, thought the vision the work of the devil. Local officials thought it trickery propagated by the Church for propaganda purposes. At that time, Portugal was ruled by a revolutionary government, having deposed the King in 1910. This government, like most revolutionary rulers, were hostile to religion and particularly the Catholic Church. Diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Portugal were severed in 1913, and Church property and lands confiscated by the government. Priests found themselves treated as second-class citizens and were embarrassed by the events at Fatima. 

When the vision appeared again on the 13th of July there was a crowd of 5,000 people to bear witness to the event. People reported seeing a 'greyish cloud' over the site and a 'delicious breeze' sprung up when the vision appeared to the children. The apparition told Lucia that she should "Come here on the thirteenth of ever month, and continue to say the Rosary every day in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and an end to the war, for alone she can help." "In October, I will tell you who I am, and what I want, and I will perform a miracle so that everyone will see and believe." Many in the crowd claimed to hear the apparition's voice, though could not hear what she was saying. Many described it as 'the buzzing of a bee' or 'like a mosquito in an empty bottle'. With a clap of thunder, the vision was gone, and everyone present at the Cova went away convinced that they had indeed witness the Virgin Mary herself. 

At this point it is getting harder to disbelieve what was happening. Maybe the crowd, in its expectation, 'saw' what they wanted to see, and 'heard' what they wanted to hear. Indeed, noone heard what the apparition was saying, just a sound, which could have been anything in a crowd of 5,000 people. But there is more. 

Fearing a religious revival the following month, the government finally took action and a trouble-shooter called Arthur d'Olivia Santos was dispatched to Fatima to discredit the apparitions and extract confessions from the children. Failing to do so he had them abducted the day before the next vision and they were brutally interrogated and tortured. The crowd that had gathered at the Cova witnessed strange storms, lightning and a rainbow which seemed to encircle the whole area. After interrogation and threat of execution failed to sway the children's testimony they were released, and returned to Fatima. The apparition appeared to them on the 19th August while they were tending their sheep and instructed them to pray for sinners who did not believe and for an end to the war in Europe. 

On the 13th September a crowd of 30,000 was at the Cova to witness increasing displays of supernatural phenomena. Many in the crowd witnessed visions that became harder and harder for the government to discredit. One witness, Monsignor John Quareman, the vice-general of Lieria reported... 

To my surprise, I saw clearly and distinctly a globe of light advancing from east to west, gliding slowly and majestically through the air..... My friend looked also, and he had the good fortune to see the same unexpected vision. Suddenly the globe with the wonderful light dropped from sight. 

The children saw the globe come to rest in the Oak tree. Suddenly white petals rained from the sky, dissolving before they touched the earth. This 'rain of flowers' was witnessed by all present and even photographed by a government official, later published in his book 'Fatima, Espérance du Mond' in 1919.

By October, the whole of Portugal was at fever pitch. On the day of the thirteenth, more than 70,000 people had crowded into the Cova, standing expectant in the pouring rain. Troops were positioned to prevent rioting should that occur and the atmosphere was electric. The children arrived the crowd was chanting a sad Rosary. When the vision appeared, she told Lucia that she was 'Our Lady of the Rosary' and requested a chapel be built on this spot in her honour. She then prematurely predicted the end of the war in Europe. At the conclusion of her messages she closed her hands and showed the children visions, then rose in the air and opened her hands. As Lucia watched, the apparition rose and appeared to cast her own light on the sun. As Lucia cried out, the sun appeared to spin and cast off coloured lights. This episode lasted some twelve minutes then the sun plunged toward the earth. As the sun neared, temperatures rose immensely and people started to panic. At the last moment, the sun returned to its original position. Observations differ here. Some people present claim that they saw nothing unusual. Others stated that the cloud cover was so strong, and the sun's position at that time of day was different, so what people saw could not possibly be the sun. Yet people from surrounding villages who were miles away saw the 'dancing sun'. What is clear is that something did happen, and people did see something that day at the Cova. What it was we can only speculate. 

What is known, is that after the apparitions ended, Lucia and her friends were treated very badly by their families, fellow villagers and the Church. They were beaten and threatened to force a retraction, which never came. Lucia refused to reveal what visions the Virgin had shown her, and the Church declined to accept the vision as divine. Still feeling alienated, Lucia joined a convent in 1921. Her mother reputedly died of a broken heart. In 1941, at the urging of her bishop, Lucia revealed the secret visions that Our Lady had shown her that day in the Cova. The first concerned Francisco and Jacinta. The apparition told Lucia that the children would soon be joining her in Heaven, and this proved true when Francisco died in the great 'flu epidemic of 1918-19 and Jacinta died during surgery in February 1920. The second included a terrifying vision of Hell and the threat of another great war if Man did not stop offending God. This was to be heralded by 'strange lights in the sky', and some believe the strange appearance of the Aurora Borealis in Europe just before Hitler invaded Poland were the lights foretold by the apparition. She also asked people to pray for the conversion of Russia and an end to the evil that was happening there. The final secret vision was revealed only to the then Pope Pious XII, but was widely believed to be a vision of an apocalyptic third world war. 

After that, we don't know what happened to Lucia de Santos. What is known, is that many people bore witness to what happened in Fatima during those 6 months in 1917. There are many books, articles and photographs from the period. So what did happen? Was there really a messenger of God appearing to those people? Perhaps it was some kind of extraterrestrial visitor ( perhaps people witnessed the spaceship rather than the sun) coming to Earth to warn us about the future. Maybe it really was God's messenger warning us of the same thing. Perhaps it was the mass hysteria of a devout population who created some kind of metaphysical apparition through collective consciousness. 

Whatever it was, something happened there. It is up to you to decide what, and if you believe that those children did indeed see a messenger from God.

We hope you enjoyed reading about this vision. If you have anything you would like to tell us about, or any questions about this please contact us here.

Thanks for joining us,
The Secrets Team. 

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