Fatima

Chapter 03: The Angel's Prayer

Spring and Summer 1916

Casa Velha, Valinhos, Fatima, Ourém, Beira Litoral Province, Portugal

The Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria had no severed relations with Portugal, but their ally, Germany and Austria-Hungary, declare war on Portugal. Days past, the three shepherd children, Lucia Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, go to Valinhos. One morning, the day begins to drizzle.

"It looks like it's about to rain," Francisco noticed.

"We should better find a place that will shelter for us awhile," Lucia replied. So, the three shepherd children climb up the hill to find a rocky place that will shelter them. As they found a place at the middle of the olive grove which belongs to Lucia's grandfather, Anastacio Dos Santos.

"We should directly go home before the rain heavily poured down from the heavens to the ground minutes ago," Francisco complained.

"Well, if we go directly to our village, we might reach the rain heavily pour down and we have no place to shelter ourselves. We'd better stay here until the rain stop," Lucia replied. As minutes passed, the rain stops and the sun rises in the sky.

Then, they eat lunch and pray the Holy Rosary. After that, they play game with pebbles when suddenly, a strong wind shakes the trees and blows dried leaves away.

"Hmmm...what's going on? The wind is so strong," Jacinta noticed as she turns around.

"Maybe there are cirrus clouds scattered in the sky, let's go out to check it out," Lucia suggested. When they go out from their place to check the weather outside, they found it calmed.

"That's strange, the sky is as calm as a summer sea," Lucia wondered. "Plus, the sun is still in the sky and there are no cirrus clouds scattered in the sky."

"Sometimes, there are no cirrus clouds during a sunny day," Francisco added. Then, they begin to see in a distance, above the tree stretching to the east. As they turn to the east, a white light appears in front of them and begins to form a young man.

"What is that?" Francisco shocked as he take one step backward. As the young man came near to them, the three shepherd children are able to see the young man's physical appearance.

"Wow," the three shepherd children astonished as they see the young man. They are quiet and silent when they see the young man standing in front of them.

"Do not be afraid for I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me," the young man requested as he kneels down to the ground. At the same time, the three shepherd children follows him and kneels down to the ground.

"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you," the Angel of Peace prayed. After repeating the prayer three times, the Angel of Peace rises from the ground and turns at them.

"I want you three to pray in this way. The hearts of Jesus and listen to you," the Angel of Peace requested. After that, he disappeared into thin air.

"I couldn't believe on what I saw today," Jacinta intensely astonished. Francisco, who also saw the Angel of Peace, couldn't hear the conversation with them.

"What does the young man say? I saw him speaking to you, but I couldn't hear," Francisco asked them.

"The young man whom you saw is the Angel of Peace," her younger sister, Jacinta, replied.

"He told us to pray by saying,'My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love you,' three times or more," Lucia replied.

"What are we going to do now?" Jacinta asked them.

"Well, we'll do what the Angel of Peace requested, but we'll not tell anyone about what we saw this morning. We'll keep this as a secret to our parents, our friends, our neighbors, and everyone," Lucia replied. The next day, the strong wind like what happened yesterday morning occurs again and hold themselves bound until they notice that the strong wind lessens it's air pressure and vanishes in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the three shepherd children promise themselves to keep silent about the apparition of the Angel of Peace.