July 14, 1917, 10 am
Loca do Cabeço, Valinhos, Fatima, Ourém, Beira Litoral Province, Portugal
The cool hours of the morning give way to the stifling heat of the day. The three shepherd children are burned with thirst as there is not a single drop of water near. Instead of complaining about their fasting, Jacinta stays calm and happy as they suffer naturally.
"I'm not sure how good it is," Jacinta happily said as she suffered naturally. "I am thirsty but I offer everything for the conversion of sinners."
"Oh no, my cousins seem very thirsty," Lucia, the oldest of the three, noticed. After that, Lucia goes to fetch some water in a nearby house. When she returned back to Cabeço, she offers water to Francisco.
"I don't want to drink water. I want to suffer for the conversion of sinners," Francisco refused.
"Jacinta, you drink it," Lucia said as she offers water to her younger cousin, Jacinta.
"I'm sorry, Lucia, but I also want to offer a sacrifice, Jacinta said. So, Lucia pours water out into the hollow of a rock for the sheep to drink and returns the empty jug to the house. Sometime later, Jacinta becomes very weak as she's almost fainting.
"My head aches so. Tell the crickets and frogs to stop," Jacinta cried out as she hears rhythmic noises of crickets, frogs, and insects that pounded her ears like thunder.
"Don't you want to suffer for the sake of sinners?" Francisco asked Jacinta.
"Yes, I do. Let them sing," Jacinta replied.
"Lucia," Jacinta continuously said. "The Lady from Heaven said that Her Immaculate Heart shall be your refuge and the way that shall lead you to God. Doesn't that make you happy? I love Her Heart very much."
"To be honest, I should like to go with you," Lucia confessed, thinking of the beautiful joys of Heaven.
"Lucia, don't you remember?... The Heart of the Lady encircled by thorns? How pitiful! I am so sorry for Her... She asked for the Communion of Reparation, but how can I do this, if I can't receive Communion yet?" Jacinta asked Lucia.
"I-I don't know...," Lucia replied as she couldn't answer her question. As minutes passed, while Lucia and Francisco go to look for some wild honey, Jacinta goes alone near the well. Then suddenly, she begins to have a vision of Pope Pius XI. After that, thinking that her brother, Francisco, and her older cousin, Lucia, would see everything she did, Jacinta calls for them.
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Fatima
Non-FictionIn 1917, the whole Church is in danger due to the cruelty of World War I. A large number of Allied countries battled against the Central Powers. In the Cova da Iria, in Fatima, Portugal, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children si...
