Fourth Apparition of Fatima- At Valinhos - August 19th, 1917

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At Valinhos - August 19th, 1917

Gratefully adapted from Our Lady of Fatima Chapel email:

The six apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima all occurred on the 13th of each consecutive month, except for the one in August. This was because the Administrator of the district of Ourem, a Mason, had kidnapped and imprisoned the children on August 13th. This is well documented in an earlier post: The Day the Freemasons Promoted Fatima. Although the little shepherds were prevented from keeping their meeting with Our Lady on that day, nevertheless, it is estimated that between three and five thousand souls showed up at the Cova da Iria.

At Valinhos

On the following Sunday afternoon of August 19th, Lucia, Francisco and his brother John had brought their flocks to a family pasture in Valinhos, which was less than a quarter of a mile from their homes in Aljustrel Jacinta was not with them, because she was being treated for the lice she had picked up while being held captive in jail. Lúcia began to get a premonition that Our Lady was about to appear, and since Jacinta was not with them, she sent the older brother, John, to fetch her. It is an especially touching detail that Our Lady patiently waited until Jacinta arrived before making her appearance.

In this visit, Our Lady once again told the children that she wanted them to continue coming to the Cova da Iria on the 13th of next month. She stressed the importance of obedience to her requests, the ramifications of offending her, and the great importance of praying and making sacrifices for sinners, as well as demonstrating a tender and motherly love:

“In the last month, I will work a miracle so that all may believe. If you had not been taken away to the city, the miracle would have been even greater. Saint Joseph will come with the Child Jesus, to give peace to the world. Our Lord will come to bless the people. Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows will also come.”

Then Our Lady said very sadly:

“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.”

The Mother of God Offended

“If you had not been taken away to the city, the miracle would have been even greater.”

As Frère Michel tells us in his seminal work, The Whole Truth About Fatima:

“By this public act, acting in the name of the authority he held over a tiny part of the nation, he had affronted and outraged the Mother of God. Thus, he contributed to drawing down upon his country a just divine punishment. Without this odious act, shamelessly committed by the competent public authority, would the great miracle of October 13th have been seen in all of Portugal? It is quite possible. What a lesson! What terrible responsibility for the unworthy authorities who deprive their people of the choice graces with which God wishes to fill them!”

What a lesson indeed! What terrible responsibility for secular authorities – and even more so for ecclesiastical authorities! It is most appropriate to apply Frère Michel’s line of reasoning to those Church authorities of today, who woefully lead astray their confused and unwitting flock, who continue to outrage God and ignore His Blessed Mother. How should we think God will repay this insult?

However, just as scandal and the abuse of graces can affect so many souls, in converse, our faithful prayers and sacrifices can affect many souls as well. This is nothing but Church teaching on the Communion of Saints we so profess in every Credo. As Frère Michel notes:

“It is an unfathomable but also an admirable mystery, that such a close communion associates all the members of the human family with one another, for their salvation or for their loss.”

Make Sacrifices for Sinners

“Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell because there are none to sacrifice themselves and pray for them.”

These final words pronounced by Our Lady, while looking very sad, were certainly the request which made the most profound impression on the three little seers and the ones which they heroically and perfectly followed.

Here we see an affirmation that the eternal salvation of many souls really depends upon our prayers and sacrifices! Again, this is in perfect conformity with our basic Catholic catechism.

Thus, following the apparition of August 19th, the three children strove to find new ways to make sacrifices to offer Jesus, for His love, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

What a terrible scandal that these small children promptly obeyed and yet, after more than one hundred years, so many Catholics have actually turned a deaf ear to Our Lady’s simple requests. But doesn’t it always seem to be the way these things work? After centuries of prophecies, only a small handful of the Chosen People actually obeyed and followed Christ their Savior; and look what those few accomplished!

We too can accomplish great things, simply by obeying the Angel of Fatima, who instructed: “Make of everything a sacrifice!” and by obeying Our Blessed Mother, who asks us for the daily Rosary and little acts of reparation. With our daily Rosary and sacrifices, we can obtain the grace for the conversion of sinners and even the Church’s restoration. In reality, it is a special blessing to be here right now, living in the midst of this great Crisis of Faith. What an opportunity to comfort Our Lord and our Blessed Lady; to make such a real difference in the eternal lives of so many souls. Do not doubt it – the Church will be restored, for Our Lord does His best work when the devil thinks he is winning.

Think back over Christ’s Passion and Death and notice the current parallel with His Mystical Body the Church. See how horribly He suffered and all the humiliation He endured. See the utter hopelessness of His suffering, by the world’s standards. Look at the tragic finality as Our Lady held her Divine Son’s Sacred Body in her arms at the foot of the Cross.

And yet, we know that this great tragedy was the means by which the enemy’s reign was defeated. By His Death, we are born to eternal life and by the devil’s current attacks on the Church, what appears to be his victory - by the same world’s standards - he is, in reality, being vanquished. Our Lord triumphs over Satan by His suffering and obedience; and we shall do the same. We are called not just to prayer and penance, but to a joyful prayer and penance! Such joy comes from complete trust in Our Lady. Indeed, from the very beginning of Sacred Scripture, God has revealed the outcome: “She shall crush thy head and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.”

Father Gabriel Amorth, Vatican exorcist, and close confidant of Padre Pio once told us: “We exorcists venerate Mary with all the impetus of our hearts, of our affections, of our desires. This is how He wants it, He who established that we receive everything by means of Mary. This is the experience that all exorcists learn first-hand.”

[i]And so, we too, in order to protect ourselves and those entrusted to us, we must be consecrated to Our Lady, wear our scapular and of course, pray our daily Rosary with faith that this most perfect Mother, given to us by Our Lord Himself, will save us from the demonic infestation of these tragic days. Let us prepare today to renew our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary on this coming Thursday, for the glorious feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Edited from the Fatima Center & Return to Fatima