A note to those who convey the message to the children: in the text there is a consequential logic which must be followed, therefore in the exposition please keep the order of the topics just as they are cited. According to our experience, especially when there are many children or when you are talking outdoors or when the acoustics aren’t good, we suggest that you be as concise as possible; you can leave out the apparition of the Angel and/or the example of the rosary given to explain the meaning of consecration.
Dear children, I’m going to tell you the most beautiful news in the world, are you ready to receive it? You know that in the world there is so much evil: wars, drugs, violence, diseases, families who separate, millions of children who die of starvation…Would you be happy if all these bad things came to an end? Yes?! And if this depended on you, only on you children, would you be willing to commit yourselves so that evil may disappear as soon as possible? Yes?! Well, then you’ll have to promise that you’ll listen very carefully to what I’m going to say. I’m going to tell you the story of three children like you. It’s a true story. These three children will teach you what you’ll have to do to free the world from evil and build a new world in which there will be only Love. So….
THE THREE SHEPHERD CHILDREN AND THE ANGEL OF PEACE
The facts I’m about to tell you happened in 1917 in Fatima, a small town in Portugal, Europe, where during that time the First World War was being fought. There were three children who lived in Fatima and they didn’t go to school because they were very poor; their names were Lucia, who was 10, Francisco, 9 and Jacinta 7. The last two children were brother and sister, Lucia’s cousins.
The things I’m telling you about were written by Lucia, in four notebooks of Memoirs, when she became an enclosed nun in Carmelo di Coimbra, in Portugal. Lucia died on February 13, 2005.
One day, while they were grazing their sheep, the three shepherd children saw a shining, almost transparent, boy about the age of 12-14 approaching them:
“Don’t be afraid – he told them – I am the Angel of peace, the Guardian Angel of Portugal; pray with me!”. It was St. Michael the Archangel, since he is the patron saint of Portugal. He appeared three times and he taught the children some prayers.
The first time, the Angel taught them a beautiful prayer and he repeated it three times kneeling down with his face to the ground: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You; I ask pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You”. Then he urged them to pray a great deal, and said: “The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications”. And he disappeared. At first the children did what the Angel told them, and prayed a lot. However, when the initial enthusiasm was over, they went back to their games as if nothing had happened.
After some time, the Angel appeared to them again, while they were playing in Lucia’s garden and scolded them, and urged them again to pray and make sacrifices: “What are you doing? Pray, pray a great deal…. Offer unceasingly prayers and sacrifices to the Most High…above all accept and bear with submission the sufferings which the Lord will send you. Children’s sacrifices are dear to the Lord: they are powerful for the conversion of bad people”.
A few months later, the Angel appeared to them a third time with in his hand a Chalice and above it a Host from which some drops of Blood fell into the Chalice. Leaving the Chalice and the Host suspended in the air, the Angel knelt down near the three children and made them repeat this prayer three times: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore You profoundly, and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He, Himself is offended. And I draw upon the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, that You might convert poor sinners”. Then the Angel gave the children Communion by giving them the Body and Blood of Jesus.
The Angel of Peace urged the children to make sacrifices and to pray for the conversion of sinners; to love Jesus in the Eucharist by atoning for the offences which He receives in this Sacrament. These two things became the main goal of the life of the three Shepherd children and this must be the goal of all the children in the world who want to imitate them. Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta committed themselves to making a lot of sacrifices for poor sinners: for example, they gave up their snacks in order to give them to the poor; they didn’t drink water for many days in the summer; in August, when it was very hot, they didn’t drink water for the whole month; they spent entire mornings praying with their face to the ground and repeating the prayers which the Angel had taught them.
In this way they prepared themselves for another more important encounter.
THE ENCOUNTER WITH OUR LADY
This new encounter took place on May 13, 1917, at noon, on a beautiful, sunny day. The three Shepherd children had just recited the Rosary. Suddenly they heard a noise of thunder and immediately they saw a bright light, with a beautiful Lady, brighter than the sun. The children were a bit afraid, but the Lady smiled and said in a gentle voice: “Do not be afraid, I will not harm you.”
The children then asked her some questions: “Who are you? What’s your name? Where do you come from? What do you want from us?”. The Lady answered: “I come from Heaven” and pointed with her hand to Heaven; “I want you to come here another five times, on the 13th day of every month…later I will tell you my name…”
They asked other questions which the Lady answered and in the end she asked them a question: “Are you willing to offer yourselves to God, ready to accept what He will send you, for peace in the world and for the conversion of sinners?” The salvation of the world depends on this question. The three children understood it was something important, and they remained a bit in silence. Then they answered readily: “Yes”.
The Lady smiled and continued: “well, do not be afraid of anything. God’s Grace will be your comfort”. Then she opened her arms and from her hands came forth two big rays of Light which struck the children on their chest and entered inside them: “That Light was God”, Lucia wrote in her diary.
After, the Lady started rising into the air and Her last words were: “Say the Rosary every day”.
Our Lady appeared to the children another five times, the last time on October 13 when there was the wonderful miracle of the sun.
Dear children, I can’t tell you about the other five apparitions now; I want to make you think about a few important things about this first encounter. So, Our Lady comes down from Heaven to bring Peace into the world and for the conversion of sinners.
What is Peace?(* let each child answer however he wants, almost always someone will say: it’s Love! If nobody says it, conclude saying:) Peace is Love!
What does the conversion of sinners mean? It means that bad people will become good. Now let’s reflect on these two things:
What would the world become if all bad people became good and if everyone had a lot of Love in their hearts? All bad things would disappear: wars, the construction of weapons, courts, prisons…there would no longer be people who starve, there wouldn’t be violence anymore…families wouldn’t separate anymore…everyone would smile, help each other and play together…
What would the world become?(* Usually a few children say: Heaven! If nobody says it, conclude saying:) It would become…Heaven!
And would you be happy if this happened? Yes!
And what if I told you that this depends on you children, would you be ready to do what the three Shepherd children did, by accepting the Virgin Mary’s invitation? Yes!
You see, many people think it’s impossible for the whole world to become Love. However I ask you:
“Can Our Lady tell lies?” No!
Then, do you know the prayer of the Our Father? In this prayer we ask our Father in Heaven: “Let Your kingdom …of Love…come to us…may Your will of Love be done on earth, as in Heaven…!”.
Our Lady has come to tell us that this moment has arrived: Love is finally about to come on earth…But on one condition: that you children help her to accomplish this beautiful plan of God. She came to Fatima precisely for this reason, to ask for your help, children, and for this same reason she came amongst you today.
You’re probably thinking: “But what can we children do? We’re little, we aren’t powerful, we aren’t rich, and we don’t even do good at school…”. Well, I will now tell you what Our Lady was able to do with the three children of Fatima, who were poorer than you and who didn’t even go to school and therefore they didn’t know how to read or write. I will tell you about one episode only:
On July 13, the third apparition, Our Lady told them about what would happen in the world. Amongst other things, she talked about the two great World Wars: (1915-18 and 1940-45) which in the last century devastated Europe. She said: “This World War I will soon end; but then a second war will break out, worse than this one”. Then she added: “I will save your country, Portugal, from World War II…”. Well, children: do you know that Portugal didn’t participate in World War II thanks to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta who answered “yes” to Our Lady’s invitation. I didn’t make up these things, it’s a true story.
Now I want to ask you a question:
“Do you think Our Lady wanted to go only to those three children in Portugal or to all the children in the world?”. To all the children in the world!
“Therefore even to you?” Yes… And now I want to ask you another question:
“If with only three children Our Lady was able to save a great nation from war, what will she be able to save if she finds thousands and thousands of children who will help her?” The world!
Yes, children, that’s how it is. Padre Pio of Pietralcina, a Capuchin priest who became a saint and from whose heart were born the Nests of Prayer of the Armata Bianca, said it like this: “Children will save the world!”
Think, children: if we do everything Our Lady asked for, we will be able to save the world. But what must we do? Three things:
1st = Offer ourselves to God (what does this mean?)
2nd = Say the Rosary every day .
3rd = Make some small sacrifices .
