At Fatima St. Michael the Archangel, by giving Communion to the three young shepherds, confirmed the decree «Quam Singulari» which St. Pius X had issued six years earlier. In fact, Francisco and Jacinta hadn’t turned 10 yet, which was the customary age for First Communion in their parish; moreover they were so illiterate and didn’t have any catechetic preparation.

From the «Memoirs» of Sister Lucia we read:

«A lot of time went by. One day we pastured our flocks at the Pregueira, a small olive grove which belonged to my parents, on the south side of the Cabeço mountain, which I have already mentioned, a bit above the Valinhos. After our lunch, we decided to go and pray in the hollow on the opposite side of the hill.

As soon as we arrived there, we knelt down, with our foreheads touching the ground, and began to repeat the prayer of the Angel: «My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You…». I don’t know how many times we repeated this prayer, when an extraordinary light shone upon us. We sprang up to see what was happening, and beheld the Angel. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which some drops of Blood fell into the chalice.

The Angel left the Chalice suspended in the air, and knelt down beside us and made us repeat three times: «Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the sacrileges, outrages and indifference by which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners».

Then, rising, he took the Chalice and the Host in his hands. He gave the Consecrated Host to me, and shared the Blood from the Chalice between Jacinta and Francisco, saying as he did so: «Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God». Once again, he prostrated on the ground and repeated with us, three times more, the same prayer: «Most Holy Trinity…» and then disappeared.

We remained a long time in this position, repeating the same words over and over again. When we got up we realized it was getting dark and it was time to go home.»