August 2020 Newsletter | AFC Pillar of Spirituality

Build a Chapel in My Honor: August 19 Fatima Apparition

Listen to Catholic Corps Member Renee Scheu read the story about this apparition:

Just before the scheduled apparition on August 13, the children were kidnapped! 

Arturo Santos, mayor of the district that included Fatima, offered to take the children to the Cova da Iria in his own wagon. But when they came to a split in the road, he turned the wagon in the opposite direction. 

Santos took the children to Ourem, a city about nine miles away. There, he tried to get the children to say they were lying. Because Santos did not believe in God, he wanted to prove that the visits from the heavenly lady were fake. 

The mayor also tried to scare the children into telling him the secret. He locked them in jail for a while. He even threatened to throw them into a pot of boiling oil. Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta were brave and would not tell him anything. After two days, Santos finally took them home. 

A few days later, on August 19, Lucia, Francisco, and his brother John were with the sheep at a pasture close to where the angel had appeared. It was late afternoon, but Lucia was certain that the Lady would come. She gave John a few coins to go home and tell Jacinta to come quickly. As soon as Jacinta got there, the Lady appeared.

Once again, Lucia asked her, “What do you want of me?”

“I want you to continue going to the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth, and to continue praying the Rosary every day. In the last month, I will perform a miracle so that all may believe,” promised the Lady.

“What do you want done with the money that people leave in the Cova da Iria?”

“Have two litters made. One is to be carried by you and Jacinta and two other girls dressed in white; the other one is to be carried by Francisco and three other boys. The money for the litters is for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, and what is left over will help towards the construction of a chapel that is to be built here.”

Then Lucia asked the Lady to cure some sick people.

“Yes, I will cure some of them during the year,” the Lady promised. And then she 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 to pray for them.”

Then she left, disappearing into the east as before.

Key Point from the August 19 Apparition

Daily life gives us many opportunities to offer sacrifices. Whether we are cooking dinner, taking out the trash, dealing with a difficulty at work, or picking up the toys, we can offer it as an act of love to Jesus, through Mary, in union with St. Joseph for the conversion of sinners.