Little Shepherds walked to Fatima hills

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"Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me."
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The head trail of this walk was not too far from the Lucias and Santos, and still within the Fatima village. The Walk started right off the main road, P1020024, and directed us on the brick-paved trail through a scattered grove of low Oak trees, the ground vegetation was minimum, and laid with sharp clay-colored rocks.

The 14 stations of the Cross and the Shrine were built along the walk were a gift donated by the Hungarian Catholics, who after WWII fled their country under the persecution of Communism and took refuge in Portugal. Hungarian Catholics persecuted by Communists for their faith and was publicly opened on August 12, 1956. The Angel appeared the First and Third times on this road as the children walked daily to the Fatima hills, tending their sheep. The Second time was at the Lucia’s by the well. On this road after the Angel appearance 6 months later, the Blessed Mother appeared to the children once, 4th apparition, when they were forbidden by the authority to go to the Fatima hills.


________________The Apparitions of the Angel, "Herald of the Virgin"_____________________


In the history of Israel, Gods chosen people, and in the history of the Church, the Lord has frequently sent his angels as bearers of good tidings that would give men a better understanding of His word and His will. At Fatima in 1916, a year before the Apparitions of the Mother of God, an Angel came three times to visit the little shepherds. As Our Lady’s messenger, and forerunner of still greater happenings to come, the Angel prepared the little seers towards a greater understanding, living and spreading of Our Lady’s message, which was none other than that of the Gospel.


____FIRST Angel Apparition, Spring 1916____
"Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace.”

The first apparition of the Angel took place in the spring of 1916 (the seers could not recall the exact date), on a rocky hillside near Aljustrel called Loca do Cabe. It was a rainy day, and the three little shepherds, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, had sought shelter among the rocks. When the sky cleared, they stayed in the same spot, enjoying their games. Suddenly, they beheld a strange light coming towards them from the east. When it drew near, they saw that it was "a young man, about fourteen or fifteen years old, whiter than snow, transparent as crystal when the sun shines through it, and of great beauty" (Lucia’s Memoirs). He drew closer and said: "Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me." Kneeling on the ground, he bowed down until his forehead touched the ground, and asked them to pray with him three times the following prayer:
"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You."
Then, rising, he said: "Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications." Then he disappeared. During the whole of that day, and the following day too, the three little shepherds were so immersed in the presence of God that they were unable to speak, even among themselves.

____SECOND Angel Apparition___

Appeared nearby the Lucia's

_____THIRD Angel Apparition, Autumn 1916____
“He gave the host to Lucia, and the contents of the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta.”

In the autumn of the same year 1916, the little shepherds were up on the slopes of the Loca do Cabeo, where the Angel had appeared to them for the first time. The children were prostrate on the ground, saying the prayer that the Angel had taught them, when an extraordinary light shone upon them. They looked up, and beheld the Angel. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with a host suspended above it, from which some drops of blood fell into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and the host suspended in the air, the Angel prostrated beside the little shepherds and asked them to say the following prayer: "Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly, and 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 outrages, sacrileges and indifference with 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, the Angel took the chalice and the host in his hands. He gave the host to Lucia, and the contents of the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta, 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 them, three times more, the same prayer, "Most Holy Trinity... ". He then disappeared. He had completed his mission. Six months later, the heavens would open once more to make way for her who was to bring a message of love and salvation to mankind.


_______________FOURTH Apparition of the Blessed Lady, 19th August____________________
The Shrine of Valinhos was remembered for the fourth apparition on this walk, apart from the Fatima Hill

"If you had not been taken away, the miracle would have been even greater."

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"If you had not been taken away, the miracle would have been even greater." The Mother told the children: "In the last month, I will work a miracle so that all may believe. If you had not been taken away, the miracle would have been even greater." Even the newspapers had begun to take an interest in the Fatima apparitions. They took the authorities to task for their negligence and inefficiency in failing to put a stop to the farce of the Cova da Iria. Feeling that this attack was aimed at himself, the Administrator of Vila Nova de Ouri decided to have recourse to a stratagem.

On the morning of the 13th of August, feigning a desire of being present at the apparition, he invited the three little shepherds into his carriage. But, instead of taking them to the Cova da Iria, he turned about and set off at full speed for the Town Hall at Vila Nova de Ouri. There, the little shepherds, individually and together, were subjected to severe questioning, and were threatened with torture and a terrible death: "We shall throw you into a cauldron of boiling oil." All this was to induce them to deny the tales they had spread abroad. The children refused to be intimidated and persisted in their decision to say nothing. On the 15th of August they were taken back home. On the 19th of August, still feeling very sad because they had been unable to keep their appointment with Our Lady, the little shepherds set out to pasture their flocks in a place called Valinhos.

Suddenly, they noticed the signs which usually preceded an apparition. The brightness of the sun faded and the air grew cooler, and they saw the flash of light which they called lightning. Our Lady appeared, standing on a holmoak. She renewed her promise to perform a miracle in October "so that all may believe". Our Lady also spoke of having a chapel built in the Cova da Iria. Finally, she said: "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".

And she began to ascend as usual towards the east. From then on, Our Lady request that they should make sacrifices for sinners was constantly present to the mind of the little shepherds, and increased their thirst for making sacrifices. They gave away their lunch, and gave up drinking water even on the hottest days of summer. They went so far as to tie a rope tightly round their waists in order to suffer all the more; Francisco and Jacinta continued to wear the rope even during the illnesses which were to lead to their death.


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