Fátima ao detalhe | 13 julho 1917 | Aliança de Santa Maria

JULY 13, 1917
FÁTIMA IN DETAIL

Photograph of the three seers, Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco, near the parish church of Fátima, next to the cross. Mário Godinho, 1917.07.13 (Archive of the Shrine of Fatima - Audiovisual Center)

Sr. Maria Benedita Costa, asm
Sister of the Covenant of St. Mary

As the news about the Apparitions of May and June spread - at the speed of an enthusiastic "word of mouth" carrying news of hope and peace in troubled times of war - the "human movement" around Fátima grew at the same pace, so that - almost mimicking the Secret revealed that day - the lost village in the Serra d'Aire was progressively invaded by the most diverse groups of people, from the curious and sympathetic to the suspicious and antagonistic; from the believers from the first hour, to the unbelievers until the end; from the simple and illiterate, to the academic and social elites; from the poor who could only travel on foot, to the wealthy who, with their curiosity, dragged the luxury of their cars to Fatima.

It is in this context of growing human curiosity in the most diverse circles - particularly in the most erudite and wealthy - that various "novelties" of civilizational development - hitherto ignored and never seen by the inhabitants of Fátima and its surroundings - appear for the first time in the recesses of this mountain range, such as photography, and this very day - July 13, 1917 - is the date of the first photographic record of the Little Shepherds, taken near the Parish Church of Fátima, on an afternoon of such intense heat that even the candle given to Jacinta to hold for the portrait was bent due to the heat.

Dispensing once again with the narrative of the Apparition and its dialogue, widely publicized in the Memories of Sister Lucia I[1]If we look at the sources of the time, we realize that, as with the account of the Apparition of June, the narrative of this Apparition is far from being something "watertight", written and revealed to the public in a single moment.

The first time Lucia was questioned about this Apparition, by the parish priest the day after the Apparition.[2]There is no reference to the existence of a secret, so "in this first account of the third apparition, there are four main moments: Our Lady's request for them to return on the 13th; the insistence on praying the rosary to ease the war; Lucia's requests; and Our Lady's promise to perform a miracle in October, so that everyone would believe"[3]. The silence on this subject was, however, very brief, for "a few days later, news began to circulate that there had also been a secret and a prayer taught to the little shepherds"[4]The news became a real "powder keg" for an "explosion" in the dissemination of the Fatima apparitions while they were still taking place.

As a result not only of the "natural" human curiosity in wanting to know what "is hidden", but also of a complex "game of powers" - and the respective fears that these powers could "change hands" - a long process of inquiry into the content of the secret begins which - once again, mimicking the content of the secret - is carried out by the most diverse types of people/powers who, in their respective spheres of action, resort to all the means at their disposal in an attempt to know its content.

[1] JESUS, Lúcia de, Memórias..., p.176-178.

[2] Reproduced in CRISTINO, L. C., As Aparições..., p. 51-52.

[3] Cf. CRISTINO, L. C., The Apparitions..., p. 52.

[4] Cf. CRISTINO, L. C., The Apparitions..., p. 52.

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