Secrets of Fatima
The three secrets of Fatima are said to have been given to the young shepherds during the third apparition of the Lady of Fatima on July 13, 1917 and consist of prophecies, a vision of hell and instructions for spreading the word of God on earth.
There has been much speculation and debate about the meaning of the Fatima secrets over the years, especially the third which was not revealed until 2000, but the official interpretation is that they are about hell, the two World Wars and the shooting of Pope John Paul II.
The Lady of Fatima had told the children not to divulge the secrets and it was not until 1941 when Lúcia, at the request of the Bishop of Leiria, revealed the first two secrets for a book on Jacinta. In 1943 after being ordered by the Bishop to reveal the third secret she wrote it down and sealed it in an envelope which she said should not opened until 1960, as it would be clearer by then. As it happened the Vatican did not release the third secret of Fatima until 2000 when it bowed to pressure from the public and from conspiracy theorists and published a text that some claim is not the entire secret revealed by Lucia.
The first secret of Fatima
The following are the wording of the secrets as recorded by Lúcia. The first describes a vision of hell:
“Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.
“The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.”
Second secret of Fatima
The second secret predicted the end of the First World War and warned that there would be an even worse war to come if mankind continued to offend God. It also said this war would be presaged by strange lights in the sky. In 1938 a very rare and spectacular occurrence of the Northern Lights was seen over Europe and in parts of Africa and Asia. A year later World War II started. This prediction has, however, been criticised by some who point out that the second secret was not disclosed until August 1941, after the war had begun. According to Lúcia the words of the Lady of Fatima were:
“You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pope Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.
“To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”
Third secret of Fatima
When the third secret of Fatima was finally released its contents proved to be so unremarkable that there was widespread speculation over why the Vatican had kept it hidden so long. It consists of a series of visions that have been interpreted in a variety of ways. Some say it foretells of the church coming under attach, others that it predicts the assassination attempt on the pope. The exact words, described by Lúcia, were:
"After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."