Sr. Lucia of Fatima

Lúcia Santos

Lúcia de Jesus Rosa Santos – Sister Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, better known as Sister Lúcia of Jesus – (March 22, 1907 – February 13, 2005) was a Portuguese visionary and Roman Catholic Carmelite nun. She was one of the children who claimed to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal.
 

Background

Lucia's maternal grandfather, Joaquim Ferreira Rosa, was a native of Aljustrel of the parish of Fátima and born on November 29, 1823. He married Rosa da Encarnação of Perulheira, born on April 21, 1825. Together, they settled in Perulheira and had seven children. Maria Rosa was the last child, born on July 6, 1869. At the request of an aunt and uncle, Joaquim returned to Aljustrel, taking with him his wife and children, sometime between 1883 and 1884.

When Maria Rosa was 21 years old she married António dos Santos, a native of Aljustrel, on November 19, 1890. The children of Maria Rosa and António dos Santos were: Maria dos Anjos, Teresa de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, Manuel Rosa dos Santos, Gloria de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, Carolina de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, Maria Rosa (died at birth), and Lúcia de Jesus Rosa Santos. Although peasants, the Santos family was by no means poor, owning land "in the direction of Montelo, Our Lady of Ortiga, Fatima, Valinhos, Cabeço, Charneca, and Cova da Iria."

Even though Lúcia's birthday is registered as March 22, 1907, her actual date of birth is March 28. In those days it was required that parents bring their children for Baptism on the eight day after birth or face a fine, and, because March 30 was a more convenient day, the 22nd was chosen as her birthday. Lucia later recalled that, at the time, no one attached much importance to one's birthday.

Father De Marchi described her features in the following manner: "She was not a pretty child. The only attractions of her face — which was not on the whole repellent — were her two great black eyes which gazed out from under thick eyebrows. Her hair, thick and dark, was parted in the center over her shoulders. Her nose was rather flat, her lips thick and her mouth large."

Children loved and adored Lúcia. She was a fabulous storyteller with a "gift for narration." According to her mother, Lucia repeated everything that she heard "like a parrot." During the summer at siesta time Maria Rosa gave her children and the neighbor’s children, if they were there, catechism lessons, especially around Lent. During the winter the catechism lessons took place after supper and around the fire.

Lúcia's first communion was at 6 years of age (10 being the usual minimum). Initially the local prior denied this to her, even though "she understands what she's doing better than many of the others," because she was too young. The priest who eventually convinced the prior to allow her to receive communion was Father Cruz, a Jesuit missionary from Lisbon. He found Lucia distressed after being denied and inquired what was the matter. Having learned of the situation, he tested her on her catechism, and was satisfied that she was ready.

After her first confession she prayed before the altar of Our Lady of the Rosary and saw it smile at her. Upon receiving the Eucharist, Lúcia felt "bathed in such a supernatural atmosphere that the presence of our dear Lord became as clearly perceptible to me as if I had seen and heard Him with my bodily senses." Lúcia's first communion left a deep impact on her. "I lost the taste and attraction for the things of the world, and only felt at home in some solitary place where, all alone, I could recall the delights of my First Communion."
 

Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima

    For more details on this topic, see Our Lady of Fatima.

Jacinta and Francisco Marto and Lúcia Santos

At the age of ten she claimed to have witnessed visions and to have conversed with a lady that later identified herself to Lucia as "Our Lady of the Rosary" in a hollow field known as the Cova da Iria, near the village of Aljustrel, about a mile from Fátima, Portugal. Her two cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto also claimed to have witnessed the visions but only Lúcia claimed to converse directly with her. "Our Lady of the Rosary" became identified as the Virgin Mary. Among the messages Lúcia supposedly relayed from the Virgin were the Three Secrets of Fatima.

On behalf of the Catholic Church, Dom Jose Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima, approved the visions as "worthy of belief" on October 13, 1930 
 

Life in the Convent

In March 1948, she joined the Carmel of St. Teresa at Coimbra, where she lived until her death at the age of almost 98. She had been suffering prolonged colds and flu in an unheated cell. She died of cardio-respiratory failure, due to her advanced age.

Lúcia wrote six memoirs during her lifetime. The first four were written between 1935 and 1941, and the English translation is published under the name Fatima in Lucia's Own Words. The fifth and six memoirs, written in 1989 and 1993, are published in English under the name Fatima in Lucia's Own Words II. Additional writings include 'Calls' From the Message of Fatima published in 2000, and Appeals of the Fatima Message, published in 2001.

The day of her funeral, February 15, 2005, was declared a day of national mourning in Portugal; even campaigning for the national parliamentary election scheduled for Sunday, February 20, was interrupted.

While most historical accounts correctly refer to Lúcia as Lúcia Santos, some of the more modern accounts refer to Lucia as Lúcia dos Santos. This confusion likely arose with the publication of her first book of memoirs, wherein the editor states that the parish register lists her father's name as Antonio dos Santos. Lúcia confirms that her family name is Santos in her fifth and six memoirs.
 

Controversy Around Lúcia

There have been accusations of a campaign to cover up the message of Fatima by ecclesiastical authorities within the Catholic Church, including the motivation behind imposing an order of silence against Sister Lúcia. Lúcia was already under the orders of silence which are typical for a Carmelite sister, giving no interviews or statements to the public without permission, and she continued to write private diaries and personal letters up until her death.

However, when journalists sought out Lucia after the Vatican refused to release the Third Secret in 1960, they found it had become increasingly difficult to see her. She was forbidden not only to reveal the Secret but also to speak about the the apparitions at all. She could not, from 1960 forward, receive any visitors except close relatives.

Even her confessor of many years, Father Aparicio, who had been in Brazil for over twenty years, was not permitted to see her when he visited Portugal. He stated: "I have not been able to speak with Sister Lúcia because the Archbishop could not give the permission to meet her. The conditions of isolation in which she finds herself have been imposed by the Holy See. Consequently, no one may speak with her without a license from Rome."

More than forty years later, Lúcia remained under the imposition of silence. Only Pope John Paul II or Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) could grant the permission necessary for her to speak openly or to be visited.

On November 15, 1966 Pope Paul VI revised the Code of Canon Law, striking down canons 1399 and 2318, which among other things had prohibited and penalized the publication of any material concerning any apparitions (approved or not) without beforehand obtaining a bishop’s imprimatur. After the revision, therefore, anyone in the Church was permitted to publish freely on Marian apparitions, including those at Fatima. Yet Sister Lucia was still forbidden to reveal the Fatima Secret. She remained under an order of silence until her death in February 2005, unable to speak freely about Fatima without special permission from the Vatican.