Preparation for the Encounter with the Queen of Heaven

It was while they were taking shelter from a light rain at Loca do Cabeço, a small grotto located on a property belonging to Lucia’s godfather, that the Angel appeared to them clearly for the first time.

As he drew nearer, the children began to make out his features: he looked like a fifteen-year-old boy, as if made of snow, very handsome and more radiant than a crystal pierced by the sun’s rays.

Astonished by such supernatural beauty, they could not utter a single word.

Upon reaching the little shepherds, the Heavenly Messenger said to them:

“Do not be afraid; I am the Angel of Peace! Pray with me.”

He knelt and bowed until his forehead touched the ground.

The three children did the same and repeated the words they heard him say:

“My God, I believe in You, I adore You, I hope in You, and I love You.” I ask Your forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.

After reciting this prayer three times, the Angel stood up and told them to pray always, because Our Lord and Our Lady were attentive to their prayers. And he disappeared.

“Pray, pray a lot!”

A few weeks later, while the little shepherds were playing by the well in the yard of Lucia’s house, the Angel surprised them again.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “Pray, pray a lot!” The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have plans of mercy for you. Constantly offer prayers and sacrifices to the Most High as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended and as a plea for the conversion of sinners. In this way, bring peace to your homeland.

And he added:

— I am your guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering that the Lord will send you.

Having said this, he disappeared.

Final Apparition: The Little Shepherds Receive Holy Communion!

Later, around October 1916, once again at Loca do Cabeço, the Angel’s final apparition took place.

After having eaten their snack, the children began to pray, with their faces to the ground, repeating the prayer they had learned from him.

Suddenly, they noticed an unfamiliar light shining down upon them. They stood up and saw the Angel, who was holding a chalice in his left hand, over which, with his right hand, he held a Host. From it, a few drops of Blood fell into the chalice.

Leaving the Host and the chalice suspended in the air, the Angel stood beside the children, bowed as well, and taught them yet another, even more beautiful prayer:

— Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly and offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the Earth, 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.

Rising, the Angel took the Host in his hand and gave it to Lucia.

Francisco and Jacinta wondered if they too would receive the Host, since they had not yet made their First Communion. The Angel stepped toward them and gave them a drink from the chalice, saying:

— Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men! Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.

Then he knelt down and repeated the same prayer three times: “Most Holy Trinity…” etc. And he disappeared.

They would never see him again. However, they had been deeply moved by his words.

From then on, they began to pray more and to make constant sacrifices in reparation to God and for the conversion of sinners.

And so it was that, a few months later, their innocent souls were prepared for the blessed and unforgettable moment when they would behold, at Cova da Iria, a Lady more radiant than the sun.