The Angel of Portugal

The Angel of Peace appeared in 1916 to the three children at Fatima to prepare the way for Our Lady of Fatima to come to them in 1917 with a message and mission for the world. These little saints took to heart the mission to pray and sacrifice for the conversion of sinners.

One

Three apparitions from the Guardian Angel of Portugal in 1916 and the spring of 1917 prepared the Fatima children for Mary’s apparitions.

In the 1st Apparition, the Angel 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 made them repeat three times:

‘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.’

And he disappeared.

·       This life is for mission

·       We have a mission to be co-workers with Jesus and Mary to help others to conversion by offering up our prayer and sacrifices.

TWO

In the Summer of 1916, while the children were playing around the well near Lucia’s house, the Angel suddenly appeared the second time and asked:

"What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Most Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifice constantly to the Most High. The hearts of Jesus and Mary have a mission for you."

The hearts of Jesus and Mary also have a mission for us to play on behalf of others.

Lucy asked the Angel: “How are we to make sacrifices?”

"Make of everything you can a sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.”

“In this way, you will draw peace upon your country. I am its Guardian Angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings which the Lord will send you."

Every day we should look for two kinds of sacrifices: those we choose by acts of self-denial, and those we do not choose but which come our way. The patient acceptance and endurance of those things which we don’t choose or like but must accept, makes us like Jesus when offered to Him!

THREE

In Autumn 1916, The Angel of Portugal appeared to the seers for the third time while they tended their sheep. He was holding a chalice in his left hand, with the Host suspended above it, from which drops of Blood fell from the host into the Chalice. Leaving the Chalice and the Host suspended in the air, he prostrated himself down on the ground beside the children and made them repeat three times this 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 indifferences with which He, Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg you for the conversion of poor sinners.”

Then, rising, the Angel took the Chalice and Host, and he gave Lucia the Eucharistic Host in communion. Then he gave the Precious Blood from the Chalice to Francisco and Jacinta, and he said: "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, prostrating himself on the ground he repeated with the children three times the same prayer: Most Holy Trinity… and disappeared. The Angel shows us that the simplest yet most impactful thing we can do for the conversion of others is to go and offer the Mass for them. Let us seek to go often, and to offer our intentions with the offering of Christ.

FOUR

Lucia, one of the visionaries of Fatima recounts Jacinta’s insatiable thirst for making sacrifices. “One day a neighbor offered my mother a good pasture for our sheep. Though it was quite far away, and we were at the height of summer, my mother accepted the offer made so generously and sent me there…It was a lovely day, but the sun was blazing, and in that arid, stony wasteland, it seemed as though it would burn everything up. We were parched with thirst, and there wasn’t a single drop of water for us to drink! At first, we offered it up generously for the conversion of sinners, but after midday, we could hold out no longer. As there was a house quite near, I suggested to my companions that I should go and ask for a little water. They agreed to this, so I went and knocked on the door. A little old woman gave me not only a pitcher of water, but also some bread which I accepted gratefully. I ran to share it with my little companions, and then offered the pitcher to Francisco, and told him to drink. “I don’t want to,” he replied. “Why?” “I want to suffer for the conversion of sinners.” “You have a drink Jacinta!” “But I want to offer this sacrifice for the conversion of sinners too.” Then I poured the water into a hollow in the rock, so that the sheep could drink it, and went to return the pitcher to its owner. The heat was getting more and more intense. The shrill singing of the crickets and grasshoppers coupled with the croaking of the frogs in the neighboring pond made an uproar that was almost unbearable. Jacinta, frail as she was, and weakened still more by the lack of food and drink, said to me with that simplicity which was natural to her: “Tell the crickets and the frogs to keep quiet! I have such a terrible headache.” Then Francisco said to her: “Don’t you want to suffer for the conversion of sinners?” The poor child, clasping her head between her two little hands, replied: “Yes, I do! Let them sing!”

FIVE

Jacinta sickness with the Spanish influenza eventually took her life. She wanted so desperately to save souls thru her suffering that she accepted that she would be in the hospital suffering alone. She tole Lucia, “But never mind! I’ll suffer for the love of Our Lord, to make reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father.” Let us learn from this little saint how to offer our rosaries and acts of self-denial to save souls! Today, think of one act of self-denial you can make to offer to Jesus for souls!