AGES 4 - 8

1. Lucia was 10 years old when Our Lady came to visit Fatima. After Our Lady's visits, Lucia was sent to a school run by the Sisters of St Dorothy. She became a nun when she was old enough. The Blessed Mother had a lot of work for Sister Lucia to do and it took a very long time to complete all this work. She lived a very long time. How old was Sister Lucia when she died in 2005?

ANSWER: SISTER LUCIA WAS 97 YEARS OLD.

2. Shortly after Our Lady's visits to Fatima ended Lucia's mother became very sick and they thought she might die. Lucia went to the place where Our Lady visited with the children and prayed that Our Lady would save the life of her mother. Lucia promised to do something special if Our Blessed Mother granted her prayer. This special act of thanksgiving to Our Lady has become a tradition at Fatima and it is still done today by people who love Our Lady. What was this act of thanksgiving?

ANSWER: LUCIA PROMISED THAT FOR NINE DAYS IN A ROW SHE AND HER SISTERS WOULD PROCESS TO THE PLACE OF OUR LADY'S VISITS ON THEIR KNEES WHILE PRAYING THE ROSARY.

3. Sister Lucia was to make Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Heart known and loved throughout the world. What was one of the ways Sister was given by Jesus and Mary to do this?

ANSWER: THE DEVOTION OF THE 5 FIRST SATURDAYS.

4. In 1929 Our Lady of Fatima came to see Sister Lucia in her convent. She came with the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to ask for something very important to be done by the Pope to bring peace to the world. What was this important request?

ANSWER: THE CONSECRATION OF RUSSIA TO OUR LADY'S IMMACULATE HEART.

5. Another job Sister Lucia was given by Our Lady was to write the story of Fatima. She wrote everything that happened there and all about her cousins, their families and the village of Fatima in books called "memoirs". In her writing Sister told about her First Confession and First Holy Communion. After her confession she went to a statue of Our Lady to pray. What happened while she was praying?

ANSWER: LUCIA SAW THE STATUE OF THE BLESSED MOTHER SMILE AT HER.

6. What did Lucia say about the first time she received Jesus in the Eucharist?

ANSWER: THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST BECAME VERY REAL TO HER AS IF SHE HAD SEEN HIM WITH HER EYES AND HEARD HIM WITH HER EARS.

AGES 9 - 13

1. The children of Fatima were Lucia Dos Santos aged 10, and her cousins Francisco Marto aged 9 and Jacinta Marto aged 7. Lucia was youngest of 7 children, one of whom died in infancy. Francisco and Jacinta were the youngest of 8 children; of those, four died during the flu epidemic in 1918/1919 and one son was killed in combat in World War I. As was common at the time, the youngest children in the family were the shepherds. Only one of the children's parents believed in the authenticity of the apparitions from the very beginning. This caused the children, especially Lucia a great deal of suffering. Lucia endured physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother and sisters who did not believe until well after the apparitions ended. Which parent was it that said, "I know these children. They do not lie. If they said they saw a beautiful lady from Heaven I believe it"?

ANSWER: TI MARTO, THE FATHER OF JACINTA AND FRANCISCO

2. During the visitations of the Angel in 1916 and Our Lady in 1917, all three of the children could see the apparitions, but only two of them could hear what the Angel and Our Lady said, and Lucia was the only one who spoke. Which two could see and hear?

ANSWER: LUCIA AND JACINTA. FRANCISCO COULD ONLY SEE THEM.

3. In the June apparition Our Lady told the children that she would come soon to take Francisco and Jacinta to Heaven, but Lucia would have to stay "some time longer". This was a cause of great sadness to Lucia who would lose her cousins, her best friends and her only confidants. What did Our Blessed Mother say to Lucia to console her?

ANSWER: "ARE YOU SUFFERING A GREAT DEAL? DON'T LOSE HEART. I WILL NEVER FORSAKE YOU."

4. At the time of the June apparition, Our Lady told Lucia that God wanted to use her to make Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart known and loved through the world. Sister Lucia lived a very long life and Jesus and Mary would appear to her many times after the 1917 apparitions. During some of these visits, they would ask her to do 3 things for God.  What were they?

ANSWER: 1) TO SPREAD THE DEVOTION OF THE 5 FIRST SATURDAYS; 2) TO MAKE SURE THE HOLY FATHER CONSECRATED RUSSIA TO HER IMMACULATE HEART; 3) TO MAKE KNOWN ALL THE EVENTS THAT OCCURRED IN FATIMA THROUGH HER MEMOIRS.

5. Francisco died in April of 1919 and Jacinta died on February 20, 1920. They were both beatified by Pope St. John Paul II on May 13, 2000 after the first miracle was approved, and was canonized by Pope Francis on May 13, 2017. What do we call someone who has been "beatified" and what do we call them after they are "canonized"?

ANSWER: BLESSEDS ARE BEATIFIED AND SAINTS ARE CANONIZED.

6. After she finished her schooling Lucia join the order of Saint Dorothy, the nuns that provided her education. But after some time she desired to move to another order where there was more time for prayer and contemplation. As prophesied during the vision on October 13, 1917 Sister Lucia received permission to transfer to the Discalced Carmelites. What does "discalced" mean?

ANSWER: BAREFOOT

Sister Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97 and is buried with her two cousins at the great cathedral in Fatima. Her bishop submitted her cause for canonization to the Vatican in February 2017 and we are awaiting approval of the first miracle for her beatification.

AGES 14 - 18

1. Lucia Dos Santos, age 10 had a lively personality. She was the child around whom all the children gathered. Her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta had a special love for her and desired to do everything she did. Lucia received First Holy Communion at the age of 6, at a time when the normal age to receive was 10. She was given a dispensation to do so because of her ardent desire to receive and her excellent knowledge of the Faith. After her First Confession she went to the statue of Our Lady to pray that she keep her heart for God alone. When she looked up at the statue, Our Lady smiled at her. The next day receiving Holy Communion for the first time Lucia wrote about her profound experience: "Our Lord became clearly perceptible to me as if I had seen and heard Him with my bodily senses." Lucia became a Dorothean Sister; but desiring a more meditative life, she requested and received permission to join the Carmelites. She spent her life completing Heaven's task for her "to make the Immaculate Heart known and loved throughout the world". She died at the age of 97 in 2005. Sister Lucia's bishop accepted her cause for canonization and granted her the title "Servant of God". The bishop submitted the cause to Rome on February 13, 2017. There are 4 steps to canonization: What are the next 3 steps and what is required to move from step to step?

ANSWER: STEP #2 - "VENERABLE" THE CANDIDATE'S CAUSE IS SUBMITTED TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS WHO MUST PROVE THE CANDIDATE POSSESSED HEROIC VIRTUE; STEP #3 - "BLESSED" THE CANDIDATE HAS BEEN GRANTED THE FIRST MIRACLE BY GOD AND HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE CONGREGATION; STEP #4 - "SAINT" THE CANDIDATE HAS BEEN GRANTED A SECOND APPROVED MIRACLE.

2. Francisco Marto was 9 the year Our Lady appeared at Fatima. He was passive and quiet and seemed not to care about much of anything. He was fond of playing practical jokes that sometimes got out of hand. He enjoyed catching lizards and snakes and often brought them home to the horror of his mother and older sisters. After the apparitions Francisco found something to care about very much: sin and how much it injures Our Lord. He deeply regretted his past sins and was very fond of saying, “We must not commit not even the littlest of sins!" Through the grace of God he became a young contemplative spending many hours behind the altar at the foot of the tabernacle praying to console Our Lord and Our Lady for the sins of mankind. Following the apparitions large numbers of pilgrims began to flock to Fatima. Frequently Francisco would be asked what he wanted to be in he grew up, many expecting him to say a priest. What answer did Francisco give to this question?

ANSWER: I DON'T WANT TO BE ANYTHING. I WANT TO DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN.

Late in 1918 he contracted the flu that killed about 20 million people around the world. Once or twice he seemed to rally but he knew this illness would end in his death. His greatest desire was to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament before he died. A favor that was granted to him the day before the Blessed Mother came to bring him to Heaven. After months of great suffering he died in April of 1919.

3. Jacinta Marto was a mere 7 years old in 1917.  She was a very determined and headstrong personality, much like St Therese of Lisieux; a little spoiled and very much prone to pouting when she didn't get her way. Jacinta possessed a natural grace and she loved to dance. She once saw a picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd carrying a lamb across her shoulders. Thereafter she would take the littlest lamb and place it around her shoulders in imitation of Him. Similar to her brother Jacinta also was given a vocation. While his was making reparation for sins, hers was the conversion of sinners. All her sufferings and prayers were offered for this intention. She contracted the flu a month or so before Francisco which produced a large abscess in her stomach causing her unthinkable pain. Several months before her death Our Lady visited Jacinta and asked if she would be willing to suffer longer to save more souls from hell, a request that was eagerly accepted by this little child. Jacinta died in Lisbon far from her family in February of 1920. She was buried in a used Communion dress tied with a blue ribbon in honor of Our Lady. Her body was moved from its original burial spot to the parish church in Fatima in 1935. What was remarkable about this event?

ANSWER: WHEN THE COFFIN WAS OPENED THERE WAS LOVELY FRAGRANCE AND HER BODY WAS FOUND TO BE INCORRUPT.

4. Both Francisco and Jacinta were proclaimed Blessed and beatified by Pope St. John Paul II on May 13, 2000. As a second miracle was approved by the Vatican, Pope Francis canonized them on May 13th of this year. The three shepherds of Fatima were always looking for ways to offer sacrifice in reparation for sin and the conversion of sinners. One day while pasturing their sheep Lucia found a length of rough hewn rope which she tied around her arm. After some time she noticed it caused her pain. They cut the rope into three parts and each tied it around their waist under their clothing. The children wore the rope all day and all night from then on and it often caused them to bleed. During the September 13th apparition Our Lady mentions this rope. What did she say?

ANSWER: "GOD IS PLEASED WITH YOUR SACRIFICES. HE DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SLEEP WITH THE ROPE. BUT ONLY WEAR IT DURING THE DAY."