Timeline of Fatima Apparitions

1916 - 1929

Spring 1916 ~ First Angelic Visit

While Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco were in a cave near their fields, an Angel came near them and said, "Fear not! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me." The Angel knelt on the ground and bowed very low. The children imitated him and repeated the words the Angel said, "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love Thee. I ask pardon for all those who do not believe in thee, do not adore thee, do not hope in Thee, do not love Thee." He repeated the prayer three times then arose and said, "Pray this way. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications." After this, the Angel disappeared.

Summer 1916 ~ Second Angelic Visit

While resting in the shade of the fig trees, the Angel of Peace suddenly appeared beside the three shepherd children. The Angel said, "What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy for you! Offer unceasingly to the Most High prayers and sacrifices. Offer up everything within your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended; and of supplication for the conversion of sinners. Thus invoke peace upon your country. I am her Guardian Angel; the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings that the Lord may send you." Only Lucia and Jacinta could hear the Angel's words, and only Francisco could see the Angel.

Autumn 1916 ~ Third Angelic Visit

When the Angel of Peace appeared to the children the third time, this time in the hills, he was holding a chalice in his hand. A Host was over it, from which fell some drops of Blood into the chalice. Leaving the chalice and Host suspended in mid-air, he prostrated himself on the ground, repeating this prayer three times, "Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the same son Jesus Christ, present in the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners."

The Angel then arose, gave the Host to Lucia, and gave the contents of the chalice to Jacinta and Francisco 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 the Angel disappeared.

May 13, 1917 ~ The First Apparition

While Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco were in the fields with their sheep, they saw Our Lady standing over the foliage of a small holm oak tree. Our Lady said to the children, "Fear not! I will not harm you." When Lucia asked where she was from, she told them, "I am from Heaven." Lucia then asked, "What do you want from me?" Our Lady responded, "Come for six consecutive months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later who I am and what I want you to do."

The children asked her many questions, to which she responded they would go to Heaven and that one friend who had died a year earlier was already there, while two others were still in Purgatory. Our Lady asked the children to accept all suffering God wished to send them and they agreed. “Then you will suffer much, but God’s grace will strengthen you.”

She then told them, "Say the Rosary every day to bring peace to the world and the end of the war." After this she began to elevate going in the direction of the East, and disappeared surrounded by a brilliant light.

June 13, 1917 ~ The Second Apparition

At the Cova da Iria, Our Lady told the children to add the following prayer to the end of each decade of the Rosary, "Oh, my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.” The children asked Our Lady to take them to Heaven. She answered, “Soon I will take Jacinta and Francisco, but Lucia is to stay a while longer.” Our Lady then asked Lucia to learn to read and write.

July 13, 1917 ~ The third apparition

Hovering above the holm oak at the Cova, Our Lady told the children, "Continue to pray the Rosary every day to obtain the end of the war [WWI] and peace for the world, for only she alone can save it." She then promised to work a miracle so great that all would believe in the reality of the apparitions. She taught the children this prayer, “Oh my Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for all the wrongs done to the Immaculate Heart of Mary that I sacrifice myself.”

Then she spread her hands, the earth disappeared, and the the children found themselves staring into the fires of Hell. They saw the devils "fierce and black, like animals" and human souls tumbling in an ocean of fire "screaming with terror." The Lady explained, "You have seen Hell, where the souls of sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If people do as I shall ask, many souls will be converted and there will be peace. This war is going to end, but if people do not cease offending God, not much time will elapse and during the Pontificate of Pius XI another and more terrible war will begin. When you shall see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign that God gives that the chastisement of the world for its many transgressions is at hand through war, famine, persecution 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 heard, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not, she will spread her errors throughout the entire world, fomenting wars and persecution of the Church. The good will suffer martyrdom; the Holy Father will suffer much; different nations will be annihilated. But in the end my Immaculate Heart shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, which will be converted and some time of peace will be granted to humanity."

This vision of Hell and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart were not revealed until 1927; the 3rd secret was revealed by Pope John Paul II on June 26, 2000.

August 19, 1917 ~ The fourth apparition

The children were imprisoned in the house of the local Administrator and not released until August 16th, three days after the apparition date. On August 13th there was a crowd of 18,000 at the Cova da Iria, and though the children were not there, the sun grew pale and the atmosphere became a sickly yellow color. A cloud appeared and hovered over the holm oak where Our Lady had appeared to the children. On August 19th, after the children were released, Our Lady appeared to the children in a pasture away from the usual site of the apparitions. She asked them to, “Pray, pray very much and make sacrifices for sinners. For many souls go to Hell because there is no one to pray for them.”

September 13, 1917 ~ The fifth apparition

A luminous globe appeared before the crowd at the Cova while the three children remained hidden in a cloud. White rose petals fell from the sky and reached almost to the ground and then disappeared. Lucy asked Our Lady to cure the sick. She replied, “Some will be cured, but not all because Our Lord has no confidence in them.” Our Lady told them St. Joseph and the Child Jesus would be with her on October 13th.

October 13, 1917 ~ The sixth apparition

Our Lady announced, “I am the Lady of the Rosary. People must amend their lives, ask forgiveness for their sins and not offend Our Lord any more for He is already too much offended.” As Our Lady left, the great crowd of 70-100 thousand began to witness “The Miracle of the Sun.” The sun grew pale and became like a silver disk emitting every color of the spectrum, coloring everything in first blue, then red, green and yellow. Then suddenly, the sun seemed to break loose from the heavens, coming closer and closer to the earth. Villagers 10 miles away could see the fantastic “dancing sun.”

Meanwhile, the children witnessed a vision of the Holy Family and of Our Lord as a grown man. Lucia alone witnessed a vision of Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Later in life, Lucia became a Carmelite nun.

1919 ~ Francisco dies age 11 During influenza Epidemic

1920 ~ Jacinta dies Age 10 of complications from Influenza

1921 ~ Lucia leaves Fatima for boarding school

December 10, 1925 ~ Our Lady Requests First Saturdays Devotional

Our Lady appeared to Lucia in her room at the convent of Sisters of St. Dorothy, where she later joined as a novice. Our Lady said to Lucia, "Do at least try to console me and announce in my name that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while mediating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to me."

February 15, 1926 ~ Child Jesus and Our Lady Appear to Lucia

Our Lady appeared again to Lucia at the convent, this time with the Child Jesus, to ask Lucia to spread the devotion of the First Saturdays. Lucia responded that her Mother Superior wanted to spread the devotion, but her confessor had discouraged it. Later that year, Lucia entered the Order of the Sisters of St. Dorothy as a novice.

June 1929 ~ Our Lady Requests Consecration of Russia

Over the years at the convent, Our Lady appeared many times to Sr. Lucia. In 1929, she appeared to Sr. Lucia and repeated her request for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, as she had requested during her Third Apparition on July 13, 1917. Sr. Lucia made this request known to her confessor, who asked her to write it down and present a letter to the Bishop. The Bishop brought the request to the attention of the Holy Father. Years later, when WWII was expanding in 1942, Pope Pius XII consecrated "the world and Russia" to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This was not exactly as Our Lady had requested it, so in 1984 Pope John Paul II consecrated "the world including Russia" to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.