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What Happened at Fatima
Adhering faithfully to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, the longest surviving seer, this book follows the events of Fatima from the appearances of the angels before the six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin herself, to the beatifications of Francisco and Jacinta and the opening of the third part of the secret that Our Lady confided to the children in 1917. Leo Madigan 88 pages, paperback booklet Catholic Truth Society 9781860820915
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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August 7, 2025
This is a great read in a wonderful series. Over the last several years, I have read many books from the Catholic Truth Society, in fact over 450 of them as of the reading of this volume; many read more than once; this all since the spring of 2018. Most were good reads; some were great reads; and a few are exceptional. This was the eighteenth in the CTS Christian Shrines Series that I have read; many of them have been read twice. This is the first I have read by Leo Madigan, and I believe the only one of his published by the CTS. But many of his other titles both fiction and non-fiction caught my attention. This booklet was originally published 2000 and the eBook was released in 2017. The description of this volume is:
“An objective and comprehensive retelling following the history of the events at Fatima, adhering faithfully to the memoirs of the longest surviving seer, Sister Lucia.
Adhering faithfully to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, the longest surviving seer, this book follows the events of Fatima: from the first stirrings of the wings in the appearances of the angels before the six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin herself, the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the subsequent apparitions to Sister Lucia in Pontevedra and Tuy, the consecration of the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart, the dissolution of Soviet Communism, to the beatifications of Francisco and Jacinta and the opening of the third part of the secret that Our Lady confided to the children in 1917.”
The chapters in the book are:
Introduction
What Happened at Fatima
The stirring of wings
The unfolding of the wings
Angel at prayer
The Lady
From May to June
Wednesday, 13th June 1917
From 13th June to 13th July 1917
Friday, 13th July 1917
Monday, 13th August 1917
Sunday, 19th August 1917
From August to September 1917
Thursday, 13th September 1917
Saturday, 13th October 1917
The miracle of the Sun
Francisco, 11th June 1908-4th April 1919
Jacinta, 11th March 1910-20th February 1920
Lucia, 22nd March 1906
I highlighted only few passages while reading this volume, they are:
“But if the choice of peasant children as heaven’s messengers is a paradox, that is in keeping with the Message of Fatima itself because heaven’s values are opposite to ours. If you can accept that, read on. Indeed, read on even if you find believing difficult.”
“That rural community, Aljustrel in the parish of Fatima, could not possibly have known it, but heaven was schooling one of its children, Lucia dos Santos, preparing her for a role it had selected her to play in one of the most public manifestations of Divine Mercy in our world since Christ walked among us.”
“From lunch-time to nightfall! That must have been at least 4-5 hours. 4-5 hours spent in prayer with one’s forehead to the ground would suggest a form of ecstasy in a spiritually mature person. In 7 to 10 year olds it couldn’t be anything else.”
“The Lady had beguiled them; the God they saw themselves in when the rays from the Lady’s hands penetrated their hearts had beguiled them; heaven itself had beguiled them. The supernatural had kidnapped their every thought and affection. They had been promised heaven, had even been given a glimpse of it and now all else was insipid.”
“It doesn’t require much imagination to picture the pressure put on the children, their families and their village, before the October Apparition.”
“When the 13th arrived an estimated 70,000 people turned up in appalling weather conditions in this remote hill country that was barely equipped to sustain its few villages and livestock. 70,000 would be a dream number for a sponsored event nowadays but in 1917, long before television and radio, to say nothing of mass transport, a crowd of 70,000 must have been an awesome sign of man’s hankering for the supernatural.”
“Francisco’s lack of self-interest, together with his secret prayer life are of a piece with the prototypes of the Christian contemplative like Benedict Joseph Labre, Charles de Foucauld and Therésè Martin. The symptoms are the same. The thirst for solitude, the hours hidden camouflaged in prayer, the absorption in the Divine that go unremarked by those around because of the veil of paradox, the veil that enables the contemplative to disappear into prayer, into the very wood of the cross, to contemplate the sun at midnight and to stake all on a virgin with a child.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the volume. This book is a real focus on the history of the events and the events after. It has a really well balanced mix history and personal accounts. It is cleanly written and easy to engage with. It could benefit anyone from secondary school on.
This book is another great read and one any Catholic would benefit from reading. The CTS Deeper Christianity Series of books is written in such a way that they can easily be read in any order. Pick and choose the ones that interest you, read them in order, or jump around. I have been blessed by the entire series that I have read and can highly recommend this book and the series.
Read reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society on my blog Book Reviews and More.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
“An objective and comprehensive retelling following the history of the events at Fatima, adhering faithfully to the memoirs of the longest surviving seer, Sister Lucia.
Adhering faithfully to the memoirs of Sister Lucia, the longest surviving seer, this book follows the events of Fatima: from the first stirrings of the wings in the appearances of the angels before the six apparitions of the Blessed Virgin herself, the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the subsequent apparitions to Sister Lucia in Pontevedra and Tuy, the consecration of the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart, the dissolution of Soviet Communism, to the beatifications of Francisco and Jacinta and the opening of the third part of the secret that Our Lady confided to the children in 1917.”
The chapters in the book are:
Introduction
What Happened at Fatima
The stirring of wings
The unfolding of the wings
Angel at prayer
The Lady
From May to June
Wednesday, 13th June 1917
From 13th June to 13th July 1917
Friday, 13th July 1917
Monday, 13th August 1917
Sunday, 19th August 1917
From August to September 1917
Thursday, 13th September 1917
Saturday, 13th October 1917
The miracle of the Sun
Francisco, 11th June 1908-4th April 1919
Jacinta, 11th March 1910-20th February 1920
Lucia, 22nd March 1906
I highlighted only few passages while reading this volume, they are:
“But if the choice of peasant children as heaven’s messengers is a paradox, that is in keeping with the Message of Fatima itself because heaven’s values are opposite to ours. If you can accept that, read on. Indeed, read on even if you find believing difficult.”
“That rural community, Aljustrel in the parish of Fatima, could not possibly have known it, but heaven was schooling one of its children, Lucia dos Santos, preparing her for a role it had selected her to play in one of the most public manifestations of Divine Mercy in our world since Christ walked among us.”
“From lunch-time to nightfall! That must have been at least 4-5 hours. 4-5 hours spent in prayer with one’s forehead to the ground would suggest a form of ecstasy in a spiritually mature person. In 7 to 10 year olds it couldn’t be anything else.”
“The Lady had beguiled them; the God they saw themselves in when the rays from the Lady’s hands penetrated their hearts had beguiled them; heaven itself had beguiled them. The supernatural had kidnapped their every thought and affection. They had been promised heaven, had even been given a glimpse of it and now all else was insipid.”
“It doesn’t require much imagination to picture the pressure put on the children, their families and their village, before the October Apparition.”
“When the 13th arrived an estimated 70,000 people turned up in appalling weather conditions in this remote hill country that was barely equipped to sustain its few villages and livestock. 70,000 would be a dream number for a sponsored event nowadays but in 1917, long before television and radio, to say nothing of mass transport, a crowd of 70,000 must have been an awesome sign of man’s hankering for the supernatural.”
“Francisco’s lack of self-interest, together with his secret prayer life are of a piece with the prototypes of the Christian contemplative like Benedict Joseph Labre, Charles de Foucauld and Therésè Martin. The symptoms are the same. The thirst for solitude, the hours hidden camouflaged in prayer, the absorption in the Divine that go unremarked by those around because of the veil of paradox, the veil that enables the contemplative to disappear into prayer, into the very wood of the cross, to contemplate the sun at midnight and to stake all on a virgin with a child.”
I hope those quotes give you a feel for the volume. This book is a real focus on the history of the events and the events after. It has a really well balanced mix history and personal accounts. It is cleanly written and easy to engage with. It could benefit anyone from secondary school on.
This book is another great read and one any Catholic would benefit from reading. The CTS Deeper Christianity Series of books is written in such a way that they can easily be read in any order. Pick and choose the ones that interest you, read them in order, or jump around. I have been blessed by the entire series that I have read and can highly recommend this book and the series.
Read reviews of other books by from the Catholic Truth Society on my blog Book Reviews and More.
This book is part of a series of reviews: 2025 Catholic Reading Plan!
January 4, 2014
I was very interested in the history behind Our Lady of Fatima and the three children. This book explains the events starting with the background of the children through present day.
April 16, 2017
This is a fascinating introduction to the story of Fatima. From the first vision of an angel, through to the death of Sr Lucia, this this booklet introduces the reader to the visionaries themselves - Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, young children when the visions began - taking you on a journey with them as they go from being poor shepherd children to being honoured the great privilege of receiving apparitions from Mary the Mother of God. It is an intriguing read, including details that I hadn't previously known, and serves its purpose as an introduction to Fatima.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews