The Third Angel Apparition at Fatima

In the autumn of 1916 the children received their third and final visit from the Angel of Portugal. While attending their flocks they began reciting the prayer the angel taught them during his first visit ("My God, I believe, I adore . . ."), when suddenly a strange light shone over them. Looking up, they saw the angel holding a chalice in his left hand, over which was suspended a Host dripping droplets of blood. The angel left the chalice and Host in the air and knelt in front of it by the children. He then told the children to recite this prayer three times:

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 by which He is offended. And by the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg the conversion of poor sinners.

Then the angel rose back up and gave the Host to Lucia and the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta, telling them:

Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ terribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Offer reparation for their sakes and console God.

Afterward, the angel bowed down to the ground and repeated the prayer ("Most Holy Trinity . . . ") three more times. The children, enraptured as they were in this supernatural moment, imitated everything the angel did and said.

All of this angelic activity was a prelude, of course, to the visits Our Lady would make the following year to the children, in which she would convey her requests of penance, prayer and devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

As today is the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, it would benefit all of us to reflect on the happenings at Fatima, their historical impact, and their relevance to us today. To that end, here are some helpful resources:

Fatima: A Grace for Mankind

The World Apostolate of Fatima (The Blue Army)

And be sure to check out this trailer for the 2009 movie, The 13th Day, a critically acclaimed film distributed by Ignatius Press that the National Catholic Register calls "the best film ever made about Fatima--the most beautiful and effective, as well as one of the most historically accurate."