The second angel visitation to the three Fatima children took place during the summer of 1916, on a hot, carefree day when Lucia and her two cousins, Jacinta and Francisco, were playing near a garden behind Lucia's home.
Years later in her memoirs Lucia wrote of the apparition:
Suddenly we saw the same angel near us.
"What are you doing? You must pray! Pray! The hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. You must offer your prayers and sacrifices to God, the Most High."
"But how are we to sacrifice?" I asked.
"In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners. In this way you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you."
During this and all the other apparitions the children experienced, including those of the Blessed Mother the following year, Francisco could only see the heavenly visitors. For reasons unknown, he never heard a word that was spoken, although he could clearly see that talking was taking place.
After the angel left the children, Francisco pleaded with the girls to tell him what the angel had said. But like the first apparition, this one left the children with a profound sense of wonder and contemplative silence, so much so that it wasn't until the next day that Lucia could tell Francisco what had transpired.
As she explained:
The Angels' words sank deeply into our souls like a gleaming torch, showing us Who God is, what is His love for us, and how he wants us to love Him too; the value of sacrifice and how it pleases Him; how He receives it for the conversion of sinners. That is why from that moment we began to offer Him whatever mortified us.
Tomorrow: The Third Angel Apparition
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