Section 3: The People's Discernment Of Fatima
The Word Of God Vs. The Lady Of Fatima's Words
Section 3: The People's Discernment Of Fatima
The Word Of God Vs. The Lady Of Fatima's Words
A lady calling herself "Mary" has appeared in other places, gathering after herself enormous followings. But because of the great and growing impetus given to Marian devotion by the apparitions at Fatima, we're going to concentrate on them, examining their spirit and message. First we should take note of some of the investigations and conclusions made at the time of the apparitions.
The Lady appeared at Cova da Iria in Fatima for the first time on May 13, 1917. Immediately upon hearing the news, many in the vicinity accepted the apparition as a work of God. Others, however, pronounced it the work of the devil. Among this latter group were relatives, friends, and neighbors of the three little seers. Eventually the opinions of these people were discounted by the official investigation.
Fatima was a peasant village, and the religious thinking of its inhabitants was basically formed by childhood religion classes at the church, coupled with the various superstitions and poorly grounded theological beliefs commonly known as folk religion. Unfamiliar with Scripture as God's standard for discernment, these people were forced to set their own standards for "testing the spirits," but their foundations for discernment were shaky, if not non-existent.
Although we want to deal mainly with the words of the apparition in our own discernment, it's interesting to look at some of the comments made by these good people, and the basis each chose for his judgment. Some of these same standards are still being used today to bolster opinions about the apparitions of Fatima.
In 1917, some people based their judgment on irrational beliefs. Francisco and Jacinta's father, for instance, considered his opinion in the light of his belief that "From the beginning of the world Our Lady has appeared many times in various ways"(1). We can easily see one of the flaws in this statement. Mary did not exist before her birth on earth. She is not eternal, but a person born of Adam's stock (Luke 1:55) and saved by the grace of God (Luke 1:47). She has not been appearing since the beginning of the world.
The controversy surrounding the events resulted in various reactions among the local people and those who flocked to Fatima to see for themselves. There were doubts and confusion, divisions and factions, joy and excitement. In his popular book on Fatima, William Walsh writes,
"Some of them were frightened and ill at ease. They had been told that there was a small extinct volcanic crater near Cova da iria, as in fact there was, and that it was all a trick of the devil to get these good people in one place, and then have it open up and swallow them in its fiery depths. Others scoffed at this fear"(2).". . . . [Bishop Dom Jose'] had letters from enthusiasts demanding that he recognize the devotion at once and proceed to build a sumptuous shrine. Yet there were others from persons worthy of respect, including priests, denouncing the whole affair as a delusion or a deceit. . . . It was not easy for a newcomer [the Bishop] to decide"(3).
After a second vision in June, Father Ferreira, the children's pastor, questioned the children separately and compared their answers. Walsh writes,
"And at the end he seemed convinced that the children had told the truth about what they had seen and heard. Yet his conclusion was even more alarming, in a way, than if he had convicted them of lying."'It doesn't seem to me like a revelation from heaven,' he ventured thoughtfully. 'It may be a deception of the devil, you know! We shall see. We shall see'"(4).
In another account of Fatima, Msgr. William C. McGrath mentions this also: Ti Marto, father of the two children,
"felt that . . . the pastor was wrong, since he [the pastor] supposed the visions were the work of the devil"(5).
Walsh quotes another local resident, Jose' Alves, who "told the Prior of Fatima to his face that his theory about diabolical intervention was all nonsense. For who had ever heard of the devil inciting people to pray?"(6).
Alves' assertion that the devil doesn't like prayer is another false conclusion based on a false premise. Those who have a basic knowledge of Satan's modern-day cults know that cultists pray. Their prayers sound religious, but deny the power of the Triune God. The standard of discernment cannot, then, be the presence of prayer, but the object of that prayer and in whose name it is prayed. Jesus said, "I give you my assurance, whatever you ask the Father, he will give you in my name. . . . Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:23-24, NAB). The Holy Spirit is involved in our prayer life as well:
"The Spirit too helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in speech. He who searches hearts knows what the Spirit means, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints as God himself wills" (Romans 8:26-27, NAB).
God is the inspirer, the means, and the object of the Christian's prayer life. Christians pray out of a personal relationship with the Triune God because, through faith in Christ, they are in union with Him, but cultists do not have this relationship - yet they pray. Knowledge that prayer was said at Fatima is not in itself a proof of anything.
The mothers of the three children were also convinced that the devil was deceiving the children. (They were to change their minds later.) We read of Lucia's mother complaining:
". . . . After all she had been through, to think that the silly 'cachopa' [her daughter] was going off to keep a tryst with the devil! Arming themselves with some holy candles and a supply of matches, the two women [the children's mothers] started for Cova da Iria, evidently with some notion of exorcising the evil spirit if he should turn up there again"(7; single quotes originally italics).
Later, at the beginning of the sixth vision, Lucia's mother cried out: "Watch out, daughter! . . . Don't let yourself be deceived!"(8). We don't know the mothers' reasons for calling these apparitions the work of the devil. Whatever the reasons, their own fears were obviously brushed aside in their determination to protect the children. But the choice of holy candles as their weapons shows that these women had no real knowledge of the devil, or of God's way of dealing with him. The Church has been given power over the devil, but that power is manifested only by our belief in Jesus and the word He has spoken:
"The seventy-two returned in jubilation saying, 'Master, even the demons are subject to us in your name.' He said in reply, 'I watched Satan fall from the sky like lightning. See what I have done; I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions and all the forces of the enemy, and nothing shall ever injure you'" (Luke 10:17-19; NAB).
Jesus said this power to expel Satan is put into action by the Holy Spirit: "It is by the Spirit of God that I expel demons" (Matthew 12:28, NAB).
The three children, caught in all of the conflicting opinions, were often anxious and troubled. Writing about Lucia, John de Marchi says,
"So often did her mother repeat the words of the Pastor that it was the work of the devil, that it upset her"(9). . . ."When Lucia left the rectory, she was very uneasy, very worried. Is this a trick of the devil? Is the priest right? Who am I to say the priest is wrong? The child was terribly upset. 'I began to doubt the manifestations then lest they might have come from the devil who wanted to destroy my soul. Since I heard that the devil always brings trouble and disorder, I began to think that, in truth, I could find neither joy nor peace in our home since I had seen these things. How unhappy I was. . . I told my cousins of this doubt and Jacinta quieted me. "Lucia, it is not the devil! Not at all! They say that the devil is very ugly and that he is under the earth in Hell. The Lady is so beautiful and we saw her rise into heaven."'
"Poor Lucia could not get the doubts out of her mind. So distraught was she, that she went so far as to consider saying that it was all a lie. Jacinta and Francisco, her angels of consolation, were always at hand to strengthen her. 'Don't do it!' they urged her. 'Don't you see that it is now that you are going to lie and lying is a sin!'
"The encouraging words of her little cousins helped clear her mind. But doubts kept coming back with increasing force. One night, Lucia had a terrible dream. 'I saw the devil laughing at me because he had deceived me, and he was struggling, trying to drag me into Hell. Seeing myself in his claws, I began to cry aloud, calling for Our Lady, that I awoke my mother. Mother answered anxiously, asking what was the matter with me. I do not remember what I told her. What I do remember is that I could not fall asleep again that night since I was numbed with fear. This dream left my soul in a cloud of anguish and terrible fear'"(10).
In the midst of all this torment, ten year old Lucia received very little understanding, sympathy or good counsel. Her younger cousins' encouragement, although offered in love, was nonetheless impotent. Based on false assumptions and wrong information, this counsel brought no real peace to Lucia. Seven year old Jacinta's assurance that the devil is ugly and in Hell is totally unscriptural. But Lucia accepted these words at face value, because there was no ministry forthcoming. Except for the parish priest, few of the people involved seemed to be aware of the biblical picture of Satan and his ability to deceive. And for whatever reason, the priest's influence on the children resulted, according to Lucia, in fear rather than the freedom from fear that accompanies the truth of the word of God(11).
(1) William Thomas Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima, Image Books ed., with an introduction by Msgr. William C. McGrath (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., Image Books by spec. arrangement with The Macmillan Co., 1954), p. 56.
(2) Ibid., p. 105.
(3) Ibid., pp. 189-190.
(4) Ibid., p. 75.
(5) Msgr. William C. McGrath, "The Lady Of The Rosary" in "A Woman Clothed With The Sun," ed. John J. Delaney (Garden City, N.Y.:Doubleday & Co., Image Books edition 1961 by special arrangement with Doubleday & Co.), p. 192.
(6) Walsh, p. 78.
(7) Ibid., p. 79.
(8) Ibid., p. 144.
(9) John de Marci, I.M.C., "The Crusade Of Fatima: The Lady More Brilliant Than The Sun," arranged and ed. by Rev. Asdrubal Castello Branco and Rev. Philip C. M. Kelly, C.S.C. (Figueira da Faz, Portugal: Impressora Economica, 1964), 49.
(10) Ibid., pp. 47-49.
(11) Lucia herself is the main source of information concerning the apparitions. Her ten-year-old understanding, coupled with the superstitious beliefs and harsh living conditions of the time, are sometimes difficult for present-day readers to keep in mind. A non-prejudicial treatment of the events which would include a discussion of the relationships and interaction of the people and their background, and would examine psychological, theological, and sociological aspects of the appearance, would certainly make an interesting book. But this sort of work is not within our scope, and for the purpose of discernment of the spirit of Fatima, isn't even necessary.
