The Pontevedra apparitions are the

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time. In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian ap ...

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

and her child,

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, that

Sister Lúcia Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos, OCD, (28 March 1907 – 13 February 2005) also known as ''Lúcia of Fátima'' and by her religious name ''Maria Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart'', was a Portuguese Catholic Discalced Carmelite ...

, the Portuguese seer of

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima ( pt, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, ); formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cov ...

, reported receiving in December, 1925, while living in a Dorothean convent in

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

, Spain, and a visitation of the child

by himself in February, 1926, near the convent's garden.

First apparition

Pontevedra, Santuario de las apariciones

Eight years after the apparitions of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

Fátima, Portugal Fátima () is a city in the municipality of Ourém and district of Santarém in the Central Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous civil parish encompasses several villages and localities of ...

, the last surviving seer, known with the religious name of

, was living in a Dorothean nuns convent in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. According to Sister Lúcia, on December 10, 1925, she experienced a vision of the Holy Virgin and the Christ child. The Virgin Mary showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which she was holding in her hand. During this apparition, the child Jesus asked Sister Lúcia "''...have compassion on the heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.''"Fastiggi, Robert. "The meaning of Fatima", ''OSV Newsweekly'', January 1, 2017
/ref> At this point, the Virgin Mary is said to have set the parameters of the Five First Saturdays devotion. If one fulfilled these conditions on the First Saturday of five consecutive months, the Virgin Mary promised special graces at the hour of death. The First Saturdays devotion had already been an established custom in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. On July 1, 1905,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

approved and granted indulgences for the practice of the first Saturdays of twelve consecutive months in honor of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

. This apparition at Pontevedra requesting the establishment of the devotion of the Five First Saturdays is reminiscent of the apparitions reported by Saint

Margaret Mary Alacoque Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM (french: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque) (22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690), was a French Catholic Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form. Summary She worked t ...

in the 17th century which led to the establishment of the First Fridays Devotion.

Second apparition

Later, Sister Lúcia reported that on February 15, 1926 while emptying a garbage can outside the garden, she saw a child she thought she recognized. After striking up a conversation with him, the child transformed into the Child Jesus, who then reprimanded Sister Lúcia for not doing more to promote the five

First Saturdays Devotion The First Saturdays Devotion, also called the Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Catholic devotion which, according to Sister Lúcia of Fátima, was requested by the Virgin Mary in an apparition at Pontev ...

."Anniversary of apparition of child Jesus to Sister Lucia to be commemorated in Spain", Catholic News Agency
/ref>

References

Sources

* University of Notre Da

me

External links

"''Fatima in Sister Lucia's own words''"
– Free online version of the memoir book written by Sister Lucia, O.C.D.
"''Sister Lucia: Apostle of Mary's Immaculate Heart''"
– Free online version of the book written by Mark Fellows
Communal First Saturdays Apostolate (CFSA)

(in PDF format free to download) {{Authority control Marian apparitions Our Lady of Fátima

First apparition

Second apparition

See also

References

Sources

External links