In 1917 Our Lady appeared six times to three children in Fátima, Portugal. Each time, she gave one urgent request: pray the Rosary every day.
On 13 May 1917 — in the midst of the First World War, with Europe in flames — the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three young shepherd children in a field called the Cova da Iria, near the small village of Fátima in Portugal. She would appear five more times, on the 13th of each subsequent month, until October.
The visionaries were Lúcia dos Santos, aged ten, and her cousins Francisco Marto (nine) and Jacinta Marto (seven). They were simple children from poor shepherd families. Francisco and Jacinta died within a few years of the apparitions — Francisco in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920, both of influenza. Pope Francis canonised them on 13 May 2017. Lúcia entered religious life and died in 2005 at the age of 97.
In every single one of her six appearances, Our Lady made the same urgent request: "Pray the Rosary every day, to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war." She did not suggest the Rosary as one prayer among many. She asked for it specifically, persistently, and by name — in every apparition, without exception.
On 13 July 1917, she identified herself: "I am Our Lady of the Rosary." She came, in other words, as the Queen and patroness of this prayer, to plead for its daily practice at a moment when the world was tearing itself apart.
In the apparition of 13 July 1917, Our Lady taught the children a short prayer to add after the Glory Be at the end of each decade of the Rosary. This prayer — now known as the Fatima Prayer — is prayed by Catholics around the world as a standard part of the Rosary:
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.
This prayer encapsulates the missionary spirit of the Fátima message: a burning concern for the salvation of souls, especially the most abandoned.
On 13 July 1917, Our Lady also revealed three secrets to the children. The first was a vision of Hell. The second foretold the end of the First World War and warned of a second, worse war if the world did not amend its ways. The third secret — sealed in an envelope for decades — was a vision of a bishop in white being killed, interpreted by Pope John Paul II as referring to the 1981 assassination attempt against him. He attributed his survival to Our Lady of Fátima and donated the bullet to the Fátima shrine, where it is enshrined in the crown of the statue of Our Lady.
On 13 October 1917 — the date Our Lady had promised a sign — approximately 70,000 people gathered at the Cova da Iria in heavy rain. After the children saw the final apparition, the clouds parted and witnesses reported seeing the sun spin, dance, and seem to plunge toward the earth before returning to its place. The event was reported by journalists from secular newspapers who had come expecting to disprove the phenomenon. No scientific explanation has ever been proposed.
"If you want Peace, pray the Rosary." — Our Lady of Fátima, 1917
The Fátima Shrine in Portugal is one of the largest Marian pilgrimage sites in the world, receiving millions of visitors each year. The anniversary dates — particularly 13 May and 13 October — draw enormous crowds. The message of Fátima remains as urgent today as it was in 1917: daily prayer, penance, and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The simplest response to Fátima's message is to begin. If you are new to the Rosary, visit our beginner's guide. If you are ready to pray right now, open our interactive tool and begin today's mysteries.
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