Quick Insights
- An angel appeared three times to three shepherd children in Fátima, Portugal, during 1916.
- The celestial visitor identified himself as the Angel of Peace and the Guardian Angel of Portugal.
- These angelic visits served to prepare the children for the subsequent apparitions of the Virgin Mary in 1917.
- He taught the children—Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta—specific prayers of adoration, reparation, and love for God.
- The angel’s messages emphasized the importance of prayer, sacrifice for the conversion of sinners, and reverence for the Eucharist.
- Lúcia dos Santos, the eldest of the three children, later documented these preparatory events in her personal memoirs.
What Are the Basic Facts of the Apparitions?
In the spring of 1916, an extraordinary series of events began to unfold in the life of three young shepherds near Fátima, Portugal. Lúcia dos Santos, aged nine, and her younger cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, were tending their sheep at a place known as Loca do Cabeço when they experienced their first visitation from a heavenly messenger. Lúcia described the being as a transparent and brilliant young man, “whiter than snow, in the form of a young man, quite transparent, and as brilliant as crystal in the rays of the sun.” The figure approached them and calmed their initial surprise by saying, “Do not be afraid. I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.” He then knelt, bowing his forehead to the ground, and invited the children to imitate him. The angel taught them a prayer of profound worship: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You.” After repeating this three times, he told them to continue praying in this manner, assuring them that the Hearts of Jesus and Mary were attentive to their supplications before he disappeared.
The Angel of Peace appeared to the children two more times that year, each time building upon the lessons of the last. The second apparition occurred in the summer as the children were playing near a well at Lúcia’s home. On this occasion, the angel identified himself as the “Angel of Portugal” and urged them to pray intensely and make sacrifices. He instructed them to “make of everything you can a sacrifice and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.” This message introduced the children to the concept of redemptive suffering and their role in bringing peace to their country. The third and final apparition in the autumn was the most profound and focused on the Eucharist. The angel appeared holding a chalice with a host suspended above it, from which drops of blood fell into the cup. Prostrating himself, he taught them a Trinitarian prayer of reparation and then administered Holy Communion to the children, giving the host to Lúcia and the contents of the chalice to Francisco and Jacinta. This act was a powerful catechesis on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and served as the culmination of their spiritual preparation.
What Is the Historical and Theological Context?
The angelic apparitions of 1916 did not occur in a vacuum; they were set against a backdrop of significant global and national turmoil. The First World War was raging across Europe, and Portugal had officially entered the conflict in March 1916, sending troops to the Western Front the following year. The war brought widespread anxiety and a deep longing for peace, a theme central to the angel’s identity and message. Internally, Portugal was experiencing the effects of the 1910 revolution, which had overthrown the monarchy and established the First Republic. This new government was strongly anti-clerical, leading to the persecution of the Catholic Church and creating a climate of religious tension. The angel’s call to prayer and reparation for sins resonated with a population witnessing immense suffering and societal upheaval, offering a spiritual response to the crises of war and faith. The message to pray for peace for their country held a direct and immediate relevance for the Portuguese people at that time.
From a theological perspective, the Angel of Peace acted as a divine messenger, a role consistent with the understanding of angels in Catholic teaching. His primary mission was to serve as a catechist, preparing the three children for the much larger and more public apparitions of the Virgin Mary that would commence in May 1917. This divine pedagogy, where God gradually prepares individuals for greater revelations, is a common pattern in salvation history. The angel’s instructions offered a “catechesis of grace and sacrifice,” which enabled the young visionaries to comprehend and accept the profound messages they were to receive from Mary. These events are classified by the Church as private revelations, meaning they are not essential for salvation but are considered worthy of belief for the spiritual guidance they offer. The angel’s lessons—centered on God, prayer, and sacrifice—stand in stark contrast to spiritualist practices that focus on self, providing a clear model of authentic divine communication that points entirely toward God.
What Are the Core Teachings and Messages?
The central theme of the angel’s instruction was the absolute necessity of prayer and adoration directed toward God. His very first words after his greeting were a call to prayer, and the prayer he taught encapsulates the core theological virtues of faith, adoration, hope, and love. By asking the children to pray “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You,” the angel provided a foundational lesson in establishing a personal relationship with the divine. Furthermore, the prayer immediately extends outward in an act of intercession, asking pardon for those who lack faith and love, thereby introducing the vital concept of spiritual reparation. This act of praying for others, especially for the conversion of sinners, would become a cornerstone of the entire Fátima message. The physical posture the angel demonstrated—kneeling with his forehead to the ground—was also a powerful non-verbal lesson in humility, reverence, and the proper disposition for worship.
Building on this foundation of prayer, the angel introduced the interconnected themes of sacrifice and deep reverence for the Eucharist. In his second appearance, he explicitly called upon the children to offer sacrifices in reparation for sin and for the conversion of sinners, clarifying that this included accepting with submission all the sufferings God would send them. This teaching framed daily hardships not as meaningless burdens but as opportunities for spiritual offerings with redemptive value. The third apparition brought these themes to their ultimate conclusion by focusing on the Eucharist. The angel’s adoration of the host and chalice, and the Trinitarian prayer he taught, reinforced the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. By giving the children Holy Communion, he provided them with a direct and transformative experience of this mystery, impressing upon them the importance of making reparation for the “outrages, sacrileges and indifference” with which Jesus in the Eucharist is offended.
What Does This Mean for Contemporary Belief?
In a contemporary world often marked by rapid change and distraction, the lessons from the Angel of Peace offer a message of enduring relevance. The call to sincere, heartfelt prayer and adoration provides a powerful alternative to a culture that often prioritizes material concerns and constant activity. The angel’s teachings encourage an interior life centered on God, fostering a sense of the sacred that may be diminished in modern society. His instruction emphasizes a simple, direct relationship with God, accessible not through special techniques but through humility and a childlike heart. This stands as a reminder that profound spiritual experiences are not reserved for a select few but are available to all who approach God with sincerity. The angel’s focus on intercessory prayer and making reparation for others also challenges a tendency toward individualism, promoting a sense of communal spiritual responsibility for the well-being of humanity.
The role of the angel as a preparer for a greater message also provides a valuable framework for understanding divine guidance. Just as the Angel of Peace prepared the children for the coming of Our Lady, it suggests a divine pedagogy where individuals are guided step-by-step toward deeper spiritual understanding. This serves as a model for the role of guardian angels in the lives of believers, not as passive observers, but as active guides who direct souls toward God’s will and prepare them for the graces they are to receive. The apparitions at Fátima highlight that heaven is attentive to the affairs of humanity and actively seeks to communicate its designs of mercy. For people of faith today, the angel’s message is an invitation to cultivate attentiveness to God’s presence, to value the power of prayer and sacrifice, and to deepen their reverence for the central mystery of the Eucharist.
Conclusion and Key Lessons
In summary, the three apparitions of the Angel of Peace to Lúcia, Francisco, and Jacinta in 1916 were a foundational prelude to the celebrated Marian apparitions at Fátima. Acting as a divine messenger and catechist, the angel prepared the young shepherds through a series of profound spiritual lessons. He appeared to them against the turbulent backdrop of the First World War and anti-clericalism in Portugal, delivering a message of peace rooted in a return to God. Through simple yet powerful prayers and actions, he taught them the importance of adoration, faith, hope, and love. He also introduced the call to make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and instilled in them a deep and lasting reverence for the Holy Eucharist. These encounters transformed the children, deepening their spiritual maturity and preparing their hearts and minds for the significant mission that lay ahead.
The key lessons imparted by the Angel of Peace remain potent and applicable. First is the primacy of adoration and prayer in the spiritual life; the angel’s immediate instruction was to kneel and worship, centering all that would follow on God himself. Second is the transformative power of sacrifice, teaching that even the smallest of life’s sufferings can be offered with love for the spiritual benefit of others. Finally, the angel provided a powerful and unforgettable catechesis on the Eucharist, reinforcing its centrality in the Catholic faith and the need to make reparation for indifference toward it. The angel’s teachings at Fátima serve as a timeless call to cultivate an interior life of prayer, to embrace a spirit of sacrifice, and to approach the sacred mysteries with profound reverence and love.