"Am I to stay here alone?" In Light of the Sister Lucy Truth Investigation, these words spoken by Sister Lucy to Our Lady during the June 13th, 1917 Apparition at Fatima are Even More Heart-Rendering. Read Cornelia Ferreira's Latest Fatima Newsletter Here.

FATIMA NEWSLETTER
Apparition of June 13, 1917
As recounted in Sister Lucia’s Memoirs
The Word Spreads

The 13th of June, feast of St. Anthony, was always a day of great festivities in our parish. On that day, we usually let out the flocks very early in the morning, and at nine o’clock we shut them up in their pens again, and went off to the festa.
My mother and my sisters, who knew how much I [Lucia] loved a festa, kept saying to me: “We’ve yet to see if you’ll leave the festa just to go to the Cova da Iria, and talk to that Lady!” On the day itself, nobody said a single word to me. Insofar as I was concerned, they acted as if they were saying: “Leave her alone; and we’ll soon see what she’ll do.”
I let out my flock at daybreak, intending to put them back in the pen at nine, go to Mass at ten, and after that, go to the Cova da Iria. But the sun

was no sooner up than my brother came to call me. He told me to go back home, as there were several people there wanting to speak to me. He himself stayed with the flock, and I went to see what they wanted.
I found some women, and men too, who had come from such places as Minde, from around Tomar, Carascos, Boleiros, etc. They wished to accompany me to the Cova da Iria. I told them it was early as yet, and invited them to go with me to the eight o’clock Mass. After that, I returned home. These good people waited for me out in the yard, in the shade of our fig trees.
My mother and my sisters persisted in their contemptuous attitude, and this cut me to the heart, and was indeed as hurtful to me as insults.

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Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Around eleven o’clock, I left home and called at my uncle’s house, where Jacinta and Francisco were waiting for me. Then we set off for the Cova da Iria, in expectation of the longed-for moment. All those people followed us, asking a thousand questions.

As soon as Jacinta, Francisco and I had finished praying the Rosary, with a number of people who were present, we saw once more the flash reflecting the light which was approaching (which we called lightning). The next moment, Our Lady was there on the holmoak, exactly the same as in May.
“What do you want of me?” I asked.
“I wish you to come here on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later, I will tell you what I want.”
I asked the cure of a sick person.
“If he is converted, he will be cured during the year.”
“I would like to ask you to take us to Heaven.”
“Yes. I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer. Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and those souls will be loved by God, like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.”
“Am I to stay here alone?” I asked, sadly.
“No, my daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don’t lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God.”

As Our Lady spoke these last words, She opened her hands and for the second time, She communicated to us the rays of that same immense light. We saw ourselves in this light, as it were, immersed in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in that part of the light which rose towards Heaven, and I in that which was poured out on the earth.
In front of the palm of Our Lady’s right hand was a heart encircled by thorns which pierced it. We understood that this was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity, and seeking reparation.
[This is] what we referred to when we said that Our Lady had revealed a secret to us in June. At the time, Our Lady did not tell us to keep it secret, but we felt moved to do so by God.
I think that, on that day, the main purpose of this light [from Our Lady’s hands] was to infuse within us a special knowledge and love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
From that day onwards, our hearts were filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Jacinta said to me: “The Lady said that her Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don’t you love that? Her heart is so good! How I love it!”
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