Our Lady of Fatima and Maria Valtorta

Statue of Our Lady of Fatima

From 1943 onward, the Virgin of Fátima is mentioned about twenty times in the writings of Maria Valtorta. She makes no mention of it in the Autobiography. Sometimes these mentions come from Heaven, sometimes from Maria Valtorta’s devotion, who developed a genuine attachment to Our Lady of Fatima, which she explains in her notes in the Notebooks of May 8, 1947.

The Apparitions of Fatima

At the time of the Apparitions, Fatima was a poor rural parish with relatively low literacy. It had only about 200 inhabitants distributed over around forty hamlets. Everyone had to work and children tended the herds wherever pastures allowed. The large central esplanade, the Cova de Iria, has today become the main focal point of the town where, on one side, stands the Chapel of the Apparitions (Capelinha das Aparições) marking the very spot, and opposite it, the large Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, 65 meters tall (Basílica de Nossa Senhora do Rosário), built in 1928 but soon too small. This basilica contains the graves of the three seers: Francisco Marto (1908-1919) and Jacinta Marto (1910-1920), who died shortly after the Apparitions. They were beatified in 2000 by Pope John Paul II and canonized by Pope Francis in 2017. The third, Lúcia dos Santos (1907-2005), became a Carmelite nun and died nearly a centenarian.

Account of the Apparitions

In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to children aged 7 to 10. Her six Apparitions, from May 13 to October 13, were preceded by six Apparitions of the Angel of Portugal: three in 1915 to Lucia and three of her friends, then three in 1916, the year Portugal officially entered the War. These Angel Apparitions took place in Aljustrel, a hamlet near the town of Fatima, where the seers lived.

Apparitions of the Angel of Portugal

In 1915, Lucia and three of her friends saw in Aljustrel, on the Cabeço hill, "a figure like a statue of snow, which the sun’s rays made somewhat translucent," "having human shape." When the four girls told of their adventure, their surroundings mocked them.

In spring 1916, Lucia, accompanied this time by Francisco and Jacinta, saw the angel again at the same place. He appeared as a young man of about 14/15 years, radiating great purity. He said: "Fear nothing! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me!" Kneeling, forehead to the ground, imitated by the three children, the angel taught them the first of the prayers later made famous:

"My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.

He repeated this prayer three times, then, raising his head, said: "Pray thus. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications," then disappeared. The Presence of God was so intense and intimate that the children dared neither speak nor move, remaining in prayer for some time. Upon returning home, they did not speak of this apparition.

The angel appeared to them a second time during the summer above the well on Lucia’s parents’ property. He identified himself as the Angel of Portugal and urged them to continually offer prayers and sacrifices because of the merciful designs the very holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have for them. These words were like a light; they made them understand who God is, how much He loves us and desires to be loved, the value of sacrifice, and how pleasing it is to Him in obtaining the conversion of sinners. He appeared a third time at the end of summer or in autumn at the site of the first apparition. He held a chalice and a host that remained suspended in the air while the angel knelt to adore:

"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore You profoundly and I offer You the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. And for the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I ask You for the conversion of sinners.

He then gave the host to the three seers, and to Francisco and Jacinta, he also gave the contents of the chalice to drink, saying: "Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Repair their crimes and console God."

These Apparitions immersed them in an ocean of Peace and joy, as the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary would, but differently: those of the Virgin Mary caused thrills of joy and contagious enthusiasm, while the Presence of God accompanying the Angel's Apparitions imposed itself by instilling a feeling of absorption, a total annihilation, contrasting with the great inner jubilation.

Apparitions of the Virgin Mary

These took place at Cova de Iria, now the esplanade of the Apparitions, two kilometers from the town of Fatima. Francisco only saw the Virgin. Jacinta saw and heard Her. But only Lucia could see, hear, and speak to Her.

The first apparition: I am from Heaven

On Sunday, May 13, 1917, the Sunday before Ascension, around noon, the three young children saw about one and a half meters above them, above a small oak barely more than a meter tall, a Lady brighter than the sun, dressed entirely in white, wearing a veil edged in gold. She emitted a light more intense and "clearer than crystal glass filled with crystalline water through which the fiercest sun shone." Her joined hands held the Rosary. Though the apparition was so near one could see details, Lucia could never describe the Face exactly because it dazzled. "Where are you from, Lady?" Lucia asked. "I am from Heaven," She answered. She invited them to return six consecutive months on the 13th. Then She asked them to accept the sufferings that would be sent them in reparation for sins and assured them of God’s Grace. Upon their acceptance, She opened Her hands from which issued an intense light that penetrated them to the depths of their souls. She made them see themselves in God who was that light. They fell to their knees and recited the angel’s prayer to the Holy Eucharist (see above). Before disappearing toward the east, the Virgin Mary asked them to pray the Rosary for Peace.

The second apparition: The Immaculate Heart of Mary

At the second apparition on Wednesday, June 13, 1917, about fifty people were present. The Virgin Mary asked the young seers to recite the Rosary daily and learn to read. A request no doubt addressed to Lucia, through whom, the Madonna said, Jesus wanted to make known the Immaculate Heart of His Mother. To those who would embrace it, She promised Salvation. The apparition again opened Her hands releasing a flood of light. The young seers felt immersed in God. Lucia saw Jacinta and Francisco rise toward Heaven while she saw herself spread over the earth. The image of a Heart pierced by thorns appeared: it was the Heart outraged of Mary.

The third apparition: The vision of Hell and the great prophecies

On Friday, July 13, 1917, at the height of summer, a cool breeze preceded the apparition. The Virgin Mary asked that people pray to Our Lady of the Rosary, who alone could guarantee Peace in the world and the end of the War. Fifteen days later, on August 1, 1917, Benedict XV issued a call "to the leaders of the warring nations" in which he spoke of the suicide of civilized Europe. A prophetic declaration, since from 1914 to 1945 Europe experienced ten years of conflicts within those thirty years. These caused more than 70 million deaths, plus millions from epidemics, famines, revolutions, and genocides. The apparition renewed its request for sacrifices for sinners, offered by this prayer:

"O Jesus, it is for love of You, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed Against the Immaculate Heart of Mary."

At these words, She opened Her hands again. The light seemed to part the earth revealing an ocean of Fire. Demons and damned Souls, like transparent coals, writhed amid cries and moans of pain and despair. The vision was terrifying and Lucia thought that without the Virgin Mary, they would have died from fright. The Virgin Mary then entrusted them that God wanted to establish in the world devotion to Her Immaculate Heart to Save Souls from damnation. She announced She would come (in the future) to ask for the consecration of Russia and the reparatory communion of the first Saturdays. If not done, Russia would spread its errors, causing Wars and persecutions. She added this prophecy:

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The War will end," she said, "but if people do not cease offending God, another will begin under the reign of Pius XI. A night illuminated by an unknown light will announce the punishment of the world by War, famine, and persecutions."

This vision and these prophecies constitute what is called the first secret of Fatima. There were three secrets. The name of Pius XI, which Lucia confirms, was unknown until 1922. Russia had not yet undergone its October revolution and the spread of Marxism-Leninism whose triumph would culminate worldwide forty years later, but already one saw Mexican president Plutarco Calles, atheist, Marxist, and Freemason, trigger the Cristero War in 1929 (90,000 deaths) by imposing the death penalty on the administration of the Sacraments; or the "Red Terror" inflaming Spain: 13 bishops, 4,184 priests, 2,365 monks, and 283 nuns were executed during summer 1936. In reaction, "White Terror" by fascists followed. The luminous sign announcing the conflict occurred over Europe on the night of January 25-26, 1938 (feast of the conversion of Saint Paul). The phenomenon was officially interpreted as an aurora borealis, but that cannot be the case. 1938 was the year the annexation of Austria was ratified, then that of the Sudetenland without Europe's reaction to the Munich agreements. It was also the year when anti-Jewish laws reached their peak, culminating in the "Kristallnacht," a generalized pogrom against Jewish shops. One month later, a treaty of good understanding was signed in Paris between Germans and the French government.

Before disappearing, She entrusted the children with this prayer which ends all decades of the Rosary:

"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, keep us from the Fire of Hell, and lead all Souls to Heaven, especially those who most need your mercy."

The fourth apparition: The children in prison and the announcement of the miracle

On Monday, August 13, 1917, the children were detained by the administrator of the county of Ourem who wanted to forcibly extract the secret from them. But at the usual hour of the Apparitions, various phenomena were observed over the Cova da Iria. On Sunday, August 19, 1917, the children were on the property of one of Lucia’s uncles when signs signaling the apparition manifested. The Virgin Mary renewed Her instructions and announced She would perform a miracle the last month.

The fifth apparition: Announcement of the blessing of the world

On Thursday, September 13, 1917, the crowd was estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Abnormal atmospheric phenomena were observed by all, but it was not yet the miracle of the sun. The Virgin Mary announced that at the next apparition Jesus Himself and Saint Joseph would come to bless the world.

The sixth and last apparition: The miracle of the sun

On Saturday, October 13, 1917, the apparition occurred under rain in the presence of a crowd of 50,000 to 70,000 people. The Virgin Mary requested the construction of a chapel in Her honor. She presented Herself as Our Lady of the Rosary and asked that the Rosary be prayed daily. Then She announced the end of the War. With great sadness, which marked the seers, She asked men to no longer offend Our Lord. Then, opening Her hands one last time, She rose while the reflection of Her light was cast toward the sun, which appeared, stopping the rain. Everyone could look at it without harm to their eyes.

The star began to tremble with sudden movements, then it spun around itself at dizzying speed, launching bursts of light in all the colors of the rainbow. Then the sun, maintaining its rapid rotation, suddenly seemed to detach from the sky and zigzag forward over the crowd. It was such a terrifying moment that several people fainted. To general astonishment, the crowd could see that their clothes, soaked by the rain a few minutes earlier, were completely dry! This phenomenon, which no astronomical observatory recorded and therefore could not have been a natural phenomenon, was observed several kilometers from Fatima, ruling out the hypothesis of an optical illusion or collective hallucination. During the ten minutes the sun's dance lasted, the seers beheld three successive tableaux symbolizing the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries of the Rosary:

• The Holy Family and Jesus blessing the world.
• Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows and Christ blessing the world.
• Our Lady of Carmel carrying the child Jesus in her arms.

Lucia saw all three tableaux, Francisco and Jacinta only the first.

The private revelations that followed

The Marian Apparitions did not cease after that, but they became private. First to Francisco, about whom little is known, then to Jacinta. She followed a path of great holiness until her death on February 20, 1920, and her Face remained unaltered. It was especially Lucia’s role to continue Fatima. She entered the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, taking the name Sister Mary of the Sorrows. But she was constantly solicited, so she joined the Carmel of Coimbra, where she could only be removed with papal authorization. In July 1917, the Virgin had said, "I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the reparatory communion of the first Saturdays of the month." She did so on December 10, 1925, accompanied by the Child Jesus, instituting the devotion of the first Saturdays.

It was John Paul II who most closely fulfilled the requests of Heaven. On May 13, 1982 in Fatima, then on March 25, 1984, he consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart, asking all bishops to unite with him. Five years later, the Berlin Wall fell by itself. The third and last part of the "secret" of Fatima was revealed on June 26, 2000 by John Paul II. The highlight was the prophecy predicting the assassination attempt on the Pope on May 13, 1981. He attributed his survival to the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima whose 64th anniversary was celebrated that day. In gratitude, he had the bullet he received enshrined in the crown of her statue and, the following year, consecrated the world according to his vow.

Fatima in the writings of Maria Valtorta

Notebooks 1943, November 20

"It was not useful for you to know the secret of Fatima."

"Like the Beloved One, establish yourself in Heaven, to the point of becoming enraptured by the ardor of contemplation, for the hour of pain is closer and closer and you need to be filled with contemplation to be able to undergo the passion without yielding.

Remain 'the Light of the world' in my place, even if the darkness builds up upon you to crush you. Even when falling, hold up my Cross, which is Light. Even when dying, make the Voice be heard which speaks from Heaven by way of you, my exemplary Servant.

You have wept and it has not helped for you to know the secret of Fatima. Your care for the world has turned against you, like the care used with someone obsessed. But it doesn't matter. My Mother is with you, and I am with Her."

Notebooks 1943, December 29

Jesus and Mary shine at the prayer of Fatima.

"When I had barely begun the invocations of Fatima-"Jesus, it is for the sake of your love, for the conversion of sinners, for the Holy Father, and to make reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Jesus, forgive us our sins, preserve us from the fire of hell, and take all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of your mercy"-I saw the Two look at one another, beaming with mutual love. Beam is the right word and barely expresses the radiance of the two Faces."

Notebooks 1943, December 31

The miracle of the sun at Fatima.

"God is the one who, as a warning to you that are forgetful, tells you that He exists by way of the northern lights, the darting meteors tingeing the ether furrowed by them with sapphire, emerald, ruby, or topaz, the comets with a flaming tail like the mantle of a heavenly queen flying across the firmaments, the opening of the eye of another star in the vault of heaven, and the whirling of the sun perceptible at Fatima to convince you of God's will. Your other inductions are the smoke of human science and envelope error in the smoke."

Notebooks 1944, April 15

The image of Fatima accompanies her during a manifestation of the Demon.

"At 11:10, as I pray to overcome the works of the devil affecting this poor humanity (this is the time of air‑raid warnings, and the bombs are falling nearby), I hear a voice which I recognize and remember, which says a sentence to me already uttered to our Lord: "Worship me, and I will help you in all things and always. You will be happy." I reply, "No. Never. By my will, never. If I later go mad from the pain of being rejected by God, I may even do so. But as long as I can reason, I won't. Torment me, but I won't give in." This new battle (and you can't imagine how sweet the temptation was, just as he presented it) confirms for me who the cause of my present intense suffering is. Notice that I was holding the cross. But is he not afraid even of that, now? On my knees were the images of Our Lady of Fatima and St. Joseph. But is he no longer afraid of anything? One day Jesus said to me, "Answer with my own words." I replied, "Begone, Satan. It is written: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.'" But how long will this trial last?"

Notebooks 1944, June 13

Believing she will die, she surrounds herself for the great passage with an image of Our Lady of Fatima and others.

"Last night, thinking I really was dying, in order not to die alone, I had set before me, on my slightly bent knees, my Jesus, Our Lady of Fatima, and Gemma. I would also have wanted St. Joseph, but I could not move to get him. I was holding my beads for the Rosary and Our Lady of Sorrows and felt surrounded by the best possible nurses. I was looking very steadily at Jesus, Mary, and Gemma, when I felt the vise getting more intense and my heart slowing its beats down to the point of stopping for some seconds, and I thought, "I am going now." I looked at them even more and called them. Not to be preserved from death. But to die in an act of love, so that my last word and my last glance would be for them. All the saints were in Gemma. Between Jesus and Mary I was also placing St. Joseph, and I was all set.

Then Jesus said:

'Your spirit has seen rightly. My Heart is a living Eucharist. Where does love start from? From the heart. What is the Eucharist? It is love. When you think, then, of the Eucharist, you can say to yourselves, 'This is the Heart of Jesus' Heart.' And when you think of my Heart, you can say, 'This is the matrix in which the Eucharist was formed.'"

Notebooks 1944, December 13

Maria prays the Rosary punctuated by the prayer of Fatima.

"St. Lucy, who has been beseeched so much to bring me the gift of a return, instead brings me a heavenly vision which begins as I say the Rosary and Fatima prayers with Marta."

Notebooks 1944, December 24

Returning from exile in San’Andrea di Còmpito, Maria consecrates the house in Viareggio.

"Return home. I consecrated the house to Our Lady of Fatima in addition to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Joseph."

Azariah, March 24, 1946

The archangel Gabriel reveals to her a secret much more terrible than that of Fatima.

"And Azariah kneels down to listen to Gabriel, who, intensifying his light, greets me with the words "Ave Maria!" None other than Ave Maria. He then addresses a tremendous "Oh!" to me‑it is really a tremendous word‑and gives me an order. So condemnatory in its reasoning! But I shall take it with me to the tomb. "And it is much more tremendous," the Archangel says, "than the secret of Fatima, and ought not to be revealed, for men, even these for whom it has been uttered, do not deserve to know it."

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 13, 1946

The Virgin of Fatima accompanies Maria during her novena and speaks to her on the anniversary of the apparition.

"After having kept me for many days in this novena under the luminous splendor of her apparition, Our Lady of Fatima spoke to me as follows:

'Most beloved daughters of mine, have the soul of Lucy, Hyacinth, and Francis, who received me because they were simple, like their little sheep. Be able to look upwards at all times, for the Mother does not go down into the mud, but soars over you from the azure of Heaven. With my whiteness as a robe for your soul, with your spirit praying, like my hands joined in prayer out of compassion for mortals, with the gentleness of my smile to make community life sweet, and, above all, with a heart which is, insofar as possible, immaculate‑for daughters also inherit their mother's heart from her and her heredity‑imitate me, love me, and elevate yourselves.

I am not speaking to Maria of the Cross. She is in my heart, the only cradle to give her peace. The poor, weary dove can come into my pierced heart and stay to quench her thirst with the compassionate tears of the Mother upon her and rest, forget ting that there is hatred in the world, because it would be too painful for her to continue without the consolation of my love. Love one another, though‑the three of you and her. Love one another in me and in my Most Holy Son, who has joined you in love through a great desire of his love.

In Iria there is a new cathedral. Beautiful. But I want the little chapels of hearts loving my Heart. They bear a stronger scent of love and are more replete with roses. Make it possible for me to descend into your hearts to communicate my sweetness and instruct you on constant acceptance of the divine will. An acceptance which made me a Queen, for those who remove their crowns shall be crowned‑that is, the crown of sanctity rests on the spirits able to remove the crown of their humanity by agreeing to serve the Lord in all things.

My blessing be upon you.'

Azariah, May 26, 1946

The Virgin Mary comes to console Maria Valtorta in her sufferings.

"Azariah's explanation, which will certainly come, is preceded this Sunday by the Immaculate Virgin's smile, for She appears in a white robe just as in the apparitions of Lourdes and Fatima, but without the blue sash or golden cordon: a simple cordon as white as the robe keeps it gathered in at her waist, and the sweet gold of her hair is visible, for She has neither a veil nor a mantle. She is the Gentle One clad in white as She often was in the summers at Nazareth. It is only that now her robe is more brilliant than all earthly fabrics and seems to be made of a truly celestial linen. Since last night She has been comforting me and smiling, and in my pains entirely preventing me from sleeping which would be an escape for a few hours from the excessive number of thorns oppressing me I find Her always present every time I emerge from the interrupted drowsiness that is the only repose for my weary, exhausted flesh, which cannot really rest in true sleep. Her whiteness, the snow white emanation of her glorified Body, and the inexpressible look on her Face shine like a star in the dark room and in my afflicted heart."

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 8, 1947

Maria explains her particular attachment to Our Lady of Fatima.

"Today, too, the 8th, I said the Holy Rosary together with Our Lady of Fatima! Today, though, Mary did not detach the roses and provided an explanation of the reason why She made the symbolic gesture on the 5th. Now I know the value of a well‑said Hail Mary! The fifteen‑decade rosary was for five roses as white as pearls, five red roses resembling rubies, and five golden ones as on the other day. And Mary Most Holy‑running her fingers over the beads and saying the Gloria and the first part of the Our Father, from "Our Father..." to "on earth as it is in heaven" and, in the Hail Mary, only Blessed (She did not say "the fruit of thy womb") Jesus‑looked down at the world with her indescribable gaze of peace, love, and mercy and smiled with a smile which was slightly painful in its softness. That's it! I understand why I am so attracted by Our Lady's apparition in Fatima, even more than in Lourdes, greatly loved by me, too. Because She is more our own, more of a Mother. The Lourdes apparition looks to Heaven ... with an apparent desire to go back up there, lose herself in God‑She is the Immaculate Conception, the Heavenly woman. The Fatima apparition looks at us and at the poor earth, where She was a woman like any other, whose afflictions and needs She is familiar with‑this poor earth, which needs Her so much. And She is completely merciful towards us: She is our Mother. It is the Heart of Mary that loves and watches over us.... The former apparition is for the Lord and the Angels. But the one in Fatima is for us sinners. Pray for us.... She is truly "the Mother" most pure and compassionate"

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 16, 1947

During a vision of Our Lady of Fatima, the Holy Spirit explains to Maria what the Immaculate Heart of Mary is.

I received a vision and comprehension of what the Immaculate Heart of Mary is.

The vision: a brightly shining heart similar to a radiant moon, like a pearl luminous with moonlight. We are accustomed to seeing the Heart of Jesus emitting golden rays, golden flames. A halo of rays around his red Heart. But Mary's was entirely light. A heavenly light! Whiter than a radiant Host in a monstrance! More luminous than a moon shining in a very clear sky! Lovelier than an enormous pearl! All light! What beauty ... ! It was shining there, at the center of her most pure breast .... A whiteness glowing in the whiteness of the glorified body of Our Lady of Fatima. And since it is splendor surpassing the purest splendor of Our Lady as a whole, let each imagine what that splendor must be like....

And the Holy Spirit gave me this lesson, and I understood:

"From that Heart there came the drops to form the Heart of the Incarnate Word. From that whiteness there was to come the blood needed to form the human embryo of the Most Holy Son of God! Most pure Blood from a most pure source. Whiteness flowing forth from an immaculate fount to surround the soul created for the Word with whiteness, conceived by Love with Whiteness. In contact with the heartbeats of the most pure star of this Heart, my Delight, the beating of the Divine Heart was shaped. Consider what complete perfection of feelings and motions this Immaculate Heart must have possessed, on the basis of whose rhythm‑the' rhythm of physical beats, the rhythm of moral beats, and the rhythm of spiritual beats‑the heart of the Son conceived by the Virgin was formed to be the Heart of the God Man.

Look, look, and take delight. There is no light in Paradise, after our own, more beautiful than this. There is no sweeter light. None. We, the Three Glorious Ones, find our joy in this light. The blessed, their own. The angels, their own. Paradise shines with this light of the Immaculate Heart of our Mary. That light, which you term indescribable‑and it is the voice and joy of Paradise‑issues forth from this Breast, from this Heart of the eternal Virgin. If only man wanted it to expand over the earth! It would be the second redemption, the second forgiveness‑final salvation! Oh, the forgiveness of the world! The forgiveness of the world through Mary! But the world rejects the Mother who would give birth to it for peace.

Love, love for the whole world. And the light of the Heart of Mary will penetrate you with the joy which makes Us Ourselves blessed"

I rejoiced, gazing at the radiant Heart‑Host of Mary Immaculate, with the bright, very soft light of an inflamed pearl..."

The Little Notebooks, November 9, 1947

Regarding Tre Fontane: The Rosary recited with Our Lady of Fatima turns into a shower of roses. Previously she was spiritually transported to Fatima where she prays with the pilgrims.

"5 May. Vision of the Most Holy Mary of Fatima throwing flowers of gold around Rome, in the places marked on the map which I made. These flowers are the transformation of the Hail Marys of the Rosary which I recite with Her [...] Others are falling here and there all over Italy, but I don’t understand well exactly where, on Spain and Portugal (many here, around Fatima) one in Belgium, three in Ireland, one near London, others here and there aound the globe [...] I spend the night of 12-13 October with the Most Holy Mary at Fatima. I see pilgrims praying in the Conca di Iria with lights dotted around. I pray with them, I contemplate Mary who I’m close to. Almost at dawn the Most Holy Mary speaks to me. She exhorts me to pray the Rosary a lot for the Holy Father, the Clergy, peace in Italy, because the Holy Rosary is a valuable defence for the Papacy. She says that’s why she appeared in Rome and also to shake the incredulous, the hostile and those who are against the supernatural, those who don’t believe in the Work which is the «glory of her Son and in which is the well-being of many»."

Notebooks 1945-1950, December 28, 1947

Mary explains her appearance during the Apparitions.

"I am here. So that you can contemplate me, study my features, from very close up, once again, and grasp where the difference lies between what I was like on earth and what I am now like in Heaven.

"In Lourdes, in Fatima, and in the apparitions in general, I appear as I am now in Heaven, and my appearance already possesses the indescribable luminous beauty of glorified bodies. The beauty which the seers of those apparitions never grasp entirely, in all its details. Note that they are able to mention the clothing I wear, the rosary I hold, the rock or tree where I stand, the gestures I make, and the expression on my face, but they are always uncertain‑and, involuntarily, they are never truthful‑about describing my face and the color of my eyes and hair and skin. They make an effort to do so. But they do manage to; they cannot do so.

None of the souls of the seers has seen me to the extent that you have seen me, as a Girl, Spouse, and Mother on earth and as the Queen of Heaven. And every time you say to yourself, 'It is still Her. But how different She is as the glorious Queen of Heaven, taken up in body and soul among the angels, from the times when She is the humble Mary of Nazareth.'" [...]

"I observed her carefully, close as she was to my face. I examined her skin, of a warm magnolia paleness suffused with a tenuous pink on her cheeks, her appropriately distended red lips, her thin, straight nose, her perfectly proportioned, clear skyblue eyes under her lofty, smooth brow, the perfect oval face of a girl.... I don't know why her face always makes me think of a white flame or a lily bud about to open‑the curves are so gentle in their oval.... I looked at her beautiful mildly blond hair‑fine, soft, and slightly wavy. I considered that if, instead of being clasped into heavy braids extending over her head, they were hanging loose, the waviness would have been more marked.... And, above all, I got lost perceiving the tenuous color of her body breathing close to me and her fragrance‑her characteristic scent, the smell of Mary, the smell of the Virgin..." [...]

"But listen carefully. To you, that are a Servant of Mary,346 I say that the craftsman who sculpted me in such a way that I do not recognize myself would have done well to recall the statues of Lourdes and Fatima, where I am depicted insofar as man can depict the image of the Mother of God.... And, above all, he should have drawn inspiration from the face with which I am portrayed at Our Lady of the Annunciation in Florence ‑ the face from which, if man and time had not altered the image, everyone could discern what I was like when the Spirit of God rendered me pregnant with God. The smoke from candles and time have darkened the colors, and men have done damage.... But one can still see what God's Girl, Joseph's Betrothed, was like in that springtime of her years, in that blooming Nazarene springtime."

The Little Notebooks, Night of May 25-26, 1948

The Virgin of Fatima appears with a sword piercing her Heart.

"As long as God is there my suffering for His pain is bearable. But on my own, it crushes me with the weight of its lament and Jesus’ words and the afflictions of the Most Holy Mary which do not cancel from my mind the evening of Friday 21 of this month when she (Our Lady of Fatima) appeared to me. After having watched me crying most sorrowfully, despite angelic hands crowning her with a crown of 15 beautiful roses she separated her hands and opened her arms to push aside her mantle so that I could see her chest from the centre of which protruded the hilt of a sword and the [?] from her white robe. I couldn’t see her heart but I understood that the sword passed through her heart and that our Mother was in great suffering and was asking to be consoled…by whom? Up to this evening I have asked myself this question without finding an answer. Now I know. And I am oppressed, because it isn’t in my power to remove the sword and medicate that wound inflicted in Mary’s Heart."

The Little Notebooks, May 31, 1948

Symbolic vision of Mary in the History of Salvation.

"The evening of the 26 of this month the Most Holy Mary of Fatima appeared to me again; what seemed like a large rainbow, but not very curved, was suspended between heaven and the earth. At its centre, on a small silvery cloud, was the Most Holy Mary; a long Rosary hung from her clasped hands, and she was sweet and smiling. Her bare feet were standing on, I would say keeping under control, many lightning bolts. I said to myself, «Thank goodness! This time there will be peace! The lightning bolts of God’s punishment are under Mary’s feet…», and I thanked our Mother. However She, separating her hands, showed me with her left hand, the one to the east, a sort of fire, or a star or a 31.5.48 jewel; it was similar to all three. It shone high in the clear blue of a cloudless sky in a crystalline atmosphere, just like after a thunderstorm which cleans all the impurities from the air."

The Little Notebooks, June 9, 1948

Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima preceded by great ecstatic joy.

I had a foretaste of the joy of seeing and enjoying the divine which by now knows my soul so well and makes it jump with a preliminary joy; concentrating on an unforced wait for God and not forcing God, especially as my soul is already serene and content, already contented by this preliminary joy and not needing to ask for anything more. [...] That’s how it is! We don’t know when the meeting will be. But we know it will take place. So with great happiness of heart we go about the little tasks of the day, one writes, works, reads, talks to visitors, eats…but it seems like we do these things with a borrowed body. After all, our moral and spiritual I are extraneous to what the body does; it already on its knees under the ever stronger waves of love that submerge us. Like all perceptible things it is far away! However, the super sensory is all around us, it surrounds us; we drown in it. [...] All of this yesterday, for hours and hours. Then all of a sudden it wasn’t “a call” any more, but a “meeting” with the divine. Once again the divine was the Most Holy Mary. My Madonna of Fatima. [...] I had the sensation that my soul left my body and threw itself into Mary’s arms. Three times. As many times as She gave herself to me and invited me to go to Her without any venerable restraint. The Madonna was at the foot of my bed, on the right, not more than half a metre above the floor, separated from the floor by a bright cloud which supported her small, beautiful feet; those of an eternal young girl. [...] How beautiful she was!"

The Little Notebooks, June 10, 1948

The Marian Apparitions are not believed outright.

"From there, by association, they [Maria Valtorta's thoughts] slipped to the ideas of the Marian appearances at Lourdes, Fatima, Tre Fontane and the most recent ones, taking place in Assisi etc. etc. and how the clergy and people react and so on. And…I certainly didn’t enjoy it."

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 7 and 8, 1949

Our Lady of Fatima attends a meeting of the publishing society and weeps over the disregard the participants show for the Work.

"The night between May 7 and 8 ‑ that is, a few hours before the meeting of the Partners of the CEPV (Publishing House Paroles de Vie later dissolved) at my house to clarify everything and establish that I want to obey the Church and have it obeyed. [...] At 12 midnight Jesus departed and was replaced by Our Lady of Fatima, facing eastward and praying intensely.

At 12 noon on May 8, 1949, while the entreaty was being made, Our Lady turned from east to west and inclined her gaze over Father B.... A maternally afflicted gaze. She then separated her joined hands, opened her arms, and lowered them towards the ground. She then raised them to Heaven in an act of entreaty and again joined her hands in prayer, and two tears furrowed her cheeks, afterwards falling to the ground.

I felt myself getting pale, with my contemplative paleness, which I would have liked to conceal from the eight people present, who noticed, however, except for two.... I understood that Our Lady was weeping over sinful members of the clergy, one of whom was present."

The Little Notebooks, May 13, 1949

Our Lady of Fatima advises Maria on authenticating her presciences.

"During the night, the Most Holy Mary of Fatima says to me, «By November everything will be resolved. Write, seal and testify. When the time comes you will show it to witnesses so they may believe that it is the Truth that guides you, always.»"

[This writing is at the beginning of an open sheet, but folded in an envelope shape, then sealed with a stamp mark. On the outer part, Maria Valtorta wrote: "Regarding laypeople." (follow predictions concerning world events in 1949/1950).

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 13, 14, and 15, 1949

Our Lady of Fatima prays for Cardinal József Mindszenty (1892-1975), Primate of Hungary tortured and imprisoned by the Stalinist regime, and for priests in distress.

"Our Lady (who continued under the aspect of Fatima, in view of her position high in the holm‑oak, but was different because She was wearing an ash‑gray mantle, almost penitential, and was holding a book also with an ash‑gray covering) was gazing with a pained expression, once again towards the east, but towards the ground.

I did not ask Her any questions on the first and the second but on the third, I did.

She replied,

"I am looking at a prison, in a cell in Hungary. I am looking at a servant of my Son and praying for him.... But it is less of an affliction to look at the persecuted one than to bear in mind‑even without looking at them‑‑other hearts of the consecrated who are not persecuted, except by their ill will.... I also pray for them, but ... what an effort I have to make! Like the words spoken by the betrayer Apostle on that Friday morning. My final, futile words to the impenitent one.... I am wearing the clothing of penance for this reason. They are forcing the Mother into mourning, believe me.... And I am holding this in my hands (She pointed to the book) to cleanse it of their dust, which has made it so gray,"

and She wept."

Notebooks 1945-1950, May 17, 1949

Jesus and the Virgin Mary suffer and weep for the betrayal of people, perhaps connected to the Work.

"First, Jesus, under the aspect of Ecce Homo, waiting for the Cross and saying to me, "They are imposing the cross on Me again so that, by my pain, I can redeem them.... Their obstinacy in a lack of penance flagellates Me, crowns Me with thorns, and weighs Me down with the cross.... Three martyrdoms on account of their three forms of concupiscence-human, mental, and spiritual."

Later, Our Lady of Fatima-it was truly Her, with her white and gold mantle, the Rosary in her hand, and the white robe, but her face gently pained. [...] I asked Her, "Is this weeping for me? Have I been at fault?"

She shook her head, with a tenuous smile, and confirmed in words, "No, not for you. It's not you that make me cry.... But what pain, what pain! "

I would have liked to console Her, but I didn't have time to ask her how I could. She said, "Love me increasingly to console Me for one who is a prodigal son ceasing to dwell in the Mother's Heart, in my Immaculate Heart, whose loving beat sanctifies whoever accepts it."

She then went off, weeping, slightly bent over, as if demoralized. She looked like the woman of Sorrows in the hours of the Passion..."

The Little Notebooks, May 30, 1953

Advice from Our Lady of Fatima.

"Most Holy Mary of Fatima, so beautiful that it’s not possible to describe or imagine her says,

«Give M.T. a Miraculous Medal. Even if he has one already it doesn’t matter. Coming from you it will have a completely different value. Also, always keep a small handkerchief of used linen on you. Later you will know why I want you to do this.»

The Little Notebooks, July 5, 1953

The Virgin Mary justifies her Apparitions by the anarchy of the world.

"Throughout the centuries, every time I appeared, it was either because anarchy reigned there or freemasonry, or revolution, or some other punishment caused by human sin, or because some miracle was necessary to lead relatives, churchmen, male and female religious who were no longer just, back to the ways of justice. So it was at Caravaggio, Pompei, Lourdes, Fatima, and in many other places in Italy, Europe and also other continents. Even today I appear wherever Communism is most rooted, where the sword embedded in my Heart more sharp and wounding. That’s what makes these tears fall. You rush to collect them in your already holy handkerchief which will now become even more holy."

Fellowship of the Church who are not part of the clergy or religious orders.