Apparitions to Sr Lucia at Pontevedra and Tuy

In a very real sense there is an intimate link between the apparitions to Sr Lucia at Pontevedra and Tuy, since they are the fulfilment of a promise made by Our Lady during the July 1917 apparition at Fatima, when she revealed the secret of Fatima to the children.

She told them that to prevent the punishment the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father, she would come to ask for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

The request for the consecration of Russia was made on 13 June 1929 at Tuy in Spain, while the request for the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays had previously been made at Pontevedra, also in Spain on 10 December 1925.

At the Dorothean convent in Pontevedra, Sr Lucia saw the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. Mary revealed her Immaculate Heart surrounded by thorns, symbolizing the offences and blasphemies against her, and requested the establishment of the Five First Saturdays devotion as an act of reparation.



The Child Jesus implored Lucia to have compassion for His Mother’s heart, pierced by humanity's ingratitude.

Then at the convent in Tuy, in June 1929, Lucia experienced a vision of the Most Holy Trinity during prayer. She saw a cross of light with Christ crucified, a chalice and host collecting His blood, and Mary’s Immaculate Heart beneath it.

More about the Apparition at Pontevedra

On 10 December 1925, while at the convent in Pontevedra, Spain, Lucia saw an apparition of Mary with the Child Jesus. Our Lady told Lucia to announce that she promised all the graces necessary for salvation to those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, confessed, received Holy Communion, recited five decades of the rosary, and meditated on the rosary for fifteen minutes, all with the intention of making reparation to her.

Sr Lucia described this apparition in detail, in the third person, in her memoirs:

On December 10th, 1925, the most holy Virgin appeared to her, and by her side, elevated on a luminous cloud, was a child. The most holy Virgin rested her hand on her shoulder, and as she did so, she showed her a heart encircled by thorns, which she was holding in her other hand. At the same time, the Child said:

“Have compassion on the Heart of your most holy Mother, covered with thorns, with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment, and there is no one to make an act of reparation to remove them.”

Then the most holy Virgin said: “Look, my daughter, at my Heart, surrounded with thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You at least try to console me and say that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

The Child Jesus appeared to Sr Lucia again on February 15, 1926, and asked her if she had begun to spread the devotion to his most holy Mother. Sr Lucia told Jesus about the difficulties that some people had with confessing on Saturday, and requested that it might be valid to go to Confession within eight days. Jesus answered:

“Yes, and it could be longer still, provided that, when they receive Me, they are in the state of grace and have intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Sr Lucia also asked about those who forget to make this intention. Jesus replied:

“They can do so at their next Confession, taking advantage of the first opportunity to go to Confession.”

The Child Jesus again appeared to Lucia on the night of 29-30 May 1930; as she was praying before the Blessed Sacrament, she received an interior locution explaining why it was necessary to have a communion of reparation on five Saturdays.

She explained later that she had been given to understand that this related to the five main types of blasphemies and offences committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary that is:

• against the Immaculate Conception;
• against Mary’s Virginity;
• against her Divine Maternity and her spiritual motherhood of mankind;
• for the offences of those who encourage in the hearts of children indifference, contempt and even hatred of her,
• and finally as reparation for those who her her in her holy images.
  

MORE ABOUT THE APPARITION AT TUY

On 13 June 1929 Lucia saw an important apparition involving Mary as she was making a Holy Hour in the convent chapel at Tuy in Spain, as was her custom on Thursday nights from eleven to twelve. She was alone, praying the prayers of the Angel in the dim light of the sanctuary lamp when:

“Suddenly the whole chapel was illumined by a supernatural light, and above the altar appeared a Cross of light, reaching to the ceiling. In a brighter light on the upper part of the Cross, could be seen the face of a man and his body as far as the waist; upon his breast was a dove of light; nailed to the Cross was the body of another man. 

“A little below the waist, I could see a chalice and a large Host suspended in the air, onto which drops of blood were falling from the Face of Jesus Crucified and from the wound in His side. These drops ran down onto the Host and fell into the chalice. 

“Beneath the right arm of the Cross was Our Lady and in her hand was her Immaculate Heart. (It was Our Lady of Fatima, with her Immaculate Heart in her left hand, without sword or roses, but with a crown of thorns and flames). Under the left arm of the Cross, large letters, as if of crystal clear water which ran down upon the altar, formed these words: ‘Grace and Mercy.’ ”

At this point Lucia explained that she understood the apparition was a representation of the Holy Trinity, as she heard Mary speak to her:

“The moment has come in which God asks the Holy Father, in union with all the Bishops in the world, to make the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, promising to save it by this means. There are so many souls whom the Justice of God condemns for sins committed against me, that I have come to ask reparation: sacrifice yourself for this intention and pray.”

Lucia told all this to her confessor who ordered her to write it down, and she also said that later on Jesus had spoken as follows to her:

“They did not wish to heed My request. Like the king of France, they will repent and do it, but it will be late. Russia will have already spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church; the Holy Father will have much to suffer.”

Sources include: Kondor, Fatima in Lucia’s own words I; cf. De Marchi, Fatima from the beginning; Martins & Fox, Documents on Fatima.