The Third Secret of Fatima reveals a vision of persecution, suffering, and martyrdom—yet also of profound hope. Bishop Athanasius Schneider reflects on this mystery as a call to unite our own trials with Christ’s Passion. From the blood of the martyrs, he reminds us, springs new life and renewal for the Church.
The Third Secret
The third secret was revealed by the Blessed Virgin Mary to the children at the Cova in Fatima on July 13, 1917. It was to be kept in the greatest confidence. When Sister Lucia was with the Dorothean Sisters in Tuy, Spain, she fell ill in mid-1943. Because it was feared that she might die before the third secret was revealed by her, the bishop of Leiria requested that she write down the remainder of the secret (or third secret) told to the children in 1917. Obediently, Sister Lucia wrote it down on a single sheet of paper. She placed it in an envelope and sealed it.
This is the text of Sister Lucia, which was made public on May 13, 2000, at the beatification Mass of Francisco and Jacinta Marto in Fatima:
J.M.J.
The third part of the secret revealed at the Cova da Iria-Fatima, on 13 July 1917.
I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine.
After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the angel cried out in a loud voice: “Penance, Penance, Penance!” And we saw in an immense light that is God: “something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it,” a Bishop dressed in White: “we had the impression that it was the Holy Father.” Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God. (Tuy-3-1-1944)
Sister Lucia also confirmed this published text. She met with Bishop Seraphim de Sousa of Leiria at her Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, on April 27, 2000. Two envelopes were presented to her by the bishop. The first envelope was the outer envelope containing the second envelope, which held the third secret. Sister Lucia touched the letter and stated, “This is my letter.” She then read it and said, “This is my writing.” She was asked if it was the only third secret. She said, “Yes, this is the third secret, and I never wrote another.”
The Great Martyrdom
The third part of the secret of Fatima describes a great martyrdom that will include the martyrdom of the pope as well as of many other bishops, priests, religious, and laypersons. This great martyrdom is seen in the future. From the “Theological Commentary on the Message of Fatima” of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, we read,
In the vision we can recognize the last century as a century of martyrs, a century of suffering and persecution for the Church, a century of World Wars and the many local wars which filled the last fifty years and have inflicted unprecedented forms of cruelty. In the “mirror” of this vision we see passing before us the witnesses of the faith decade by decade. Here it would be appropriate to mention a phrase from the letter which Sister Lucia wrote to the Holy Father on 12 May 1982: “The third part of the ‘secret’ refers to Our Lady’s words: ‘If not, [Russia] will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.’”
Yet, one must see the dramatic scenes of persecution and martyrdom in the supernatural view of Christian faith and hope. The “Theological Commentary on the Message of Fatima” emphasizes the value of martyrdom for the spiritual renewal of the life of the Church:
It is a consoling vision, which seeks to open a history of blood and tears to the healing power of God. Beneath the arms of the cross angels gather up the blood of the martyrs, and with it they give life to the souls making their way to God. Here, the blood of Christ and the blood of the martyrs are considered as one: the blood of the martyrs runs down from the arms of the cross. The martyrs die in communion with the Passion of Christ, and their death becomes one with his. For the sake of the body of Christ, they complete what is still lacking in his afflictions (see Col. 1:24). Their life has itself become a Eucharist, part of the mystery of the grain of wheat which in dying yields abundant fruit. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians, said Tertullian. As from Christ’s death, from his wounded side, the Church was born, so the death of the witnesses is fruitful for the future life of the Church. Therefore, the vision of the third part of the “secret,” so distressing at first, concludes with an image of hope: no suffering is in vain, and it is a suffering Church, a Church of martyrs, which becomes a sign-post for man in his search for God. The loving arms of God welcome not only those who suffer like Lazarus, who found great solace there and mysteriously represents Christ, who wished to become for us the poor Lazarus. There is something more: from the suffering of the witnesses there comes a purifying and renewing power, because their suffering is the actualization of the suffering of Christ himself and a communication in the here and now of its saving effect. (Issued as part of the document The Message of Fatima by the Congregation in May 2000)
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This article is taken from a chapter in No Greater Love by Bishop Athanasius Schneider which is available from TAN Books.
