Servant of God Sister Lucia of Fatima
Born: March 28, 1907
Died: February 13, 2005
Feast: N/A
Patron saint of: N/A
Lucia was the oldest of the three children who the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to in Fatima in 1917. The other two children, her cousins, passed away soon after the apparitions, but Sister Lucia endured, living to the age of 97. Her long and holy life afforded her the ability to write down and reflect upon all that she had seen during the miracle of Fatima and beyond—she experienced visions of both Jesus and Mary throughout her life. She has been described by nearly all she met as deeply kind, intelligent, and humble. As a child, Lucia was educated in a school of the Sisters of St. Dorothy, joining the order after professing her final vows in 1934. Fourteen years later, after receiving papal permission, she entered a Carmelite convent, where she remained until her death in 2005. Sr. Lucia is seen by some as an enigmatic figure; as the only surviving member of the three children, Lucia was the custodian of the “three secrets of Fatima,” including the controversial and much speculated third secret, which was finally released in 2000. While not yet a saint, the cause for Sr. Lucia’s canonization is currently open, and in 2017 she became a “Servant of God.” Much of the conversation around Sr. Lucia centers on that “third secret,” but her intense devotion and spiritual fortitude in the face of adversity are perhaps her most inspiring qualities that we can learn from her today.
Image: Carlos Evaristo via Wikimedia Commons
