A light breeze blew through the olive grove as the four young girls kneeled down in their simple clothes and quietly began to recite the rosary, their soft voices mixing with the gentle rustle of leaves as they each passed the beads between their hands. It was early summer in nineteen fifteen, and the girls, aged between eight and ten, all hailed from the nearby hamlet of Algiu Strell in
the parish of Fatima in western Portugal. Having been shepherding sheep all morning, they'd come to the grove, a favorite spot of theirs, located in the pastures of a hill known locally as the Cabazo, to rest in the shade and eat their lunch. From there, they had a charming view of the valley all the way down to Algustrell, which was comprised of little more than a small cluster of whitewashed houses dotted around a single rocky track clinging
to the side of a distant hill. As the girls continued to recite the rosary, eight year old Lucia gazed out absent mindedly toward the village when she seemed suddenly distracted by something. What is it, the others asked, having stopped their prayers. What's that, said Lucia, pointing to a small copse of trees a little further down the hill. The others looked over to it and saw what Lucia was referring to. It looked like a small cloud, as white as pure snow, which was twisting and curling in
an unusual way. The girls watched on in stunned silence as the cloud continued to shift and turn, until it began to take the shape of what they took to be the body of a woman. A few moments later, and the cloud simply disappeared. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McClane smith. Lucia Dos Santos lived with her mother Maria Rosa and father Antonio in the last house on the left, at the bottom of the rocky lane
that ran through their village. Much adored by all in the local community, Lucia was often to be found dancing and singing about the place and encouraging others to join in with her. She was talkative too, but in the months following the strange event out on the pasture, she and her friends decided to keep whatever it was they
had seen a secret. By nineteen sixteen, at only nine years old, she was considered responsible enough to command her family's flock of sheep, a responsibility she took on gladly, despite the wincingly early starts. Best of all, however, were the days when her much loved cousins, six year old Jacinta and eight year old Francisco Marto, were able to
join her. On those mornings, the cousins would congregate at Lucilla's home, often before the sun had even risen, to begin their journey, leading the sheep to the Cabaso or any one of the nearby pastures in Thatchama. From there, they would then return home, usually some time in the
early afternoon. The children had done this together for the best part of a year, with nothing unusual appearing to have taken place when one day in May nineteen seventeen, Jacinta and Francisco's parents, Olympia and Manuel Marto, who'd been out purchasing a pig in Battalia ten miles away, returned home to find the then seven year old Jacinta rushing out to greet them. What is it, asked Olympia at
the look of excitement on her daughter's face. Jacinta, who'd been waiting all afternoon for her parents to return, couldn't get the words out fast enough. They'd seen the Virgin Mary, she said out in the pastures. Olympia laughed and rolled her eyes at Manuel as they grappled with their new perchase and dashered it into its pen. But it's true, insisted Jacinta, with a look of such certitude it made Olympia a little uncomfortable as she attempted to brush it
off again. Jacinta would not be deterred. Later that night, she told her family everything. It all started a year ago, back in the spring of nineteen sixteen. The children had just arrived with the sheep at the Cabaso on a perfectly calm day when a sudden rainstorm blew into the valley. After running up the hill to find shelter under a big rock, the rain quickly stopped, only for a sudden
gust of wind to blow unexpectedly through the pasture. Then in the distance, a strange light began to shine out over a small cluster of trees, as though the sun were being refracted through crystal, which eventually coalesced into the shape of a boy no more than fourteen years old.
Dressed all in white. The boy approached them and to them he was the Angel of Portugal, guardian of their country, telling them also that they should bear and accept the sufferings they were due to receive, and that they should pray for an end to the great war that was ravaging Europe at the time, before vanishing. As Jacinta continued to explain, the angel returned a number of times over the next few months while they were out in the fields.
One day in October, after another bright light had suddenly shone out above the trees, the boy appeared again, this time holding a golden chalice in his left hand, while above it a host floated in the air, from which drops of blood steadily fell into the cup. Leaving the chalice hovering in the air. The angel knelt down and told them all to pray with him so that all
sinners could be said. Then, taking the blood filled cup, he handed it to Jacinta and told her and Francisco to drink from it, saying that it was the blood of Christ. He then took the host from the air as it continued to drip with blood and gave it to Lucia to eat, telling her it was the body of Christ, and then once again he vanished. Is this true, Olympia said, turning to her son Francisco, who joined his
parents to listen to his sister's story. He nodded that it was, explaining that although he couldn't see the angel, like Jacinta and Lucia said they could, he could hear him, he said. Olympia looked to Manuel, who could only shrug blankly in response. Then Jacinta continued her peculiar story. Despite the apparent Angel of Portugal's visitations ending in October, the children continued to pray for peace and for sinners, just as he lasked, and hoped that he might one day return.
On May thirteenth, nineteen seventeen, about a year after the Angel of Portugal's first alleged appearance, Lucia decided they should take the sheep to covert the aria for the day, a stretch of pasture dotted with home oaks and wild flowers about a mile and a half north of Algiu Strell. That morning, the children had seen nothing untoward when they broke for lunch, and afterwards conducted their usual reciting of the Rosary. No sooner had they begun, however, when a
burst of lightning flashed across the sky. Fearing an imminent rainstorm, they rounded up the sheep and hurried down the hill. When another bolt of lightning flashed in the sky above, stop, shouted Lucia. Look. She was pointing to a small oak sapling barely higher than a bush, above which a woman dressed in a white, golden trimmed robe, holding a crucifix and rosary beads in her hands, appeared to be hovering.
The woman told them that she was from heaven and that she wouldn't hurt them, and the children immediately fell to their knees. Then, just like the Angel of Portugal, the woman who just sint A claimed, eventually revealed herself to be marry The virgin mother implored the children to continue to say the Rosary every day and to pray
for peace. Lucia then apparently proceeded to engage in a conversation with her, asking whether friends of hers were in heaven too, to which the woman replied that although some were, others were trapped in purgatory. After a short time, Mary then opened her hands, bathing them all in a bright light that shone right out of them, then ascended into
the sky and disappeared from sight. It was a strange tale, to say the least, and though Jacinta's father Manuel was not so quick to dismiss it, her mother Olympia, had little doubt it was nothing but her children's imaginations running wild. Lucia's mother, Maria Rosa, who got wind of it the
following morning, however, was not so charitable. Having heard about it from a neighbor, the deeply religious Maria Rosa, unavowed Catholic, fronted her then ten year old daughter, immediately demanding that she confessed to making it all up, and accusing her of committing the cardinal sin of lying not to mention sacrilege. To her horror, Lucia refused, But it's all true, she said to her mother, with an eerie calmness, every word
of it. Later that day, with word having quickly spread through the village about what Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco had apparently seen, the three young children were roundly mocked and jeered as they made their way back out to the pastures, with the sheep. When Lucia returned home in the afternoon, her mother, Maria Rosa, tried once more to get her to admit it was all a lie, and demanded that she visit every house in the village to confess to
all her neighbors too. She even threatened to lock her up in a dark room if she didn't comply, but Lucia continued to refuse, maintaining that it was all true.
In fact, she said her mother could see it for herself, since Mary had told them she would return to the coved Aria on the thirteenth of every month for the next six months, and so as June thirteenth approached, with reports of the children's incredible sighting having by then spread throughout the entirety of the district of Fatima, the children's parents braced themselves for whatever might happen next. Thankfully, since June thirteenth was also the lively feast day of Saint
Anthony of Lisbon. For the parents, there was at least the possibility that their children might be too distract to make the trip to cover Dairia that day, but the children had other ideas. Having taken the sheep to Elgnos, in the morning a small pasture just outside their village. As a distraction tactic. The children reconvened in Fatchama later that morning, where they were joined by fourteen other children friends of Lucia's, who also wanted to see the Virgin Mary.
Out at Coverdiria, a small number of villagers and other locals had begun to gather. Some were true believers, while others were merely curious to see what the strange story was all about. When shortly before eleven am they saw the procession of children heading up the hill toward them. At the front was the stony faced Lucia, flanked by the equally solemn Jacinta and Francisco, while behind them were Lucier's fourteen friends, as well as a handful of grown
ups they picked up along the way. The procession continued right up to the tree over which the Virgin Mary had apparently appeared, and then came to a stop. As Lucia gestured for the others to find a seat Higher up the hill, she, Jacinta, and Francisco headed into the shade of another tree near by, and then sat down underneath it. As the crowd waited expectantly. A young woman from Bolaires began to read aloud from a book of prayer, when suddenly there was a slight dimming of the sun's light,
followed by a sudden brightening. Stop, said Lucier, cutting off the woman from Beolairs. There'll be no time to finish. Don't you see the lightning, she said, turning to Jascinta. Our lady is coming. At Lucia's insistence, the three children got up and ran to the blessed oak tree as everyone else quickly crowded in behind them and dropped to their knees. Then Lucia raised her hands in prayer and
began speaking out loud, as if conversing with someone. The crowd listened intently as Lucia did her best to describe what was going on. Our lady had returned, she said, and once again asked that they all continue to recite the Rosary every day and pray for peace. Lucia asked once more about friends that had died and whether they were in heaven, to which Mary replied that they were. Then the young girl asked brightly if Mary would take
her and her cousins to heaven. There was a short pause as Lucia appeared suddenly concerned by whatever it was she was hearing. Yes, we will go to heaven, she said to her cousins. For me, it will be some time yet, But for you, she says, it will be very soon. The seven year old Jacinta and nine year old Francisco nodded humbly in acceptance. Lucier then claimed to see a bright light appear from out at the palms of Mary's hands, inside which she then saw a large
human heart pierced with thorns. The crowd gasped in wonder at the description of the immaculate heart, and with that Lucier stood up suddenly and stretched out her arms. Look there she goes, she cried, to a space above the small oak tree. People in the crowd that day claimed in that moment to see a small cloud just above the tree, which then rose up, slowly heading eastwards, before
swiftly disappearing into the sky. And when they looked back to the top of the tree, they saw the branches there had somehow been flattened and bent eastward at the tips, as though someone had just been standing on top of it. When news reached Lucia's mother, Rosa Maria about what had happened. She was gripped with fear. Terrified that her daughter was committing blasphemy, she consulted her local pastor, father Manuel for Era,
for advice on what to do for Rosa. Maria for Era's word was as good as the word of God themselves, and what he had to tell her only terrified her even more. According to Ferrara, there was simply no way that the stories were true, meaning Lucia was absolutely committing blasphemy.
But worse than that, the pastor had good reason to believe that the devil might be behind it all, trying to take advantage of her daughter, using her to undermine the dignity of the Catholic Church and all who follow it, and so on. Ferrara's advice, Maria Rosa took the three children to his house so he could try and wring the truth from them. For the best part of an hour, the increasingly angry and impatient Ferera screamed at the children to cease all mention of the sightings and renounce them
as a lie. The interrogation was said to be so harrowing that Lucia contemplated confessing. At one point just to get the pastor to stop, but in the end she refused.
In the wake of the second apparent visitation and the children's stoicism in front of father for Erra, their fame only intensified, and before long most of Portugal had heard the rumors of the three children from Fatima and the alleged appearances of the Virgin Mary, so much so that come July thirteenth, the children arrived at Coverta area to
find a crowd of hundreds waiting for them. Among them was Jacinta and Francisco's father, Manuel, keen to see it all for himself, but even he was forced by the size of the crowd to watch from afar, looking on helplessly as it continued to swell in size, while two strangers took it on themselves to form a barrier around
his childre to protect them from the throng. It was some time again around eleven am when a sudden bright light was said to have flashed in the sky, and Lucia turned to the crowd of onlookers and yelled, our lady is coming, after which Lucia proceeded to communicate with the apparent Mary, while Jacinta and Francisco stood silently by
her side as she spoke. Some claimed to see a small gray cloud resting on top of the oak tree, while others heard a strange humming noise, like the buzzing of a loud mosquito, emanating from the general direction of the children. On that third apparent visitation. Mary's message, at first, according to Lucia, was very much the same as previous visitations, with her requests that everyone continued to say the Rosary
and pray for sinners. But as the crowd grew a little restless, demanding proof that the Virgin Mary was truly among them, Lucia asked out loud if she might be able to show herself. After a short pause, Lucier explained to the onlookers that she could not at that point in time. However, she promised to perform a miracle in October that would silence all the doubters. Then some in the crowd began shouting out to Lucia, begging her to
ask Mary to heal loved ones. Lucier replied that Mary had heard their cries and would help some, but not all of them. This continued for a good few minutes until Lucia suddenly went quiet, saying that Mary wanted to show her something, With the out quickly falling silent in response, all watched on as the ten year old Lucier's face suddenly drained of color and a look of deep terror came over her, causing the crowd to gasp loudly in unison.
Moments later, with Lucia seemingly recovered from whatever she'd seen, she then stood silently herself deep in concentration, nodding along as if receiving some kind of instruction. Then a clap of thunder rumbled through the valley and shook the ground, and Lucia turned to the crowd. There she goes, she said,
pointing up to the sky. Within seconds, one after another disgruntled voice rose up, demanding to know what Lucia had seen that was so terrifying and what exactly the virgin Mary had told her, But Lucia refused to answer, claiming
that Mary wanted her to keep it a secret. But the voices would not be silenced as they continued harassing the young girl, shouting at her to reveal awe while others simply called her a Charlatan, Jacinta and Francisco's father, Manuel could only watch in horror as the crowd then surged forward toward his children, surrounding and threatening them, until eventually enough people were able to calm things down and
the crowd finally dispersed. Over the next few weeks, talk of the mysterious secret that Lucia had apparently been given was all the people of al Giustrell could talk about. Some were elevated by the prospect that their village had been blessed by the Virgin Mary's arrival. Others, however, couldn't
help but feel a little uneasy about it all. Maria Rosa especially continued to fear for her daughter's reputation in the eyes of the Lord and demanded once again that she put an end to the foolish charade, and once again Lucia refused. Large crowds of people from all over the country began turning up at the children's homes, demanding to know what secret knowledge had been passed to them, with Jacinta and Francisco by then also claiming to be
in possession of it. But the children said nothing other than to ask everyone to continue to pray for peace and an end to the war. And as the fascination in them continued to grow throughout Portugal, it wasn't only their parents who were beginning to feel the strain. It was sometime in August nineteen seventeen that news of the bazaar goings on in Fatima reached Artur de Santos, the mayor of n'av Geragne, which contained the district of Fatima, whose job it was to essentially keep the peace in
the area. As a staunch republican and atheist, De Santos had been installed as mayor in October nineteen fifteen as one of the new wave of young politicians hoping to build a new kind of Portugal in the wake of the nineteen ten Revolution which had overthrown the Portuguese monarchy.
Keen to quash the religious hysteria that was building around the children, he sent a summons to their houses, ordering their parents to bring the children to the Oragne town hall on August eleventh, two days before the supposed Virgin Mary was due to appear again. On the morning of August eleventh, Manuel Marto, who elected not to bring his children, accompanied Lucia and her father Antonio on the long trek to the town hall. Which was located almost two hours
walk from their village. Once there, they were directed to to Santos's office, who, like others before him, then demanded that Lucia come clean about her and her cousin's outlandish claims, even insinuating that he could have her killed if she failed to do as he requested. But again she refused to do it, insisting that it was all true and exasperated to Santos then turned to her father and Manuel and asked them what others in the village thought about
it all. Antonio replied that most, including himself, didn't believe any of it, but Manuel wasn't so sure. He'd seen the children at coverd Aria back in July, and still haunted by that look he'd seen on Lucier's face, he couldn't deny the sincerity of it. Furthermore, he just couldn't believe that his children would make such a thing up.
Either way, it was clear to De Santos that he needed another plan if he was to put an end to it all, and so it was that on the morning of August thirteenth, while Manuel was at work, he was suddenly summoned back to his home, where he arrived an hour or so later to find the mayor waiting for him in his living room. Desantos explained that he'd simply come to accompany Manuel's children to covert Aria to
see the miracle for himself. Though a little wary of the mayor, Manuel agreed to let his children ride alongside him in his horse and carriage while he Lucier and her father, Antonio agreed to follow in an another carriage behind them. Before setting off, however, the mayor suggested they
visit Father Ferreira's parsonage first. After arriving at the steps of Father Ferrera's home, Lucia was ordered out of her carriage and told to go into the house, while Antonio and Manuel were told to wait for her on the pavement. When all of a sudden, the children were all whisked away in the Mayor's carriage. I'm shore as to what was happening. Manuel and Antonio gave chase, hoping that the mayor was merely taking their children straight to Covid d Eiria.
The pair could only watch in horror. However, when the mayor's carriage approached the turn for Covid Eiria, only for his driver to suddenly flick hard on the reins before taking the carriage in the opposite direction toward a rain. Inside the carriage, the children screamed, terrified that they were
being taken to be executed. An hour or so later, they arrived at the mayor's house and were promptly thrown into a room and told to stay there until the mayor's wife arrived and took pity on them, bringing them
toys and something to eat. The following day, however, when the children refused yet again to recount their story or reveal the secret they had apparently been told, they were thrown straight into the public jail and told that if they continued to withhold the truth, they would each one by one be thrown into a pot of boiling oil
until one of them confessed. Later that morning, the three young children sat quietly side by side alongside the prisons regular adult population, many of whom told them just to tell the mayor what he wanted to hear so they could leave, but the children would not. At some point in the afternoon, the cell door was opened and a stern looking man marched straight in and grabbed Jacinta, pulling her out as Lucia, and Francisco cried after her helplessly.
Thirty minutes later, the man returned for Francisco, and a short time after that the door opened again. Right then, Lucia said the man your turn for the oil. You've been listening to Part one of Unexplained, Season six, episode twenty, Children of the Pastures. Part two will be released next week, Friday, August twelfth. If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add three episodes, just go to
patron dot com forward slash Unexplained pod to sign up. Unexplained, the book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith.
Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like to share, You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast three