Our Life, Our Sweetness
by
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For fifteen minutes they toiled away until the crude wall was about knee high. Francisco, who up until that time had acted as overseer, began to take an active part in the construction. They grappled with the unwieldy stones, lifting them into place and the "house" neared completion. Francisco stepped back and eyed the structure critically. "Don’t block off that side too much or we won’t be able to get in.," he said frowning. The girls nodded in agreement. "Let’s use those flat rocks to make it even all along." He pointed to some slabs of granite lying nearby. The girls questioned none of these decisions assuming boys knew all about such things. They each selected a slab of stone and struggled to hoist them into place. "Not there Lucia," said the boy in exasperation. "Here, let me show you." He took the rock from his cousin and dropped it into place with a professional air. "You must keep them all even along the..." But the instruction was never finished. A crackling flash of brilliance burst around them with such intensity that the sunlight seemed pale in comparison. It came suddenly, without warning, and rooted them to the spot in stunned surprise, the stones still clutched in their hands. Lucia looked at the sky. It was wonderfully blue unspotted by even a single cloud. She looked at her cousins, eyes wide and questioning and they stared back uncomprehending. Lightening from a perfectly clear sky? A brilliant sun rode high undimmed by the cumulus clouds that usually warned of a coming deluge. They looked at the sheep expecting to see them milling around and bleating in fear. But the animals were browsing peacefully, cropping the yellow green pasturage. Still, lightening, if lightening it was, could mean rain. One of those sudden, spring storms might be about to drench the Serra and they looked wildly about for shelter. "Over there," shouted Lucia pointing to a large holm oak growing a short distance from where they stood. Dropping the stones they sprinted for the protection of the broad, sheltering leaves. They expected to hear thunder roll deep and ominous as usually followed a lightening bolt but the sky remained placid; the only sound was the twittering of birds and the wind sighing through the esparto grass. They stood huddled together beneath the tree gazing around in confusion, waiting for the downpour. Seconds passed and Francisco ventured out a step or two looking warily at the sky and then at the sheep. Satisfied at what he saw he turned to the girls and smiled a little uncertainly. "It’s just heat lightening," he said, "but we better start back anyway in case a storm is coming on." Gathering the sheep together they drove them hurriedly toward the road. They scanned the sky for rain clouds but it remained blue and clear. "I hope we have time to.. . ." But again an explosion of brilliance stopped him in mid-sentence.. Jacinta gave a little shriek. Lucia’s jaw dropped down and her dark eyes grew round. Francisco shouted for them to hurry as he urged the flock forward. Heads down they dashed toward the east. The carrasqueira stood to the left of the path they followed, a dwarfish little holm oak about three feet tall with glossy foliage. Lucia glanced sidelong at it as she passed. She skidded to a halt her eyes riveted on the tree. A few feet behind Jacinta and Francisco stumbled in an effort to check their headlong dash and their eyes followed Lucia’s to the carrasqueira. They were not alone in the Cova. Someone else was there, someone who stood gazing at them from the topmost branches of the evergreen.
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About the Book
In May of 1917, while World War I raged in Europe, three illiterate Portuguese children claimed that while they were tending their sheep in a pasture in the hills they were visited by a beautiful, young woman shining like the sun, who stood easily on the top of a dwarf holm oak and who ultimately identified herself as the Virgin Mary. Scoffed at and ridiculed at first, the story spread throughout the hill country and ultimately to the large cities when the children refused to recant or admit to a hoax. From May to October the apparitions continued at the same time and place and with each appearance the crowds of followers grew larger. The children reported receiving secrets they were not permitted to divulge until permission to do so was granted and that the Lady promised a miracle in October to prove that she was truly there. The atheistic government was furious at the thought of a religious revival and the Church, always wary of such claims, refused to get involved. The children were harassed and tormented, but refused to deny what they had seen. Their families were constantly badgered and privacy became almost nonexistent. When the two youngest predicted their own imminent deaths parental anguish became acute. As October approached there was a fear for the lives of the children at the hands of an angry mob if the miracle failed to take place. But they, amid a crowd of seventy thousand people, went forward on the appointed day to greet the final apparition of their Lady. What happened after that is a glowing example of faith, courage, and determination that continues to resonate into our own confused and troubled time.
About the Author
John F. Arnold is an honorably discharged veteran of the United States Army with overseas duty in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of War. He became interested in Fatima during a tour of duty in the Philippine and Mariana Islands and, after his discharge, began to outline the story and research the politics that existed in Portugal at the time. Marriage and family put the project on hold, even more so with the death of John’s wife, Kathy, and the responsibility of growing children. In 1984 Mr. Arnold began a series of trips to Brazil as a sponsor to impoverished children and their families. During his fourteen visits there he discovered that since the Second Vatican Council the people of Brazil, once 95% Catholic, had abandoned the Church in amazing numbers. In looking for an explanation for this, Fatima came to his mind, and he resumed researching the subject. In doing so he realized that while Fatima was a stunning example of unshakable faith, it was also one of incredible courage and strength in the face of devastating human loss and eventual betrayal. Mr. Arnold decided to write a novelized version of the event and its aftermath, while adhering to the integrity of the principals who lived at the time and those who reported the event to the world.