Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle - Our Ladys Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World

Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle

Our Ladys
Message

to Three Shepherd
Children and the World

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS
Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2017 by Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Coronation Media.

Cover artwork by Ann Kissane Engelhart.

Interior design by Perceptions Design Studio.

Biblical references in this book are taken from the Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1965, 1966 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church , Second Edition, for use in the United States of America, copyright 1994 and 1997, United States Catholic ConferenceLibreria Editrice Vaticana. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Quotes from English translations of papal documents are from the Vatican website (w2.vatican.va) Libreria Editrice Vaticana. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Sophia Institute Press
Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108
1-800-888-9344

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Sophia Institute Press is a registered trademark of Sophia Institute.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: OBoyle, Donna-Marie Cooper, author.

Title: Our Ladys message to three shepherd children and the world /

Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle.

Description: Manchester, New Hampshire : Sophia Institute Press, 2017. |

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017009900 | ISBN 9781622824564 (hardcover : alk. paper) ePub ISBN 9781622824571

Subjects: LCSH: Fatima, Our Lady of Juvenile literature. | Mary, Blessed

Virgin, Saint Apparitions and miracles Portugal Ftima Juvenile

literature.

Classification: LCC BT660.F3 O263 2017 | DDC 232.91/70946945 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009900

With great love to all of my children, Justin, Chaldea, Jessica, Joseph, and Mary-Catherine, and to my grandson, Shepherd James.

And to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Fatima, our Queen of Heaven and Earth, who is the cause of our joy! May she be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven!

Contents

, from Fr. Andrew Apostoli, C.F.R.

Appendices

A.

B.

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Note to Parents, Grandparents, Teachers, and Guardians

FROM FR. ANDREW APOSTOLI, C.F.R.

O ur Ladys Message to Three Shepherd Children and the World is a special gift for the hundredth anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima and beyond. It is a treasure for children and is sure to help them experience Our Ladys message for two reasons. The first is that its author, Donna-Marie Cooper OBoyle, is very dedicated to our Blessed Lady. No one can write with intensity and conviction who doesnt love the one they are writing about. Donna-Marie has a great love of Our Lady and has shown this in many of her previous books, shows, and writings.

The second reason this is a special gift for children and grandchildren is that Donna-Marie is a mother and a grandmother. Her understanding of children shines through in her loving descriptions of the Fatima events and as she encourages children to grow in holiness.

I highly recommend this book for children and grandchildren because it was as a child that I myself first heard about the message of Our Lady of Fatima. I saw one of the first movies about the Fatima events, and it left an impression on me all through my years of growing up. I never forgot it. Remember that little Jacinta, who was probably the most zealous of the visionaries, was only six years old when the Angel of Peace appeared to the children and only seven when Our Lady appeared to them. Surely the message made a profound impact on her. It has been said that if an idea is impressed on the mind and heart of children before the age of seven, they will never forget it. We need to bring our children to Mary at a tender age so that, as with Jacinta, our Blessed Mothers message may have a profound impact on them and guide them throughout their formative years.

CHAPTER ONE

Three Shepherd Children

A long time ago actually, about one hundred years ago at the writing of this book in 1916, in a little hamlet called Aljustrel in Portugal, lived three cousins. Lucia dos Santos was the oldest cousin at nine years old, and her younger cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, a brother and sister, were eight and six years old. Lucia was the youngest of the seven children of Antonio dos Santos and Maria Rosa. Francisco and Jacinta were the two youngest of the nine children of Manuel Pedro Ti Marto and Olimpia de Jesus.

Though this threesome seemed like other peasant farm children of their age, something quite amazing would happen to them in 1916 and again the following year, when even more extraordinary miraculous events would take place in their lives. The supernatural events these three children witnessed would not only affect them profoundly but would also impact the entire world. That might seem too hard to believe. But, before we get into all of that excitement, lets first take a look at who the shepherd children were and what their typical daily lives looked like.

The three cousins were very close and were more like friends than simply family members. They were like you, in some ways, but just one hundred years ago, life was very different. Clothing was different from what you wear today, and electronic televisions, computers, and cell phones had not even been invented! Therefore, these Portuguese children lived much simpler lives than you do.

Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta spent time together at each others homes and would see each other at their parish, St. Anthonys, for Mass. But mostly, it was out in the fields and meadows that they were together when they were grazing their families flocks of sheep. It was customary for the children of farming families to take care of the families sheep. Even at their tender ages, the children were quite capable of herding the sheep out to the rolling pastures to graze during the day and to get them home safely before the sun had set and right on time to eat supper with their family. Can you imagine caring for an entire herd of sheep?

When Lucia grew up, she would later write in her Memoirs about the importance of the flocks and the responsibility of watching over them. She said:

As soon as the children reached the age of seven, they began to take their share in the running of the house by being taught how to look after the flocks. Like the Patriarchs and Kings of old, nearly every family had its little flock of gentle sheep which the children led out to graze in the green fields belonging to the parents. The flock helped considerably towards the maintenance of the family: milk and cheese, lambs to replace sheep that have grown old, or for sale on the market; wool which women of the house used to spin, dye, and then weave, in order to use later, to make warm colored shawls for the winter, or to make mats for the humble bedrooms, or round blue serge skirts with red stripes to adorn the Sunday clothes worn by the girls.

THEIR FAMILIES

Francisco and Jacintas parents, Ti Marto and Olimpia, raised their children in the Catholic Faith, as did Lucias parents, Antonio and Maria Rosa. Their parents read Bible stories to them, taught them the catechism, and brought them to Mass on Sundays and holy days.

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