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Product Description
In 1917 the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared in a tiny Portuguese village. Her prophecies of World War II and the rise of communism, her plea for penance, and her promise of the conversion of Russia are among the dramatic moments in this fascinating account of a modern miracle.
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Half a mile south of Fatima, on both sides of a winding road paved with flattish cobblestones and scarcely wide enough for two ox-teams to pass, lies the village of Aljustrel. Read the first page
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Half a mile south of Fatima, on both sides of a winding road paved with flattish cobblestones and scarcely wide enough for two ox-teams to pass, lies the village of Aljustrel. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The story of what happened at Fatima is a fascinating one - I'm sure most of us are aware of the general details.
I was looking for something to tell me a bit more about the phenomenon and this book was recommended on a number of Fatima websites.
This book was written in the late 1940s, and the prose is very definitely of that time. Surprisingly, Walsh was a natural English speaker, as the book reads in the stilted manner of something which has been poorly translated from a foreign language. Perhaps we can put that down to Walsh not being a particularly good writer.
The amount of detail in this book is considerable. However, it is almost all superfluous. Walsh takes a number of chapters to introduce the principal characters to us; three young Portuguese peasant children, and he describes them in such a way that you could lose faith in the story almost immediately. He portrays the children as so sickly sweet, so profoundly and precociously devout, so lacking in the innate charm and playfulness of children, that it is really a chore to stick with this until the "action" starts.
Despite this major flaw, Walsh eventually gets the story over well, once you become accustomed to his style, and the second half of the book was infinitely better, more informative and more enjoyable than the first.
I could not recommend this to anyone looking for an introduction to Fatima. I feel there must be many better written, possibly more modern accounts which would present things much clearer, without taking away from the solemnity and significance of the events at Fatima.
I was looking for something to tell me a bit more about the phenomenon and this book was recommended on a number of Fatima websites.
This book was written in the late 1940s, and the prose is very definitely of that time. Surprisingly, Walsh was a natural English speaker, as the book reads in the stilted manner of something which has been poorly translated from a foreign language. Perhaps we can put that down to Walsh not being a particularly good writer.
The amount of detail in this book is considerable. However, it is almost all superfluous. Walsh takes a number of chapters to introduce the principal characters to us; three young Portuguese peasant children, and he describes them in such a way that you could lose faith in the story almost immediately. He portrays the children as so sickly sweet, so profoundly and precociously devout, so lacking in the innate charm and playfulness of children, that it is really a chore to stick with this until the "action" starts.
Despite this major flaw, Walsh eventually gets the story over well, once you become accustomed to his style, and the second half of the book was infinitely better, more informative and more enjoyable than the first.
I could not recommend this to anyone looking for an introduction to Fatima. I feel there must be many better written, possibly more modern accounts which would present things much clearer, without taking away from the solemnity and significance of the events at Fatima.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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18 reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for Us
21 May 2005
Format:Paperback
Between May and October of 1917 the Blessed Virgin appeared to three children at Cova da Iria near Fatima, Portugal. The oldest of the children, Lucia Abobora was only ten years old at the time but had the wisdom of someone much older and instructed her younger cousins Francisco and Jacinta Martos that they should tell no one of their experience. Young Jacinta however decided to tell about their visitor and this led to much ridicule and persecution for the three young mystics. Our Lady had told them they would suffer greatly and that they should offer up their suffering for all of the sinners of the world. The fact that they were helping to save sinners by their suffering gave these children much comfort in their sufferings and this was especially true of Francisco and Jacinta since Mother Mary had informed them that she would take them to heaven soon. In less than three years both of these children were dead.
The Church was, as is prudent, slow to accept the miracle at Fatima but has now fully accepted what happened there and millions of Catholics have an extra prayer at the end of each decade of the Rosary because of it. Those who refuse to believe in miracles still can't fully explain the actions of the Sun during the Virgin's last visit in October 1917 that was witnessed by over 70,000 people at the site and hundreds of others who were miles away from Cova da Iria. It is especially interesting to note that Socialist newspaper men who were there in order to inform their readers that the whole thing was a hoax had to admit that they had seen the miracle also.
William Walsh first published this book in 1947 after extensive interviews with the surviving child and others that were involved. He also made careful study of Lucia Abobora's journals of the events that she had written well after the fact at the insistence of a Bishop. This careful research and the interviews along with many visits to the sight of the visitation have enabled the author to write what still may be the best book available on the subject. The writing is a little lax grammatically at times but more than makes up for that with style. This is a very easy to read and clear account of the events at Fatima and even someone with no Catholic background at all will be able to follow the story with no problem. Even those who refuse to believe will I think find this book enjoyable and will if nothing else be able to see the life of early twentieth century Portuguese peasants as they lived through the upheavals going on all around them.
Since this story continues to unfold this book does show it's age to some extent For example, the secret the children would not tell to anyone has long since been revealed. Also, since the death of the last child only this past February, the Vatican has sealed her cell (she became a nun) and a team of investigators will be going through her papers to see what else might be revealed. There may indeed be much more of this story to be told and the events of Fatima still cause controversy so this book is over fifty years behind, but for a basic understanding of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima this book is hard to beat. I seriously doubt that a better basic account will ever be written.
The Church was, as is prudent, slow to accept the miracle at Fatima but has now fully accepted what happened there and millions of Catholics have an extra prayer at the end of each decade of the Rosary because of it. Those who refuse to believe in miracles still can't fully explain the actions of the Sun during the Virgin's last visit in October 1917 that was witnessed by over 70,000 people at the site and hundreds of others who were miles away from Cova da Iria. It is especially interesting to note that Socialist newspaper men who were there in order to inform their readers that the whole thing was a hoax had to admit that they had seen the miracle also.
William Walsh first published this book in 1947 after extensive interviews with the surviving child and others that were involved. He also made careful study of Lucia Abobora's journals of the events that she had written well after the fact at the insistence of a Bishop. This careful research and the interviews along with many visits to the sight of the visitation have enabled the author to write what still may be the best book available on the subject. The writing is a little lax grammatically at times but more than makes up for that with style. This is a very easy to read and clear account of the events at Fatima and even someone with no Catholic background at all will be able to follow the story with no problem. Even those who refuse to believe will I think find this book enjoyable and will if nothing else be able to see the life of early twentieth century Portuguese peasants as they lived through the upheavals going on all around them.
Since this story continues to unfold this book does show it's age to some extent For example, the secret the children would not tell to anyone has long since been revealed. Also, since the death of the last child only this past February, the Vatican has sealed her cell (she became a nun) and a team of investigators will be going through her papers to see what else might be revealed. There may indeed be much more of this story to be told and the events of Fatima still cause controversy so this book is over fifty years behind, but for a basic understanding of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima this book is hard to beat. I seriously doubt that a better basic account will ever be written.
30 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Everything you wanted to know about The Lady of Fatima
11 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
After reading and searching for the past 5 years about the information about Fatima this book is by far the best. Everything you ever wanted to know about fatima from the begining to the present is all here.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Best book on Fatima I've read
23 Feb 2001
Format:Paperback
I've read many books on Fatima, and this is the best--hands down. William Thomas Walsh's writing is truly magnificent. Fatima literally comes alive in these pages, with rich descriptions, and a truly exciting prose style.
I must disagree with a previous reviewer that said that the book's age is beginning to show. The apparitions of Fatima occurred in 1917. The fact that the book was written closer to the time-frame of the occurrences there is an asset, not a detriment. And yet the book and it's well regarded message could not be more current. This one is not to be missed.
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