In the spring and summer of 1916, nine-year-old Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto were herding sheep at the Cova da Iria near their home village of Aljustrel in the parish of Fátima, Portugal. During this time the children reported that they were visited three times by an Angel who taught them to pray and make sacrifices. Spring the following year, they said that Virgin Mary appeared to them and told them that prayer would lead to the end of the Great War, and that on 13 October that year she would perform a miracle "so that all may believe." 

The children's story was widely reported in the local and national papers and caused a considerable amount of controversy. A huge amount of people descended on the little village of Fatima to verify the children's story and see if they could witness the apparitions for themselves. The children said that the Virgin Mary told them that she would come back to visit them six times on the 13th day of each month and on her last visit she would perform a miracle. On the 13th of October, a huge crowd, including reporters and photographers, gathered at Cova da Iria. What happened then became known as the "Miracle of the Sun". This miracle contributed to Fatima becoming a major centre of pilgrimage. 

Produced by Dan Collins (First Broadcast in 1987)