An unusual, unprecedented type of apparition

The fourth apparition of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal, on August 13, 1917, is less well known than those of July 13th and October 13th. Yet it deserves to be, for it is completely atypical and unique in the history of apparitions.

First, because of the vast number of witnesses. Already, on July 13th, the number had reached an exceptional figure of about 5,000 people. On the 13th of August, there were 18 to 20,000 people in attendance—an astounding figure. In comparison, the affluence in Lourdes peaked at only about 8,000, on March 4, 1858.

But what sets this apparition apart is that it took place without the seers. This had never happened in the history of recorded apparitions. On that day the young seers were absent, for they were locked up in a jail by the civil authorities! Yet the thousands of people present witnessed all the external signs seen in the previous apparitions: the flash of lightning, accompanied by two formidable claps of thunder, then the apparition of a small cloud on the green oak with a noticeable change in the natural light around.

These external signs seen by thousands of people without the presence of the seers is a unique event, never seen before, and this sets the apparitions of Fatima apart.

Yves de Lassus

Translated from the French. Source: fatima100.fr