The Shrine's own narrative begins a year earlier, with three apparitions of an angel in 1916 at the Loca do Cabeço and at the well by Lúcia's house in Aljustrel, teaching the children prayers of adoration and reparation. On May 13, 1917 the Lady asked them to return on the 13th of each month for six months. The crowds grew from a few dozen in June to 4,000 or 5,000 in July, when the children reported the vision of hell and the request for devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In August the local administrator detained the children, so the fourth apparition came on August 19 at Valinhos; 15,000 to 18,000 came in September, when the Lady promised a sign for October.
The Shrine describes the October 13 event in its own words: after the apparition, in heavy rain, the crowd saw the reflection of the Lady's light projected on the sun. Newspapers of the day, including the anticlerical O Século, reported the phenomenon. The Bishop of Leiria declared the apparitions worthy of belief on October 13, 1930.
Francisco died on April 4, 1919 and Jacinta on February 20, 1920, both of influenza; Pope John Paul II beatified them at Fátima on May 13, 2000 and Pope Francis canonized them there on May 13, 2017. Lúcia became a Carmelite in Coimbra and died on February 13, 2005; her cause is open. Pilgrims can see the Chapel of the Apparitions on the spot of the holm oak, the Valinhos site on the Way of the Cross, and the children's houses in Aljustrel.