𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

For many centuries in the Roman Catholic Church, the reception of Holy Communion was only permitted to children who were 12 years old and older. This was changed in 1910 when Pope St. Pius X lowered the requirement to the “age of reason,” typically around 6 or 7.

However, local parishes were slow to implement the change and in Fatima, visionaries Francisco and Jacinta had not yet received their First Communion by the time of the first apparition in 1916, even though they were already 8 and 6 years old.

Without access to the Holy Eucharist, the three little shepherd children were visited by an angel in 1916, a vision that preceded their encounters with the Virgin Mary the following year.

According to an account written by Lucia, they looked up and saw, “shining over us a strange light. We lifted our heads to see what was happening. the Angel was holding in his left hand a chalice and over it, in the air, was a host from which drops of blood fell into the chalice.” The angel then taught the children a prayer to be recited.

𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘚𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴.

Then Lucia records, “After that he rose, took again in his hand the chalice and the host. The host he gave to me and the contents of the chalice he gave to Jacinta and Francisco, saying at the same time, ‘Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ terribly outraged by the ingratitude of men. Offer reparation for their sakes and console God.’”

This episode would mark the first time Francisco and Jacinta received the Eucharist, albeit in a miraculous way. Francisco would later receive his “technical” First Communion shortly before he died. In a certain sense, it was a miraculous “spiritual communion” that bridged the gap between Heaven and earth.

The miracle reminds us that God cannot be limited in his generosity and how he can be present in our midst, even in the most difficult circumstances. Similar to how the resurrected Jesus appeared to his apostles when they locked themselves in a room, Jesus came to these children even though they did not have access to the sacraments.

May we never forget that God is present among us and will visit us if we open the door to him.

Source: Fear Not