- Angel apparition site
Loca do Cabeço
The rocky outcrop on the slope of the Cabeço, above Aljustrel, which the memoirs of Sister Lúcia place as the first and third apparitions of the Angel of Peace in 1916, the year before the apparitions of Our Lady.
- Location
- Fatima
- Europe
- Shrine type
- Angel apparition site
- Visionary
- St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto
- with Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
- Time needed
- 30 to 45 minutes
- A short climb from Aljustrel
Where the angel came first.
A year before the apparitions of Our Lady at the Cova da Iria, the three children reported three visits from an angel who called himself the Angel of Peace, or the Angel of Portugal. According to the memoirs Sister Lúcia wrote years later, the first and third of these visits took place here at the Loca do Cabeço, and the third was Eucharistic, the angel giving the children holy communion. Pilgrims climb to the rocky outcrop to pray the prayers the angel is remembered to have taught.
What happened here.
The year before Our Lady.
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A distinction
Angel, then Our Lady
The apparitions of the angel belong to 1916 and are known from the memoirs Sister Lúcia wrote in the 1930s and later. They are received within the approved Fátima account and are distinct from the apparitions of Our Lady in 1917 that the Church declared worthy of belief in 1930.
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Spring 1916
The first apparition
While the children shelter from the weather at the Loca do Cabeço, they report that an angel appears and teaches them a prayer of adoration and reparation.
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Summer 1916
The second, at the well
The second apparition, according to the memoirs, takes place not here but at the well behind Lúcia's house in Aljustrel, where the angel calls the children to prayer and sacrifice.
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Autumn 1916
The Eucharistic apparition
The children return to the Cabeço, where they report that the angel gives them holy communion and again teaches them to pray in reparation. This is the third and last of the angel apparitions.
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1917
Then Our Lady
The following year, from May to October 1917, the children report the apparitions of Our Lady at the Cova da Iria.
A climb to the Cabeço.
A common way pilgrims pray at the outcrop. The Loca is reached by a short but uneven climb on unpaved ground above Aljustrel and is not step-free; wear sturdy shoes and allow for the hillside path.
- 01 The prayers of the angel Pray the prayers of adoration and reparation the memoirs record the angel teaching here.
- 02 A time of silence at the rocks The Loca is quiet and set apart. Keep some of the visit in silence.
- 03 An act of reparation Offer a prayer in reparation, the angel's own theme.
- 04 The walk from Aljustrel Climb in from the homes, joining the Cabeço to Valinhos on the country paths.
What to notice, without rushing.
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01
The rocky outcrop, the Loca
The natural shelter in the rocks where the children sheltered and where the first and third angel apparitions are placed.
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02
The sculpture of the angel and the children
A group by Maria Amélia Carvalheira da Silva, with a wrought-iron grille by Domingos Soares Branco, marks the site.
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03
The prayers of the angel
The prayers of adoration and reparation recorded in the memoirs of Sister Lúcia, still prayed here by pilgrims.
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04
The climb through the olive ground
The Cabeço rises above Aljustrel. The short climb and the quiet are part of the visit.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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30 to 45 minutes The Cabeço and the angel's prayersPilgrims climbing in from AljustrelThis plan saves
- The rocky outcrop
- The sculpture group
- The prayers of the angel
3 stops -
Half day on foot The three country sites of FátimaPilgrims walking the homes and the hillside sitesThis plan saves
- Aljustrel and the homes
- The well of the Arneiro
- Loca do Cabeço
- Valinhos
4 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Shepherd child
St. Francisco Marto
1908–1919Born in Aljustrel, nine years old at the time of the 1917 apparitions. He offered his sufferings for sinners and died in the Marto family house in 1919. He was canonized in 2017.
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Shepherd child
St. Jacinta Marto
1910–1920The youngest of the three, born in Aljustrel. She offered a long illness for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father, and died in Lisbon in 1920. She was canonized in 2017.
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The eldest visionary
Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
1907–2005The eldest of the three children, born in Aljustrel. She later became a Carmelite at Coimbra and recorded the Fátima account in her memoirs. Her cause is open and she has been declared Venerable. She is not canonized.
The angel's ground above Aljustrel
The Loca do Cabeço lies on the slope above Aljustrel, a short climb from the homes and a short walk from Valinhos. The three 1916 angel apparitions are divided between this outcrop and the well in the village below.
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First and third angel apparitions Loca do Cabeço The rocky outcrop of 1916.
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Second angel apparition The well of the Arneiro Behind Lúcia's house in Aljustrel.
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The homes Aljustrel The village below the Cabeço.
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August 1917 apparition Valinhos The Marian apparition of 19 August 1917.
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The 1917 apparitions The Cova da Iria The sanctuary, where Our Lady appeared in 1917.
Official shrine · fatima.pt
How we treat the devotion.
Catholics are not required to believe private revelations as part of the deposit of faith, even when devotion is permitted or encouraged.
Loca do Cabeço is the site the memoirs of Sister Lúcia name for the first and third apparitions of the Angel of Peace in 1916. These angel apparitions are received within the approved Fátima account and rest on the later testimony of Sister Lúcia. They are distinct from, and a year earlier than, the apparitions of Our Lady in 1917, which the Bishop of Leiria declared worthy of belief in 1930.
Where a pilgrimage goes next.
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Aljustrel · Homes of the Shepherd Children
The preserved homes and the well of the second angel apparition
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Valinhos
The site of the Marian apparition of 19 August 1917
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Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The tombs of Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and of Sister Lúcia
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Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
The enclosed sanctuary at the Cova da Iria
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Catholic Fátima
The city hub for Fátima