As the witnesses saw or heard these first signs in June, what did the children experience? It soon became apparent that all three children could see the Lady, but Francisco could not hear her. Lucia, the eldest cousin, was the only one who spoke to the heavenly visitor. Once more, we rely on Lucia’s written testimony:
“As soon as Jacinta, Francisco and I had finished praying the Rosary, with a number of other people who were present, we saw once more the flash reflecting the light which was approaching (which we called lightning). The next moment, Our Lady was there on the holmoak, exactly the same as in May.”
However, in June, there was one slight difference which the child Lucia would not reveal until she was a nun and writing the memoirs. In the June 1917 apparition alone, the Lady showed the children her Immaculate Heart, encircled and pierced by thorns but displaying no swords through the Heart, as in usual artistic renditions of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. When one considers this difference, it also makes sense, for the swords represent the Virgin’s sorrows as the Mother of Christ, especially during His Passion and Crucifixion. The thorns, however, represent the sins of mankind. The children interiorly felt that they should not reveal this “secret,” which they would in July learn is the true center of the Fatima message.
‘What do you want of me?’ I asked.
‘I wish you to come here on the 13th of next month, to pray the Rosary every day, and to learn to read. Later, I will tell you what I want.’
I asked for the cure of a sick person.
‘lf he is converted, he will be cured during the year.’
‘I would like to ask you to take us to Heaven.’
‘Yes. I will take Jacinta and Francisco soon. But you are to stay here some time longer. Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart. l promise salvation to those who embrace it, and those souls will be loved by God like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne.’
‘Am I to stay here alone?’ I asked, sadly.
‘No, my daughter. Are you suffering a great deal? Don't lose heart. I will never forsake you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge, and the path that will lead you to God.’
“As Our Lady spoke these last words, she opened her hands and for the second time, she communicated to us the rays of that same immense light. We saw ourselves in this light, as it were, immersed in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in that part of the light which rose towards Heaven, and I in that which was poured out on the earth. In front of the palm of Our Lady's right hand was a heart encircled by thorns which pierced it. We understood that this was the Immaculate Heart of Mary, outraged by the sins of humanity, and seeking reparation.”
Of the light, Lucia would later reveal, “I think that, on that day, the main purpose of this light was to infuse within us a special knowledge and love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary…From that day onwards, our hearts were filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
“You know now, Your Excellency” [she wrote in a memoir to her bishop] “what we referred to when we said that Our Lady had revealed a secret to us in June. At the time, Our Lady did not tell us to keep it secret, but we felt moved to do so by God.” The secret of June 1917 was the Immaculate Heart of Mary which, the children immediately grasped, was “outraged by the sins of humanity, and seeking reparation.” This manifestation in June, the month in which the Church honors the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also shows that it is God’s will to make the Virgin Mary better known and loved, honoring her Heart beside the adoration of His own.