The Fatima Prayer — given to children, for the whole world
The youngest of the prayers of the Rosary is also the simplest. It was given by the Mother of God to three Portuguese children in the summer of 1917, in the middle of the First World War, and it has been prayed by the faithful between the decades of the Rosary ever since.
Where the prayer comes from
On July 13, 1917, in the third of her six apparitions at Cova da Iria in Fátima, the Blessed Virgin appeared to the three shepherd children — Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. After showing them a vision of hell and asking for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, she taught them this prayer:
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.”
She asked the children to pray this prayer at the end of each decade of the Rosary, between the Glory Be and the next Our Father. The custom spread, slowly at first, and then around the world. Today the Fatima Prayer is one of the most widely prayed Catholic prayers of the modern era — though it remains, technically, optional.
The words of the prayer
O my Jesus,
forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell,
lead all souls to Heaven,
especially those most in need of Thy mercy.
What we are saying
O my Jesus — we address Christ directly, with the affection of a child to a friend.
Forgive us our sins — we ask mercy not just for ourselves, but for all who pray with us. The “us” of this prayer is the whole praying Church.
Save us from the fires of hell — we name the danger plainly. The Mother of Fátima did not soften her message to the children. She showed them what was at stake. We pray for what we know we cannot save ourselves from.
Lead all souls to Heaven — the prayer widens. Not only us, but all souls. Our prayer becomes intercession for the world.
Especially those most in need of Thy mercy — the prayer narrows again. The ones we cannot name. The ones who have no one praying for them. We carry them, in this little petition, to Christ.
How the Fatima Prayer is prayed
The Fatima Prayer is most often prayed at the end of each decade of the Rosary, after the Glory Be and before the next Our Father. In a complete five-decade Rosary, that is five times.
It is also prayed by many in private devotion, particularly during difficult times, in remembrance of the Mother’s asking. Pope Saint John Paul II had a particular love for this prayer; he attributed his survival of the 1981 assassination attempt to Our Lady of Fátima, and made the consecration of Russia and the world to her Immaculate Heart on March 25, 1984.
Some prayer guides include the Fatima Prayer in the Rosary; others note that it remains an optional addition, given to the Church by the Mother’s asking but not required.
A small reflection
It is a remarkable thing that the most modern of the Rosary’s prayers was given not to a Pope, not to a Doctor of the Church, but to three children at the edge of a Portuguese village. The Mother chose the small, the unschooled, the easily overlooked. She asked them to teach the world a prayer. They did. We pray it still.
Journey with Mary: A Path to Jesus 