TV interview 1960, Mr. Dominic Reis, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, taken from "Meet the Witnesses", Haffert, 1960:
“Did you hear that a miracle was predicted to take place at Fatima?”
“My father heard about it first. It was in the papers all over the country.”
“How far from Fatima did you live, Dominic?”
“I lived at that time near Porto, over one hundred miles away.”
“Were there very many people interested?”
“Yes. Suppose I explain from the beginning. I was 17 in May when it all began. Then in October, on the 11th, 1917, my father said to my mother, ‘We’re going up to Fatima. We’re going to see what happens.’”
“Had it been announced, Dominic, that there would be a miracle on October 13th so that everyone would believe?”
“That’s right. Lots of people thought it a lie. Lots of people was like... might as well say it... just like the government. The government didn’t believe it either.”
“But lots of people, like my mother and father, were all sensible in religion. And my father said, ‘We’re going up.’ And he decided for my mother and myself just one day before, on the 11th. On the 12th we left at nine o’clock.”
“Were there many people from your area who went to Fatima?”
“Yes. The train was full.”
“How did you feel about all this as a young man of 17? Did you think your parents were right?”
“I felt... I felt something was going to happen.”
“Was the prediction of this miracle announced in Church?”
“The Church said nothing at all... They were against it. If any Priest say anything about Fatima, even maybe something happen to him. Some churches in the area of Fatima were marred, stones thrown, anything to break down the coming of the people.” (Note: The government in Portugal at this time was similar to the Communist government which took over in Russia that same year.)
“Pardon repetition of this, Dominic, but it appears that one of the great facts of this day is that thousands of people, against almost insuperable obstacles, traveled on foot up this great mountain... over stones, opposed by soldiers, and in a cold rain. You had traveled with your family all the previous night and now, about what time did you come to where the miracle was predicted to happen?”
“We left Leiria at six o’clock in the morning. Was then only light rain.”
“Were there many people?”
“Oh, yes! The little fields, the rocks, and everywhere you look... you see people! Some with little things on their heads (food baskets etc.) We were all climbing that mountain just like nothing at all. Even I see people who did not expect to see anything, saying nothing will happen. And other people going all the way from Leiria without saying a word. I meet several people walking in silence, and some people...”
“When did you finally get to the Cova?”
“We get there around noon time. Between half past eleven to around noon time. When we finally get there, there were soldiers...“Everywhere we saw animals, trees, bushes. Very rough. And this National Guard, what we would call “weekend soldiers”...tried to stop us from going down into the Cova.”
“The crowd was too great for the soldiers to hold?”
“The crowd was breaking in one corner. When the soldiers move to protect that corner, another corner is breaking out. First thing you know, everybody got through.”
“Did the soldiers finally give up?”
“What happened, happened because they couldn’t control crowds... I was slightly wounded by one of the bayonets.”
“So finally you got down into the Cova with the crowd, and where did you go?”
“We got close to the tree where the children were. The three children we had heard about were there already...”
“The vision was reported to have appeared to these three children at that spot?”
“That’s right. On the side was a big tree, and little small trees around, and the children were there. And now it was raining harder. There was a good three inches of water where I stood, and mud on the ground.”
“Three inches of water on the ground?”
“Yes, three inches of water on the ground. I was soaking wet. I was... and then round noon time, the sun started breaking... we can see the sun...”
“Now it was raining just like you open a faucet at your house. Rain! And then suddenly the rain stopped. The sun started to roll from one place to another place, and changed blue, yellow, all colors! Then we see the sun come toward the children, toward the tree. Everybody was hollering out. Some start to confess their sins, ‘cause there were no Priests around there.”
“And the people started to confess their sins aloud, before everyone?”
“That’s right. Even my mother grabbed me to her and started to cry, saying, ‘It is the end of the world!’ And we see the sun come right into the trees. And then the little children get up and turn around to the people and told the people, ‘Pray and pray hard because everything is going to be all right.’ And then the children walk to the tree, and talk in the direction of the tree, and we see the children bend down just like bow to somebody, I don’t see what, but something was there because we see the children bend down, then we see the children move the lips to talk to someone.”
“Did you look at the sun without difficulty?”
“Yes, I could look at the sun without pain in the eyes. Everyone around me was making a tremendous noise. Because of all the noise, I was looking at the crowd as the sun was actually falling. Afterwards, I was told that it had turned upon itself and fallen down. But at that moment I saw it on my shoulder.”
“What did you think of all this?”
“The people around me were saying they thought this was the end of the world. They were very much afraid. Many
seemed to think, and were saying, that the revolutionaries were going to throw bombs on the people, as did happen later when there was bombings by the people running the government at that time. Many were standing, but many others were on their knees and were crying and calling on the Blessed Virgin.”
“How far away were you, Dominic, from where the children were?”
“I was, I’d say, between seventy-five and one hundred feet from the children and the tree.”
“Did you get a chance to get close to the children?”
“Yes, when everything was finished. And the sun rolled back again the way it came in ...”
“What did the people do when they saw it roll back into the sky? Did they stop crying out?”
“The people knelt down and prayed real hard. And then Lucia (the eldest of the children) said to pray hard.”
“Lucia said that God was too much offended?”
“That God was too much offended.”
“Here are some photographs, Mr. Reis. Is this the way you remember it?”
“That’s in my time. That’s the way it was there.”
“This next photograph, Dominic, was taken just a few minutes after the other. Everyone had begun to shout... they put their umbrellas down.”
“We put the umbrellas down... Lucia start to talk to the people, one here, one bunch there, and some started to kiss the little kid, and then the wind started to blow real hard...”
“Dominic, we have talked to many witnesses who were there. All speak of ‘the sun,’ but could it have been the sun...or just so much like the sun that they thought it was the sun?”
“Well, for my part, it was the sun. But whether just a light or not, there was something there. I know for sure. The way the trees were coming down, the way the... I don’t believe that the children would go to a tree and start moving lips to a tree. Must have been something there to talk to.”
“You described this great fire, or light, or ‘sun’ as rolling out of the sky. You said that people thought it was the end of the world.”
“It was a real sun like you see in the sky...”
“What about the colors...?”
“There were colors all around the sun. The sun rolled... and it was like the real sun... but the clouds didn’t go with the sun.
There were blue and different colors...”
“Did you think the world was going to be destroyed by fire?”
“Yes. Because... I can tell you one thing. My mother when she squeeze me, and say it’s the end of the world, I see like the sun almost on top of my shoulder.”
“Did all the people think they were going to be crushed by the sun?”
“That’s right.”
“But then, this matter of the rain and water to which so many testify. What happened with the water?”
“As soon as the sun went back in the right place the wind started to blow real hard, but the trees didn’t move at all. The wind was blow, blow and in few minutes the ground was as dry as this floor here.4 Even our clothes had dried. We were walking here and there, and our clothes... we don’t feel at all. The clothes were dry and looked as though they had just come from the laundry. I believed. I thought: Either I’m out of my mind or this was a miracle, a real miracle.”
“Of course, Dominic, you were only one of thousands of witnesses. Newsmen were there who experienced it. And two days later the newspaper, O Século, told how the sun danced. Atheists were converted, and soon the Soviets (this is the term used for them in Portugal at this time) went out of power. But in the 1960’s do you think the world is listening to this message?”
“I believe some, yes. I believe little by little some listen. But still quite a few all over the world don’t listen to it.”
“Did you hear that a miracle was predicted to take place at Fatima?”
“My father heard about it first. It was in the papers all over the country.”
“How far from Fatima did you live, Dominic?”
“I lived at that time near Porto, over one hundred miles away.”
“Were there very many people interested?”
“Yes. Suppose I explain from the beginning. I was 17 in May when it all began. Then in October, on the 11th, 1917, my father said to my mother, ‘We’re going up to Fatima. We’re going to see what happens.’”
“Had it been announced, Dominic, that there would be a miracle on October 13th so that everyone would believe?”
“That’s right. Lots of people thought it a lie. Lots of people was like... might as well say it... just like the government. The government didn’t believe it either.”
“But lots of people, like my mother and father, were all sensible in religion. And my father said, ‘We’re going up.’ And he decided for my mother and myself just one day before, on the 11th. On the 12th we left at nine o’clock.”
“Were there many people from your area who went to Fatima?”
“Yes. The train was full.”
“How did you feel about all this as a young man of 17? Did you think your parents were right?”
“I felt... I felt something was going to happen.”
“Was the prediction of this miracle announced in Church?”
“The Church said nothing at all... They were against it. If any Priest say anything about Fatima, even maybe something happen to him. Some churches in the area of Fatima were marred, stones thrown, anything to break down the coming of the people.” (Note: The government in Portugal at this time was similar to the Communist government which took over in Russia that same year.)
“Pardon repetition of this, Dominic, but it appears that one of the great facts of this day is that thousands of people, against almost insuperable obstacles, traveled on foot up this great mountain... over stones, opposed by soldiers, and in a cold rain. You had traveled with your family all the previous night and now, about what time did you come to where the miracle was predicted to happen?”
“We left Leiria at six o’clock in the morning. Was then only light rain.”
“Were there many people?”
“Oh, yes! The little fields, the rocks, and everywhere you look... you see people! Some with little things on their heads (food baskets etc.) We were all climbing that mountain just like nothing at all. Even I see people who did not expect to see anything, saying nothing will happen. And other people going all the way from Leiria without saying a word. I meet several people walking in silence, and some people...”
“When did you finally get to the Cova?”
“We get there around noon time. Between half past eleven to around noon time. When we finally get there, there were soldiers...“Everywhere we saw animals, trees, bushes. Very rough. And this National Guard, what we would call “weekend soldiers”...tried to stop us from going down into the Cova.”
“The crowd was too great for the soldiers to hold?”
“The crowd was breaking in one corner. When the soldiers move to protect that corner, another corner is breaking out. First thing you know, everybody got through.”
“Did the soldiers finally give up?”
“What happened, happened because they couldn’t control crowds... I was slightly wounded by one of the bayonets.”
“So finally you got down into the Cova with the crowd, and where did you go?”
“We got close to the tree where the children were. The three children we had heard about were there already...”
“The vision was reported to have appeared to these three children at that spot?”
“That’s right. On the side was a big tree, and little small trees around, and the children were there. And now it was raining harder. There was a good three inches of water where I stood, and mud on the ground.”
“Three inches of water on the ground?”
“Yes, three inches of water on the ground. I was soaking wet. I was... and then round noon time, the sun started breaking... we can see the sun...”
“Now it was raining just like you open a faucet at your house. Rain! And then suddenly the rain stopped. The sun started to roll from one place to another place, and changed blue, yellow, all colors! Then we see the sun come toward the children, toward the tree. Everybody was hollering out. Some start to confess their sins, ‘cause there were no Priests around there.”
“And the people started to confess their sins aloud, before everyone?”
“That’s right. Even my mother grabbed me to her and started to cry, saying, ‘It is the end of the world!’ And we see the sun come right into the trees. And then the little children get up and turn around to the people and told the people, ‘Pray and pray hard because everything is going to be all right.’ And then the children walk to the tree, and talk in the direction of the tree, and we see the children bend down just like bow to somebody, I don’t see what, but something was there because we see the children bend down, then we see the children move the lips to talk to someone.”
“Did you look at the sun without difficulty?”
“Yes, I could look at the sun without pain in the eyes. Everyone around me was making a tremendous noise. Because of all the noise, I was looking at the crowd as the sun was actually falling. Afterwards, I was told that it had turned upon itself and fallen down. But at that moment I saw it on my shoulder.”
“What did you think of all this?”
“The people around me were saying they thought this was the end of the world. They were very much afraid. Many
seemed to think, and were saying, that the revolutionaries were going to throw bombs on the people, as did happen later when there was bombings by the people running the government at that time. Many were standing, but many others were on their knees and were crying and calling on the Blessed Virgin.”
“How far away were you, Dominic, from where the children were?”
“I was, I’d say, between seventy-five and one hundred feet from the children and the tree.”
“Did you get a chance to get close to the children?”
“Yes, when everything was finished. And the sun rolled back again the way it came in ...”
“What did the people do when they saw it roll back into the sky? Did they stop crying out?”
“The people knelt down and prayed real hard. And then Lucia (the eldest of the children) said to pray hard.”
“Lucia said that God was too much offended?”
“That God was too much offended.”
“Here are some photographs, Mr. Reis. Is this the way you remember it?”
“That’s in my time. That’s the way it was there.”
“This next photograph, Dominic, was taken just a few minutes after the other. Everyone had begun to shout... they put their umbrellas down.”
“We put the umbrellas down... Lucia start to talk to the people, one here, one bunch there, and some started to kiss the little kid, and then the wind started to blow real hard...”
“Dominic, we have talked to many witnesses who were there. All speak of ‘the sun,’ but could it have been the sun...or just so much like the sun that they thought it was the sun?”
“Well, for my part, it was the sun. But whether just a light or not, there was something there. I know for sure. The way the trees were coming down, the way the... I don’t believe that the children would go to a tree and start moving lips to a tree. Must have been something there to talk to.”
“You described this great fire, or light, or ‘sun’ as rolling out of the sky. You said that people thought it was the end of the world.”
“It was a real sun like you see in the sky...”
“What about the colors...?”
“There were colors all around the sun. The sun rolled... and it was like the real sun... but the clouds didn’t go with the sun.
There were blue and different colors...”
“Did you think the world was going to be destroyed by fire?”
“Yes. Because... I can tell you one thing. My mother when she squeeze me, and say it’s the end of the world, I see like the sun almost on top of my shoulder.”
“Did all the people think they were going to be crushed by the sun?”
“That’s right.”
“But then, this matter of the rain and water to which so many testify. What happened with the water?”
“As soon as the sun went back in the right place the wind started to blow real hard, but the trees didn’t move at all. The wind was blow, blow and in few minutes the ground was as dry as this floor here.4 Even our clothes had dried. We were walking here and there, and our clothes... we don’t feel at all. The clothes were dry and looked as though they had just come from the laundry. I believed. I thought: Either I’m out of my mind or this was a miracle, a real miracle.”
“Of course, Dominic, you were only one of thousands of witnesses. Newsmen were there who experienced it. And two days later the newspaper, O Século, told how the sun danced. Atheists were converted, and soon the Soviets (this is the term used for them in Portugal at this time) went out of power. But in the 1960’s do you think the world is listening to this message?”
“I believe some, yes. I believe little by little some listen. But still quite a few all over the world don’t listen to it.”
