Sr Lucy had Dentures and an Electric Olivetti

Page 354 from
"A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary"

The book "A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary" has several pictures of Sr Lucy that I had never seen before in any other books. With the imprimatur of the bishop of Coimbra, this biography of Sister Lucia was written in Portuguese in 2013 by the Carmel of St Teresa in Coimbra, Portugal. The book's photographs come from the Archives of the Carmelo of Coimbra and also the Shrine of Fatima. I assume the pictures we normally see are from the Shrine and the more rare photos from the Convent's archives.

"Written by the Sisters of Carmel of Coimbra, it reflects their personal knowledge of her daily life and writings, and provides testimonies that mirror the depth of her soul." The English version was translated by James Colson in 2015 with the book being then published by the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA. The nihil obstat and imprimatur for the English edition are pending.

Issue # 1: DENTURES  On pages 299-300 it says: During an exhibition held over several days at the College of Sardao, there was a lot of activity, therefore, more work. Typically when visitors came to stay and needed a room, some of the sisters would give up their rooms for those who came from the outside. It so happened that Sr Dores (Sr Lucy) was asked to give up her room. She settled in a little room where they used to fix the dustbins and brooms. This room has a window shaped like a trapdoor that opened onto the roof. The window was rarely used because it was difficult to close. On one of the nights there was a storm and it was drafty and the rain came in. She went to the corner for more shelter, but contracted a severe flu, with fever and hoarseness. She also got a sore throat and began to have severe toothaches. When her temperature came down she went to the dentist. The diagnosis of Dr. Alcino Magalhaes was severe: he had to remove all her teeth and put in false teeth. The doctor offered to do all the treatment for free. He removed two of her teeth and asked her to return in three days to continue the work.

This took place in February of 1948. Farther down the page it mentions that on "March 5th, having two more teeth removed, she was called to the Bishop's palace..." Therefore apparently she had all her teeth removed two at a time over a period of several weeks. There never was a "false" Sister Lucy. She had had terrible teeth since childhood and the only thing false about her was the DENTURES Dr. Alcino Magalhaes made for her in 1948 before she left the Dorothean Sisters in Pontevedra, Spain and entered the Carmel in Coimbra, Portugal.

Issue # 2: TYPEWRITER  Some people think Sr Lucy always wrote her correspondence by hand. Well, she didn't because at one point she learned to use a typewriter. Page 354 of "A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary" has a photo of her typing on it. On pages 343- 344 it says: Besides the many tasks assigned to her, Sister Lucia was always occupied with correspondence that came from all over the world, which increased every year.....She generally responded to everyone, and in a majority of cases sent a card printed in several languages, ensuring her prayers and always including some photos. ... Later a friend and benefactor of the Community offered her an Olivetti. This machine had memory, which for her was a very nice gift because it could delete without erasing and make as many copies as she wanted. Tenaciously, she learned how to use it despite already being in her seventies, and she did it!

          Sister Lucia occupied herself personally with this work until the year 2000. After the beatification of her two cousins, the revelation of the third part of the secret, and the publication of her book, "Calls from the Message of Fatima,"  it seemed Sister Lucia felt her mission was accomplished and she rarely responded to letters that arrived.....By now she felt that she had answered everyone in "Calls." It was a collective response to the fundamental problems of the human person, a catechism to understand the law of God and the primary penance He asked, as she wrote:

          "This is now the penance that the Good Lord asks: The sacrifice each person has to impose on himself is to lead a life of righteousness in observance of His law and desire this to make clear the way for souls, since many people judge the meaning of the word penance in great austerity, but not feeling the strength or pleasure to do it, they lose heart in a life of weakness and sin."

Sister Lucia and Dr Branca Paul

Sister Lucy returned to Fatima five times after 1940. If she was another person, an impostor, her family certainly would have known and would have told the world. The same Lucia, who in 1917 was hounded day after day with questions and who responded calmly and frankly with precise coherent answers, is the same Sister Lucia, who, when interviewed after 1948, answered calmly and frankly with precise coherent answers.

Sr Lucia's personal doctor, Dr Branca Paul, said, "Sister Lúcia was joyful, youthful, humble, obedient, true, frank, transparent and spontaneous, radiating the joy of those who live in God and for God. She was well aware of the limitations and fragility that the human existence imposed on people. She kept in her heart that certainty that was entrusted to her by Our Lady of Fatima “…in the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph." 

In her youth all who knew her said that Lucia was joyful, youthful, humble, obedient, true, frank, transparent and spontaneous, radiating joy. After 1948 she was the same joyful, youthful, humble, obedient, true, frank, transparent and spontaneous person radiating joy.

Teeth can change. People can learn to type. Inherent personality traits remain the same.