O my Jesus,
forgive us our sins,
save us from the fires of hell,
lead all souls to Heaven,
especially those who have most need
of Thy mercy.
Amen.
Domine Iesu,
dimitte nobis debita nostra,
salva nos ab igne inferni,
perduc in caelum omnes animas,
praesertim eas quae misericordiae tuae
maxime indigent.
Amen.
Domine Iesu, dimitte nobis debita nostra, salva nos ab igne inferiori, perduc in caelum omnes animas, praesertim eas, quae misericordiae tuae maxime indigent. Amen.
Inferni = of hell (genitive of infernus, the infernal realm). Corresponds directly to the Portuguese inferno.
Inferiori = below, the lower fires (ablative of inferior). More descriptive but a step removed from the Portuguese original.
Both forms are in wide traditional use. The Latin Prayer Podcast (associated with Fisheaters) notes inferni as the closer translation.
The Three Textual Witnesses
Three textual records establish the prayer’s authentic wording. Their differences matter for both theology and translation.
Primary Witnesses to the Fatima Prayer Text
Witness 1 — Canon Manuel Nunes Formigão (1917 & 1921)
Canon Formigão was appointed by the Bishop of Leiria to formally interrogate the three shepherd children. His records from October and November 1917 — within weeks of the apparitions — are the earliest contemporaneous documentation. Formigão’s 1921 publication of Lúcia’s account includes a version of the prayer that explicitly names Purgatory: the Portuguese alminhas (little souls) is understood in this context as referring to the souls in Purgatory, following a deep-rooted Portuguese popular tradition. This is the earliest textual witness and the only one that makes Purgatory explicit in its wording.
Source: M. N. Formigão, As Grandes Maravilhas de Fátima (1921)
Witness 2 — Sistêr Lúcia’s Memoirs (1937–1941)
Lúcia wrote her four memoirs between 1935 and 1941 at the request of her bishop. The text she records in her Third Memoir (1941) is the version that became standard and is used by the official Fátima Shrine: Ó meu Jesus, perdoai-nos, livrai-nos do fogo do inferno, levai as almas todas para o céu, principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem. Note that misericórdia (mercy) does not appear in this Portuguese original — it entered some Latin translations and English versions as an interpretive expansion.
Source: Lúcia dos Santos, Third Memoir (1941), published by the Fátima Shrine
Witness 3 — William Thomas Walsh Interview (1947)
The American Catholic historian William Thomas Walsh conducted an extensive interview with Sister Lúcia in 1947 for his biography Our Lady of Fatima (1947). In the interview, Lúcia confirmed that the phrase “of Thy mercy” (misericordiae tuae) was not part of the prayer as originally given — it was added in certain Latin translations to make explicit what was implied. Walsh’s account thus corroborates that the strict original does not contain the mercy phrase, while the phrase is a legitimate theological development that has become standard in many traditions.
Source: W. T. Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima (1947), ch. 14
The Alminhas Question
The Portuguese word alminhas — a diminutive of almas (souls) — is a term with deep roots in Portuguese popular piety. In centuries of Portuguese Catholic tradition, alminhas referred specifically to the souls in Purgatory: roadside shrines called alminhas were built throughout Portugal and Brazil as places to pray for the dead. Canon Formigão’s 1921 account records the prayer with language that reflects this tradition, making Purgatory the explicit referent of the final petition.
Lúcia’s later official text uses aquelas que mais precisarem (those who are most in need) — a formulation deliberately broader, which could include the souls in Purgatory, the dying, the most hardened sinners, or all who are in spiritual peril. The broader formulation became the definitive one at the Fátima Shrine, but the Formigão witness preserves the early understanding that the final petition was directed specifically toward souls in Purgatory.
Both readings are theologically legitimate. The Fátima message as a whole is deeply concerned with Purgatory: Our Lady showed the children a vision of Purgatory during the August apparition, and the Five First Saturdays devotion has historically been understood as having a purgatorial dimension. The alminhas tradition simply makes that dimension explicit in the prayer text itself.
History — The Third Apparition, 13 July 1917
On 13 July 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared for the third time to the three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal. During this apparition — which also included the vision of hell — Our Lady requested that a new prayer be added to the Rosary after the Glory Be at the end of each decade. The children later testified that she taught them the prayer in Portuguese: Ó meu Jesus, perdoai-nos, livrai-nos do fogo do inferno, levai as almas todas para o céu, principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem.
The prayer was not widely distributed until after the apparitions were officially approved by the Church (1930) and Lúcia published her memoirs. By the mid-20th century it had become standard practice in most parts of the Catholic world to include it after each decade, though the USCCB notes it is technically optional. Today it is effectively universal in the English-speaking Rosary tradition.
The three children to whom it was revealed: Lúcia dos Santos (Sister Lúcia, 1907–2005), Francisco Marto (1908–1919, beatified 2000, canonised 2017), and Jacinta Marto (1910–1920, beatified 2000, canonised 2017). Francisco and Jacinta are among the youngest non-martyred saints in the history of the Catholic Church.
The Prayer's Meaning
The Fatima Prayer is an intercession — a prayer on behalf of others, particularly souls in danger of damnation. Its structure is simple: it asks for forgiveness of sins (dimitte nobis debita nostra — the same phrase as in the Our Father), salvation from hell, and the leading of all souls to heaven, with special urgency for those most in need of God's mercy. This last phrase — "especially those who have most need of Thy mercy" — is open-ended: it may include the dying, the most hardened sinners, those who have no one to pray for them, souls in purgatory, or all of the above.
Placed after the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer extends the doxological close of each decade into an act of intercession. The decade begins with the Our Father (petition), proceeds through ten Hail Marys (praise and intercession), closes with the Glory Be (pure praise), and then the Fatima Prayer (intercession again). This rhythm of prayer and praise makes the Rosary one of the most complete forms of liturgical prayer outside the Mass.
The Six Apparitions — Context of the Fatima Prayer
The Fatima Prayer was requested at the third of six apparitions. Understanding the sequence clarifies the prayer’s theological weight and its place in the broader Fatima message.
| Date | Main Event |
|---|---|
| 13 May 1917 | First apparition. Our Lady appears for the first time; asks the children to pray the Rosary daily for peace. The children had previously received three apparitions of the Angel of Peace in 1916 — at the Loca do Cabeço, the well at the Marto home, and again at the Cabeço — who taught them the Pardon Prayer and the Eucharistic prayer and gave them Holy Communion. |
| 13 June 1917 | Second apparition. Our Lady announces that Francisco and Jacinta will be taken to heaven soon. Lúcia is told she will remain longer to “establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart.” |
| 13 July 1917 | Third apparition. The children are shown a vision of hell. Our Lady requests the First Saturdays devotion, announces that Russia will spread its errors but will eventually be converted, and reveals the first two parts of the Secret of Fátima. She requests the addition of the Fatima Prayer after each Glory Be. |
| 19 August 1917 | Fourth apparition (delayed — children had been kidnapped by the civil administrator and were not at the Cova on 13 August). Our Lady appears at Valinhos. She shows the children a vision of souls in Purgatory. |
| 13 September 1917 | Fifth apparition. Our Lady announces the Miracle of the Sun for October. The crowd at the Cova now numbers in the tens of thousands. |
| 13 October 1917 | Sixth and final apparition. Our Lady identifies herself as “Our Lady of the Rosary.” The Miracle of the Sun is witnessed by approximately 70,000 people, including secular journalists and known atheists, and was reported in the Portuguese press the following day. |
The Fatima Prayer thus sits within a sequence that moves from the Angel of Peace’s preparations in 1916, through the six Marian apparitions of 1917, toward the Miracle of the Sun. Its request at the third apparition — the same apparition as the vision of hell and the first two parts of the Secret — gives the prayer its urgency. It is not merely a pious addition to the Rosary but a specific response to what the children were shown.
In the Rosary
The Fatima Prayer is prayed five times in a five-decade Rosary — once after each decade's Glory Be, before announcing the next Mystery. In a full twenty-decade Rosary, it is prayed twenty times. It is the only prayer in the Rosary added after the Rosary's classical form was established — and the only one directly requested by an apparition of Our Lady approved by the Church.
Orabimus includes the Fatima Prayer after every decade with audio narration in English. Pray the Rosary with Orabimus
See also: Glory Be Prayer — prayed immediately before the Fatima Prayer; Hail Mary Prayer — the heart of each decade; Our Father Prayer — opens each decade; all Rosary prayers.
Pray the Fatima Prayer in the Rosary.
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Pray the Rosary now →Fatima Prayer after every decade · Audio EN · Live community
Those Who Have Most Need of Thy Mercy — The Theological Category
The phrase "especially those who have most need of Thy mercy" is deliberately open, but the traditional primary referent in Fatima theology is the final impenitents — those who die without contrition, without asking for the mercy they are not claiming. These souls are, in a sense, the ones who most need a mercy that must be given despite their refusal to seek it. The prayer places them before God precisely because they will not place themselves before Him.
This theological concern for the souls in gravest danger is deeply connected to the broader Fatima message. During the same apparitions, Our Lady showed the three children a vision of hell and expressed her wish to save souls from it. The Fatima Prayer, placed after every Glory Be, is structurally an intercessory response to that vision — a daily offering of the Rosary's graces for those most in danger of damnation.
Our Lady also requested the Five First Saturdays devotion — Confession, Communion, the Rosary, and 15 minutes' meditation on the Mysteries, received on five consecutive First Saturdays — specifically for the conversion of sinners and the reparation of sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She promised to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all who practised this devotion. The Fatima Prayer, prayed within each Rosary, is intimately linked to this broader devotion for souls in most need of mercy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Fatima Prayer required in the Rosary?
Technically optional, but effectively universal. The USCCB's official guide to the Rosary describes it in parentheses as "some say the following prayer requested by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima." In practice, it is prayed after every decade in the vast majority of Catholic communities worldwide. Orabimus includes it as standard.
What does "those who have most need of Thy mercy" mean?
The phrase is deliberately open — it could refer to the dying, to grave sinners, to those with no one to pray for them, to souls in purgatory, or to all people in spiritual peril. Many spiritual writers understand it primarily as referring to those in danger of damnation, making the prayer a powerful act of intercession for those who cannot or will not pray for themselves.
What was the original Portuguese text of the Fatima Prayer?
According to Lúcia's memoirs and the official Fátima Shrine, the Portuguese text is: Ó meu Jesus, perdoai-nos, livrai-nos do fogo do inferno, levai as almas todas para o céu, principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem. Note that "inferno" in Portuguese corresponds to Latin "inferni" (hell), and "misericórdia" (mercy) does not appear in the strict original — it was added to Latin translations that read "misericordiae tuae maxime indigent" (most in need of Thy mercy).
What is the original Portuguese text of the Fatima Prayer?
According to the official Fatima Shrine and Lucia's memoirs, the Portuguese original is: Ó meu Jesus, perdoai-nos, livrai-nos do fogo do inferno, levai as almas todas para o céu, principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem. Note that 'inferno' in Portuguese corresponds to the Latin 'inferni' (hell) — supporting the preference for 'ab igne inferni' over 'ab igne inferiori' in the Latin translation. The phrase 'misericordiae tuae maxime indigent' (who have most need of Thy mercy) does not appear in the strict Portuguese original but was added in Latin translations to make the final petition theologically explicit.
Is the Fatima Prayer biblical?
The Fatima Prayer has strong biblical foundations even though it is not from Scripture. 'O my Jesus, forgive us our sins' echoes Matthew 6:12 (the Our Father: 'forgive us our debts') and the penitential Psalms. 'Save us from the fires of hell' reflects Matthew 10:28 (fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell) and the consistent New Testament teaching on eternal judgment. 'Lead all souls to heaven' resonates with 1 Timothy 2:4 (God 'wills everyone to be saved') and Ezekiel 33:11 ('I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live'). The prayer is not Scripture but is thoroughly scriptural in its theology.
Who is Canon Formigão and why does his account matter?
Manuel Nunes Formigão (1883-1958) was a Canon of the Patriarchal Seminary of Lisbon appointed by the Bishop of Leiria to formally interrogate the three Fatima seers. His interviews in October and November 1917 — within weeks of the October Miracle — are the earliest contemporaneous written documentation of the apparitions, predating Lucia's memoirs by nearly two decades. His 1921 publication is the earliest textual witness to the Fatima Prayer and the only one that explicitly connects the final petition to the souls in Purgatory through the use of the traditional Portuguese term alminhas.
Does the phrase 'of Thy mercy' appear in the original Fatima Prayer?
No. The phrase 'of Thy mercy' (Latin: misericordiae tuae) does not appear in Lucia's Portuguese original: 'principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem' means 'especially those who are most in need' — without specifying 'of Thy mercy.' American historian William Thomas Walsh confirmed this directly with Sister Lucia in a 1947 interview. The mercy phrase entered certain Latin translations as an interpretive expansion, and has become standard in many English versions. It is theologically accurate but is not in the strict original text as Lucia recorded it.
What were the apparitions of the Angel of Peace before Fatima?
In 1916, the year before the Marian apparitions, the three shepherd children received three apparitions of the Angel of Peace (Angel of Portugal) at Fatima. In the first apparition (spring 1916, at the Loca do Cabeco), the Angel taught them the Pardon Prayer: 'My God, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, and do not love Thee.' In the third apparition (autumn 1916), the Angel gave the children Holy Communion directly — the first Holy Communion for Jacinta and Francisco. These apparitions prepared the children for the 1917 Marian apparitions and are considered part of the integral Fatima message, though less widely known than the six Marian apparitions.