In March of 2025, a friend told me he shared a birthday with Sister Lucia and St. Teresa of Avila on March 28th. I challenged him saying Sister Lucia’s birthday is March 22nd. I started digging into it and sure enough Sister Lucia’s original headstone had been changed and the new date of birth on her headstone read March 28, 1907.
A dear friend told me she found the explanation of the two birthdays in the book, A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary, Biography of Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception. On page 22-23 it states:
“1 / Birth and Baptism –
Near the end of July 1906, after an intense day of work in the
fields and chores in the house, the lady Maria Rosa, a mother of five children (one died prematurely at birth) had news to give her husband.
-Antonio, we’re going to have another child!
With his gentle and kind heart, Mr. Antonio dos Santos replied to her:
-Don’t be troubled! It is one more blessing from God. Therefore, there will be no lack of bread in the drawer or oil in the pot. 4
For them, receiving news of another child was like a surprise gift from God, given when and where He desired. And so they filled the house with the joyful laughter of innocent children who were loved and always happy, even with the many problems placed upon them. There was never an expectation of gifts, but the heart of the mother was a center of love, equally given and unique for each one of them. Whenever Sister Lucia referred to her parents, she did so with great veneration, extolling their qualities that she always admired. They were the best and most wise parents in the world! Even when recounting the time of the apparitions of Our Lady, Lucia never complained about her mother, who could be quite severe as she tried to discern the truth, but always apologized with great integrity.
While waiting for the child to be born, Maria Rosa prepared a new outfit, not needing many since the outfits of her other babies were saved and scented with aromatic herbs, preserving them from moths and keeping them always pleasant.
The day of March 28, 1907, was Holy Thursday. In the morning Maria Rosa attended Mass and received Communion, intending to return in the afternoon for a visit and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. She could not return, however, because the “shepherdess” was born. The fact that her mother had received Communion that morning was a great pleasure for Sister Lucia who liked to say she made her first Communion before birth.
Antonio did not want to wait too long to have his child baptized, but knew the parish priest would refuse to administer baptism on Holy Saturday to a child who was less than eight days old, and it was a very busy day. He also did not want his girl to spend Easter without being baptized, and wanted to avoid having two feasts on the same day – Easter and Baptism. Thus, he solved the problem with a “white lie” — he registered the girl as being born on March 22 so the pastor could not refuse. This is why Sister Lucia always celebrated her birthday on March 22 and only learned of her true birthday later in life when she heard her mother’s explanation to a family friend, Fr. Formigão. In the last years of her life Lucia celebrated her birthday on two days – the 22nd for the outside world, and the 28th for the Community of Carmel, because the 22nd was always too busy with correspondence and visitors, and the Community could hardly be with her.
Because time was pressing, Antonio and Maria Rosa began to think of a name for their girl and their choice of godparents. They asked Mr. Anastasius Vieira, an uncle, to be the godfather. He agreed, and therefore his wife, Aunt Teresa, was asked to be the godmother, to which she also agreed. It was customary at that time for a baby being baptized to be given the name of a godparent or a close family member. Antonio insisted, however, that the baby would be called Lucia. Everyone thought this was strange because no one in the family had this name. The reaction was similar to when Zechariah insisted on the name John for his son, St. John the Baptist. She was to be called Lucia, which means Light – a little light that would shine the light of God throughout the world.
She was baptized on Holy Saturday, March 30, 1907, by the parish priest, Fr. Manuel Marquest Ferreira, during the ringing of the bells announcing the Resurrection of Christ (at that time Holy Saturday was called Alleluia Saturday, and had the lively presence of a Paschal feast). Those who heard the bells knew they were the bells of Easter, but in this joyful announcement there was another announcement the world did not yet know. Lucia appeared in the light of the day like a flower that blooms in the spring, a child who after a few years would receive the mission of conveying to humanity a message of salvation. It was no accident that her baptism into the Church was on Holy Saturday, a day especially dedicated in a liturgical memorial to the Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin surely was present on this special Saturday to take under her protection this little creature who would soon be her confidant and messenger.
The feast of Baptism was a popular family event, well-attended, a lot of work, and one of the reasons Lucia’s father wanted to avoid a second feast at home. Certainly the oven was lit in the old house so that a good lamb could be roasted, as it was during the time when the new spring lambs were about three months old. After the Baptism, the dos Santos house would be open to everyone for a celebration meal. The family was modest, but very generous and hospitable, a trait passed on to Lucia.”
4 Memoirs of Sister Lucia, Volume II, 5th Memoir, No. 2, p. 21 (4th edition).