Lucia Santos, the oldest of the three shepherd visionaries of Fatima, joined the religious order of the Dorotheans when she was about 19 years old. The convent was situated in the Spanish town of Tuy, just on the other side of the northwestern border of Portugal.

To her convent she was just another Sister. To the world, she was the visionary of Our Lady at Fatima. But, being a true visionary, the last thing she wanted to become was a celebrity or a tourist attraction. More than anything else, she wanted to escape the continuous interrogations, calumny, and even praise that crowd after crowd sought to shower upon her. She wanted to remain simple, and to have the freedom to love God and His sweet Mother in peace.

When Lucia became a nun, she was able to enjoy this liberty for a while. However, there were still those who wanted to see the famous Lucia of Fatima, and they weren't about to give up.

One ordinary day, Lucia was sent on a simple errand with another Sister. They were to do some shopping for the needs of their Order. To get to the store, they had to cross the international bridge between Tuy in Spain and Valencia in Portugal.

Shortly after they reached the other side of the bridge, the sisters were met by a group of strangers.

"You are Dorotheans, aren't you? Have you come from Tuy?" one of them asked the nuns.

"Yes, madame," Lucia answered politely.

Then the other woman chimed in, "We are going there ourselves. We want to see Lucia, the seer of Fatima."

"Really?" asked Lucia.

"She is there, isn't she?"

"No, madame. She is in Portugal." Lucia answered in all honesty.

The strangers were at a loss. Lucia was in Portugal? Little did they realize that the seer of Fatima had just crossed the bridge to Portugal a few minutes ago. But then another thought occurred to the travelers.

"If she were in Tuy, Sister, wouldn't we be able to see her?"

"Certainly, madame," Lucia replied.

"And how would we go about it?"

"Well, just by looking at her, madame, as you are looking at me," replied Sister Lucia, simply and truthfully.

As Sister Lucia and her companion continued on to do their shopping, they probably had to hide their smiles as they left their bewildered questioners behind. The poor travelers could only continue their search, in the hope of somehow finding Lucia of Fatima.

And no doubt, as Sister Lucia walked on to the store, she smiled thankfully to God. How perfectly He had timed everything for her! Her errands, the store in Portugal, the schedule of the strangers’ travels, and even that the convenient international bridge was ever constructed - all of which made the whole amusing episode possible in the first place.