I thought I would share my special weekend in Fatima Portugal with my CWL sisters. 9:30 pm rosary procession with candles last evening then rosary and International Mass outside today, Sunday, in the gentle rain. The pictures will never capture the moments of actually being present here.
The year 2024 marked the 107th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children at Fatima, Portugal, where the Blessed Mother appeared once each month from May 13 until Oct. 13, 1917.
The message of Fatima highlights many central truths and devotions of the Catholic faith: the Trinity, the Eucharist, penance, the Rosary and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. There is special emphasis on the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is a refuge of maternal love for us all and a sure path that leads us to God. In the end, Mary’s Immaculate Heart will triumph because Mary is full of God’s grace and is all pure. She has the heart of a mother who cares for her children and wishes them to be saved by her divine Son, Jesus.
The Fatima apparitions began with the three apparitions of the Angel of Peace (also called the Angel of Portugal) in 1916 and extended beyond 1917 with subsequent apparitions given to Sister Lucia dos Santos in Pontevedra, Spain (1925-1927) and Tuy, Spain (1929).
Fatima is one of the most significant of all Marian apparitions. Along with Guadalupe (Dec. 12) and Lourdes (Feb. 11), it is one of three Marian apparitions honored with a feast day. In 2002, Pope St. John Paul II added the May 13 feast of Our Lady of Fatima to the general Roman calendar. May 13 was the day of the first Fatima apparition of 1917, and May 13, 1981, was the day when St. John Paul II survived an attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square. John Paul II credited his survival to the intervention of Our Lady of Fatima. The assassin’s bullet that narrowly missed killing the pope now is inserted in a crown of Our Lady housed at the Fatima shrine. Fatima is also linked with the collapse of Russian communism more than 25 years ago.
It is estimated that some 4-5 million people visit Fatima each year.
The 3 Shepard children who experienced the apparition are buried in The Fatima Cathedral here.
Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco, who died three years after the virgin was said to have appeared to them in a field while they were watching sheep.
Lucia entered a convent as a teenager and wrote only years later of the virgin's "secrets" regarding war and communism, under strict clerical supervision.
Lucia dos Santos
Lucia entered a convent as a teenager and wrote only years later of the virgin's "secrets" regarding war and communism, under strict clerical supervision.
Lucia dos Santos
Born: March 28, 1907 Died: Feb. 13, 2005
Bio: The oldest of the three visionaries of Fatima, Lucia was the youngest of seven brothers and sisters. She received harsh criticism after telling family and friends about the visitations, so much so that she was reluctant to return to the Cova da Iria on July 13, 1917. The other seers convinced her to go back. Following the deaths of her cousins, at 14 years old, she was sent to the Dorothean Sisters of Villar and in 1928 became a sister of St. Dorothy. In 1946, she entered the convent of the Carmelite Sisters of Coimbra.
Basilica of the Holy Trinity is the 3rd church on the site. It holds 6000 people!
You are all in my prayers! 📿