The weekend of September 13 & 14th I went to Fatima, Portugal
(48K) 648 x 432 | Approaching the shrine, where Mary appeared several times in 1917 to 3 children: Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. |
(32K) 648 x 430 | It was May 13th, 1917 when the apparitions occurred as they were shepherding a little flock of sheep in this field, the Cova de Iria. |
(26K) 648 x 431 | Mary would appear to them at the spot now marked by this Chapel of the apparitions. Her main message to the children: pray the Rosary every day and do penance for peace and the conversion of sinners. |
(29K) 720 x 482 | Chapel of Apparitions. Mary told the children it was necessary to pray much, and she asked them to return for 5 consecutive months on the 13th of each month. Thus the 12-13th of every month from May to October are days of pilgrimages to Fatima (I was a day late.) |
(35K) 482 x 720 | The monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the center of the square (which is over a spring of water) with the Basilica in the background. |
(39K) 720 x 480 | The Basilica begun in 1028 was completed in 1953. |
(38K) 482 x 720 | Interior of the Basilica: "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary of Fatima, Pray for us." It was at the last apparition that the Lady told the children she was the "Lady of the Rosary." |
(35K) 482 x 720 | The Picture above the high altar depicts the event of Mary sending an angel with the Eucharist to the three children, with the Bishop also depicted kneeling on the left. |
(24K) 434 x 648 | The tomb of Blessed Francisco, who was 9 years old at the time of the apparitions, and died just 2 years later. |
(23K) 431 x 648 | The tomb of Blessed Jacina, who was only 7 at the time of the apparitions, and died 3 years later. The two children were proclaimed Blessed by Pope John Paul II on May 13th, 2000. |
(39K) 720 x 482 | View of the field as seen from the altar in front of the Basilica where we celebrated the international Mass. (That means it was in Latin of course.) |
(38K) 720 x 478 | The big holmoak tree (next to the Chapel of Apparitions) which the children waited under for Our Lady to appear. On Oct. 13, 1917 there were about 70,000 present, who witnessed the great miracle of the sun seeming to fall upon the earth. |
(49K) 720 x 479 | At fatima, they don't just light the candles, the candles actually burn. The quote is from Jesus: "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." |
(47K) 434 x 648 | A nice state of Blessed Francisco and Jacinta. Lucia entered the Carmelites as Sr. Lucia of Jesus and is still alive today (96 years old.) |
(43K) 648 x 434 | A piece of the Berlin Wall, donated as part of a thanksgiving for Our Lady of Fatima's role (and many, many rosaries being prayed) in helping bring about the fall of Communism. |
(40K) 648 x 434 | One of the hundreds of gift shops which surround the area, which have everything you could possibly imagine with an image of our Lady or the 3 children on it. |
(42K) 648 x 431 | A view of the Basilica from a park outside the city where there is a path of the Stations of the Cross. |
(37K) 480 x 720 | Valinhos, marking the spot where Our Lady appeared to the children on August 19, 1917 (since the police prevented them from going to Cova de Iria on the 13th.) |
(39K) 720 x 480 | At the end of the stations of the cross, a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen of Hungary. Again, a gift in thanksgiving for the fall of Communism. |
(48K) 434 x 648 | Loca do Anjo - place in the park where an "Angel of Peace" twice appeared to the children, exhorting them to prayer and penance, and bringing them the Eucharist. |
(37K) 648 x 432 | Even the city puts up a nice monument for you to see as you leave town. |
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