Fátima

Fátima is a civil parish in the municipality of Qurem, Portugal. On October 17th, 2013, we arrived Caxarias station (just outside Fatima) from Porto by train. We had earlier traveled to Porto by coach from Santiago de Compostela, Spain (after our journey on the Camino de Santiago). There are also coaches from Porto (Batalha Bus Station) to Fatima by Rede-Expressos about once every two hours. Very few pilgrims/visitors disembarked with us at Caxarias train station as most passengers were on their way from Porto to Lisbon. Most pilgrims/visitors to Fatima come by way of train or coach from Lisbon.

At Caxarias station, we asked (with great difficulty) for information regarding public transport into Fatima but were informed that buses do not run at this time of the year. We then took a short taxi ride into town and checked into Hotel Anjo de Portugal (4* facility at US$49.00 a night because it was “off-season”). Even though it was supposed to be “off-season” in Fatima, we still witnessed many events …

Looking down to the central plaza at the shrine of Lady Fatima

The Basilica of Lady of Fatima

Fatima’s history is associated with three Portuguese children Lucia Dos Santos, Jacinta Marto, and Francisco Marto, who were young and had received little education. It was reported that while they were watching their sheep, they witnessed the apparition of a Lady dressed in White. The lady later was referred to (and believed by faithful) as “Our Lady of the Rosary.” She visited the children on the 13th day of each month from May to October 1917. The last apparition occurred on 13 October 1917 on the “Miracle of the Sun.”

Currently, a pilgrimage to the site goes on all year round. The principal pilgrimage festivals occur on the 13th day of each month from May to October (the original appearances’ anniversaries).

The Chapel of Apparitions.

During the visit, we witnessed the Procession of the faithful and an atmosphere of highly passionate religious devotion, with some pilgrims crawling on their knees towards the shrine. Hundreds prayed both during the day and also at night at the shrine. Groups of non-Catholic Christians (including representatives of the Orthodox churches) had again come intending to ask for Church unity. Many Anglican priests accompanied by their bishop had held a spiritual retreat in one of the houses there. Other personalities who are not Catholic (such as the Dalai Lama and the President of India) had visited Fatima. The intention of peace is universal.

Witnessing the Procession

The Procession

The Procession

Some devoted pilgrims crawled on their knees at the Marian shrine of Fatima in central Portugal. 

The Sanctuary of Fátima is an uplifting experience for people of all faiths. We saw the deeply devoted crawling on their knees! I visited both the Basilica and the newer church.

We saw The Basilica  at night in October 2013

A view from The Narthex of The Basilica

Fatima Sanctuary – Shepherds Tombs (October 2013) as seen by us in October 2013

Nearby the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is the location where some of the apparitions took place. We followed the simple stone path constructed in the middle of the rural environment where the three shepherd children used to put their sheep to pasture. The path is punctuated by several small chapels that depict the Cross’s Stations built from the donations of Hungarian refugees after the Second World War.

Procession of the devotees at the Stations of The Cross

Fourteenth Station – Jesus is laid in the tomb.

  Pope John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life following the assassination attempt on Wednesday, May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima, in 1981. He followed the footsteps of Paul VI on May 12, 1987, to express his gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life. The following day he renewed the consecration of Pius XII to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin.

Although born and raised in the Lutheran tradition, I learned (and appreciate) that Private Revelation does not form part of the deposit of faith of the Catholic Church. The members of the Church are not bound to believe in any of them. However, as a matter of prudence assent would usually be expected of a Catholic-based on the discernment of the Church and its judgment that an apparition is worthy of belief.

In the town not far from the Plaza, there is a Chinese restaurant where we feasted ourselves as we had been deprived of the oriental cuisine since we left the city of Santiago de Compostela (at the end of our pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago).