St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church & School

Title: Fatima 

Sunday, July 30th

Written by: Olivia Johnson

On Saturday evening we arrived in Fatima. We explored Fatima and walked a total of 11 miles!

  We started our day with a delicious breakfast of croissants and baguettes, as well as, fresh fruit and vegetables. A popular item at breakfast was sautéed mushrooms with eggs. After breakfast we went to the Shrine of Fatima. 

  First, we hiked about 3/4 of a mile to the first apparition site where Mary appeared to the 3 children: Lucia, Jacinto and Francisco.  When we arrived at the second site, Bishop Jacques led our group in prayer and reflection. As we continued on the gravel path up the hillside, we walked in silence most of the time since it truly is a peaceful experience.  On our descent back into the village, we stopped and took a tour of Lucia and Francisco’s homes.  Our tour guide introduced us to Jacinta’s great niece - a cheerful, elderly Portuguese woman.

  When we finished touring their homes we went to an international Mass at the Basilica of Out Lady of the Rosary. It was celebrated by Archbishop O’Malley of the Boston Diocese.  We were impressed by his fluency in multiple languages!  There were thousands at Mass, though we were told it has been as many as 70,000 in attendance

 At this Mass, there were 75 ciborium! To distribute communion, each priest or Extraordinary Minister was escorted by a volunteer with a white umbrella - so the priest/EM remained shaded, and so attendees could see where communion was available in the crowd.  The cathedral’s architecture was more modern and expansive by design, probably because it was built in 1928, as opposed to the earlier cathedrals on our trip that were built 600-800 years earlier.   The shrine has a big open area that once was a field and thousands had flocked to the spot that day. This area where the cathedral was built was the spot that Mary appeared for the last time. During this apparition it is said that the sun danced and everyone was happy because they were safe from war. It was here that people finally believed the children because they too saw Mary for themselves. 

  After Mass we explored and went into the cathedral and saw the tombs of the three children. After we visited the tombs we went back to the hotel for dinner.  We had a wonderful dinner and dessert just before we returned to the shrine for the nightly Rosary procession. 

  Some of the people in our group did the tradition of walking on their knees to Our Lady. This is a tradition since the last apparition when Mary told Lucia to come walking on her knees praying the rosary. Since then, thousands of people have walked the same path she did. This is a very painful walk because pilgrims are crawling on their knees on the hot, pebbly ground. Once you complete the crawling on your knees, which is at least 3/4 of a mile long, there are nurse volunteers available in a small infirmary to massage and clean your knees, and then you have officially complete your walk. 

We finished off the night with a group picture and a funny walk back thanks to Father Rhett. We are so blessed to be here. Please follow us on Instagram to receive even more updates @wyd_hhi