A Visit to the Shrine of
Our Lady of Fatima

Q U I C K S C A N

My earlier impressions of Fatima are changed
Revisiting the simple story of Fatima
Three other observations about Fatima
A footnote on our pilgrimage tour from Lisbon to Lourdes (May 15-26, 2006)

All my life I have been aware that Fatima is one of the great Marian shrines of the Catholic world. And yet, for some reason, I have never felt a great desire to go there—at least, not as great a desire as I have felt toward other shrines of Mary, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France or the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City.

The shrine at Lourdes has always drawn me because of its popularity as a place to find healing of body or peace of heart. And this aspect was reinforced when I first visited that shrine in the spring of 1972. Though I suffered from no physical illness at the time, I took the opportunity to bathe in the healing waters, which brought a kind of spiritual healing to inner anxieties I was carrying.

The shrine at Guadalupe has long appealed to me also because of the story of Juan Diego, the Aztec farmer, and the miracle of Our Lady’s image appearing on his cloak. This event, occurring in 1531, triggered the widespread conversion of the Mexican people to Christianity. I’ve had the opportunity a number of times to stand and pray before this amazing image which hangs prominently in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe—a wonderful shrine located not so far from my home.

My earlier impressions of Fatima are changed

As you will soon see, I finally had the opportunity on May 17-18, 2006, to visit Fatima. If I were to try to explain my heretofore less-than-wholehearted interest in the Fatima phenomenon, I would simply have to admit that, right or wrong, the Fatima story, as presented to me by others, often filled me with a vague sense of foreboding. Much of the literature I had read about Fatima over the years seemed off-putting, frightening and full of threats about terrible disasters about to befall our world. This literature did not seem adequately to convey the good news of Jesus’ saving love or that of his Mother. I could only recall, instead, dark and negative things, such as Our Lady showing these little impressionable children a vision of hell that was very terrifying.

When I awoke my first morning at Fatima, however, the joyful ringing of bells greeted my ears and seemed to dominate the place, including the great plaza upon which the Basilica sits gleaming in the sunlight. I was amazed at how the steeple of the basilica seems to rise high into the heavens. It made me think of Jesus’ words: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” On top of this lofty steeple was the cross of the little poor man who humbled himself to die for us and whose cross is now exalted very high on its pinnacle. The cross stands on a large golden crown, just like the crown atop the statues of our Lady of Fatima. Mary, too, the humble handmaid of the Lord, is also highly exalted at the foot of her son’s cross. As Mary proclaimed in her Magnificat, “[God] has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.”

The joyful bells, the gleaming basilica and its towering steeple helped to set me free of my negative images of Fatima. So did the fervor of joyful and faith-filled pilgrims whose faces shone with hope as they prayed before Mary’s image in the Chapel of the Apparitions. This was especially true at night when hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims with lighted candles gathered at the chapel and walked in procession around the great plaza, praying the rosary with great emotion and lifting their voices in joyful song.

Revisiting the simple story of Fatima

Now I was in a better frame of mind to reacquaint myself with the basic story of Fatima: On May 13, 1917, three children from the region were watching over their little flock near the town of Fatima in Portugal. Their names were Lucia (age 10) and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta (age 9 and 7 respectively). After praying the Rosary and then beginning some childhood games, the three little shepherds saw a brilliant light. At that moment, they were standing on the site where the Fatima Basilica now stands. Thinking the light was a flash of lightning, they decided to head for home. As they walked down the slope, another flash of light illumined the area, and they saw standing on top of a holmoak tree (where the Chapel of Apparitions now stands) “a lady brighter than the sun” with a white rosary hanging from her hands.

When the children saw a brilliant light, they were near where the basilica is now located. But Our Lady appeared to them where the Chapel of the Apparitions now stands (lower left). (Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

The beautiful lady asked the three children to pray for peace and to make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. She also requested that they return to this same spot on the 13^th of each month for five consecutive months. Francisco and Jacinta, within three years of the first apparition of 1917, would both die of the Spanish flu, which afflicted the region: Francisco in 1919 and Jacinta in 1920. The children had generously accepted their sufferings and made many sacrifices for the salvation of others. Both Francisco and Jacinta were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000 and are now buried in the Basilica. Lucia lived until February 13, 2005, dying shortly before her 98th birthday. She entered the religious community of St. Dorothy in 1928, and in 1948 received permission from Pope Pius XII to transfer to the Discalced Carmelites of St. Teresa at Coimbra, Portugal. Sister Lucia is buried next to her cousin Jacinta in the Fatima Basilica. Before her death, Sister Lucia wrote some compelling memoirs and was present in Fatima when her cousins Francisco and Jacinta were beatified in 2000.

Three other observations about Fatima

1) Our group of pilgrims had the opportunity to visit the home of Francisco and Jacinta and that of their cousin Lucia in the village of Aljustrel, as well as various other shrines nearby. These places are well kept, well laid out, inspiring and visitor-friendly. The cheery and upbeat spirit of other pilgrims was catching.

2) Pope John Paul II, who had a special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima, visited Fatima at least three times as pope. The assassination attempt on John Paul in 1981 occurred on May 13, the same date as the first apparition to the three children in 1917. The pope, who believed that “a mother’s hand…guided the bullet’s path” and allowed him to survive, later gave the bullet to the Bishop of Leiria-Fatima during one of the bishop’s visits to the Vatican. The bishop later decided to have the bullet set in the crown of Our Lady’s statue in the Chapel of the Apparitions, where it is still located today.

This statue of St. Anthony of Padua, who was born in Portugal, stands prominently on the colonnade to the right of the basilica. (Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

3) A statue of St. Anthony of Padua holds a prominent place on the colonnade in front of (and to the right of) the basilica along with three other Portuguese saints.

This took me, a Franciscan, quite by surprise, having forgotten momentarily (as many others tend to do) that this Lisbon-born saint spent more years of his life in Portugal than in Italy, which was to become the main focus of his ministry. St. Anthony’s presence, so close to the famous basilica, also added a favorable glow to my memories of Fatima.

A footnote on our pilgrimage tour from Lisbon to Lourdes (May 15-26, 2006)

The pilgrimage that brought our group to Fatima last spring had begun at the birthplace of St. Anthony of Padua in Lisbon, Portugal, just a day or two earlier. The pilgrimage then moved by motorbus to Fatima, which was followed by a visit to Coimbra, Portugal, and to the Monastery of Santa Cruz there, where St. Anthony spent several years as an Augustinian friar. Our motorbus journey then proceeded across Spain, where we visited the shrines of four great Spanish saints in this sequence: St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. Finally, we crossed the border between Spain and France and made a two-day visit to Our Lady’s Shrine in Lourdes, France. My next three E-spirations will deal respectively with my visits to the shrines of St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross and St. Francis Xavier. I already wrote on St. Ignatius in July.

(The tour was arranged by Pentecost Tours, Inc., PO Box 280, Batesville, Indiana  47006-0280 (Tel: 800 713 9800); www.pentecosttours.com.)

Friar Jim’s Inbox

Readers respond to Friar Jim’s “Catechism Quiz: Common Questions About the Mystery of Prayer (Part 2)”

Dear Friar Jim: Thank you very much for your monthly columns. I find them very inspiring and edifying, as they strengthen my knowledge of the Catholic faith. Your comment that saying more prayers is no more effective than saying fewer prayers made me furrow my brow for a moment. Doesn’t Jesus teach that persistence is important in prayer (Luke 11:5-8, Luke 18:1-8)? I
agree wholeheartedly with the fact that sincerity in prayer is far more important than quantity, but I was under the impression that it is also virtuous to pray for something repeatedly. For instance, my parish here in Los Angeles is in the practice of saying a prayer for vocations at the conclusion of every Mass, since 2006 is the Year of Prayer for Priestly Vocations. Persistence seems to be the key here, although our prayers are, of course, useless if we lack sincerity every time we say them. Thanks and God bless you for your work. Po-Ling

Dear Po-Ling: In no way did I want to imply anything against perseverance in prayer. That is pure gospel. I was just pointing out that anytime we place something “magical” by way of numbers we are missing the point of prayer. Pray often. Just don't count. Friar Jim

Dear Friar Jim: I was looking through my prayer books and wondering if I pray enough. I go about the day, having offered my work as a prayer, and throughout the day I say, “Lord, help me.” I do pray my rosary at night in bed, and many times I do fall asleep before it is finished and wake up the next morning with the rosary still in my hands. Thank you for reminding us that prayer is simply turning to God and talking with him. What a Joy! Dee

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