08/30/2024
Happy Friday...Here is today's Fun Fact:
Fatima was named for a 12th-century Moorish princess, and since 1917 has become one of the greatest Marian shrines. Back in 1917 some children said they saw a woman who identified herself as Lady of the Rosary, well on October 13th, 1917, a crowd saw a miraculous solar phenomenon and after it had happened the lady appeared to the children. Several years after this in October 1930 the Bishop of Leiria accepted the children's vision as the Virgin Mary, and that same year papal indulgences were granted to pilgrims. The first national pilgrimage took place in 1927. The basilica began in 1928 and consecrated in 1953. It has a tower that is 213 feet high, with a bronze crown and crystal cross. On the 50th anniversary of the first vision Pope VI said a mass and prayer for peace to an estimated one million people.
One of the children who had seen the visions was a shepherd girl and grew up to become a Carmelite nun.
Want to see it in person, you can with me in September 2025, as this is one of our stops. Adult only private tour touring of Portugal with our own tour guide. Reach out for more information and I hope you might want to come along.