After our late lunch, we freshened up then walked to the Shrine of Fatima to attend Mass at the Basilica of our Lady of the Rosary.
The Mass was in Portuguese, but because of its similarities with Spanish, I could understand it a little bit, including the priest’s homily. For some reason, towards the middle part of the Mass, I got a little bit emotional and I started crying. I tried to restrain myself and though my soft whimpers turned into quiet sobs, my eyes kept welling and my tears flowed non-stop. My nose started dripping from all that uncontrolled emotion. I had one piece of tissue left in my travel pack and it was soon soaked enough to disintegrate into tiny little paper morsels. One of my amigas subtly handed me some more tissue from her stash, but soon enough, she started crying, too. Then the other two ladies beside her followed suit. It seemed like we formed an on-the-spot sniffling quartet.
It could have been a comical scene from a sitcom, with the four of us sobbing, blowing our noses, and passing around tissue papers, while trying to maintain some amount of dignity while the Mass was going on. And did I mention we were sitting at the front pew in full view of everybody?
But the emotions we had were genuine. It was something that was difficult to explain. None of us anticipated this and we didn’t know exactly where the sudden outburst came from. During the course of the Mass, our hearts were simply touched in ways that were unique to each of us.
I recall that at some point, I was thinking of my mom. When she was still alive, she had wanted to go on a Marian pilgrimage, and Fatima was on the top of her list, along with Lourdes (which I was also visiting on this trip). We had planned to go together, but for obvious reasons, it will never happen. I silently sent her a message, “Mom, I made it! I am here for us.”
After the Mass, we lit candles at one of the fifteen altars dedicated to the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary (it was fifteen then before the Luminous Mysteries were added). We also offered prayers at the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta, two of the visionary children who died in 1919 and 1920 respectively, and were beatified in 2000.
We walked around to admire the rest of the church interior. Its high altar has a painting that depicts the message of Our Lady and also includes the images of Pope Pius II, Pope John XXIII, and Pope John Paul II. Surrounding the church are stained glass windows that also highlight scenes from the apparition and on its four corners are statues of the four great apostles of the Rosary – Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Dominic, Saint John Eudes, and Saint Stephen of Hungary. At the back is a huge organ with 12,000 pipes.
On our way out, we looked at the mosaic of the Virgin Mary being crowned by the Holy Trinity, as well as the large statue of our Lady sculpted by an American priest and given by the Catholic people of the United States to the shrine. It is said to be the most accurate representation of our Lady of Fatima because the sculptor spent a considerable time with Sister Lucia as she described how Mary looked during the apparition. By the portico, we signed the large guest book, where pilgrims can leave messages and prayer intentions.
Connecting the basilica to a couple of retreat houses is the magnificent Colonnade with 200 columns and half columns reminiscent of Bernini's curved colonnade at the Vatican City. It features 17 statues of saints and depictions of the Way of the Cross in ceramic.
We headed to the Chapel of Apparitions, where we prayed the Rosary the night before, to join a prayer session. Seeing it in the daylight and with a much smaller crowd, I noticed more of its details. The small chapel was built on the exact spot of the apparitions between April 28th and June 15th, 1919, and the first Mass was celebrated there on October 13th, 1921. In front of the chapel stands a pedestal with the image of Our Lady of the Rosary protected by bulletproof glass. This marks the spot where the holm oak, on which the 1917 apparitions of Fátima took place. It is unfortunate that the said holm oak disappeared branch by branch over the years, as pilgrims took them as souvenirs. A porch has since been built around it and a ceiling lined with pinewood over it.
We also checked out the south side of the rectory, where a section of the Berlin Wall was erected as a monument. It was offered to the shrine through the efforts of a Portuguese emigrant to Germany. It now stands as a testament of God’s intervention for the fall of Communism, as promised by Our Lady at Fatima.
Facing the Basilica is the Church of Santíssima Trinidade (Church of the Holy Trinity), dedicated in October 2007 as part of the closing ceremonies for the 90th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima, and as a response to the influx of pilgrims that could no longer be accommodated in the Basilica.
In contrast to the Neo-Classical style of the Basilica, this church has a simple, modernist design and uses iconic imagery to represent the Holy Trinity. At the altar is a large crucifix against a golden mosaic background depicting the Apocalypse. The layout is stadium-like, permitting good visibility of the altar from every angle and can accommodate up to 9,000 people. And since this is designed for big assemblies, the presbytery area itself is large enough to accommodate 100 celebrants.
The structure also has several chapels and confessionaries in the basement. We visited each one but stayed longer at the Capela do Santíssimo Sacramento (Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament), where we kept vigil for an hour.
The area was teeming with activity. Apparently, there was a Bishops’ conference that week and they were using one of the conference rooms there. We actually bumped into an Archbishop and we didn’t even know he was one until he introduced himself. He saw me and my Filipina amiga and asked if we were from the Philippines. He said he has been to there several times and is good friends with the Archbishop of Manila. We confirmed that we are Filipinas, but told him we now live in Canada. After a brief chat, he gave us blessings and wished us well for the rest of our pilgrimage.
Outside, we posed for pictures beside the statue of Pope John Paul II. He was a devotee of Our Lady of Fatima. In fact, he attributed his miraculous deliverance from an assassination attempt in Fatima in 1981 to Our Lady. During that time, four handgun bullets were fired at him and hit his lower intestine, his left hand, and right arm, only missing his central aorta by a few millimeters, which would have been fatal and would have killed him instantly.
The Pope returned three times to the shrine of Fatima in 1982, 1991, and 2000 to thank the Virgin Mary for saving his life. He also fulfilled her request to consecrated the world, including Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Soon after, Communism collapsed. He had also commissioned a mosaic of the Virgin Mary which was installed at Saint Peter’s Square.
In 1983, Pope John Paul II visited his would-be killer in jail. During their conversation, the repentant man expressed wonder and fascination as to how the Pope survived. He was certain that his aim was very accurate. The Pope responded with, “One hand fired the shot. Another hand guided it.” I can imagine the depth of this man's conversion.
Few people know that the bullet extracted from the Pope’s abdomen was given to the shrine as a gesture of his gratitude. It is now embedded in the bejeweled crown that adorns Our Lady’s head.
I walked back to our hotel feeling spiritually-satiated. I had nothing else planned for that evening, so I just reorganized my luggage. We were scheduled to depart for Braga the following morning. After another buffet dinner that evening, I retired to my room, had a relaxing soak in the tub, and slept early.
Photo Credits:
Andreas Tepte (Wikipedia), Jose Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro (Wikipedia), tektonministries.org, wikiwand.com, fatima.pt, Janos Korom Dr (Wikipedia), michaeljournal.org, Joseph Serwach (medium.com), Walking in the SacRed PaTh with Jesus (Facebook), researchgate.net
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