To Santiago de Compostela: 462.8 km
Walked today; 13.5 km
Total walked: 201.9 km
Our intent from the beginning was to make this pilgrimage to Fatima and to Santiago de Compostela. Today we got up early and took the 7:30 am bus to Fatima. We immediately got a map of the shrine with the times for the different celebrations. I started in the chapel of reconciliation where there were priests listening to confession in a dozen languages. From there we went to the rectory to get a stamp in our pilgrim credentials.
We came out just on time for the 11 am mass. It was outdoors in the great plaza. Officiating was s bishop and I counted at least 16 priests. There were literally thousands of pilgrims attending the mass. The sun was shining and the temperature well over 30 but everyone stayed for the 90 minutes of the Mass. It was quite an experience.
We got a panflet called "pilgrims itinerary", it is available in a dozen languages and guides you to different places in the shrine and has some prayers for each place. That way we got to visit pretty well all the shrine. The outside of the old shrine, the new church, the chapel of the apparitions, and the chapel of the holy sacrament. Very spiritual.
We also visited a exhibit on the shepherd children and a Museum with the story of the apparitions and an exhibit of the different presents that have been donated to the shrine, including presents from our last three popes, St.John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francisco.
To summarize the story of Fatima, there were 3 children, Lucia 10, and her cousins Francisco 9, and Jacinta 7. In 1916 an angel appeared to them, taught them some prayers and gave Francisco and Jacinta their first communion. The next year, Our Lady appeared to them on May 13 and continued every month on the 13th day for a total of 6 times. Her message was that we should pray the rosary every day and make sacrifices for the salvation of other souls.
Francisco and Jacinta died during the flu epidemic of the beggining of the XX century and they have been beatified. Lucia lived until the beggining of this century and the case for her beatification is in process. In the last apparition there was a multitude of people estimated at over 30,000 and all of them saw the miracle of Fatima where the sun appeared to dance.
The photos below are the old church, the house where Lucia lived, the three children, the crowds during mass, the old church, the new one and the chapel of the apparitions.
So tonight as I go to bed I ask Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima to pray for the salvation of the souls of those who need it most.
I ask her to pray for our mothers, our children and grandchildren, for our brothers, our priests, our nuns, our pope and our bishops.
And I ask blessed Francisco and blessed Jacinta (we cannot include Lucia until she is beatified) to pray for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment