Can you only imagine millions of people showing up in a small village of six thousand with a hotel capacity for ten thousand? As I stood before this expansive esplanade it was hard to picture in this tiny village of Fatima, a journey is made by millions every year. Even harder to imagine are the majority of those millions will arrive for only a few days during the months of May and October. Even Pope John Paul II visited three times and believed it was Our Lady of Fatima who helped save him from an attempted assassination in 1981.
So what’s the big fuss? It all started back in 1917 when three children claimed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The Blessed Mother appeared to the children as they tended sheep and specifically spoke to one, a young girl named Lucia. The children were to return on the 13th of each month for the next six months. Of course the word spread and by the sixth month 70,000 devotees had gathered. The Virgin appeared to Lucia again in 1925, 1926 and 1929. As you can imagine Fatima is now one of the most popular Christian shrines in Europe.
Large is not the word to describe the Fatima Gift Shop. I’ll let the photos help with the description.
I made the pilgrimage “so to speak” for a very good friend who suggested Fatima as a place to visit on my travels to Lisbon, Portugal. So my dear, this post is dedicated to you. Thanks for the recommendation, it was an experience. I’m even bringing you back a bottle of water from Fatima!
Fabulous photos and description of what Fatima is all about! Thanks for sharing your journey to Portugal with all of us.