Time is fast approaching when we will have the Grandparents Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima, at the time of the celebration of the Feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, parents of Our Lady and grandparents of Jesus. Grandparents and grandchildren are invited to take part in the following program:
The XXIX Pilgrimage to Fatima by the Prelature of the Armed and Security Forces, to be held on June 17/18 has, as theme: “The Cross, Sign of Life”. The main Mass of the pilgrimage is celebrated at 11h00 on June 18 in Most Holy Trinity
A month after the visit of Holy Father Benedict XVI to Portugal, the Shrine of Fatima recalls the “memorable event”, in the words of the Rector of the institution. In the June 13 issue of “Voz da Fátima” (Voice of Fatima), the official newspaper of the Shrine of Fatima, published only in Portuguese, Fr. Virgílio Antunes says, in his editorial, that, in this visit, “the Portuguese were excellent hosts, manifested a sincere friendship, and different kinds of institutions got together, resulting in a very good outcome”.
It will take place on June 4 thru 6, 2010, at Paul VI Pastoral Center, in the Shrine of Fatima, and it will be titled “Jacinta Marto: from encounter to compassion”. This occasion seems to us a good opportunity to approach the message of Fatima from the point of view of the spirituality of seer Jacinta. We’ll seek, therefore, to know better the personality of this child as well as to identify some relevant aspects of her interior attitude in order to use them as keys to open up for us both the message of Fatima and the Christian life.
The Shrine of Fatima awaits another great moment, the annual children’s pilgrimage to Fatima. This year, Bishop Manuel Clemente, of Porto, presides over this Feast, which is always held on June 9/10 and fills the Shrine with joy, color and hope.
"I come by this means to renew the expression of my gratitude to You and, through You, to all those who, in that beloved Diocese, I owe a word of thanks, specially at the Shrine of Fatima, for the loving way with which they received Me, doing all they could so that the Successor of Peter could pay homage to the Virgin Mother and proclaim Her glories to the innumerous crowd gathered there."
Children are the great protagonists in welcoming Pope Benedict XVI on his arrival at the Shrine of Fatima on May 12, at 17h30. Around the Little Chapel, where the Pope will go to as soon as he enters the Esplanade of the Shrine (Prayer Area), there will be the children who attend Catechesis classes in the Parish of Fatima. In the choir will be the children of the Children’s Choir of the Shrine of Fatima, most of them from the Parish of Fatima and surrounding towns.
The Vatican’s Spokesman presented this Tuesday the coming visit of Benedict Xvi to Portugal, on May 11 thru 14, emphasizing the importance the Shrine of Fatima has for the Pope. “Fatima is a particularly meaningful place for this Pope”, said Fr.Lombardi, who added that the Portuguese Shrine is the heart of the trip.
At the invitation of the Shrine of Fatima, children and adolescents attending catechesis at the Parish of Fatima are preparing to welcome Pope Benedict XVI on May 12, in the afternoon. The last details are being worked out, but already is certain that the parish where the Little Shepherd seers Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta were born, is preparing, under the overall supervision of Pastor Fr. Rui Marto, to bring its children and adolescents to greet Benedict XVI on arrival at the Shrine. The Pastor of Fatima says: “Our hearts vibrate with profound joy and wish to thank God and to receive, the best we know and can, beloved Pope Benedict XVI”.
One week after receiving the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, who presided over the International Pilgrimage of May 12/13 at the Shrine of Fatima, the Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will leave the Little Chapel of Apparitions – a rare phenomenon - and travel to the City of Leiria. The Statue will leave, for the eleventh time since 1942, the Shrine of Fatima to be present at the “Faith Feast” promoted by the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima. Its arrival at Leiria’s Tourism Office is scheduled for Friday May 21, at 21h15. After being received, it will be taken in a candlelight procession to Leiria’s Cathedral.
In his monthly reflection on today’s Church and World, published on Voz da Fátima (Voice of Fatima) titled “With Benedict XVI, apostles of Fatima”, the Rector of this Shrine says, regarding the apostolic trip of Benedict XVI to Portugal in the month of May, that the Pope’s pilgrimage to Cova da Iria “is the greatest sign that Fatima has a message for the XXI century and that, with God present, hope for mankind is possible”.
The Diocesan Community of Leiria-Fatima peregrinates to Fatima. Under the theme of “They were all untied and placed everything in common”, the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima is making its 79th pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fatima next March 21. The annual spiritual walk of Catholics of the Diocese to Fatima gives continuity to the initiative first realized in 1932, 2 years after Bishop José Alves Correia da Silva declared worthy of belief the Apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria.
In the afternoon of Palm Sunday, March 28, the Shrine of Fatima offers to its pilgrims and visitors a high level cultural program, the music concert “Requiem in memory of Prince Henry”, at 15h00, in Most Holy Trinity Church. The work will be performed by the Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt-Wiesbaden, together with choral group Schiersteiner Kantorei and soloists of international renown, all of them German. Maestro Martin Lutz conducts.
The Shrine of Fatima will open to the public on March 27, 2010, in one of the spaces of the Complex of Most Holy Trinity Church, a documental exhibition "The Bishop dressed in white: The Popes and Fatima", which will recall the papal visits to this Shrine. The initiative’s purpose is to recall, in the year Pope Benedict XVI visits Fatima, the different visits in which the Roman Pontiffs turned pilgrims of Our Lady of Fatima. Inauguration at 12h15, in the atrium of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, in the Complex of Most Holy Trinity Church, with the presence of the Bishop António Marto, of Leiria-Fatima.
The Rectory of the Shrine of Fatima is sending to the country’s diocesan bishops (concerning diocesan priests) and to Provincials of Religious Congregations (concerning their priests) the following information, regarding the signing up of priests to concelebrate the Mass of May 13, at 10h00, which will be celebrated in the Prayer Area of the Shrine of Fatima and presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.
On February 9, in Fatima, at the conclusion of another meeting of the Permanent Council of the Bishops Conference of Portugal (CEP), the Internet page relative to the visit of His Holiness Benedict XVI to Portugal in May 2010 was officially made public. The general theme for the visit was also decided: “With you, we walk in hope”, with the subtitle “Christianity, wisdom and mission”.
On February 20, 90th anniversary of death of Blessed Jacinta Marto, the Church celebrates the Liturgical Feast of Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the three seers of Fatima. The Shrine of Fatima prepares, again this year, a program addressed mainly to children, with an invitation to their families to attend times of prayer, catechesis and Mass.
On March 11, 2010, the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Jacinta Marto, the Shrine of Fatima is going to inaugurate, in the entrance hall of St. Augustine’s Convivium (meeting hall), in Most Holy Trinity Church Complex, an exhibition titled “Jacinta Marto: candle lighted by God” At 12:00
For 32 years in a row, the Shrine of Fatima invites hoteliers and people in charge of religious houses of this shrine-city that receive pilgrims to an annual meeting with the Shrine. Other local and regional personaliti4es have also been invited. The event will begin at the Little Chapel of Apparitions, at 15h00, with the celebration of Holy Mass, followed by the meeting itself, at 16h00, at the House of Our Lady of Sorrows.
To mark the World Day of the Sick, The Diocesan Service of the Pastoral Ministry of Health of Leiria-Fatima and the Center of Volunteers of Suffering invite all interested parties to participate in the Mass of Thursday February 11, at 16h00, in Little Chapel of Apparitions, at the Shrine of Fatima.