Children’s Pilgrimage will speak to the heart of the little pilgrims through the heart of the Shrine

Children’s Pilgrimage will speak to the heart of the little pilgrims through the heart of the Shrine

The meeting, to be held on July 10th, begins in the heart of the Shrine, the Chapel of the Apparitions, to rise, in the children´s heart, gratitude for the gift of pilgrimage in Church

In the centennial year of the Chapel of the Apparitions construction, the Children Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Fátima theme, will follow the request that Our Lady made to the Little Shepherds in the October´s apparition in 1917: “A Chapel is to be built here”, in order to, from the place considered the heart of the Shrine, raise the children sense of gratitude for the gift of pilgrimage in Church.   

“We want to help children discover the Chapel of the Apparitions as the heart of the Shrine and a goal of a pilgrim Church, which gathers here to live and celebrate its faith, but also to learn, with Mary, to build itself as God´s people, spiritual construction where God lives, holy nation, called to proclaim the wonders of God”, it is offered in the Pilgrimage program.

In the Pilgrimage preparation, children are challenged to carry on the usual May campaign, which this year proposes the discovery of the pilgrim Cristian identity, through the preparation of a backpack and paper cuts of four essential supplies and supports for a pilgrimage: water, bread, a map and a stick, symbols of Baptism, Eucharist, Word of God and the availability of the heart, respectively.  

The program begins in the afternoon of the 9th, with a visit, at 6.00PM, to the Angel and Our Lady´s Apparitions locations, in Aljustrel, Loca do Cabeço and Valinhos. At 9.30PM in the Chapel of the Apparitions, a celebration takes place under the theme “Mary, the Mother who shelters us in her Chapel”, which includes the Rosary, candle procession and a moment to offer flowers to Our Lady.  

The next day begins as the previous one, with the greeting and offering of flowers to Our Lady at 9.00 AM and half an hour later, the first presentation of the theatrical performance of the pilgrimage theme in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, to be repeated at 3.00PM. The little pilgrims will later return to the Chapel of the Apparitions, where they are invited to pray the Rosary at 10.00AM. The Pilgrimage Mass, celebrated one hour later in the Prayers Area, will be presided by the Auxiliary Bishop of Porto, Monsignor Armando Esteves Domingues. The farewell moment, when a souvenir from the day is to be distributed, will happen at 3.00PM with the theme “Go with Mary and build the house of God”.

The Pilgrimage organisation team will be operating in the Information Station 2, located near the north entrance of the Prayers Area, and medical assistance will be set in the first aid post, located behind the Large Holm Oak.

The Children Pilgrimage happens for more than four decades and gathers, every year, thousands of children in the Shrine of Fátima.