14 june, 2012
| Bishop Nuno Brás, Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchate of Lisbon, is to preside to July’s Anniversary Pilgrimage. Following the custom of the Shrine of Fatima, which every month recalls the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, July’s pilgrimage will recall, in a special way, the third apparition on July 13, 1917. On July 12, Bishop Brás celebrates, in Fatima, the 25th anniversary of his First Mass, after being ordained. In declarations to the Shrine of Fatima, he had this to say: “The fact that I am able to celebrate it next to Our Lady and the pilgrims is a great grace. That is why I accepted the invitation of Bishop António Marto to preside over this pilgrimage with much gratitude, gratitude which I extend, naturally, to the Virgin Mary, for all these years of priesthood”. "God ought to be placed at the center of our lives” Ordained bishop on November 20, 2011, in the Monastery of Jerónimos, Bishop Brás unveiled to us the message he is bringing next month to Cova da Iria: “I only intend to recall the Message of Fatima, which is simply the message of the Gospel. The theme for July’s pilgrimage is taken from the words of Jesus: ‘I am the Way’ and I can’t but point out Jesus – as Mary did - as the way and meaning of our pilgrimage through life (…) Today, more than ever, God ought to be placed at the center of our lives. Only that way they can acquire their true meaning, which is what God Himself invites us to”, he urges. During his reflection on the Message of Fatima, the Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon also stressed that “the timeliness of the Message of Fatima is due, in the first place, to the timeliness of the Gospel, which is addressed to all cultures and all times, inviting us to conversion and prayer”. Bishop Brás goes on to say that this timeliness “was particularly stressed by the last two Popes, specially when they also turned pilgrims of Fatima”. |
