30 june, 2015
"Blessed are those families whose grandparents are close!" (Pope Francis)
On July 26, the liturgical feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus, the Shrine of Fatima celebrates Grandparents Day.
Aware of the mission and the importance of grandparents in the lives of families, the Shrine of Fatima could not pass this day without a program specially dedicated to them. Therefore, the 26th July begins in the Chapel of the Apparitions, at 10:00, with the recitation of the Rosary, followed by Mass at 11.00 in the Precinct with the consecration to Our Lady of the grandparents and the farewell procession. On the afternoon will take place the meeting with grandparents at about 15:00 in the Chapel of the Death of Jesus.
When Pope Francis met with seniors and grandparents on September 28, 2014, in St. Peter´s Square, he said: "To the grandparents, who received the blessing of seeing the children´s children, a great task is entrusted: to convey the experience of life, the history of a family, a community, a people; to share, with simplicity, a wisdom and faith itself, which is the most precious heritage! Happy those families whose grandparents are close! The grandfather is father twice and the grandmother also is two times mother. In countries where raged and lasted a cruel religious persecution, [...], grandparents often took the children to be baptized in secret, and it was they who transmitted and gave faith to them. How brave they were! They were courageous and valiant during persecution and saved the faith in those countries! "
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