Were you ever in Fatima? No I don’t mean the Fatima you pass on the Luas. The Fatima I am writing about is in Portugal. It’s where Our Lady the Mother of God appeared to the three young shepherd children from the village of Aljustrel on six consecutive months in 1917, starting on 13 May.

The names of the three seers are Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Lucia described seeing Mary as “brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun.”. According to Lucia’s account Mary confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fatima.

There are plenty of groups who go out during the season, normally May to October and if you are there on the 13th of any of those months you will be impressed by the huge crowds and the ceremonies. The Portuguese people who travel by foot for days before the 13th come down a special narrow road in the sanctuary on their knees.

This tradition was started by the Portuguese because Sister Lucia asked Our Lady of Fatima for the favour of good health for her mother and had made a promise to go on her knees from the road to the place where Our Lady appeared to the three seers.

It’s worth remembering the families of the children had a very hard time during the apparitions. The land belonging to the family where the apparitions took place was rendered almost useless with so many people gathering on it to see Our Lady appearing. This caused great financial hardship as it was their livelihood.

Just outside the sanctuary you will see enclosed in glass a huge piece of the Berlin wall brought by a Portuguese man on the back of a truck from Germany. It is a symbol of the collapse of communism a promise made by Our Lady.

The sanctuary at Fatima is a very peaceful place and it is very pleasant to spend some time in there. In the basilica there is a beautiful statue of the immaculate heart over the door. This statue is the work of Fr Thomas McGlynn O.P who spent some time with Sister Lucia in the making of the clay model.

Sister Lucia was born on the 23rd July 1907 and she died at her convent in Colmbra about fifty kms from Fatima. Lucia died on February 13, 2005, at the age of 97. Francisco and Jacinta Marto were both victims of the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1919.

Everyone has first impressions so take time to let everything sink in and form your own opinions. You will be most welcome if you pay a visit to the convent of perpetual rosary monastery Pius XII where there are a few Irish nuns. If you get a chance to get to Fatima don’t be put off because of the religious aspect as it has more to offer. It is a place of pilgrimage and is a very special and peaceful location.

There are many ways of getting there by aeroplane, car or ship. The trip by plane takes just over two hours and then on to Fatima one and a half hours. The weather can be mixed so go prepared.

Above is the Basilica and the three young visionaries.