FÂTIMA, SANTUARIO di. — In the diocese of Leira, in the Serra d’Aire range, on a karst plateau, on terrain dating from the Tertiary period, stands the village of F., unknown throughout the world until 1917. The name is evidently of Arabic origin, deriving from the Muslim invasion, which devastated southern Portugal above all until 1140. There is only one legend concerning the origin of the name.
In the Conca de Iria (Conca of S. Irene), on 13 May 1917, Lucia dos Santos (10 years old), Francesco Marto (9 years old), and Giacinta Marto (7 years old) were grazing the flock, as on other days, on a property belonging to Lucia’s father. At noon, a powerful flash of light: a most beautiful Lady appeared above a hill. She enjoined secrecy and urged prayers to hasten the end of the war. On the following 13th, and so on until October, the little shepherds returned to see and speak with the apparition. In August the little shepherds were
FATIMA, SANTUARIO di — Shrine of Our Lady of F. and procession with the statue of the Madonna.
placed in prison, and the apparition took place at the locality of Valinhos, near their home. In October the vision revealed itself for what it was: Our Lady of the Rosary, who once again urged prayer and penance for the cessation of the war, also prophesying another scourge if the world did not convert. The Child Jesus and s. Joseph also appeared with the Madonna. These apparitions were confirmed by meteorological phenomena, attested by a large part of the 60,000 pilgrims present. There were no further apparitions in the Conca de Iria; but after mons. Giuseppe Alves Correia de Silva, bishop of Lairia, in whose territory F. lies together with the hamlet of the Conca, authorized worship of Our Lady of F. in 1930, the crowds of pilgrims increased every year, coming not only from the Iberian Peninsula but from all parts of Europe, especially Belgium and Holland, and from the United States of America. A small chapel was built on the very site of the apparitions: the chapel was provided with a statue, which established the traditional model of the Madonna of F.; it was solemnly crowned on 13 May 1946 by the papal legate, card. Aloisi Masello, in the presence of more than 600,000 people. A magnificent shrine is rising, which, together with the numerous religious houses (among them the modern seminary of the Missionaries of the Consolata of Turin), will give the Conca de Iria the appearance of a civitas sancta, as at Lourdes.
Here too, in fact, miracles of both a physical and a supernatural nature are multiplying; the characteristic of the message of F. is indeed its call to penance, and one sees nothing but crowds or individual devotees animated by this singular spirit. From the shrine, the Madonna began to make pilgrimages throughout the world, « Missionaria di Dio », and all the peoples of East and West consider it an honour to receive her and have her as their protectress.
Recently, the process of beatification of the two siblings Francesco and Giacinta was introduced in the diocese of Leira, while the visionary Lucia is in the Carmelite convent of Coimbra, and from there continues to guide many souls toward devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary. — Vedi tav. LXXII.