Our Lady of Fatima to travel to Rome for the Jubilee in October The famous statue of Our Lady of Fatima, venerated worldwide, will be in Rome on October 11-12, 2025 for the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality. The original statue Our Lady of Fatima is to travel from the Portuguese Marian shrine to Rome in October, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Marian Spirituality, scheduled for October 11-12. The famous image of the Virgin, known worldwide and a symbol of “Hope that does not disappoint”, will be present among the faithful during the Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, October 12, 2025, at 10:30am, further enriching this moment of prayer and reflection. According to a communiqué released on Thursday by the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, entry to St. Peter’s Square for the Eucharistic Celebration will be free, and registration to participate in the Jubilee event is already open on its website. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatic...utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NewsletterVN-EN
Today being July 13th.. recalling perhaps the most serious of the Fatima messages. Feels like we are living in these times https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/third-apparition-of-our-lady-23365
I cannot help but notice that the government attacked and tried to shut down the event with all of its influence. Very dark. Mark 12:1-12
From EchoLive.ie: Thu, 16 Jul, 2026 - 11:00 John Arnold: My pilgrimage to Fatima left me pondering mysteries of life I was one of a group of around 30 led by Patsy Foley, and we endured 40C heat for several days! MYSTERY AND MYSTIQUE: The painting of 'The Calling of Saint Matthew' by Caravaggio John Arnold One of the most famous paintings by the Italian artist Caravaggio is ‘The Calling of Saint Matthew’. Painted around the year 1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in Rome, the masterpiece still hangs there to this day. Like the Mona Lisa by Leonarda da Vinci, ‘The Calling’ has a certain mystery and mystique about it. Just as no one knows if the female figure is smiling in mirth or in happiness, similar questions remain four centuries after it was completed. Unusual, you may say, that in the middle of a sweltering heatwave artistic mysteries such as these might be on my mind! Well, ye might think it’s warm or hot or boiling here in Ireland this week, but wait until I tell of my recent travels when 36C was the norm and we endured 40C on several days! Last year, in the month of July, I visited Fatima in Portugal for the first time and recently I returned once more to a little village made famous in the years 1916 and 1917. Though Fatima has an indigenous population of only around 10,000, it was officially declared a city in 1997. The ‘Story of Fatima’ really has its origins in the little rural village of Aljustrel and the nearby hilly, rocky district of Loca de Caleco. When I visited these areas last week, the white-washed, red-tiled buildings basked in glorious sunshine. Even at 9am when we were there, the sky was azure blue, not a cloud to be seen. I was one of a pilgrimage group of around 30 led by Patsy Foley - most of us had been to this Marian Shrine location in Portugal before but for a few it was their first glimpse of all the places which brought Fatima to the notice of the world 110 years ago. The people of Aljustrel and surrounding areas made a poor living by growing fruit and olives and herding sheep flocks. We walked through the simple homes of the Marto and des Santos families - first cousins. From these simple abodes in 1916, Francesco and Jacinta Marto and their cousin Lucia des Santos walked with their sheep to rough, hilly pastures - they always ‘did their farm jobs’ very early in the morning before the sun was high - often at 5am. If they finished early, they sometimes went to the local school - school attendance in Portugal was not compulsory at that time. They were simple, illiterate children who were taught basic Christian prayers in their own homes. With relations, they’d have attended Mass in the nearby parish church. As with our visit last year, we had a simply wonderful guide. Elsa joined us when we landed at Faro Airport and journeyed with us by bus to Fatima. She was our constant guide there for four full days. Then she accompanied us down to Villa Moura on the Algarve and finally saw us all onto our plane from faro to Cork. On the sweltering morning we visited the parish church where Francesco, Jacinta and Lucia received their first Communion, Elsa was with us to reveal the story of the 400- year-old building: A very simple church with some beautiful frescoes and murals. To the left of the main altar is a ‘battered and worn’ statue - Our Lady of Joy. It’s carved from stone, very heavy. So much so that in anticipation of a marauders’ attack on the Church in the 1700s, the locals, when they were unable to move it to safety, built a ‘false wall’ to conceal the statue. It was only in the 1970s when the church was being painted and refurbished that this wall was found, removed, and the ‘hidden’ statue was revealed again. During 1916, on three different occasions - twice on the hillside and once at a well behind Lucia’s home - the three children saw strange sights - strange to their eyes. Many years later, Lucia wrote extensively of these visions. An angel in the persona of a boy appeared before them. They were frightened but too riveted to the spot to run away, and the angel told them he was an Angel of Peace, the Angel of Portugal, and foretold that they would have another visitor. Then, on May 13, 1917, a ‘Lady’ appeared to them. Visiting all these apparition places in recent days, it occurred to me that the words of Linda Martin’s Eurovision winning Song Why Me? must have been on the children’s lips. They were bothered and bewildered and when they eventually told others they were mocked, scorned, and no-one believed them. Lucia wrote that her mother scolded her and ordered her to “stop telling lies”. Our Lady asked the children to return to the same place on the 13th of each month - from May to October. The messages given by Our Lady to the children were not easy listening. She asked them to pray, pray, pray, and ‘make sacrifices’ for the sins and wrongdoings of others. A tall order to give to three little children indeed - no wonder they might ask the lady, ‘why me?’ On the Saturday of our visit to Fatima, with an ever rising thermometer, we breakfasted at 7am and set off walking the short distance from our hotel to the start of the Hungarian Stations. Fr O Donnell led us along the long and winding road that saw us follow in the children’s footsteps. During World War II, many thousands of Hungarians sought and got refuge in neutral Portugal. In thanksgiving, and in the hope that Communism might fall in Hungary, Hungarian people from all over the world donated funds to construct these unique Stations of the Cross. As we walked up the inclines in the early-morning heat, our prayer of the Rosary was nearly drowned out by the massive din from literally thousands of crickets with their repetitive tick-tick sound. Apart from the individual Stations on the stone path, the countryside here has changed little since Francesca, Jacinta and Lucia tended their flocks. They missed their ‘appointment’ with Our Lady on August 13 - having been imprisoned by the authorities in an attempt to force the children to renounce all they had said. However, on her last visit - October 13, 1917 - the sun ‘danced’ on a miserably wet day in front of 70,000 onlookers. Francesco died in his own bed in 1919. The following year little Jacinta died -in a hospital bed far from Fatima - as she had predicted. They were both beatified by Pope John Paul and canonised by Pope Francis on May 13, 2017- exactly a century after the children’s first visit from Our Lady. We visited their graves in the Basilica - where Lucia was also interred when she died in 2005. We had Evening Mass in our hotel each evening with Fr O Donnell. In one homily, he mentioned ‘The Calling of Saint Matthew’. “Try and look at the painting some time,” he told us. In it, Jesus and Peter have arrived in the room where Matthew and other tax-collectors are gathered round a table counting the money. They seem to taken by surprise by the arrival of these two strangers. In the painting, Jesus seems to be pointing at Matthew as if calling him to ‘join up’ with the other Apostles. The bearded Matthew in turn has an outstretched finger which is pointing at himself as if asking ‘Me, why me?’ It’s a question the little children at Fatima were asked. I suppose everyone of us at some point in our life is asked a question we’re not expecting, and we too are inclined to ask ‘Why me?’
Very nice article. I think Our Lady's last visit to the 3 shepherds on which day the miracle of the sun occurred was October 13.
I really enjoyed my visit to Fatima it felt very homily. It was like being home. One regret was I did not know about the little, 'train', that drives run the sites. You jump on board and get get on and off. Also since I was only there for a day I did not get to see so much. The most moving thing was to stand beside the actual holm oak tree on which Mary stood. I still don't think they released the Third Secret of Fatima and may God forgive them for this. I still pray for sinners in danger of hell on my rosary every day. A wonderful devotion. I would advise anyone going to go off season when it is cool. You don't want to melt.
I must watch this later. One thing genuinely puzzles me about all this. Out Lady herself the Queen of Heaven asked that the Secret be released no later than 1960. No one disputes that Our Lady appeared at Fatima , the Church herself recognises this. But the Secret was not released as Our Blessed Mother asked. I cannot understand how any Pope, Cardinal or Bishop could disobey the Queen of Heaven like this. It is as though they were saying that they know better than the Queen of Heaven. I don't know how anyone can justify themselves on doing this. It is disobedience. I heard one Curial Official said , 'We well not be told what to do by three peasant children on a mountain in Portugal'. But this is pride. There is no humility in any of this. If your Heavenly Mother asks that you do something you do it, like a good little child. So sad.
Thanks InVeritatem, I corrected the date. I think it was just a typo, as earlier in the article he says the apparitions were on the 13th of the month, from May to October. October 13th is also the date on which Blessed Alexandrina died in 1955. She is sometimes referred to as the Fourth Seer of Fatima.
From The National Catholic Register: The Blessed Who Influenced the Pope to Consecrate the World to Mary During World War II Alexandrina's life has many connections with the events of Our Lady of Fatima and she is known in Portugal as “the fourth seer of Fatima.” Diego Lopez Marina/CNANewsMarch 22, 2022 Blessed Alexandrina of Balazar influenced Venerable Pius XII to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1942. On March 25, Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the request of the Latin Rite bishops of Ukraine in wake of the Russian invasion of the country Feb. 24. An excerpt from the book “Blessed Alexandrina, a living miracle of the Eucharist” by Kevin Rowles says that the blessed was one of the “great Catholic mystics of modern times.” Alexandrina was born in Balazar, fewer than 20 miles southwest of Braga, on March 30, 1904 and was raised in the Catholic faith. In her 20s she became bedridden after being injured while escaping from an attacker. On April 14, 1925 Alexandrina was laid in bed, completely paralyzed, not to get up for the remaining 30 years of her life. As soon as she realized that suffering was her calling, she embraced it. She would say: “Our Lady has granted me an even greater grace. First resignation, then complete conformity to the will of God, and finally the desire to suffer.” In 1936, as requested by Christ, she asked the Roman Pontiff, through Father Marian Pinho, her spiritual director, to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This plea was renewed several times until 1941, causing the Vatican to question the Archbishop of Braga about Alexandrina on three occasions. On Oct. 31, 1942, Venerable Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a message transmitted to Fatima in Portuguese. This act was renewed in Rome at Saint Peter’s Basilica Dec. 8 that year. Alexandrina's life has many connections with the events of Our Lady of Fatima and she is known in Portugal as “the fourth seer of Fatima.” She urged everyone on more than one occasion to “do penance, sin no more, pray the rosary, receive the Eucharist.” From Friday, Oct. 3, 1938, to March 24, 1942, she experienced the sufferings of the Passion every Friday. Beginning March 27, 1942, Alexandrina stopped eating, and during the last 13 years of her life she lived on the Eucharist alone. In 1943, for 40 days and 40 nights, her total fasting and anuria were strictly controlled by doctors at the Foz do Douro hospital near Porto. In 1944, her new spiritual director, Father Umberto Pasquale, encouraged Alexandrina to join the Association of Salesian Cooperators. On Oct. 12, 1955, she received the Anointing of the Sick, and she died at 7:30 p.m. the next day.
Personally, I think the Popes and bishops / cardinals of influence believed that Our Lady visited earth at Fatima. But they were hedging their bets as to whether to believe all that Lucia was reporting as the words of Our Lady. This may have been because there was such a long delay in the original apparitions and when Lucia finally wrote down the third secret. What makes me think this is something Fr. Groeschel of the Franciscans of the Renewal said in one of his lectures on apparitions. He said that Sr. Lucia had changed her story. However, immediately after he said that, his microphone failed (perhaps the Angel of Portugal had something to do with that, I do believe). So if someone like Fr. Groeschel was thinking like that, I reckon such thinking was more widespread. But there was some very murky goings on I have to say. In the video I posted above, David Rodriguez documents extensively that Archbishop Capovilla held up two envelopes, allegedly containing the two parts of the third secret - 1. the words describing the vision given to Sr. Lucy that the Vatican released, 2. the words of Our Lady explaining the vision - which followed "the dogma of the faith will always be kept in Portugal etc.". Most importantly, Rodriguez says that the words written by Sr. Lucy - "To be opened in 1960 ... by express wishes of Our Lady" [forgive me I do not have the exact words here] were clearly visible on both envelopes. Now, when Sr. Lucy was questioned on why the secret was to be revealed in 1960 she said it was because the message would be clearer by then and also that Our Lady wished it so. However, later she apparently contradicted herself saying that it was for the Pope to decide when to open it. Very murky goings on indeed. I am not laying any blame on Sr. Lucy but there are clearly things about this story of Fatima that are still shrouded in mystery.
