Fátima, Portugal
Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863), Indian-born English author
In 1982, Pope John Paul II gave thanks to the Virgin Mary for saving his life from an assassination attempt the previous year by embedding the bullet taken from his chest into the crown of Our Lady of Fátima. Built in 1928, the cream-colored neoclassical basilica stands on the site where, in 1917, three children saw six consecutive apparitions of the Virgin Mary, the third prophesying the death of a pope in 1981. The tombs of two of the children (Jacinta and Francisco) are housed in the basilica, and stained glass windows depict narrative scenes of the apparitions. At the center of this cathedral, which has fifteen altars honoring the mysteries of the Rosary, is the Chapel of Apparitions where a marble pillar marks the spot of the appearances.
If you wish to pray on behalf of your child or children everywhere, visit Our Lady of the Rosary, Fátima. Travel from Lisbon by rental car, bus, or by train and taxi.
Pray the Rosary for peace or offer the simple prayer Mary gave to the three children at Fátima: “My God, I believe, I adore.”
Four million people visit Fátima each year, with crowds swelling on May 13, the day of the first apparition, and on October 13, the day of the last appearance.