Although we have heard of Fatima so much we really didn’t know what to expect. We visited for 24 hours the day after Pope Francis was at the sanctuary to canonize Jacinta and Francesco, two of the three shepherd children to whom Mary appeared in an oak tree the site now of a chapel at one side of the enormous plaza. Papa Francesco performed the canonization on May 12 and the 100th anniversary of the first apparition on May 13.

When we arrived in May 14 the huge crowds had gone and the giant spaces were fairly quiet. We attended Sunday mass in the newer of the two basilicas, beautifully decorated with a gilded mural of Our Lady with the three shepherd children and a host of saints. The figure of Jesus on the cross was strikingly muscular and had thick, curly hair like a young Portuguese fisherman.

Our greatest experience was in the quiet and cool evening, when we walked the Via Sacra, which wends through olive trees a short distance from the sanctuaries. Ed and I said the rosary together as we walked. Mary urged the children and the crowds who gathered for her second and third appearances to pray the rosary for peace. Our peaceful experience at Fatima increases our appreciation for this prayer practice. We keep our family and friends in our hearts.