Fatima is a small town in Portugal. It is one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world today. It is located in the west central part of Portugal, in the region of Leiria. Fatima is approximately 110 kilometers north of Lisbon.
The sanctity of Fatima dates not from the Middle Ages but from the early 20th century. Fatima was then a small rural village in a rocky region whose main product was olive oil. In the years 1916 and 1917, a series of apparitions were seen by 3 young children. The children claimed to have seen the “Virgin of the Rosary”, Our Lady of Fatima.
The children actually experienced the Marian apparitions in a pasture called the Cova da Iria near the village of Aljustrel, about a mile from Fatima. The apparitions greatly transformed both their own lives and the atmosphere of the peasant village.
After word spread from mouth to mouth on October 17, the appointed date for the next apparition drew 70,000 people from all over Europe. The day was dark and rainy. The apparition announced to the children that she was in fact Mary, the mother of Christ. She asked that prayers be said for the end of the First World War and that a church be built in her honor. She then vanished in a blazing light.
Many thousands of those who had assembled reported seeing a movement in the heavens. To them it appeared as if the sun were dancing, whirling toward the earth and moving away again. Others reported feeling the ground shake forcefully beneath their feet. Strangely after the twirling of the great body of light, the crowd found its clothing completely dry and the rains stopped. The shrine of Fatima was built to commemorate the events of 1917.
Today, the economy of the town relies on religious tourism. Fatima now attracts a large number of believers from far and wide, particularly on the pilgrimage days. The shrine has been rebuilt on a correspondingly large scale to accommodate the multitudes. The town has many shops and stalls selling all kinds of religious articles. The town is replete with hotels, hostels and restaurants.
Detailed online information on Fatima can be obtained on travel.mapsofworld
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