Walk with Sandra: Fatima, Portugal (August 20 & 21, 2014)

I took a 1.5 hour bus ride from Lisbon to Fatima (one-way cost was 11.40 euros on Rede Expressos) to pay homage to Our Lady of the Rosary. It was reported that on 13 May 1917 in the Cova da Iria, a parish in Fatima, three young shepherds, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, ages 10, 9, and 7 respectively, saw the apparition of our Lady holding a white rosary and "shining more brilliantly than the sun". Our Lady told the children to pray often and invited them to return to the spot for the next five consecutive months on the 13th day of the month and at the same hour. At the last apparition on 13 October 1917, she told about 70,000 people present that she was the "Lady of the Rosary" and gifted the miracle of the sun to those present. The sun resembled a silver disc that could be gazed at without difficulty; it whirled upon itself like a wheel of fire and seemed to fall upon the earth. The Chapel of the Apparitions in the Sanctuary in Fatima now stands at the spot where our Lady stood.

I didn't feel disoriented in Fatima the way I would normally feel when I arrived at a new place. Fatima felt familiar despite it being my first time there ~ perhaps it reminded me of Lourdes, another Marian shrine in France, which I visited in 2009. The Sanctuary was divinely spiritual and when I arrived at the Chapel of the Apparitions at 3:30 pm for the English Mass on my first day there, I felt called to serve. When the priest asked if anyone in the assembly was willing to do the reading, I volunteered in a heart beat. This was only my second foray as a lector (my first time being in Santiago de Compostela at an English Mass). I felt privileged to serve, to give back for all that I'd been given and graced with.

The priest spoke about unity in the English Mass and really, the message was apropos and received not a moment too soon. I am appalled and revolted by the ongoing violence in Syria, Iraq, Russia, and Ukraine, and the killing of innocents (James Foley and all aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 for example). I am also dumbfounded to hear in the news about the preposterous black masses and those who feel a need to "come out" as atheists. People, not God, make wars; people, not God, cause conflicts and divisions. As more and more people choose to take fate into their own hands and defy and denounce God, unity and peace will elude us. God is love and love is a powerful tool; so is humility. We have free will to choose - do we choose love and humility or do we choose hate and pride? When we forsake ourselves and our own wills, and choose to do God's will, when we seek the grace to accept our crosses, when we pray for strength and trust in God, and when we pray for the healing from our pride that so often takes us far from God, we gain humility and the inner peace in the knowledge that all will be well, despite everything that had happened (to us and around us).

Alas, I realized that humanity is broken (thus the need for a Power greater than ourselves to restore us to wholeness). Even in Fatima, greed prevailed. I was really disappointed that the hotel I booked my stay in resorted to half-truths to fill their rooms. Newly-opened Hotel Nossa Senhora de Lurdes in Fatima advertised that guests could "stay connected (with) friends, family, and colleagues with wired and wireless High Speed Internet Access." When I checked in at the hotel, they nonchalantly said that WiFi was only available in the first floor lobby area, not in the rooms. I was mad at the deception and said that I would not have booked a single room there if I had known that WiFi was unavailable in the rooms. They didn't want to invest the money to install WiFi in the rooms and yet wanted to dishonestly tout the service. The point is not the WiFi, but the principle. I was mad at their false advertising (lies). I was mad that money meant so much to them. I was mad at their "zero sum" (I win, you lose) mentality. Like Jesus who got mad at the money changers and sellers in the temple and overturned their tables; like Jesus who said to them, "It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a 'den of robbers'." (Matthew 21:12-13), I was mad that some people chose money above everything else and acted like robbers instead of prayerful people (considering we're in Fatima).

That experience aside, I received several graces in Fatima. One, I picked up praying the rosary again in Fatima after a long abstinence. It was faith-bonding and grounding. Next, I encountered several really sweet and nice people. At an international Mass in the Sanctuary (on my second day there), a sweet old lady gave me two kisses on the cheeks during the offering of peace. Her eyes spoke of love and acceptance and her heart so open with joy and gratitude, I was touched by her graciousness. Then, I was offered a ride to the start of the Stations of the Cross when I asked a man at a market if he knew where the park was. He said it was easier to take me there by car than to tell me in words (especially since he spoke little English). Simple generosity, the stuff that melts my heart and restores my faith in humanity. In general, the pilgrims in Fatima were mostly ordinary folks and families with boundless faith. I tip my hat to those who walked to the Chapel of the Apparitions on their knees ~ a true witness to humility and penance; such blessedness.

On my final morning in Fatima, I visited the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament to pray and meditate. I asked for guidance as I approached the end of my pilgrimage and heard a message to "Go forth emboldened and enlightened for I am with you." Amen. Thanks be to God.