We left Fatima last Saturday after spending two and a half days there on our own. It was a much needed rest and spiritual break where I could just be with Jesus and His mother, and focus on the message of Fatima - of repentance and prayer.
Every morning P and I traced the path Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia took every day from their homes in Aljustrel to Cova da Iria, where they pastured their sheep (and it marks the site of the last apparition and the miracle of the spinning sun).
We did the Stations of the Cross surrounded by groves of olive trees and along the way we stopped by Loca do Anjo where the angel of peace appeared to the three children twice.
We also stopped by Valinhos where Our Lady appeared to them a fourth time on 19 August 1917.
In Aljustrel itself, a small hamlet, we visited the houses where the three children lived and also the well where the angel of Portugal appeared to them.
And, of course, we went for mass in the Chaoel of Apparitions daily, prayed in the new and old minor basilicas, and visited the sanctuary museums.
The highlight for me was being able to participate in the candlelit procession within the sanctuary complex nightly with thousands of other believers. It is during such moments where I truly felt that prayer transforms the world and I was part of this intercessory effort.
After the last mass before our departure (I gatecrashed a group of Indonesian pilgrims having private mass) as the English mass didn’t materialise as scheduled) I felt my heart sing, full of joy and peace. My spiritual cup was full. I felt blessed and loved by the Lord and His mother.
No matter what life throws at me, I know that these experiences of deep intimacy and grace will be with me forever, like how I know, in a very real way, I am His beloved daughter till I die, and beyond.
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