A spiritual moment in Fatima

One of the cultural constituents of Portugal is its bonds to the Catholic Church. Like the Spanish, the Portuguese are quite conventional Catholics and some of them are devouts. But regardless of religion, you can have a spiritual moment in Fatima. And that is mainly because the little town in the district of Santarem is a place of great beauty first and foremost. But there is another reason and we’ll discover it.

Fatima has been a place of pilgrimage for Christians all over the world since the beginning of the 20th century. It has come to be assimilated with the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Cova da Iria. This took place in 1917 and the events were recognized by the Catholic Church.

First, let’s see what Fatima is. Its legends and history are amazing, even the old ones. In the middle ages, there was a Moorish princess named Fatima who lived in the region. Christian Knight Goncalo Hermingues kidnapped the beautiful girl and took her to a village in the Serra de Aire hills. Fatima fell in love with her assailant and converted to Christianity. In return, a village was named after her and she received a new, Christian name: Oureana. Ourem is the name of the municipality where Fatima is located today.

As for the Christian pilgrimages, these have been fueled by the 1917 apparitions of the “Virgin of the Rosary”. Three peasant kids reportedly saw an angelic figure, who revealed three secrets. The figure appeared every month on the 13th from May to October 1917.

What about the secrets? Of the three secrets revealed by the Virgin, the first was a vision of Hell, the second – a prediction about the Second World War and the third has been a Vatican secret since 1957. Until the third secret is revealed, the Sanctuary of Fatima is visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists every year. If you want to come witness, you can also put on your travel list some online transfers from Lisbon Airport to Fatima.