06/04/10 We begin our Portugal Road Trip: Fatima

The Virgin Mary is ever present in Portugal. She hangs on walls made up of tiles, hanging on necks, in restaurants, sold in stores and statues are dedicated to her throughout the cathedrals. She represents hope and the true dedication that the Portuguese have to their Catholic history and religion. Which brings us to our first visit on our road trip...FATIMA!

We got up early to eat breakfast, packed small bags for the four day road trip and went downstairs to meet our driver Rui to make the journey to the great city of Fatima. What is the significance of Fatima you might say? Rachel, SG and I had seen the movie in Sunday school class and we had heard of the story from our Grandmother, but we had never been there and had no idea what we were about to enounter. The story of Fatima according to our Grandmother is:

She begins by saying...."I don't believe in it." Which is quite shocking to us since a huge part of the community believes it happened, but she is 90 years old and has a right to her opinion. :) She says that:
"There were these three little shepherds who were out watching their sheep and one of them saw the Virgin Mary. I don't know you better look it up, but they went home and told their parents we saw a beautiful lady dressed in blue and told us to come back again. The parents spanked the children for telling lies. That is what I heard, but they decided to go back anyway. At first the church was very much against it, they told them to keep their mouths shut, and they would say what are you doing, you are lying and they were ostracized by the town. Pretty soon they said the Blessed Virgin was about to appear to them and it was really important, the three shepherds saw her again and kept nodding their heads and the entire crowd that was there couldn't see the Blessed Virgin, but pretty soon the sun was spinning around and around and then started to get closer and larger! They thought it was the end of the world. The people started questioning them and took them to Lisbon and one of the boys got very sick, and the Blessed Virgin told them that two of them were going to die and go to heaven. Two of them died within the next few months. I am not sure of all these facts. I have heard so many. My mother used to tell them all the time. Lucia one of the girls had a letter and she said to open it up 50 years from the time they saw the Blessed Virgin. No one is sure what the words contained. There were some general statements, they predicted WWII and the assassination of the Pope...I don't know. He wasn't assassinated, he lived. But anyway, look it up in the computer they can give you a better story than I can give you. These were stories my mother told over and over again. And I didn't believe them then. The place was not as commercialized when I went in 1965. It was dirty when I came, it was the day after the 13th, May 14th I think. The first vision happened on the 13th. This was a lot better because all the stalls had been removed and it was clean. They have included a smaller church that blocks part of the larger church dedicated to Fatima, you could stand in front and see the entire church, now you can't. Before I saw where they used to live and it was covered in money, as a contribution to the children. At that time, only the little boy and girl were burried in the church and Lucia wasn't. She died in 2003. Look it up in the computer Margot, OK... I used to pray that the Blessed Virgin would appear to me. I still pray to the Blessed Virgin because I believe in her."

We arrive in Fatima:

Rachel:
We arrived in Fatima with the guidance of our driver Rui. All of us put away our tried complaining selves when we saw the magnificence of the church. The atmosphere was so serene. Grandma had already been before so she sat on the stone bench and swung her little legs that couldn't touch the ground while she waited for us. There was a huge stone like plaza that was as big as one soccer field leading up to the church. A smooth stone path led up to the stairs where people could walk on their knees to show their devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Grandma commented that those people were crazy and life should be about joy and not torturing themselves. Maybe it was joy for them? We did not walk on our knees but we did walk up with reverence. Up the stairs and into the church, we looked at all of the wonderful paintings of Mary and sat down in the pews. I meditated and prayed a bit and felt the energy of the room. So powerful! The tombs of the boy and girl were off to the side with flowers on top of them. There was a beautiful statue of Mary at the front of the church. I had heard the Dalai Lama speak in NYC the week before the trip and he mentioned he was at Fatima praying with the nuns. While he was speaking in the church he saw the statue of the Virgin Mary smile! He said "Is it my poor eyesight?" I secretly was staring at the Statue hoping for one little crack of a smile, but alas no change of countenance. Maybe next time:) After our prayers and soaking in the energy, we left the church with lighter hearts. What were we arguing about? Who knows. We walked back to our Grandma who was still swinging her legs on the bench under the tree where we left her. She asked us, "So how was it?" We didn't have many words about the experience. I think each of us had our own special connection to the place that words couldn't exactly describe. I don't know if I believe in the story or not. I believe the Virgin comes to certain people..possibly in a form for that individual to understand. Like maybe a Buddhist dakini is another form. I hope to visit again, maybe at that point I'll be walking on my knees.