It was the bells and the singing.  We were a 5 minute walk to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, but you could hear the sounds and the music all the way to the center.  I did not think I would get as emotional as I did, but the place is overwhelming, well at least for me.

Our Lady appeared to 3 Portuguese children from May until October, always on the 13th of the month.  Except for in July when the government threw them in jail for lying.  She waited until the 15th. This was in the year 1917.  My mother had just been born.  She was dressed in white with a gold crown holding a rosary.  The village people were skeptical of these visions, some believed them, some did not including their own family members.  They wanted a sign….so on October 13th she made “the sun dance.”  She gave them 3 secrets.  All were written down by the children.  The first 2 were divulged pretty quickly, and the last one was read by Pope JP2 in 2000.  I first heard about all of this when I was a little girl.  Portugal and Fatima seemed very far away.

Yesterday, on my birthday, I attended Mass with 1,000’s of other people.  The entire service was close to 2 hours long.  The processional in was a sight to behold.  First the altar servers with the candles and incense, then about 75 priests who would be distributing communion.  Then came the men in “the party hats” as the big guy calls them, the bishops.  And then the statue of our Lady came in.  The mass itself was sung in Latin.  Had to go to the corners of my brain to remember the words.  Sister Mary Antonita would be proud.  It was extremely moving for me. After wards, when everything was finished, I actually found a nice quiet place and said my rosary.

This being the 100th anniversary of her appearing to the children, a lot of pilgrims are here.  They do a rosary every night at 6:00 and a candlelight procession at 9:30.  The one thing about mass yesterday, was even with all those people….it was quiet.  

I am truly blessed to have been able to come here and experience this miraculous place.