Cardinal Tagle to mark 100th anniversary of Fatima apparitions

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will lead Manila’s Catholic faithful on May 13 in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions at Fatima in Portugal.  The cardinal will preside over and evening Mass at the Our Lady of Fatima Parish of Pasay City, Metro Manila, which is also marking its 25 years.  During the liturgical celebration, the cardinal will bless and distribute 200 images of Our Lady of Fatima to different barangays and communities within the parish. 

Prior to the Mass, a grand Vicariate Procession of all the images of patron saints of parishes in Pasay will be held in the afternoon. Manila archdiocese-run Radio Veritas will also take part in the celebration by promoting a community rosary campaign. In the initiative, a statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be passed on and venerated from house to house and from one family to another until October 13, 2017.  At the end of the Block Rosary, a grotto will be set up at the center of each barangay where the images will be enthroned.Radio Veritas hopes that the campaign would “build and strengthen the baranggay community’s faith which is the building blocks of a parish community.”

The apparitions were witnessed by three shepherd children, Lucia Dos Santos and her ‎cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who reported that they saw visions of Mary six times beginning on May 13, 1917, and continuing once a month on the same day until Oct. 13.   At the site of the apparitions at Fatima shrine in Portugal, the celebration will be highlighted with a centenary Mass by Pope Francis who will declare Francisco and Jacinta saints

In the Philippines, where its various dioceses are expected to mark the centenary of the apparitions, the Our Lady of Fatima is also known as the Queen of Peace.  In Dagupan City a 5:39am Mass will be presided by Archbishop Socrates Villegas at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral and will be followed with a procession.  (Source: CBCP news)