Overview
- The feast, observed Wednesday, drew crowds to Masses, rosary vigils and candlelit processions across Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
- In Spain, Vigo’s Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Fátima held hourly liturgies through the day that ended with an evening street procession behind the Marian image.
- In Argentina, Mendoza’s parish scheduled morning and evening Masses with continuous rosary prayer, while Mar del Plata marked the day with a rain-soaked march and a diocesan Mass.
- The devotion stems from six reported apparitions in 1917 to Lucía dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, whose messages urged daily Rosary prayer, penance and conversion.
- Coverage also recalls the October 1917 “miracle of the sun,” the 1930 diocesan approval, John Paul II’s link to his 1981 survival and the Vatican’s 2000 release of the third secret.