Fatima

Our early morning dash to get to Fatima! A metro ride first before hopping on to a bus for the journeyLocated in west central Portugal, in the region of Leiria and approximately 110 kilometers north of Lisbon, the small town of Fatima has one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world today. Freezing coldddddOn our way to the Shrine of Our Lady of the RosaryPuffing away to keep warmHere we are !Behold! The Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima in the background, whilst standing in the vast central plaza. The huge magnitude of the plaza reminded me of St Peter's Basilica in Rome.Some four million people visit Fatima each year, drawn by apparitions of the Virgin Mary reported by three local shepherd children in 1917.On the 13th of each month from May to October 1917, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to three shepherd children - Lúcia dos Santos (age 10) and her cousins Jacinta (age 7) and Francisco Marto (age 9) - in the fields outside the village of Aljustrel near Fatima. Postcard perfect

We joined in an ongoing mass and again, I am very thankful for my wonderful camera which allowed me to capture all the above perfect pictures without the use of any flash. In religious places of interest, sometimes flash photography may not be welcome.

DD dozing off in the ergo ...

Outside the Chapel of ApparitionsVisiting the Church of the Most Holy Trinity - Portugal’s biggest church and the fourth largest Catholic church in the world

The church can seat 9000 pilgrims at any one time and was constructed between 2004 and 2007 at a cost of 80 million euros, entirely funded from donations from pilgrims