Hotel Santo Condestavel

The 13th of the month

by mikelisaanna

The 13th days of the months of May through October are Fatima's busiest days. Those were the days when the shepherd children had their visions of VIrgin Mary in 1917, and pilgrims still come to Fatima on those days every year.

Confess Your Sins

by mikelisaanna

The Chapel of Reconciliation (Capela da Reconciliacao) is where Catholic visitors to Fatima can confess their sins to priests on a one-on-one basis. Priests are available in most major languages of European and North and South American Catholicism (English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Polish, Italian, etc.).

There's nothing to see in Fatima...

by stamporama

...but PLENTY to experience. Like Lourdes, Fatima also has a rosary and candlelight procession every evening. It is not as crowded as Lourdes but that's probably because the latter is celebrating its jubilee (150 years); aside from that Fatima does not have a spring reputed to have healing powers so you hardly see any sick people on wheelchairs.

But physical healing is not the only reason why pilgrims flock here. A good number of Catholics seek spiritual healing and enlightenment, and though they may only get to see the apparition sites and no actual apparitions, their faith somehow gets 'recharged' by the mere fact that the Virgin appeared here and that is enough reason to fly thousands of miles to this sleepy town.

The story of Fatima of course is focused on the 3 shepherd children who lived in the town and saw the apparitions. How they lived is just as interesting as what they saw and heard, and as with Bernadette of Lourdes, they all led simple lives in humble homes.

Sinners & Saints

by Imaniac

Fátima is known all over the world as a place of religion. People come here to pay for their sins. They do this by walking on their knees across the square. Although it's an amazing site to see, I'd hate to be in their shoes, or knees.