To continue my adventures in Europe this last weekend, I had the pleasure of going to Fatima Italy, home of Our Lady of Fatima, one of two very well known Marian apparitions in the world. It was amazing!But I'll get there...
This was my first time in a country in which I didn't speak the language. I've only, up until this weekend, been in Spanish speaking countries, and I've always had, to varying degrees, Spanish to get by on. This time, not so much. Luckily, I was traveling with a friend who had a very helpful phrase book. Nothing I learned really stuck, but I will say it was a comfort to have someone else who was making an effort to speak Portuguese along.
We boarded a train from Burgos at about 22.00, or 10:00 pm. It's not such a bad idea, if you don't mind sleeping on a train. The way I thought of it, it was kind of like two for one, transportation and board. Albeit, cramped board. If you know what I'm talking about, imagine the South Shore, with a little less leg room, more cushions, and a heater. With my trusty neck pillow, I managed to get some sleep, but if you're riding the Renfe train (or any train I imagine) overnight, get a window seat.
In the morning, we arrived in Lisboa, Portugal. I must say, the city is quite beautiful. There are two stations in Lisboa,, and we picked Santa Apolonia, in the historic district. I think that was a good choice. In the few minutes we had before heading out to Fatima, we were able to get a quick look around the city. It's a port town, right along a river that leads to the ocean, and it's reflected in the architecture. Whereas the places I've been to in Spain are very red colored, Lisboa is mostly light colors; blues, pinks, yellows. The iron work on the buildings is lovely, and so are the mosaic tiles. I will say that it has unfortunately been covered in graffiti (and not good graffiti either) over the years, so it does mar some of the charm of the historic district, but it's still quite beautiful. It's situated on a hill (easier for defense) and is composed of staircase alleyways and hidden stone work. Not only that but it was about 60 degrees. A nice weekend change from Spain, for sure.
We spent about an hour looking around (carrying luggage, mind you) until our Bla Bla car driver arrived. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, BlaBlaCar is like carpooling on a massive scale. Someone posts online that they plan on going from here to there on such and such date, and that they have however many seats available in their car. You basically rent a ride to wherever you need to go. I've never done it (little nervous) but with another person traveling with me, I figured I was okay. It turned out to be an interesting ride. The guy was 25, and spoke English very well. He explained several things, the most fascinating of which was the fact that few Portuguese learn Spanish. Apparently, for a Portuguese person, Spanish is really easy to understand. The same is not true in reverse, however, because Portuguese has about 15 vowel sounds, while Spanish only has 5, or 6 if you include y. However, if you go to Brazil, they've simplified the vowel sounds, much like their Spanish speaking neighbors. So a Spanish speaker would find it much easier to understand a Brazilian than a Portuguese. The same holds true for Brazilians. Apparently, Portugal Portuguese is confusing for them, too. It did make me feel better, because to me Portuguese sounds like a lot of j and sh sounds.
Fatima is an interesting town. There's a shrine there, of course, quite massive and very modern looking. The actual site of the apparition is outside town. There's a small tour train that takes you there. It's about 4 Euro, which I think is a little high, but it's either that or a pretty significant hike. Within the old town (Cova do Iria) you'll find all the houses of the visionaries perfectly preserved, small doorways and dirty rooms. It's all really fascinating. The best part, of course, is the site of the apparitions. I won't go into too much detail here, but if you want to learn about it, check this site out http://www.portugal.com/fatima/apparitions
They have statues set up at each of the sites. One is at a well near Lucia's house. The other two are in a park that was designed to show the different sites. After walking past the pavement and on to cobblestone, you'll find the stations of the cross. We didn't quite make it around all of them, but went mostly straight for the Marian apparition site. It's marked with a lovely statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and you can stop and pray there. There's also the site of the 1st and 3rd apparition of the Angel of Portugal, the angel of peace, who appeared before Mary. For the most part, it's just a path, surrounded by the same olive trees the children would have played under. I've heard a lot about Our Lady of Fatima, but it was very enriching to actual be there, and understand what the place is like. To walk where they walked and to stand in front of the place Mary appeared to them, almost 100 years ago.
Back to the shrine- It's composed of a 2 chapels for mass, an open air chapel for prayer and the rosary, a place to light candles, a small museum of artifacts, and an underground walkway, complete with perpetual adoration, confession, and a new exhibit. We went everywhere except the main chapel, as it was closed for mass. Of course, the whole plaza can be used for mass if necessary. I imagine on the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, it is.
The museums were very interesting. The above ground museum first shows you a short video of the history of OLF, including an ending voiced by Sister Lucia. It's in Portuguese, but can be subtitled in a number of languages, including English. Since this is the off season, the tours were mostly in Portuguese. My friend and I, feeling a burst of confidence, tagged along with the Portuguese tour guide and group, since the English group hadn't started yet. It was actually the most successful attempt at understanding Portuguese yet, as she spoke more slowly and clearly than someone would regular speech. Among the things you can see there are the monstrances donated by various countries and people (Ireland donated a neat one), Papal vestments, and even, in the crown that OLF is crowned with in October, the bullet that almost killed JP2. He credits our Lady with saving his life (her prayers).
The underground exhibit just opened. Most notably, you can see the letters that Sister Lucia wrote with the three secrets of Fatima. You'll get a pamphlet with English descriptions, but unfortunately the letters are not translated into English. So being able to read one of the Latin based languages is required. There's also a rosary made with pieces of rock (donated by a Portuguese immigrant) from the Berlin wall, and a slab of the Berlin Wall outside, as OLF is also credited with being influential in bringing down communism.
The chapel in which we said mass was... interesting. Super modern. And huge. I'm not a big fan of modern art, so I wouldn't really say it was stunning, but it was impressive. The golden design behind the altar is interesting, but the iron crucifix was a little... odd looking. And the advent wreath wasn't so much a wreath as a line of candles in glass holders. I mostly got through the mass by responding in Spanish, which was close-ish to the Portuguese, and I read the readings beforehand, which was really good because beyond Paul and Romans I didn't get much. Zip on the homily, too. But the mass is the mass, and the Eucharist is the Eucharist, and requires no knowledge of the language being spoken.
Two amusing anecdotes. The kiss of peace, really was the kiss of peace. It was the two cheek kiss, which I don't even do in Spain, and it took me a little off guard. The second was the exit from the church. You're not supposed to leave before the priest, and nobody did. What happened instead is that everyone, as the priest passed by their pew, filed out behind him, so by the time he got to the back, practically the entire church was right at his back, itching to go faster than the slow pace he was keeping. It was all very funny.
You can light candles at Fatima, and I recommend you do. You can either buy them from one of the dozens of shops next to the site, or at the site itself. After purchasing them, you take them over to a massive candle holder. Light it with one of the already burning candles, and if you can find a spot, slip it into the candle holder. Then watch as your candle is consumed, not only by the light on top, but by the fire from below that springs up when enough candles fill up a space. It must be light sensitive or motion sensitive. Either way, it's pretty cool to watch. I've got some pictures on Facebook.
I do recommend this time of year. The weather's great, it's not crowded, and the hotels are cheap (25 euro split between 2 people). There's also delicious Portuguese food (duck and rice, yum) and wine (green wine, never heard of it before, but it's delicious and citrusy). We did head back on Sunday and spend some time in Lisboa, another excellent adventure, but my fingers are getting tired, so I think I'll sign off for now.
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