From the Cova da Iria to All the World
With the passing of the years, the piety of Our Lady of Fatima’s devotees only grows throughout the world.
Masses, processions, pilgrimages and crownings of the Pilgrim Statue were some of the activities organized by the Heralds of the Gospel to mark the 106th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin’s apparitions in the Cova da Iria. They were carried out in the Brazilian capitals Manaus, Belém do Pará, Fortaleza, Brasília, Cuiabá, Campo Grande, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, as well as in the cities of Moreno, in Pernambuco, Lauro de Freitas, in Bahia, Montes Claros and Juiz de Fora, in Minas Gerais, Caieiras, in São Paulo, Nova Friburgo, Campos dos Goytacazes, Aperibé and Papucaia, in Rio de Janeiro, Maringá, Ponta Grossa and Piraquara, in Paraná, and Joinville, in Santa Catarina.
Also significant were the ceremonies held in Rome, Venice and Mira, Italy; at Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral, in Spain; at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Namaacha, Mozambique; in the US cities of Hudson (MA) and Miami; in Medellín, El Retiro and Tocancipá, in Colombia; Quito, Cuenca, Ibarra and Manta, in Ecuador; Asunción and Ypacaraí, in Paraguay; Santo Domingo and Bonao, in the Dominican Republic, as well as in Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and South Africa.
United States – During the moth of May, the Pilgrim Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary visited the American parishes of St. Michael, in Boston, and of St. Boniface, in Miami.
Portugal – On April 30, the Heralds of the Gospel participated in the candlelit procession in Braga, Portugal, carrying the Pilgrim Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On May 6, the First Saturday of the month was celebrated in the city of Porto, heeding the request of Our Lady in the apparitions of Fatima.
Spain – The House of the Heralds of the Gospel in Camarenilla, Spain, hosted the 5th National Cooperators’ Congress, focussing on the book collection Mary Most Holy, God’s Paradise Revealed to Men, written by Msgr. João Scognamiglio Clá Dias. Present at the event was Archbishop Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón of of Ayacucho, Peru.
Brazil – The governor of Mato Grosso, Brazil, Mauro Mendes, together with the first lady, Virgínia Mendes, welcomed the Pilgrim Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in his office. The visit was an occation to discuss the construction of a new Marian centre of the Heralds of the Gospel in Cuiabá.
Guatemala – The Girls’ Town School in Guatemala received a visit from the Pilgrim Statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, during which the students consecrated themselves to the Blessed Virgin.
Italy – To commemorate the feast of the Patroness of Borbiago, in the city of Mira, Italy, the Heralds of the Gospel added to the solemnity of the procession in honour of the Blessed Virgin.
Brazil – From April 29 to May 1, a symposium entitled God’s Footsteps in History was held for Heralds of the Gospel cooperators in Rio de Janeiro.