The image of Our Lady of Fatima, which is kept in the Portuguese Shrine, will be in Rome on Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th of October, for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope Francis will carry out the consecration on Sunday, during Marian Day, one of the highlights of the Year of Faith. An estimated 200,000 pilgrims are expected to attend the Mass in Saint Peter’s Square, as well as hundreds of Movements and institutions.
The Marian Day will begin on Saturday with a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions in churches near Saint Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis and all those present will receive the image of the Virgin of Fatima at 5:00 pm in Saint Peter’s Square. After the Holy Father’s Marian catechesis, the image representing the Virgin Mary, as she appeared to the three little shepherds in Fatima, will be taken to the Roman Shrine of Divine Love, a favorite place of the Roman faithful, some 15 kilometers from the center of Rome.
Connected live for the recitation of the Rosary and the start of the Vigil will be 10 Marian Shrines worldwide, two of which are in Latin America: Aparecida in Brazil and Lujan in Argentina. The Shrines in Europe include: Lourdes in France, Czestochowa in Poland and Banneux in Belgium. The other five Shrines are Nazareth in Israel, Nairobi in Kenya, Akita in Japan, Vailankanny in India and Washington in the United States.
The Vigil, entitled “Con Maria oltre la notte” (With Mary Throughout the Night) will begin at 10:00 pm local time.
Daniel Blanchoud, rector of the Argentine Shrine of the Virgin of Lujan explained to ZENIT that “each of the ten shrines will pray part of the five mysteries of the Rosary. We will pray the Our Father and five Hail Mary’s of the last mystery prayed, following the instruction we were given by Rome.”
On Sunday the 13th, the Pope will celebrate the Holy Mass in Saint Peter’s Square and then consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“n response to the Pope Francis’ desire, the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, which is venerated in the Chapel of the Apparitions, will be in Rome on October 12 and 13, for the Marian Day organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. On October 13, with the image of Our Lady, Pope Francis will consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” states the Fatima Shrine on its Webpage.
The Shrine’s Press Office specified that “the image of Our Lady will leave the Fatima Shrine in Portugal on the morning of October 12 and will return on the afternoon of the 13th. In its place in the Chapel of the Apparitions, the first image of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima will be placed, enthroned in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary since November 8, 2003.”
The Marian Day, organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, is inserted in the program of the Year of Faith. The program describes the Day as the “celebration of a Marian Day with the presence of all Marian associations and with the theme “Happy You Who Believed!”
