It is our last day.  Our nuns have gone to Lisbon for the day with another tour guide.  We celebrated the Silver Anniversary of two of them last night with a delicious cake.  Here we see them with Sr Lucia's niece

Our mass this morning was back at the Apparition Chapel only this time Fr Tom was the only celebrant.  Other people joined us for the mass but I do not think many of them spoke English.  

Since mass everyone has done their own thing; some going to adoration in the crypt of the Trinity Church, others went back to the Stations of the Cross whilst others went for walks, went shopping or caught up on sleep.

We are now told the official figure for the Vigil procession was 350,000 and for the Sunday 13^th May Mass was 400,000.  How they counted them goodness only knows!

So what are the moments that will stay in my mind:  the fervour of the hundreds of thousands of people at the vigil procession and Sunday mass; taking part in the rosary and procession on Monday night; walking through the stations of the cross across the countryside; the shining candles and waving handkerchiefs; Our Lady of Fatima Statue; the hundreds of priests taking communion and much more.  It has been a truly holy experience and a very happy pilgrimage with much camaraderie. 

I leave you with the theme of Fatima for this year, the question asked of the children by Our Lady: “Are you willing to offer yourselves to God?

We heard on the television that there were actually 300,000 people at the mass yesterday, so I think there must have been even more the night before.  During the procession Tony recognised the Deacon who had been in the Holy Land with us in 2009 and mentioned it to Paul who met him this morning – what a small world!

Here you can see John, our group leader in front of the vast plaza.  He has been so patient with us and has been a fount of information and he has a wicked sense of humour.

This picture shows the plaza with the Trinity Church (which holds 10.000) at the far end, the Apparition Chapel on the right and the altar at which mass was said for the two big masses.  The basilica is just behind us.

We have seen a vast amount of beautiful, and very varied in design, artwork, all depicting scenes of the story of Fatima:

As we were unable to say the Stations of the Cross on Saturday because of the crowds, we decided to go down to the basilica and follow the mosaic Stations on the walls outside.  They are very beautiful, especially this one of Jesus meeting Our Lady.

Next we went to the tiny chapel of the Angel which is just at the end of one of the arms sticking out from the basilica.  It was the only time we will be able to have a private mass – quite a contrast from yesterday!  We were able to be readers, Eucharistic ministers and to sing our own hymns.

We watched a film about the children’s families and the progression of the devotion of Our Lady of  Fatima.  It had been made a few years ago , but though it was a bit out of date as it was made before the death of Lucia and the building of the Holy Trinity Church, it gave true insights into story of Fatima.

Tonight we have been to another torchlight procession, but as the vast majority of people have gone home it is much quieter – in fact Fatima has now become quite a sleepy little village.  We had the privilege of leading the Rosary in English tonight before the procession and then processing behind the statue of Our Lady - wonderful experience.  Having been to mass this morning we all left after the procession.

Well the last post only went as far as supper time.  On the way home to supper we went to a Port tasting which was very palatable. Then we went out to the plaza where people were gathering for the Vigil of the 13th Procession.  As time went past you wondered whether any more people could fit into the plaza - it was reckoned to be about a 1/4 million people.

When the Bishop arrived everyone started to light their candles which were raised high for each Ave.

Here you can see the fire of hell.

The procession followed the saying of the rosary in various languages.  It was led by the lit cross, banners from many Fatima groups and other Marian groups from across the world.  Then came the Knights of St Gregory, Deacons, priests and the bishop.

 Last of all was the statue of Our Lady.

We decided not to stay for mass as we had been in the morning so struggled across the plaza to the exit.  I don't think anyone here has ever heard of health and safety and it was rather scary! The mass did not finish until about 12.45am.  Two of our nuns decided to stay and then remained there all night for the vigil adoration.

This morning we are back in the plaza at 8.15am.  The services are similar to those of last night's vigil.  Again, there are probably 200,000 people.  Both Deacon Paul and Fr Tom were in the procession.  This time we had an Italian cardinal plus umpteen bishops and hundreds of priests.

The weather is changeable but luckily we have only a few drops of rain.  The procession is far longer this time with quite a few national flags, including the Union Jack.

Some of the groups have their own symbols or flags like these crosses.

At communion, you can imagine it is an immense task and takes about 3/4hour. 

 Each priest is accompanied by someone carrying a white parasol

The mass finished with Benediction.  There was an unbelievably beautiful monstrance.

Again, the procession is completed with the statue of Our Lady.  Amazingly, the bullet that nearly killed the Pope fits exactly into the crown.  When the statue was processed back to the Church of the Apparition, everyone waved handkerchiefs.
We had a quiet afternoon taking things easy after the strenuous day yesterday

So, we are off!  We started with mass at CPP followed by coffee and then were waved off by Mary on our way to Gatwick the first leg of our journey.  Already, everyone is getting to know each other.  Mary had given each of us a booklet on Our Lady; some were about apparitions and others about her feasts.

So, why are we going to Fatima?  Many of you will have seen the film shown in the parish last October "The 13th Day" which told the evocative story.  It is well worth seeing if you have not seen it yet.

Our journey is uneventful and we arrive in Lisbon.  John our guide from Leisure Travel  greets us.  He has flown in from a pilgrimage in Krakow.  He has had an anxious afternoon as most of the planes from England were cancelled because of industrial action!  We meet three nuns from Sussex who are joining our pilgrimage.

Having said the rosary and sung the Fatima hymn, we come off the motorway and have our first sight of Fatima.  It is dark but to our left is a brilliantly lit tower visible over the rooftops - our first view of the Church of the Apparition

We start Saturday morning with mass in English at the Church of the Apparition.  It has no walls so is really in the open air.  

There are about a dozen priests con-celebrating including Fr Tom with Paul as Deacon.  It was obvious from their accents that they came from all over te world.  We discovered that one of the nuns plays the organ so was able to lead the singing.  The homily is about the meaning of Fatima; caring for one another and peace.  Many people have brought offerings of flowers and petitions which are put around the back of the altar.  

We can see a procession of people coming around the church on their knees.

To the side of the church, there is a perpetual fire which represents the fires of hell that Our Lady showed the children during her apparition.  Opposite are sweet statues of Jacinta and Francesco which were created at their beatifications.  Of course Lucia was still alive then. 

There are two other churches on the plaza, the basilica which was built  between 1928 and 1953 

and the new Church of the trinity which holds 10,000 people.  

Outside there is a very modern, simple but emotive crucifix.

This afternoon we were supposed to have said the Stations of the cross but there were so many people we decided to walk it without trying to stop at each station.  It was quite a trek but well worth the effort. 

  The place where the angel appeared twice to the children had this beautiful statue and then at the well where the angel appeared is this very unusual statue.

We met Lucia's niece who was just sitting on the side of the road talking to people as they went past.

The houses in the village of Aljustrel where the children lived are just as I remember them from the film "The 13th Day" that we saw last October.  Down the road is the parish church where Francisco’s family are buried. What a wonderful display of flowers!  The children are now buried at the Apparition Church.

Tonight we will go to the procession for the Eve of the 13^th – 250,000 people are expected.