The Our Lady of Fatima statue arrived at Rosary on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 8:30 a.m. She was carried in by four Rosary girls and placed in the chapel for everyone to come and pray.

The sacred statue has a long history traveling around the world to different churches, schools, and religious events. The Our Lady of Fatima statue was made to honor the series of apparitions when she visited three children in Portugal starting in 1917.

In the apparitions, Our Lady visited the children six times to tell them about her. She taught the children how to endure suffering in order to help others as Jesus did through his death. During her apparitions, she taught the children to pray the Rosary every day so that world war one would end.

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima is extremely important because, in her apparitions, she calls herself Our Lady of the Rosary. Mrs. Rosales said, “The stature reminds us to turn toward Mary and her son for prayers and to turn away from sin. Additionally, the statue reminds us of the true power and importance of the Rosary.”

Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three children many times before finally telling them about her name in October. She told them that she is Our Lady of the Rosary and predicted that two of the children would die young while the oldest would stay to extend her message to the world. She also told the children if they prayed every day, then the war would end. Eventually, all of these predictions came true.

Mrs. Flati shared how we can pray when we visit her: “It is a matter of personal prayer. We should reflect on if there’s a particular intention or prayer you would like to make to God through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima.”

When Lucia (one of the three children) grew up, she helped an artist create the statue through her descriptions of Our Lady’s appearance. After the statue was made, Lucia described it as the closest image of Mary ever created. The statue that visited Rosary was made by the same artist who made the original statue that now sits in Washington.

Later, Mrs. Kearns ’78 spoke about why the statue travels with a caretaker: “She is accompanied by a caretaker, kind of like how the Eucharist cannot be left alone when out of the tabernacle, that’s how she important is.”  The caretaker also takes time off work and must be away from his wife and kids to continue Our Lady of Fatima’s message by telling others about her. Because the statue is sacred, she is carried on a type of lift and transported from place to place in a special case.

Through her statue, Rosary students got an opportunity to learn more about Our Lady of Fatima’s importance.