On Easter Sunday we took a trip to Fátima, and went to mass on the site where the apparitions occurred. Click the link for the story. https://portugal.com/portugal/cities/fatima/fatima-travel We were able to hear the mass, see a procession , and light candles . At Fátima , they do it BIG! No votive candles in sight! For about a Euro visitors can buy candles of various sizes . We saw people carrying armfuls of candles to the “pyre,” which is located behind the Chapel of the Apparitions. It burns brightly with thick black smoke rising above the square and the smell of burning bees wax filling the air. Because the fire is so hot most people throw the candles into the inferno. Diann and I lit our candles and set them in and watched them melt before our eyes. I’ve never seen anything like it. We walked the plaza and enjoyed our visit to this holy site that attracts thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. I thought about my grandparents during my time in Fátima. The apparitions occurred in 1917 while my grandparents were living in Vila Nova de Gaia. I wondered what it must have like for them, and what they thought of the events that occurred.




