The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima was sculpted by Jose Thedim in 1947, based on Sr. Lucia dos Santos' descriptions of the Blessed Mother as she appeared to her and her cousins at Fatima thirty years earlier. It was blessed by the bishop of Fatima on October 13th of that year and sent out to travel the world. On October 24, 1952, Pope Pius XII blessed the statue; it has continued its pilgrimage ever since.
Last month, the statue came to Boise. I missed its stop at the Cathedral, but I saw it at the Church of the Sacred Heart, where it was lovingly set up amid flowers for the early morning Sunday Mass. Sacred Heart is a parish that needs a lot of prayers: there is no pastor as such, and the good priest who has been functioning as the parochial vicar is scheduled to be reassigned next month; there is no word on a successor. It is in great need of a good shepherd with real canonical authority to carry out his responsibilities, who will throw the wolves out of the fold, and keep them out. Still, in some ways, it appears that Sacred Heart is under the Lord's special care: this is where Fr. Donoghue offers daily Mass at 7:00 a.m., and there is quite a lot of Eucharistic adoration there, as well as Forty Hours' Devotions on a not infrequent basis. I trust that the arrival of this statue, through which signal graces have been granted, is a further sign of favor toward, and protection of, those suffering in this straitened parish.
I didn't get any pictures of the statue at Sacred Heart, but my friend Jim Nourse took some good ones at the Cathedral. Here they are.
Last month, the statue came to Boise. I missed its stop at the Cathedral, but I saw it at the Church of the Sacred Heart, where it was lovingly set up amid flowers for the early morning Sunday Mass. Sacred Heart is a parish that needs a lot of prayers: there is no pastor as such, and the good priest who has been functioning as the parochial vicar is scheduled to be reassigned next month; there is no word on a successor. It is in great need of a good shepherd with real canonical authority to carry out his responsibilities, who will throw the wolves out of the fold, and keep them out. Still, in some ways, it appears that Sacred Heart is under the Lord's special care: this is where Fr. Donoghue offers daily Mass at 7:00 a.m., and there is quite a lot of Eucharistic adoration there, as well as Forty Hours' Devotions on a not infrequent basis. I trust that the arrival of this statue, through which signal graces have been granted, is a further sign of favor toward, and protection of, those suffering in this straitened parish.
I didn't get any pictures of the statue at Sacred Heart, but my friend Jim Nourse took some good ones at the Cathedral. Here they are.
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for posting them, and thanks to the photographer as well.
ReplyDeleteWe have that statue in our chapel where the tabernacle is kept. It was donated by a Portuguese family. It's really beautiful.
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