Hello Everyone!

I had an amazing time in Fatima this weekend. There were probably about 30,000 people there. It was actually kind of cold. It sprinkled on and off, but overall it was a very nice day. The top picture is of a chapel built next to the tree where Mary appeared, or at that's what we think. There weren't a lot of signs explaining things. It was a beautiful little chapel, and there were always people praying in there. We went to part of a Mass in English in the chapel, said by a priest from Pennsylvania. After Mass, we went and met him and he blessed all of the things we bought. He was really glad to find people who spoke in English.

In the chapel, there is a statue of Mary. There is a little ledge around the statue and the altar that people put flowers on. There was a little old, hunched over lady who had a bouquet of white daisies that she put on the ledge. When she turned around, she had the biggest smile on her face. It almost brought me to tears to see how happy she was in giving her flowers to Mary.

The second picture is of the walkway down to the front of the square. There's a woman in the picture who walked on her knees. Stephanie and I walked on our knees too while we prayed the rosary. My knees hurt really bad and are scabby now, but it was a neat experience.

The middle picture is of the square. The little chapel I mentioned earlier is on the left. At the top of the square is a church with beautiful stained glass windows that depict the stories of Fatima. Also, the three children are buried there. It was a really beautiful church. Outside of the church, as you can see, is a long box type structure that has an altar used for Masses in the square. We went to part of a Portuguese Mass in the square.

The fourth picture is the tree where Mary appeared, I think. There's a fence and shrubs around it, and Stephanie spent a long time thinking of how she could jump up or break in to get a leaf. Luckily, she finally concluded that it wasn't the best of ideas.

The last picture is of me next to a part of the Berlin Wall. Part of Mary's message to the children was to pray for the fall of Russia. To read about Fatima and Mary's messages, go to www.fatimacrusader.com I'm not sure of all of the history of Fatima myself, but it was really amazing to be there with thousands of other people who all honored and believed in this miracle.

That's all for now! Have a great week! Michelle