Sister Lucia, Fatima visionary dies at 97

fatima visionaries

I received an sms this morning saying Sr. Lucia has just passed away in Coimbra. Before I forwarded the message I had to verify if its true. I went to the EWTN channel which was quoted on the text but the program was taped. Checked via CNN or ANC but no mention at all.

When I got back to office, I remembered checking via the net and found the story was true at Channel News Asia.

Somehow I get this eerie feeling that the Pope's illnesss, his determination to pursue work despite his frail body and Sr. Lucia's passing away is related.

My family has been a devotee of Our Lady of Fatima. We have had several opportunities to hear mass with our own filipino priest at the Chapel of Apparition, lead the rosary in the evening procession (in Tagalog) and more importantly, was able to kiss the remains of the oak tree where Our Lady appeared. The remnant of that tree is locked inside a room right at the back of the Chapel. It is tightly guarded and not even priests are allowed to go in.

We need to pray hard for the Pope. I remember that when I last visited the St. Paul Basilica outside the walls of Rome, our guide said the pictures of all the popes since St. Peter was placed near the ceiling. Legend says that once all the empty frames are filled, it will be the end of the world. I think its was the late 80s or early 90s when I saw the remaining frames. They were less than a handful.

I can't recall if during that time it was Pope John Paul I who was the pope. I guess it was already Pope John Paul II. We were able to have an audience with Pope John Paul I, the shortest reigning pope. Call it foreboding but I took a stolen shot of him while he was brought down on the aisle on some chair and when I developed the photo, his head was cut :( A month or less after, we learned that he died in his sleep.

Going back to Fatima, during one of the times we visited the Cathedral where Jacinta's and Francisco's body where interred, we learned that Jacinta's body was growing taller. They had to move her in another place. Both of them are declared Blessed and perhaps will be canonized soon.