Prayers for the Members of the Children's Rosary at Fatima

Dear Friends,

We are excited to share some of our visit to Fatima on July 22, 2024. Please know that in a special I prayed for the Children's Rosary and all the members as well as those who help the Children's Rosary. The time we were at Fatima was centered on prayer. We were not part of a tour group. It was only Seth, Asher, and myself. We were able to attend Mass at the Chapel of Apparitions. For all three of us it was our first time in Fatima, so we did not know our way around. After Mass Asher and I went to Confession and prayed at the tombs of Jacinta, Lucia, and Francisco. We also found Adoration in one of the chapels and spent time in prayer.

 

We learned yet even more about the lives of the children of Fatima at the museum called Casa das Candeias. It is a museum dedicated to the lives of saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto with personal belongings and artwork. 

The children's homes are not far from the Sanctuary, and we went to each of the children's homes as well as the childhood home of Lucia. A picture from Jacinta's bedroom is shown below. The simplicity of the homes was something my heart clung to. Through the Children's Rosary and being in the spiritual school of Our Lady, simplicity has become a treasured experience. The world in many ways is always trying to complicate things and make life cluttered. To see a life rooted in simplicity is an important signpost guiding the journey we are on too. 

We concluded our visit to Fatima at the second apparition site of the Angel to the children. This was at a well behind Lucia's childhood home. The space is under the canopy of trees and in the shade protected from the heat of the day; there was a lovely peace. 

Your Friend in Christ,

Blythe

Greetings from Portugal

We were scheduled to arrive in Portugal on July 12, but due to thunderstorms in the Alps, our flight was canceled, and we spent a night in Zurich before arriving in Porto on July 13. The journey which was full of uncertainties of where we would stay and when we could expect to arrive in Portugal is in many ways captured in the painting above. Indeed our time here in Portugal has felt in part like the inspiration of this painting. It has been a journey unscripted and always under the guidance from above as is shown with the angel always watching the way. 

One of the first to greet us in Portugal was Amelia age 10. She has been helping the Children's Rosary by leading the prayers on Radio Maria once a month. She also has introduced the Children's Rosary to her parish in Varzim, Portugal which is just north Porto. We had the special grace of seeing her lead the Rosary on Sunday, July 14.