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On June 1, 2009, Resurrection Parish was blessed with a two-week visit from the Traveling Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. In these times of great conflict in the world, the statue of Mary calls on the faithful to pray the rosary for peace. Every day during Mary's two-week visit, the rosary is recited in solemn services. The statue is a replica of the two international traveling statues sculpted by Jose Thedim in 1947 in Portugal. The statue visiting Resurrection was carved in 1988 and blessed in Fatima. The statue has visited more than 150 churches and schools in the Pittsburgh Diocese since 1991. Many miracles have taken place in the churches she visits. The statue has actually shed tears on several occasions.
The Pilgrim Statues The original pilgrim statues have traveled the world many times, visiting more than 100 countries, including Russia and China, bringing the message of hope to millions of people. The statues are based on the description given by Sister Lucia. Lucia is one of the three young seers who saw Our Lady each month from May to October 1917 in Fatima, Portugal. Mary is said to have appeared six times to Lucia and her cousins in 1917 in Fatima. According to the story behind the statue, Mary confided Three Secrets of Fatima to Lucia and her cousins. The first secret was a vision of hell. The second secret included Mary's instructions on how to save souls from hell and convert the world to the Catholic faith. The controversial third secret was said to have been a vision of the death of the Pope and other religious figures. The Vatican withheld the secret until June 26, 2000. The history of the international statue began in 1946 when Portugal youth took the statue of Our Lady of The Rosary from display in the Cova de Iria on a pilgrimage to Lisbon. As they walked the route they stopped at the towns along the way and people gathered to pray. In Lisbon, when they entered the cathedral, the miracle of doves occurred. The statue was returned to its place in the Cova de Iria but many people wished for a visit in their own communities. The Bishop wrote to Lucia asking to send the statue on tour. She suggested Thedim's new statue, then being sculpted, be used as a pilgim statue. The bishop agreed, and on May 13, 1947, Thedim's new statue was blessed and named the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima. So many places wanted her to visit that Thedim carved a second statue. It was blessed by the Bishop of Fatima on October 13, 1947, exactly 30 years after the miracle of the sun. During its travels, many remarkable things began to happen. The miracles, favors, and signal graces were so numerous from the very beginning that even the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, reflected on them in his famous radio address to the pilgrims at Fatima, May 13, 1951. He recalled having crowned the original Fatima statue: "In 1946 we crowned Our Lady of Fatima as Queen of the world, and the next year, through her pilgrim image, She set forth as though to claim Her dominion, and the miracles She performs along the way are such that we can scarcely believe our eyes at what we are seeing." Today, there are eleven replicas that travel the country, all blessed in Fatima. Each statue is four feet tall and weighs forty pounds. The blessed statues help spread Mary's message of peace. The Original Statue of Our Lady of The Rosary
The statue of Our Lady of The Rosary is located in Little Chapel of Apparitions, heart of the Santuario de Fatima in Portugal. The statue was donated to the Shrine in 1920 by Gilberto Fernandes dos Santos. It was carved by sculptor Jose Thedim and made of cedar from Brazil. The statue was blessed at the Parish Church of Fatima on May 13, 1920, enthroned in the Little Chapel of Apparitions on June 13, 1920, and crowned by Pontifical Legate Cardinal Masela on May 13, 1946. The crown worn by the statue during the great celebrations was made in Lisbon, free of charge, by twelve artists who worked on it for three months. It weighs 1200 grams and is decorated with 313 pearls and 2679 precious stones. It was donated to the Shrine by a group of Portuguese women on October 13, 1942, in thanksgiving to God for the fact that Portugal didn’t take part in World War II. A bullet donated by Pope John Paul II is encrusted in it. The former Supreme Pontiff donated the bullet that pierced his body during the attempt on his life in Rome, on May 13, 1981, as a sign of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life. For more detailed information
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