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Church celebrates Fatima's 100th anniversary

| 15 May 2017 | 11:46
    PHOTOS BY JANET REDYKE The Knights of Columbus lead the Rev. Ricardo Ortega, Our Lady of Fatima's pastor, into church for the 100th celebration of Fatima.
    PHOTOS BY JANET REDYKE The Knights of Columbus lead the Rev. Ricardo Ortega, Our Lady of Fatima's pastor, into church for the 100th celebration of Fatima.
    Blue-robed Rosary Society members await the beginning of the May 13 mass.
    Blue-robed Rosary Society members await the beginning of the May 13 mass.
    The Our Lady of Fatima statue represents the vision that three Portuguese children experienced 100 years ago.
    The Our Lady of Fatima statue represents the vision that three Portuguese children experienced 100 years ago.

VERNON — Pope Francis on Saturday, May 13, declared two Portuguese shepherd children 9-year-old Francisco and 7-year-old Jacinta Marto, saints of the Catholic church.
A half million people watched in Fatima’s shrine basilica. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and their 10-year-old cousin Lucia, the three Fatima children, are known to have experienced six appearances of the Virgin Mary reoccurring from May to Oct. 1917. The two Marto children were canonized on the 100th anniversary of the first appearance.
Locally, the namesake church in Highland Lakes, Our Lady of Fatima, happily acknowledged the children’s canonization and the 100th year anniversary with events during Saturday May 13. Parishioners participated in a rosary rally held at noon. The rally included the recitation of the rosary and other prayer litanies. According to Rosary Society President Loretta LaGala, the prayer service was a worldwide event honoring the anniversary and the canonization.
The church’s 5 p.m. mass was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the happenings of Fatima with members and officers of the Our Lady of Fatima Rosary Society in attendance. Knights of Columbus members participated in the procession that followed the mass with the lovely statue of Our Lady of Fatima inundated with fresh flowers. A song titled In Fatima’s Cove, beautifully recanted the story that occurred 100 years ago.
A potluck dinner organized by the church’s Rosary Society welcomed all after the service.