Shrine · Other

Our Lady of Fátima

Fátima, Portugal

"The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima commemorates the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd child..."

Highlights

16.2 million pilgrims visited in 2024 — one of the largest active shrines in the world The Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917 was witnessed by approximately 70,000 people, believers and sceptics The bullet that wounded
2Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981 is embedded in the crown of the Fátima statue Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who died aged 11 and 9, were canonised by
3Pope Francis in May 2017 The May 13 and October 13 pilgrimages each draw approximately one million pilgrims

Getting There

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Address

Rua de Nossa Senhora do Carmo, 2495-402 Fátima, Portugal

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Directions

Fátima is 130 km north of Lisbon. Regular express buses from Lisbon (Sete Rios terminal) take 1.5 hours. By car: A1 motorway north from Lisbon, exit at Fátima. Coach services from Porto and all major Portuguese cities.

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Timings

Current time — Lisbon Time (WET)

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When	Hours	Note
Sanctuary Open 24 hours Chapelinha (original chapel)	7:30 AM - 7:30 PM
New Church of the Holy Trinity	9:00 AM - 7:00 PM

The sanctuary is open year-round. Major pilgrimage dates: May 12-13 and October 12-13. The candlelit procession of farewell takes place on the evening before the feast day (May 12, October 12). Free entry to all areas.

Masses & Events

International Mass

Daily

schedule varies by season — In the main esplanade or Basilica of

Our Lady Candlelit Procession of Farewell

Evening of May 12 and Oct 12

Thousands of candles; the Ave

Procession of Our Lady

Morning of May 13 and Oct 13

Statue carried across the vast esplanade; one million pilgrims

Must See

The Little Chapel (Capelinha das Aparições)

Site of the apparitions The original small chapel marks the exact site where Our Lady appeared to the children. The holm oak tree under which they received the apparitions is long gone, but the spot is clearly marked. Pilgrims queue to touch the image. Candles burn continuously.

The Tombs of Francisco and Jacinta

Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary The two child seers are buried in the basilica

Francisco on the left, Jacinta on the right. Their marble tombs are simple. To kneel before the grave of a child saint is a peculiarly affecting act; they died before they could be teenagers, and they are canonised.

The Candlelit Procession

The great esplanade [OUTDOOR] On the evenings of May 12 and October 12, thousands of pilgrims process across the vast esplanade with lit candles, singing the Ave Maria in Portuguese, French, Italian, Spanish, and dozens of other languages. The sight and sound of a million people praying together in the open night air defies description.

The Basilica of the Holy Trinity

Southern end of the esplanade The massive modern basilica, completed in 2007, can hold 8,900 seated worshippers and 9,000 more standing. Its plain concrete exterior divided opinion; the interior

austere, vast, and focused on a single golden tabernacle — has been embraced by pilgrims seeking contemplative silence amid the crowds.

The Crown with the Papal Bullet

Basilica treasury / displayed on statue The bullet that was removed from Pope John Paul II after the assassination attempt on May 13, 1981 was donated by him to the Fátima sanctuary. It is set into the crown of the statue of Our Lady. When the bullet is displayed on the statue, it is the most extraordinary ex-voto in the Catholic world.

Intentions

Carry these intentions into the Basilica with you — pause at each sacred spot and lift them to God.

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For world peace — the central intention Our Lady requested at Fátima

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For the conversion of those who do not know God

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For the suffering of the innocent, especially children

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For those who have lost loved ones young, as Lúcia lost Francisco and Jacinta

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For the intention of whoever prays the Rosary in union with these millions

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For an end to war, violence, and the ideologies that deny human dignity

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For Pope Francis and the bishops of the Church In thanksgiving for those who were healed or strengthened in faith at this place

Reflection

Three children saw the sun dance. Seventy thousand people stood in a field and watched the sky convulse. Sceptics and believers alike reported the same thing. The world's newspapers covered it. And then it was over, and the three children went home, and within three years two of them were dead. The Fátima message is not complicated: pray, do penance, trust God. The Fátima mystery is not complicated either: God breaks into history in places we do not expect, in people we overlook, and asks the simplest things of us.

Suggested Scripture — Isaiah 66:13

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.

Read in full on Bible Gateway →

A Pilgrim's Prayer

Our Lady of Fátima, you appeared to three children in a field in Portugal and asked for prayer and penance. I offer you both — imperfect as they are. I pray for the intentions you asked us to pray for: peace, conversion, an end to suffering. I trust that my prayer, joined to the prayers of the millions who have knelt in this Cova, reaches the heart of God. Amen.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima commemorates the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children — Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta — in the Cova da Iria, near the village of Fátima, between May and October 1917. The apparitions culminated in the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, when approximately 70,000 witnesses reported the sun appearing to dance, spin and plunge toward the earth — observed simultaneously by believers and sceptics alike. Fátima attracted 6.2 million pilgrims in 2024.

The Message

The message of Fátima centred on prayer, repentance and consecration — and included a warning about the spread of error, widely interpreted as referring to atheistic communism. The children were instructed to recite the Rosary daily for world peace. Francisco and Jacinta, who died in 1918 and 1920 respectively during the influenza pandemic, were canonised by Pope Francis in 2017. Lúcia became a Carmelite nun and died in 2005 at age 97.

Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II came to Fátima in 1982 to give thanks after surviving assassination on May 13, 1981 — the feast of Our Lady of Fátima — and donated the bullet removed from his body to the shrine. It is now embedded in the crown of the statue of Our Lady. The May 13 and October 13 pilgrimages each draw approximately one million pilgrims.