Sister Lucia has died

[Trailrider1951]

Sister Lucia, last of the three shepherd children who saw the Virgin Mary, is buried
By Elizabeth Nash in Coimbra, Portugal
16 February 2005


Thousands of devout followers of Sister Lucia, one of three shepherd children who saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary near the Portuguese village of Fatima in 1917, flocked to Coimbra yesterday for her funeral.

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The remains of Lucia de Jesus de los Santos, who died on Sunday, will be returned for burial after the service to the Carmelite convent of Saint Teresa across town where she had been cloistered for 57 years. Next year, her body will be transferred to the basilica in Fatima to join her two cousins, Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco, who died three years after the virgin was said to have appeared to them in a field while they were watching sheep. The spot has become an important Catholic shrine and Portuguese national symbol, visited by millions of pilgrims every year, some crawling on their knees for long distances.

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Sceptics say the visions seen by three frightened, ill-fed, illiterate children were manipulated by bishops and the fascist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar. Lucia entered a convent as a teenager and wrote only years later of the virgin's "secrets" regarding war and communism, under strict clerical supervision. For decades Portuguese people complained their lives were dominated by "football, fado and Fatima".

The Pope believes the Virgin of Fatima saved him from an assassin's bullet in 1981 and he is devoted to her. He sent a warm message that the Bishop of Coimbra read to the congregration. As dusk fell, they waved white handkerchiefs as the coffin was carried into streets lined with worshippers.


http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=611471

[Cleita]

1. Wow, not even a blip in our media.

Thanks for posting.