CHARLOTTE — May 13 marked the 109th anniversary of Mary’s first apparition to three shepherd children in the fields of Portugal. Our Lady of Fatima has a special place in the Diocese of Charlotte, with various parishes offering devotions, staging pilgrimages and luminaries and some priests crediting her for their vocations. Here are some ways to involved:
Go on pilgrimage to Fatima with Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville or with Father John Eckert, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury. They go virtually every year, and Father Putnam has been to Fatima 30 times. He credits Our Lady of Fatima with giving him confirmation of his call to the priesthood. (Watch more here)
Learn about Alianca de Santa Maria (the Alliance of Mary. Father Eckert is the spiritual director of this religious congregation and often visits their convent on his pilgrimages to Fatima. The Alliance often returns the favor with members visiting Charlotte. Learn more.
Parishes including St. Vincent de Paul and St. Thomas Aquinas in Charlotte, St. Michael the Archangel in Gastonia, and Sacred Heart in Salisbury welcome parishioners to come every first Saturday for confession, a rosary, Eucharistic Adoration and prayer – the things Our Lady of Fatima requested as reparation for sins. Learn more.
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte holds an Our Lady of Fatima procession and rosary every month on the 13th.
Luminary prayer groups meet monthly across the diocese to discuss the message of Our Lady of Fatima, with two main locations at Sacred Heart in Salisbury and St. Vincent de Paul in Charlotte. Read more.
— Lisa M. Geraci
