The Shrine of Fatima has presented the “Children’s National Pilgrimage” that will be held on 9-10 June this year on the theme: “Our Lady of the Rosary, brighter than the sun” with reference to the apparition of Mary to the three little shepherds on 13 October 1917. “On that occasion, the Virgin appeared to them asking them to continue to pray the Rosary and not to offend Our Lord with our sins”, the document presenting the initiative reads. During this month of May, the campaign in preparation for the celebration invites the little participants to “receive and spread that light of God which Mary transmitted at the Cova de Iria”, exhorting them to “illuminate the daily lives of those whom they encounter with a simple gesture, such as a smile, to remember the persons who bring that light, and to know better the lives of the little shepherds”. In the run-up to the pilgrimage, they are also invited to “concretely build their own sun, whose rays will be their small sacrifices, written down and kept in a box”, which will then be offered during the great celebration presided over by the Diocesan Bishop Mgr. António Marto.

Among the events on the agenda for the 39^th “Children’s National Pilgrimage” are visits to the places where the Angel appeared, in the Loca do Cabeço and in Aljustrel, a floral tribute to the Virgin of Fatima, and a performance in the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity.