Thousands flock to Fatima statue at Pompano Beach Catholic church
A miracle nearly a century ago in Portugal is bringing devotional fervor to the faithful of South Florida.
BY EILEEN SOLER
Special to The Miami Herald
Rosemary Dacunha's heart filled with hope as her eyes welled with tears at the very sight of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church.
''I feel joyful when I look at her, and I pray to her for peace. She is a miracle,'' said Dacunha, of Pompano Beach.
More than a thousand believers packed the church in Pompano Beach on March 2 for a special service and to view the statue sculpted by a man to deliver a message from heaven.
The statue, one of two made in 1946 and 1947 to tour the world, depicts Mary, the mother of Jesus, whom followers believe appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, on May 13, 1917, and on the 13th of the following months through October.
On each visit, the children said, Mary revealed what would be called the ``Peace Plan from Heaven.''
Simply, the peace plan is a call for prayer and reparation for sin. If believers do good deeds as penance for sin, then goodness will come.
The punishment is war.
''Penance and reparation are looked upon well by the Lord. . . . In human terms, our prayers can change God's mind. May we be a special instrument through the Lady of Fatima,'' said Archbishop John Favalora, head of the Archdiocese of Miami, who spoke during the service.
The stop at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church on March 1 started a 23-day tour of 22 churches in the Archdiocese of Miami.
By late afternoon the next day, the statue was set before another congregation of followers at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Lighthouse Point. Sunday, the statue is displayed through midafternoon at St. Bernadette in Hollywood, but by 5 p.m. it will be moved to Annunciation Church in West Park through Monday.
A team of apostolates, or lay evangelists, who mostly hail from the statue's North American home in Indiana, escort the statue on church-to-church pilgrimages throughout the United States.
Apostolate Carl Malburg of Munster, Ind., said he began traveling with the statue in 1993 and spends up to 24 days each month for 10 months each year on the religious tour.
''It's full-time work, but can I really call it a job? No,'' Malburg said.
HOLY MISSION
Apostolate Patrick Sabat, who began escorting the statue four years ago, said the job is a mission, an honor and a privilege because he gets to meet ``the best people.''
Believers by the thousands flock to the statue to glimpse what they consider a modern miracle. Some say the statue sometimes weeps or changes expression. But the statue also attracts those whose lives are rocked with challenges that test their faith, such as illness and financial ruin.
Others come seeking compassion and pardon for past transgressions and a new path to redemption.
''The Lady of Fatima is most associated with confession and spiritual conversion,'' Sabat said.
Monsignor James Parappally, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy, said he was 13 when he first saw the statue during a pilgrimage to his home in Kerala, near the southern tip of India.
`A GREAT EXPERIENCE'
''I remember it was a great experience when she was carried through the street,'' Parappally said. He did not know then that someday he would be a Catholic priest.
Decades later, more than 2,000 people stopped into the church Parappally now leads to view the impromptu shrine on the church altar.
The pastor said he prays that people of all races, ethnic backgrounds and religious faiths would visit churches that will host the statue in days to come.
Most churches will include a procession of the statue during a special service and hours of veneration open to the public. The next 14 stops will cross Broward and move south through Miami-Dade and to the Florida Keys.
Malburg called the tour ``remarkable.''
''Not only is it cause for celebration, but it is where everyone finds love. Sometimes people just want to go home to talk to their mama -- Mary,'' Malburg said.
