In Transit

“How does this beautiful statue of Our Lady travel across the globe?” This is one of the many questions we often hear from people everywhere. The answer:with all reverence and honorworthy for a Queen Mother!
Well, it is simple yet so intriguingfor some when we put Her in one of the seats of the airplane. Of course, we buy Her a ticket. Economy class, though. Interestingly, in some Catholic countries like the Philippines and Haiti, they put us in the business class when they realize ‘who” we are travelling with. The crown comes off, the royal garment (the cape) is carefully folded then put away, what is left is this 63-year old, 42 inch solid mahogany wood, inside a soft-padded bag. Yes, we put on the seatbelt for safety as well.
The same strategy is employed for land travel, particularly in our “Fatima One” vehicle.
This is no ordinary statue. This is the visual representation of the Blessed Mother of God who appeared at Fatima in 1917. Hand-carved according to Sister Lucia’s description, sent and commissioned
by the bishop of Fatima to be the “pilgrim”; blessed by Pope Pius XII while refering to it as “the messenger of Queen Mary’s royalty; venerated by more than 100 million people from all over the world. Spreading the message of conversion, prayer and penance (the peace Plan from Heaven) which is so urgent and important.
The photo below testifies to 12,500 devotees in the heart of Los Angeles at the Convention Center last August of 2010. There we process the statue like no other because She is indeed the Bride of the Holy Spirit.
We have seen 150,000 in one crowd alone in the Latin Archdiocese of Cochin, India. We had a share of the crowd of 5 million who cheered for John Paul II during 1995 World Youth day in Manila when he was on a helicopter ride to see the huge crowd for himself. Ours was the same ride in 2002 over Manila as per the request of the President of the Republic to the Palace, then to different dioceses.

'Weeping Madonna' Makes Area Appearances

CINCINNATI -- An internationally known statue has arrived in Cincinnati as part of a worldwide tour.
The Our Lady of Fatima statue, also known as the "Weeping Madonna," is on display at St. William Parish in Price Hill, and many area Catholics are hoping to witness her message of hope.

Virgin Statue Visits Church

"I felt I really needed to come," said Ashley Gonzalez, who brought her daughter, as well as some roses to place at the statue's feet. "I was wanting to pray to the virgin for some different things I need in my life."The statue is named for a village in Portugal where three children reported a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1917, and the last surviving witness described the vision to the sculptor who created the piece in 1947."She said this is as accurate as you could be as far as the dress (and) the appearance of that person," said Carl Marburg, the statue's caretaker.Marburg accompanies the statue from country to country, and he said miracles follow the artwork."I thought it was very emotional," said Jan Sullivan, who came to see the statue. "It's one of those things that happens once in a lifetime, as far as I'm concerned."The statue will travel to several area churches until Thanksgiving, and then it will go to Saint Louis and then to Saipan.

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Our Lady of fatima in St. William's Church

Our Lady of fatima in St. William's Church-4, originally uploaded by Our Lady of Fatima -The Pilgrim Statue.

Our Lady visits this beautiful Church of St. Williams in Price Hill Cincinnati today. November 18, 2010.

Our Lady of Fatima visits West Side

Our Lady of Fatima visits West Side

By Kurt Backscheider • kbackscheider@communitypress.com • November 12, 2010


Julie Reece, of Delhi Township only needed one word to describe what she saw: "Beautiful."

Reece was one of the many Our Lady of Victory parishioners who stopped by the church Thursday, Nov. 11, to get a glimpse of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary made stops at several West Side parishes as part of a tour of churches and schools throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The world-famous statue was sculpted in 1947, based on the descriptions of Sister Lucia, who was one of three children who saw the Blessed Virgin 30 years earlier at Fatima, Portugal.

Sister Lucia was 10 years old when the Virgin Mary appeared to her and her two young cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, on May 13, 1917, in a field outside Fatima. The apparitions continued through Oct. 13 of that same year, and they conveyed Mary's predictions of World War II, the rise of Russian communism and the urgent need for the faithful to pray the Rosary.

The statue of Our Lady of Fatima was created and sent on a teaching mission to spread word around the world about Mary's messages to Sister Lucia and her cousins.

Carl Malburg, custodian/director of the statue for the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue Foundation Inc., said he's been traveling around the world with the statue since 1993.

He said since its creation in 1947, the statue has traveled continuously, visiting more than 100 countries and spreading the message of hope - the "peace plan from heaven" - to millions of people. On more than 30 occasions the statue is reported to have shed tears.

"People are always asking me about miracles," Malburg said. "We know God does make miracles happen from time to time, and as this statue travels around God hears a lot of prayers."

He said the Cincinnati Archdiocese invited the foundation to bring Our Lady of Fatima on a tour throughout the area. He said the statue hasn't been on display on the West Side for several years.

On each stop of the tour, he said there's a constant flow of people who stop throughout the day to see the statue.

Malburg said he loves his job and the mission of the foundation is fulfilling.

"We get to work with saints every day," he said. "I love to see people put God first in their lives and recognize the importance of religion and the messages like those of our Blessed Mother."

Reece said she's seen the statue four times, and tries not to miss an opportunity to see it.

"I've seen it before, but it's still gorgeous," she said. "To me it represents love and peace from our Blessed Mother. Her messages have always been about love."

The statue also visited Elder High School and Holy Family School in Price Hill, and St. Bernard parish in Taylor's Creek.

It will be at St. William Church in Price Hill from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18; and St. Antoninus Church in Green Townsjavascript:void(0)hip from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19.