32nd Annual Fatima Pilgrimage in Johannesburg!
Our Lady of Fatima at the entrance of the Church at the beginning of the pilgrimage.
By Manny de Freitas – Hundreds of mainly Catholic people took to the Johannesburg streets again and completed an on-foot two-hour pilgrimage in the annual Fatima Pilgrimage hosted by the Blessed Sacrament parish in Malvern East, led by parish priest Fr Andrew Knott OMI.
This year marks 32 years since the first pilgrimage, which took place in 1992. It was originally organised by the parish youth group, with only about 50 young people from the parish youth group participating in the pilgrimage.
This pilgrimage on foot celebrates the apparitions of the Mother of Jesus to three shepherd children in the Portuguese hamlet of Fatima. The first of six apparitions took place on May 13, 1917. During these apparitions, Mary under the title of “Our Lady, Queen of the Rosary” appealed for prayer, conversion and peace in the world.
“Since these apparitions, millions of people have changed their lives positively and come to practice the messages of Fatima,” said Manny de Freitas, co-convenor of the pilgrimage, who also organised the first pilgrimage in 1992. He said that because these apparitions took place in Portugal, the Portuguese community has a special devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima.
For the third year, and as a departure from all the previous years, St Joseph’s parish joined the pilgrimage in the form of an additional statue, and the route was different from previous pilgrimages. This year, for the first time, the pilgrimage commenced with Mass after which the pilgrimage took place, which started and concluded at Blessed Sacrament Church in Malvern East.
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