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PUTNAM — The World Apostolate of Fatima will bring its United Nations Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima to St. Mary Church of the Visitation from 3 to 6 p.m. July 7.
This statue of Mary is based in Rhode Island and is owned by the Fatima Sanctuary in Portugal. One of the four International Pilgrim Virgin statues, it was blessed by Pope Pius XII and shortly thereafter it began being taken on a continuous worldwide pilgrimage on May 13, 1947, the 30th anniversary of the first apparition of Mary at Fatima.
Sponsored by Putnam’s Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, the program will start with a prayer service at 3 p. m. at the Putnam Deanery Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, in the St. Mary’s Parish Center, behind the church. At 3:45 p. m., the statue will be processed into the church by Knights for the 4 p.m. Vigil Mass.
After Mass, the custodian of the statue, Judith Studer, will give a short talk about Our Lady’s appearances at Fatima, the history of the statue itself and about her trips around the world with the Fatima Apostolate. She will also discuss her own miraculous healing from cancer, through prayer and the intercession of Mary. This will be followed by the recitation of the rosary, before the statue will be processed out of the church by Knights at 6.
On display with the statue in Putnam will be first-class relics of Saints Francisco and Jacinta, two of the three children who were visited by Mary at Fatima over a century ago. Also on display will be a piece of the oak tree over which Our Lady appeared.