‘Capelinha de Fatima’ unveiled in San Remigio, Cebu

An image of Our Lady of Fatima

CEBU CITY – A replica of the chapel where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal in 1917 was opened to the public in Cebu on Monday, April 4.

The “Capelinha de Fatima,” the fourth of its kind in the world and the first in Asia, was opened in Barangay Lambusan in the municipality of San Remigio,  91 kilometers northwest of Cebu City.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma led the blessing and consecration of the chapel where over 6,000 pilgrims, both local and international, gathered.

The capelinha was built in order to propagate the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima as well as to spread the authentic Message of Fatima.

Aside from Cebu, the other three replicas of the chapel were built in the United States, Brazil, and Puerto Rico.

The opening of the Marian chapel in San Remigio was also part of the celebration of the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

The Archdiocese of Cebu held the groundbreaking of the newest pilgrimage site last February 2020 while the construction started in October in the same year.

The replica in Cebu has the same structural features as that of the chapel in Portugal such as the Stations of the Cross, the image of Portugal’s Angel of Peace, a rosary garden, and a gazebo.

Fr. Francisco Pereira, chaplain of the Shrine of Fatima, attended the event in Cebu and brought with him the replica images and relics of Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

Marto’s cousin Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos died on February, 13 2005.

On February 13, 2017, Lúcia was accorded the title Servant of God, the first major step toward her canonization.

In his homily during the consecration of the chapel in San Remigio town, Archbishop Palma said Cebu was blessed to have been chosen as the site for the world’s fourth replica of the Capelinha de Fatima.

“Today, in a very special way, we thank the Lord for the gift of Mama Mary. We thank the Lord because we know Mary is the mother of Jesus and yet she is our mother too,”the prelate said.

“We are indeed privileged to gather and give thanks and to praise God for the marvels of His love. We know we have come to consecrate this chapel, to consecrate ourselves, and pledge to follow the word of a mother who loves us and makes sacrifices for us,” he added.

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