Twenty years ago, Sister Lucia was laid to rest in Fatima

Twenty years ago, Sister Lucia was laid to rest in Fatima

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the transfer of Sister Lucia de Jesus’s remains to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima.

This Thursday, 19 February, marks the twentieth anniversary of the day Sister Lucia de Jesus was transferred from the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, where she has rested ever since, alongside the graves of her cousins, who were canonised in May 2017.

On February 19, 2006, nearly 100,000 pilgrims gathered at the Cova da Iria prayer site to take part in a celebration presided over by Serafim Sousa Ferreira e Silva, then Bishop of Leiria-Fatima.

“The poor weather conditions – bitter cold, wind and hail – did not deter the faithful, who remained there, some from early morning, until the end of the ceremonies at around 5.30 pm,” reads the report published in the journal Voice of Fatima the following month.

Sixty groups of pilgrims, coming from twelve countries, had registered with the Shrine’s services, and many of those who could not be present followed the celebrations that day thanks to the extensive coverage provided by the national and international media, including a live broadcast of the celebration.

On the altar of the Prayer Enclosure were 18 bishops and 250 priests, concelebrating with the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima, who, in his homily, recalled Sister Lucia’s courage and fidelity to the Church, to Our Lady and to God.

The report published in the official journal of the Shrine of Fatima describes an atmosphere of deep emotion, both in Coimbra in the morning and in Fatima in the afternoon, with “applause as the urn containing the nun’s mortal remains passed by” and “impressive displays of admiration and affection” . Throughout the procession between the two locations, the public’s emotion was expressed through white handkerchiefs waved from the roadside.

In Coimbra, in the morning, a Mass was celebrated at the Sé Nova de Coimbra, presided over by the then Bishop of Coimbra, Bishop Albino Cleto, who highlighted the visionary’s “lifelong dedication” to the message she had received from Our Lady.

Sister Lucia of Jesus died on 13 February 2005, aged 97, at the Carmel of St Teresa in Coimbra. Her funeral took place two days later, on 15 February 2005, at the Sé Nova in Coimbra, and was presided over by Cardinal Tarcísio Bertone, envoy of Pope John Paul II.

The nun, initially buried at the Carmelite Convent of Saint Teresa, was transferred to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima one year and one week after her death, to be buried alongside her cousin, Jacinta Marto, thus fulfilling a request that Lucia had made during her lifetime.

“Without contradicting what I had already written, to please the Sisters, since they have expressed this wish, I would like my body to remain buried in the cloister of this monastery (of Saint Teresa – Coimbra), for at least a year, before being transferred to the Basilica of Fatima”, the visionary had previously written to the Bishop of Coimbra.

Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos was the eldest of the three young visionaries who witnessed the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima between May and October 1917.