CHARLOTTE — Hundreds of parishioners at St. Thomas Aquinas Church took part in their monthly procession to honor Our Lady of Fatima May 13, but this procession was particularly special as it fell on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to the shepherd children of Fatima, Portugal.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima on the 13th of the month from May to October 1917, asking them to pray for the conversion of sinners and for increased devotion to her Immaculate Heart.
St. Thomas Aquinas members have been honoring the message of Fatima on the 13th of each month for the past several years – attending Mass, praying the rosary and processing around the church grounds with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
Mass was offered by Father Jason Christian, parochial vicar.
— Catholic News Herald. Photos by John Cosmas.
