- Apparition site
Chapel of the Apparitions
Our Lady of Fatima
The small open chapel on the spot at the Cova da Iria where Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in 1917, and the devotional center of the whole Fatima sanctuary.
- Location
- Fatima
- Europe
- Shrine type
- Apparition site
- Recognition
- Recognized Marian devotion
- Feast May 13
- Marian title
- Our Lady of Fatima
- Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima
- Visionary
- Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto
- with Sister Lúcia dos Santos
- Time needed
- 30 to 60 minutes
- Longer with Mass and the evening procession
The Rosary at the place it was asked for.
Pilgrims come to the Chapel of the Apparitions to pray the Rosary where Our Lady asked for it, to offer reparation to her Immaculate Heart, and to bring intentions for conversion and for peace to the center of Fatima. The Rosary is prayed aloud here through the day, and on the thirteenth of the month the candlelight procession ends in front of the chapel.
What happened here.
Three children, an open field.
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1917
Six apparitions
From May 13 to October 13, three shepherd children from Aljustrel, Lúcia and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta, meet a lady at the Cova da Iria on the thirteenth of each month.
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The message
Rosary, reparation, peace
The children are asked to pray the Rosary daily, to offer reparation, and to pray for peace and for the conversion of sinners.
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October 13
A crowd at the Cova
A large crowd gathers on the day the children had named, and many report an unusual solar phenomenon, long received in the shrine tradition and handled with care.
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1919
The first chapel
A small chapel is raised on the spot at the lady’s request. It is destroyed in 1922 and rebuilt in 1923.
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1930
Declared worthy of belief
After a canonical inquiry, the Bishop of Leiria declares the apparitions worthy of belief and permits the devotion.
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1946
The image crowned
Pope Pius XII crowns the image of Our Lady of Fatima set in the niche above the column.
A visit to the chapel.
A common pattern of prayer at the Capelinha. Most pilgrims keep some of it, few keep all of it.
- 01 The Rosary at the column Prayed in front of the spot of the apparitions, aloud or in silence.
- 02 Join the continuous Rosary Prayed aloud at the chapel through the day in many languages.
- 03 A candle for a named intention Offered at the candle place beside the chapel.
- 04 The kneeling path Approached on the knees as an act of reparation, per current practice.
- 05 Mass at the chapel The day turns on the altar at the Capelinha.
- 06 The candlelight procession Across the esplanade, ending in front of the chapel after dark.
What to notice, without rushing.
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01
The column on the spot
The column rises from the marble floor where the holm oak stood on which Our Lady appeared. Pray a decade of the Rosary in front of it.
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02
The image of Our Lady of Fatima
Carved in 1920 by José Ferreira Thedim and crowned by Pope Pius XII in 1946. It stands in the niche above the column.
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03
The continuous Rosary
Prayed aloud through the day in many languages. Stay long enough to hear it move from Portuguese into another tongue.
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04
The candle offering place
Beside the chapel, where pilgrims leave candles for the sick, for the conversion of sinners, and for peace.
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05
The evening Rosary and procession
Ends in front of the chapel during the main pilgrimage season and on the 12th and 13th of the month.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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45 to 60 minutes A quiet visit at the chapelPilgrims who want the heart of Fatima without rushingThis plan saves
- The column and the image
- A decade of the Rosary
- A candle for a named intention
3 stops -
Half day The chapel with the processionPilgrims who can stay into the eveningThis plan saves
- The chapel and the Rosary
- The tombs in the Rosary Basilica
- The evening candlelight procession
3 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Shepherd child
St. Francisco Marto
1908–1919Nine years old at the time of the apparitions. He offered his sufferings for sinners and was canonized in 2017.
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Shepherd child
St. Jacinta Marto
1910–1920The youngest of the three, devoted to reparation and prayer for sinners. Canonized in 2017.
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The eldest visionary
Sister Lúcia dos Santos
1907–2005The cousin who lived to old age as a Carmelite and recorded the message. Her cause is open and she has been declared Venerable.
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The devotion
Our Lady of Fatima
Marian titleOur Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, the Marian title received here.
How Fatima gathers around the Cova da Iria
The chapel stands in the wide bowl of the Cova da Iria where the children tended sheep. Two basilicas face each other across the great esplanade, and the shepherd children are buried in the older basilica at the eastern head of the square.
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Apparition site The Chapel of the Apparitions The Capelinha, the still point of the open esplanade.
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The tombs Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary At the eastern head of the square, where the shepherd children and Sister Lúcia are buried.
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Across the square Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity The vast modern basilica built for the crowds.
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Procession space The great esplanade The open square built for crowds and the night procession.
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The children’s homes Aljustrel and Valinhos The hamlet and the nearby apparition sites, a short way out.
Official shrine · fatima.pt
How we treat the devotion.
Catholics are not required to believe private revelations as part of the deposit of faith, even when devotion is permitted or encouraged.
Chapel of the Apparitions is an apparition shrine whose apparitions the Church has recognized as worthy of belief. That recognition permits and encourages the devotion. It is not a definition of the faith, and it is distinct from the public revelation that closed with the apostles.
Where a pilgrimage goes next.
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Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
The enclosed sanctuary that gathers the chapel, the two basilicas, and the colonnade
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Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The tombs of Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and of Sister Lúcia
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Catholic Fatima
The city hub, with the homes of the shepherd children at Aljustrel
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Aljustrel · Homes of the Shepherd Children
The preserved homes of the Marto family and of Lúcia dos Santos
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Valinhos
The site of the Marian apparition of August 19, 1917
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Loca do Cabeço
The rocky outcrop of the 1916 angel apparitions
Photo credits
- Hero. dynamosquito / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0). Source. CC BY-SA 2.0.
- The Wide Sanctuary Around the Chapel. PauloGarciaMartins / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Source. CC BY-SA 4.0.