- Apparition site
Valinhos
Our Lady of Fátima
The olive slope above Aljustrel where the apparition of 19 August 1917 took place, after the children were detained on the 13th and could not reach the Cova da Iria. It is the only one of the six 1917 apparitions given away from the Cova.
- Location
- Fatima
- Europe
- Shrine type
- Apparition site
- Recognition
- Recognized Marian devotion
- Marian title
- Our Lady of Fátima
- Visionary
- St. Francisco and St. Jacinta Marto
- with Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
- Time needed
- 30 to 45 minutes
- Longer walked in with the Way of the Cross
The apparition the children almost missed.
On 13 August 1917 the children were detained by the Administrator of Ourém and prevented from going to the Cova da Iria. Our Lady is reported to have appeared to them instead here at Valinhos six days later, on 19 August. Pilgrims come to the small clearing among the olive trees to pray where the apparition was given, and many walk in from the sanctuary along the Way of the Cross that ends nearby.
What happened here.
Detained, then found.
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13 August 1917
The children are detained
On the day of the fourth expected apparition, the Administrator of Ourém detains the three children and prevents them from going to the Cova da Iria. A crowd waits at the Cova without them.
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19 August 1917
The apparition at Valinhos
Six days later, while tending sheep here at Valinhos, the children report that Our Lady appears to them again and repeats her call to prayer and sacrifice for sinners.
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The message
Pray and make sacrifices
Our Lady is reported to ask again for the Rosary and for sacrifices offered for sinners, saying that many souls are lost because no one prays and sacrifices for them.
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1930
Declared worthy of belief
The apparitions of 1917, this one among them, are declared worthy of belief by the Bishop of Leiria, and public devotion is permitted.
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Later
The monument and the Calvary
A monument is raised at the clearing, and the Hungarian Calvary and Way of the Cross are built along the path the children walked between Aljustrel and the Cova.
A visit to Valinhos.
A common way pilgrims pray at the clearing and on the walk in. The clearing sits on an uneven hillside among the olive trees and is not step-free; the Way of the Cross in from the sanctuary climbs steadily and is best walked in cool weather.
- 01 A decade at the monument Pray at the marker in the clearing where the apparition was given.
- 02 The Way of the Cross Walk the Hungarian Calvary stations in from the sanctuary, ending near Valinhos.
- 03 Silence among the olives The site is quieter than the Cova. Keep some of the visit in silence.
- 04 The walk from Aljustrel Join Valinhos to the homes and the Cabeço on the country paths.
What to notice, without rushing.
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01
The monument in the clearing
Marks the place of the apparition of 19 August 1917 among the olive trees.
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02
The Hungarian Calvary and Way of the Cross
Fourteen stations built by Hungarian Catholics along the path the children walked, ending at a small Calvary chapel near Valinhos.
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03
The olive slope above Aljustrel
The working countryside where the children tended their sheep. The setting is part of the site.
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04
The path to Loca do Cabeço
A short walk joins Valinhos to the rocky outcrop of the 1916 angel apparitions.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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30 to 45 minutes Valinhos and the clearingPilgrims reaching the site on foot or by shuttleThis plan saves
- The monument in the clearing
- A decade of the Rosary
- The olive slope
3 stops -
Half day on foot The Way of the Cross to ValinhosPilgrims walking in from the sanctuaryThis plan saves
- The Hungarian Calvary stations
- Valinhos
- Loca do Cabeço
- Aljustrel
4 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Shepherd child
St. Francisco Marto
1908–1919Born in Aljustrel, nine years old at the time of the 1917 apparitions. He offered his sufferings for sinners and died in the Marto family house in 1919. He was canonized in 2017.
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Shepherd child
St. Jacinta Marto
1910–1920The youngest of the three, born in Aljustrel. She offered a long illness for the conversion of sinners and for the Holy Father, and died in Lisbon in 1920. She was canonized in 2017.
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The eldest visionary
Ven. Lúcia dos Santos
1907–2005The eldest of the three children, born in Aljustrel. She later became a Carmelite at Coimbra and recorded the Fátima account in her memoirs. Her cause is open and she has been declared Venerable. She is not canonized.
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The devotion
Our Lady of Fátima
Marian titleOur Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, the Marian title received in the apparitions of 1917.
The hillside sites above Aljustrel
Valinhos lies on the olive slope between Aljustrel and the Cova da Iria, joined to the homes, the Cabeço, and the sanctuary by the paths the children walked.
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August 1917 apparition Valinhos The clearing of the 19 August 1917 apparition.
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Angel apparitions Loca do Cabeço The 1916 angel apparitions, a short walk away.
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The homes Aljustrel The village of the shepherd children.
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The 1917 apparitions The Cova da Iria The sanctuary, reached by the Way of the Cross.
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.
Valinhos 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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Loca do Cabeço
The rocky outcrop of the first and third angel apparitions of 1916
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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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Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The tombs of Ss. Francisco and Jacinta Marto and of Sister Lúcia
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Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
The enclosed sanctuary at the Cova da Iria
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Catholic Fátima
The city hub for Fátima