The statue in the photo above, is the replica of the statue of Fatima, made from the same wood as the Fatima statue... the wood harvested from the very area of Fatima where the blessed mother appeared to the little saints of Fatima, Lucia - Jacinta - Francisco.
This statue is what we call "the Miracle Statue".
I want to share a letter we found of my late Grandmother's. Written over 40 years ago, only discovered this year, a week before today, this 100th anniversary of Fatima. In this letter my grandmother recounts a story she has told us many times.
The replica statue of Fatima, was traveling to our church, my grandmother had a rosary that was severely tangled. The tangles so tight, no one could undo them, and feared if they tried more, the rosary would break. It was a special rosary to her and she did not want to cast it aside. So she kept it in her purse, but rarely used it.
On the day of the pilgrim statue visiting, my grandmother pulled this rosary out for the first time in a while, said a few prayers, then went up to this special statue made from the wood of the place our Blessed Mother appeared to the Fatima children, rosary in hand, and touched the statue with it. Then she went back to her seat.
When she went to put the Rosary away, it slipped from all of its knots, every last tangle, and was once again perfect. The rosary never knotted again, even when my uncle tried to get it to knot out of curiosity. The Rosary, which so easily tangled before, would never take a another knot. It would always slip loose.
The rosary was passed around to various family members in times of need or poor health with true faith in God knowing that nothing was beyond him, and that our Mother Mary was our greatest intercessor on our behalf.
In the letter, she mentions St. Bernadette. This was an oversight (mistake) on her part, we believe. From as far back as I can remember, she always recounted this as the Fatima statue. And she related this story to me many, many, many, many, many times. I remember she even told me the story not long before she passed away.
Just to be sure, I asked my mother today (this happened before I was born), and my mother said my grandmother always told her it was the Fatima statue, and even described the statue in detail, to be exactly as this statue appears, down to her bare feet. So we think she wrote a bit absentmindedly in a rush to explain the rosary when loaning it to a cousin who was in need.
I, myself, have called St. Bernadette "the visionary of Fatima" many times when not really thinking. She is as famous for Lourdes as the children are for Fatima, so it's an easy mistake to make if you're not thinking.
I have also checked into it, and I can not find records of a Lourdes statue making a pilgrimage to her church around this time.
So in the letter she made a mistake... the statue she writes of, where her small miracle occurred, was in fact the Fatima statue, which made it's pilgrimage back to the church where she once saw it, and for the first time, I got to see this miracle statue with my own eyes, and it was exactly as she always described it.
Pray for me little saints of Fatima, Pray for all of us poor sinners who long for the relationship with God that you had.
I have made some corrections and redactions to the letter for privacy reasons. Otherwise, this is the letter my grandmother quickly wrote to a cousin (a nun) who wanted to borrow the miracle rosary.
Please click on each photo in order to enlarge to a readable size.
Please click on each photo in order to enlarge to a readable size
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