Shrine Mass Marks Fatima Centennial

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 celebration for the 2017 Fatima Centennial Year took place Feb. 4 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown highlighted by a Mass enthroning the historic statue of Mary.

Father Francis Amodio, O. Carm., celebrated the Mass of enthronement.

Portuguese sculptor Jose Ferreira Thedim created the statue as Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos saw the Blessed Virgin Mary in her final apparition at Fatima, Portugal, on Oct. 13, 1917.

In 1949, the Bishop of Fatima blessed the statue before it traveled to New York and was displayed at Our Lady of the Scapular Church, then a Carmelite parish in Manhattan, and blessed by Cardinal Francis Spellman the following year. 

The statue remained in Manhattan when the Carmelites left Our Lady of the Scapular-St. Stephen’s in 2007 before being returned to the Carmelites in Middletown in 2015. 

The Fatima Centennial Year began on Nov. 27, 2016 and will continue until Nov. 26. Starting in May, a monthly event will be held at the shine in Middletown to celebrate the centennial year, including a Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Dominick Lagonegro on Friday, Oct. 13. 

Visitors can view the statue on display daily from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Information: www.ourladyofmtcarmelshrine.com