The Exhibition

Earth and Heaven: pilgrims and saints of Fatima
Evocative temporary exhibition of September 1917 apparition

In the celebratory journey the Shrine of Fatima has made in the context of the 2017 Centenary, was inaugurated on November 28 an exhibition that will demonstrate, by means of an historical and artistic estate, how the Fatima Shrine has been a place of great importance for the history of holiness in the contemporary world.
After a few references to the pilgrimage meaning, at the light of the Christian baptismal way, the visitor is set face to face with the story of September 1917 apparition when, according to Lucia's own Memoirs, the Cova da Iria was filled with thousands of people who, beyond the expectations related to that day 13, carried with themselves the dramas of their daily lives.
In advance of the nucleus “Ascending to Heaven from Fatima: the Saints of the Sanctuary Colonnade”, where the visitor will see the Marian saints included in the landscape of the prayer precinct, the exhibition will contain a reflection on the path proposed by the Church according to the teachings of Christ. In this section, the visitor is surprised by the simultaneous occurrence of values that are associated with different times of the Christian experience, from the eucharistic celebration to the practice of the love commandment, viewed and contemplated through the different actions making it apparent.
The exhibition has a cross-shaped concluding part, emphasizing the opening piece (also a cross) and making room for a 'convivium' among the most important figures which, over almost a hundred years, came to Fatima.
The exhibition comprises multiple references to the sanctuary spatiality (enclosed area with candles, colonnades, porch of the apostles Peter and Paul, golden terracotta panel of the Most Holy Trinity Basilica, old light cross of the presbitery in the prayer precinct, etc.). Thus will appear and present itself the place where, over several decades, crossed their path historical figures who, in the course of their life, prayed at the Shrine of Fatima.
The various pieces pertaining to the Fatima Shrine Museum were joined by many others from Portugal and abroad, coming from museums, ecclesial communities, civil institutions and also from individuals.

Marco Daniel Duarte
Curator of the Exhibition