The Pilgrimage Town of  Fátima Just a 35 minute drive from Caracara Accommodation is the small town of Fátima , renowned throughout the Catholic world as a place of spiritual pilgrimage. In 1917 three young children were looking after their flock of sheep when they saw a brilliant light. Believing it to be the onset of a thunderstorm they immediately decided to go home but on the way back another flash of light happened and they saw what they described as “a Lady more brilliant than the sun”.The Lady told them that they had to pray a lot and that if they returned to the same spot on the same day each month they would see her again. On the final date (October 13th) with about 70,000 people present the Lady told them that she was the “Lady of the Rosary” and that a chapel was to be built in her honour.       The Lady told them that praying the rosary every day would lead to personal and world peace. In Lúcia’s account of what was said she told of three secrets given to them by the Lady and these are nowadays referred to as The Three Secrets of Fátima Of the three children Lúcia de Jesus became a nun and had several more visitations from the Lady during her life. Francisco Marto died very young at the age of just 10 years whilst Jacinta Marto also died when just 10 years old. They both dedicated their suffering towards the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. Francisco and Jacinta were proclaimed Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2000.            Every year hundreds of thousand people make the pilgrimage to Fátima to take in mass and to visit the numerous holy sites in the town and surrounding area. The most popular dates coincide with the first and last apparitions i.e. May 13th and October 13th when up to a million people attend. Located just under the crown of Our Lady of Fátima is the bullet removed from the jeep of Pope John Paul II. It was used during the failed assassination attempt on his life in 1981 and the Pope attributed the saving of his life to the Blessed Mother to whom he had a life long devotion.