Day Three: Exploring Fatima - Basilica, Chapel, Museum, Modern Church

Today we took a leisurely walk to explore the chapel a little more in-depth, to celebrate Mass, to visit the graves of Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco, to visit the museum, and to visit the modern church.  After that we had the entire afternoon to explore on our own.  

The chapel is considered the “Heart of Fatima.”  This is the place called the miracle of the sun.  Mary appeared in a very large tree to the 3 children.  This chapel was where we prayed the rosary last night and where it is prayed every evening - rain our shine - no matter what the weather.  It is a protected space.  The statue of our Lady of Fatima is only removed here on the days commemorated Mary’s appearances.  

Day Two: St. Stephen Church, Santarem Eucharistic Miracle, Stations of the Cross - Fatima, Rosary, Procession

 Today was a day packed with miracles and amazing beauty.  We began our day with an hour long bus ride from Lisbon to the city of Santarem where one of the oldest Eucharistic miracles took place in the year 1247 .  A very unhappy woman named Maria came to church that day after visiting a sorcerer who had asked her to bring a consecrated host to her and she would help her in a situation in which she thought her husband was unfaithful to her.  She received the host on her tongue and then took it from her tongue and placed it into a hankerchief and carried it home.  It began bleeding profusely.  She placed it into a chest at home.  When her husband came home, she could not sleep and the weight of guilt on her had her confess what she had done to her husband.  A bright light emanated from the chest where the host was kept.  They prayed and reconciled with each other and the next day she returned the host to the church and it become an object of veneration in the church to this day.  Hundreds of years later scientific tests have been done on the host and it has concluded it is flesh from the heart with the same blood type - AB positive from the same quadrant of the heart as other Eucharistic miracles samples.  

All of our pilgrims had the opportunity to climb up to the Euchraristic elements - still encased in a monstrance behind and above the main altar.  No photographs were allowed but I’ve taken a photograph of a postcard the church gave me and you can see it from there.  Amazing.  St. Carlo Acutis visited this Church of St. Stephen when he was creating his website of the Eucharistic miracles.  

Day One - St. Anthony Church - LIsbon, Portugal

 We all have lost things from time to time.  Most of us have prayed to St. Anthony for that lost item or person to be found. “Tony, tony turn around, something’s lost and must be found.”  St. Anthony is the saint for lost things or persons.  Though we associate him most often with Padua, Italy he was actually born in Lisbon, Portugal.  On our first day of this great pilgrimage, we stopped by St. Anthony of Padua Church, at the very place where St. Anthony was born.  This beautiful and special church is dedicated to his memory and, after mass, we had the opportunity to venerate a relic of St. Anthony.  He was an Augustinian priest - a wonderful preacher.  It was said that even the fish would listen to him preach - spellbound by his ability to communicate the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  Though his body is preserved in Padua, Italy, a portion of his jaw bone and a portion of his arm are preserved in Lisbon.  We had the opportunity to venerate his jaw bone after our mass in the beautiful Church, on the way to our hotel in Lisbon.  

FATIMA/LOURDES PILGRIMAGE

APRIL 15-24, 2026

 Here is a link to our itinerary for our trip to Fatima and Lourdes

My Final Day - Pergamon

This theatre was definitely the steepest of all the ones I had seen.  It was a 

huge mountainside and definitely a steep incline.  

This was the church in Pergamon.  Interestingly enough, it was down below the mountain, in the town square area.  Today there is a mosque built inside of it.  It was not open to the public as it was being renovated.  I was able to get several perspectives on it from different sides of the building.

My final day in Turkey was a trip to Pergamon.  Pergamon was described as having a strong pagan influence where "Satan's throne" was located.  I could see where St. John may have gotten that.  It seemed like a very sophisticated place.  The theatre alone was amazing.  Over 10,000 seats nestled steeply on a hillside.  A beautiful gymnasium and baths.  Temples erected to pagan gods and goddesses.  A sophisticated aqueduct system and great palaces for the elite.  What king or queen wouldn't want to live in such a paradise?  Pergamon is located about 1.5 hours north of Izmir and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The city is now known as Bergama and it is bustling village on the bottom of the archeological site.  I drove through its narrow city streets and hit a quarreling group of 3 dogs.  I panicked when I heard the "thump" on the car (thankfully not the BMW this time).  The dogs withdrew a bit dazed from the car but it did knock some sensible peace into them and they, and the car, were uninjured.  The city had absolutely no zoning codes.  A drug store, a medical supply company both next to a restaurant and a butcher shop next to a auto repair shop with a candy store next to it.  Bizzare and strange Bergama was but, I suppose, not all that different from the marketplaces in the time of the Roman Empire, the Turks, the Ottomans, or the Greeks as well.

My friend Jennifer.

We took a gondola up to the top of the mountain which gave us a great view of the sides of the mountain and the many hillside archeological remnants of homes and village sites along the way and parts of a road that still remain.  I am still amazed that people were able to come and go freely up and down the steep terrain.  I have to admit that I lost 3 pounds in 7 days just because of the amount of walking and hiking I did at these archeological sites and hillsides I climbed.  

I had such a wonderful time also spending the day with my friend Jennifer.  She was a wonderful companion on the days journey.  When I left my apartment to pick her up at the airport car rental agency it was during a torrential thunder storm.  Lightning was blazing across the skies lighting up the mountains on all four sides of me.  I arrived at the train station with my feet completely soaked in water.  I rode the train to the airport thinking to myself - the first stop is to the store to buy a pair of dry socks.  To my surprise Jennifer had an extra dry pair of socks for me.  Isn't it just like a mom to remember those kinds of things!  And to our even greater surprise, the clouds cleared, the sun came out and we had a delightful weather day to travel in.  

Jennifer teaches Japanese online and one of her students recommended this authentic Turkish restaurant in town and it was very good.  After filling up with some good carbs we did a little shopping in town and she ran into a Japanese friend who runs a small shop making embroidered goods.  The shop has actually appeared in the Lonely Planet tour book for Pergamon and she proudly displays it, showed us some of her work and awards, offered us sage tea.  We met her husband, chatted for a bit and then headed back home.  It was a delightful day.

Then it was back home to pack and get ready for my long trip home.

Laodicea

Laodicea for me was a very special place.  It was here that I heard about the Council of Laodicea held in the 4th Century.  It was one of the earliest church councils that started to assemble the biblical canon and it also began to insist on the use of a special place (the ambo).  In fact, as picture above, you can see the diagram of what one of the first ambos looked like.  The foundation is actually still there.  You can see above a newer building housing an archeological find.  That was an artisan's reconstruction of what the original church at Laodicea may have looked like and the actual remains of the church on the inside of that new building.  It was really fascinating.  The amazing thing was I had this whole place to myself.  There was no one there!  Lots of people go to Parmukkale and to Hierapolis but no one goes to Laodicea right next door.  The other really cool thing that I rented an economy car just to roam around town to the sites.  I was expecting a Yugo and they gave me a BMW!  I was cruising in style!  I felt badly that I visiting the tomb of St. Philip, the Apostle driving a BMW.  I'll have to go to confession for that one but it wasn't a mortal sin - I didn't choose it I was only complicit in it!

 

Hierapolis, Parmakulle, Laodicea

 The area of Hierapolis and Parmukkale is what was formerly the Kingdom of Phrygia, mentioned often in the Scriptures.  This is area of King Midas, and the Hittites, and the Greeks and Romans who inhabited the land for centuries and influenced its culture and its buildings.  St. Philip was sent here to proclaim the Good News of Jesus and had a significant impact in this region of Asia Minor.  However, he ended up being martyred here, hung upside down, and buried up on one of the hillsides.  His tomb is still venerated today.  

Just below the city of Hierapolis is an interesting hillside called Parmukkale.  Its snow white stone gives you the impression you might be on a hillside in Colorado because the white stone resembles snow but it’s actually hard as rock.  Pools of warm water cascade down the mountainside and you can take off your shoes and enjoy a respite from the cold winter breeze.  Down below is Cleopatra’s pool.  In the warmer weather you can take a dip there.  Obviously the queen didn’t know I was coming otherwise she would have welcomed me with open arms I’m certain! :). 

This was a fascinating day as a part of my overnight trip to Denzili to see Laodicea, one of the seven churches of the book of Revelation.  I didn’t realize I’d discover St. Philip’s tomb or these beautiful hot springs or the ancient kingdom of Phrgia.  There is so much to discover here.  At every turn a new adventure awaits!