Dear Crusaders of Fatima,
Let us pray for our Nation as we celebrate it Independence on The Fourth of July, God knows we can use the prayers for the challenges facing our culture today. There are many feasts to look forward to on the liturgical calendar this month. St. Maria Goretti on the 6th, martyr, and example to our young in defending virtue. On the 11th St. Benedict the saint of the monastic life. The great feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on the 16th. I recommend the blog posting on the scapular for an in-depth on Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. We have two Apostles we celebrate St. Thomas on the 3rd, and St. James on the 25th. The 26th we celebrate St. Joachim and Anne, and end the month on the 31st with St. Ignatius of Loyola. The entire month is dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus as we make an effort to have a spirit of penance & sacrifice as the children at Fatima did.
The construction on the St. Gabriel project progresses as most of Monastery Road is being excavated. The contractor began abatement on the Retreat house as they continue to prepare the site with trailers and staging areas. If you plan on visiting the shrine parking is available on Washington St. and in front of the school/rectory, this will apply for the First Saturday as well. You will have to walk around the fencing and enter the shrine from the stairs on Washington St. I have posted updated pictures on our website. If you have any questions, you could call and leave a message, or write to us, or you can also contact us online at http/www.fatimashrineboston.org.
The Candlelight Procession on July 13th will be held at St. Mary’s Chapel at Boston College. We plan to have the candlelight vigils held off-site until further notice because of the construction going on around the shrine; August candlelight we will be at St. Mary’s Parish in Brookline.
The First Saturday devotions will continue to be held at the Shrine throughout construction, and the Shrine will be opened on a normal daily schedule.
We are still in the process of negotiating a final exclusive easement agreement with the developer that will allow us to continue these devotions on site for generations to come. I would encourage you to check out our Blog on our website devoted to the Brown Scapular and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
We are always in need of donations and if you would like to help please send it to the PO Box address listed at the bottom of the page, or make a donation through our website by hitting the donate button. The website address is http/www.fatimashrineboston.org.
We thank all of you who have made contributions as we continue to make improvements around the shrine; we are currently looking at a security system for the shrine, as well as looking at replacing the seating with new more comfortable soft liturgical seating. This would enhance the circulation and allow us to seat more people at the same time, as well as clear up some of the clutter.
You are all remembered here at the shrine at all our devotional services. We ask your prayers for Marie Lourdes Legagneur who past away last month, she attended the candlelight processions. Marie Lourdes is the sister of one of the board members, Nicole Legagneur. May she rest in Peace!