With Open Doors

“To thee do we send up our sighs …”

Before the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima in the Church of Apparitions I unzipped the bag, and all the written and spoken prayers that people had put into it breathed out and were sent up as sighs to Mary.

“I beseech thee to hear my prayer for ….”

Mom’s 20-decade rosary went with me to Fatima, too, along with all the written prayer intentions people gave to me and all the ones they put into mom’s bag during the homily at all the Masses at St. Andrew the weekend before I left for pilgrimage.

This is the 15-decade olive wood rosary that I brought home for mom from Jerusalem. When we found it in mom’s stuff after she died, it had a safety pin after the “Glory be” bead at end of the tenth decade. Apparently, it was mom’s way of keeping track of where she left off. Mom used to say that if you fell sleep while praying your rosary, the angels would finish it for you. The safety pin apparently marked the spot where she was the last time she used that rosary before she died. I finished it for her at Fatima on the first day of my pilgrimage. I left the pin where mom left it. That is where that pin will stay.

There is something about Fatima that feels very soothing and safe, and not just at the Chapel of Apparitions. The whole town, literally the whole town is peaceful, reverent and respectful.

The wood floors of our St. Andrew church are being restored to their original look. The floors were sanded in a three-fold process. The first sealer coat has been applied to the original heartland fir wood that is 89 years old. The next three coats of polyurethane will not change the color much. So, what you see in this photo is what we will get.

More pictures of the restoration of our pews, kneelers and floor are found on the parish Facebook page.