Marian Anniversaries

October 5

Our Lady of Fatima, Lewiston, New York, USA

The Barnabite Fathers began building the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in 1954, soon after their arrival from Italy. Located in the Niagara River region north of the Falls, its landscaped grounds feature many shrines and statues and a Rosary Walk around a heart-shaped pool. The church, consecrated October 5, 1974, is a huge glass and Plexiglas dome representing the Northern Hemisphere, topped by a 13' granite statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Annually on the second Sunday in August, "Coronation Sunday," the Shrine holds a rosary procession and crowning of the statue. In 1975, Pope Paul VI designated the church a Basilica Minor. (Information from the Shrine's site, www.fatimashrine.com. Photo from "National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima," www.lockport-ny.com/Tourism/fatima1.htm.)

Also commemorated this date:

	Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje, Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Patronal fiesta, mass.
	Concepción de María, Concepción, Biobío, Chile. Settlement named, 1550.
	Notre-Dame de la Villouyère, Vignoc, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France. Restored chapel blessed, 1837.
	Madonna della Riconciliazione e della Pace, Balestrino, Savona, Liguria, Italy. Apparition, 1949.
	Madonna della Stella, Montefalco, Perugia, Umbria, Italy. Apparition, 1861. Festa September 8.
	Vergine Santissima della Mercede, Sassari, Sardinia, Italy. Statue crowned, 1985; procession first Sunday in October.
	Our Lady of Guadalupe, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. National Shrine in Immaculate Conception Catholic Church opened, 1974.