he
Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima was solemnly blessed by the late Card. Cushing on
September 24, 1950; 5000 people were in attendance.
It was a Holy Year. The
Shrine was created by Fr. J. Henry Frassinetti.
His initial purpose was to provide a place where people might come, a
place where the new Xaverian foundation might help find people for the mission
cause, as the message of Fatima touched people everywhere.
And people came. During the years numerous “national” pilgrimages took place for the Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Irish, Vietnamese… Notable among these were the Annual Children Pilgrimages which took place for more than ten years, the first being held in 1951, with 10,000 people attending. In 1958 Card. Cushing presided over the Children’s Day of 7,000 pilgrims with 1,000 altar boys of the archdiocese of Boston, 30 priests, 40 sisters, etc…, and the Rosary was recited in different languages.
After Fr. Frassinetti, Fr. Oddo Galeazzi was Shrine Director for some 30 years. He built the largest rosary in the world, using enormous stones from a nearby quarry. On each stone (bead) of the rosary there is a metal plate with the Hail Mary in different languages of the world.
The Shrine also serves for Mission Departure ceremonies and for gatherings of many kinds.
For 50 years it has been a welcoming place, and it has welcomed and speaks to people without number of every nationality and origin.
This Year of the Great Jubilee, Our Lady of Fatima Shrine is one of the 14 holy places in the Archdiocese of Boston that have been chosen for the fulfillment of the Holy Year’s spiritual benefits.
The 50th Anniversary Celebration had a distinctly “missionary flavor” with the presence of Bishop George Biguzzi of Makeni, Sierra Leone, West Africa, on October 13th. Bishop George presided at the Holy Eucharist and at the Candlelight Rosary Procession. Untiring mediator for peace and justice during the past nine years of war in Sierra Leone, in his homily Bishop George spoke of the plight and of the hopes of his suffering people, and of the marvelous witness of love and dedication of his pastoral agents, local and missionary, lay and priests, religious and diocesan.
The sacred music for the celebration was provided by the St. Cecilia Choir, Ashland, under the direction of Jim and Laura Romeo, by now established friends of Fatima Shrine.
(From Xaverian Mission Newsletter)