Dear Diary....

Sunday Day 3.

Breakfast was again coffee and bread rolls. The chances of a fry up seemed to have flown out the window! And it was still persisting it down outside quite heavily, but to be honest I wasn't going to let the weather get me down. As the great man Billy Connolly once said, “There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.” I was in a different country seeing some lovely sites, and the weather wasn't stopping me doing anything.

After breakfast and Morning Prayer, we went out the Capelinha, and the New Church , under which are some small chapels. The chapels all run off from a big corrider, that has been tiled in white (it was a bit clinical), and then what looks to be graffiti on them is actually the story of St Paul the Apostle, drawn in what looked to be black marker.

Alright, being serious again, we went into the first room to our right which was a big display of old pictures of the previous Pope, John Paul the second. Even as a young man, you could recognise his face, and there were several pictures, from skiing in a mountain region, to walking through woods with friends.

The second room was a Chapel, that was almost full. There was the blessed sacrament exposed, and people were on their knees praying. This was another time when taking a photograph would not have been the done thing. Once again, I was struck by the peoples obvious devotion. Coming out of this Chapel, the next room was a simple affair, with paintings either side. I remember one had St George slaying the Dragon, another of Jesus showing Doubting Thomas the wounds in his side, and another 2 that I remember of the Virgin Mary.

The following room was a second Chapel. This room was very bare and basic, with a simple blue lighted display behind, a bare altar and 2 candle stands. I never did ask if there was significance to this.

We then followed the corridor further. There was a person walking about with a very large flag. No I'm not sure why either! We then began (The royal we that is, the vicar was doing all the work) trying to decipher the ‘artwork' lets call it, and worked out that it was the story of Paul, but it seemed to be being told backwards. Oh that's right, we'd come in through the wrong entrance and were following it backwards!!!

After much deliberation we decided to go back to our coffee shop. It was still persisting it down, and I was seriously thinking of shelling out a full 5 euros for an umbrella. Surprisingly, the more the rain fell, the higher the prices of them in the shop seemed to get! As we sat drinking our coffee, and eating tarts, danish's, and macaroons, a procession of people walked past in the rain. This was the first of many groups of people that had walked, possibly a couple hundred miles to get there for the festival day on Weds. Again, there devotion was astounding.

As with Saturday, the afternoon was free to do as we wished.

In the evening we had mass at the Verbo Devino Chapel, which followed the rosary and evening prayer. My mum, Val Higgins served as MC. The Chapel itself was behind a larger hotel which was down the road from us. Again, it was a very modern chapel, and was very light and open with a statue of Jesus on the cross behind it.

Dinner followed this back at the hotel. Yep, soup, salad, a meat, and fruit. Red table wine was on tap however with all meals (except breakfast!!), of which copius amounts were drunk!. The evening was spent chatting in the bar.

Monday Day 4.

Monday started out with breakfast. The rain was coming heavy again, but today we were going to a drug clinic, called The Vida e Paz. It's a drug clinic which currently has 58 occupants. They are on a 12 month program which gets them off drugs, and then puts them into a rehabilitation program, where they learn new skills such as woodwork, pottery, IT and electronics. They are also given support with regards looking for new accommodation, and a job when they are ready to leave. The spirit of the community is founded on Compassion , Adoration and Evangelization , and so has its basis in Catholic spirituality. When we arrived, we were met by a lady called Paula, who initially led us through to the chapel where morning prayer, and mass were held. We were then given a tour of the facility, which homes only men. There are 2 other sites near to Lisbon , but it is not known if either of these sites house women.

The tour took is through the woodwork and pottery workshops, followed by the electronics and IT classes. After this we had a snack in the refectory before heading back to the hotel.

The facility was founded by the Ecumenical Friends of Fatima Association (EFFA), which recently made a donation of £1800, as well as the donation of the statue of Our Lady of Grace shown below….

After heading back to the hotel for lunch, we then headed down to the Capelhina for a ‘film' regarding Fatima . We were reliably informed that it wasn't the same as the one we had already seen! Oh well, all good plans I guess! 5 minutes in, we were all thinking, I recognise that windmill, I recognise that farmer on that tractor, those hens, those sheep! Yep, same film again. Joking aside I personally got more out of it the second time as I could relate to the places being shown, i.e. the steps of the Basillica etc.

That evening we had dinner back at the hotel, by which time the London party had arrived and descended on the bar. Dinner consisted of soup, salad, I think it was steak, but it could have been goat! followed by fruit.

That evening while the London party had a tour of the Capelhina, we had a walk over and went to see the candle light procession. Tonight the people did the procession around the square after the rosary while singing Ave Maria. We stood back to one side to watch while this took place, then went into the Capelhina to get a closer look of the statue of Mary, which was still in its case. At the end of the procession, as people came back in, it did get a little claustrophobic! But there was never any concern. It was like walking back through town late at night, it's a place where it feels completely safe! I think it comes back to that sense that this is a Holy and Spiritual place, which is very much honoured, as apparent by the people's devotion.

We finished the night back at the hotel for a night cap of Port!