Marco Carvalho
Nine days of devotional praying in which local Catholics are asking the Blessed Virgin Mary for peace on earth, the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of the Catholic community. Located in the historical center of Macau, Saint Dominic’s Church has been holding since last Thursday the traditional novena of Our Lady of Fatima. Until Friday, local faithful from different origins will pray the Rosary in Portuguese and Cantonese, and offer their prayers for world peace.
This year, and for the first time ever, the novena doubles as an opportunity for the local Catholic community to venerate the relics of Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta Marta that were offered to the Our Lady of Fatima parish last October. The relics – two chips of the original coffins in which the little seers were buried, more than one hundred years ago – were lent by Fatima’s current parish priest, Father Michael Cheung Chun Kin, and will be on display at Saint Dominic’s Church until next Saturday. The possibility of the fragments joining the procession of Our Lady of Fatima and accompanying the image of the Virgin Mary through the streets of Macau is still on the table, a member of the board of directors of the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima told O Clarim.
“We borrowed the relics of Saint Francisco and Saint Jacinta so they could be displayed in Saint Dominic’s Church during the novena. We would also like to be able to parade the relics during the procession to Penha Chapel,” the same source explained. “The parish priest of Our Lady of Fatima accepted our request and lent us the relics. During the entire novena, the relics will be on display at Saint Dominic’s Church. We obviously had to find a suitable place to shelter the relics, considering that they are very precious. We would also like to parade the relics during the procession of Our Lady, but this possibility is not yet completely guaranteed,” the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima added.
With a long, meaningful history that spans almost a century, devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is deeply rooted in Macau, as evidenced by the great affinity toward the nine consecutive days of intensified prayer. Year after year, hundreds of Catholics, hailing from both the Chinese and the Portuguese-speaking community, join the novena.
“This happens because the novena is already a tradition. The nine-day prayer to Our Lady of Fatima is already a tradition and, as such, this level of participation, this level of influx on the part of the devotees is something that goes a long way back. But, I must say, I think this devotion is even greater amongst the Chinese community. I have never really tried to count the number of those who take part in the novena, but it is undoubtedly very popular. It’s possible that it might be a little harder for the Portuguese and the Macanese community to join the prayers due to the schedule of the Portuguese-language novena, particularly on weekdays, claimed a member of the board of directors of the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima.
As in the past, the novena of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated at different moments of the day by the two communities. For the Chinese Catholic community, the novena is a morning spiritual exercise, while Portuguese-speaking Catholics are invited to join the nine-day devotional prayer in the late afternoon.
“As usual, the novena started on May 4th, and it will go on until May 12th. It always ends on the eve of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, which the Catholic Church celebrates on May 13th. That is the day on which the procession of Our Lady of Fatima takes to the streets of Macau. May God grant us the grace to carry on with the procession this year. The Chinese language novena takes place every day in the early morning, at 7.45. Prayers are said first. Then the Mass is celebrated and, after the Mass, the Rosary is recited. This is the rundown for the Chinese language novena,” the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima explained.
“As for the Portuguese language novena, it takes place in the afternoon. The novena begins at 5 pm with the recitation of the Rosary, then the novena prayers are said, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist. The Mass will take place around 6 in the afternoon, but we will start praying the Rosary one hour earlier, around 5 pm,” the same source adds.
After a three-year hiatus, during which the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima was overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the commemoration of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Lúcia, Jacinta and Francisco should now be celebrated without any constraints, with the traditional procession that connects Saint Dominic’s Church to the Penha Chapel taking once again to the streets of Macau.
On Saturday, May 13th, Bishop Stephen Lee Bun-sang will preside over the Solemn Mass of the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. The Bishop of Macau will then lead hundreds of devotees though the streets of Macau, in a procession bound for Penha Hill, where he will bless the entire population of Macau and consecrate the city to Our Lady of Fatima.
Now that the territory has reopened its borders and the threat of COVID-19 has practically vanished, the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima expects thousands of devotees to line up in the streets of Macau to catch a glimpse of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima procession on May 13th.
“Having in mind the experience that we had earlier this year with the procession of the Passion of Our Lord… This year we welcomed many, many people once again, including quite a few that came from outside. They came from Hong Kong and Mainland China. If we take this into account, we are expecting good attendance. As you may well recall, these last three years the procession took the form of a motorcade. We took the image of Our Lady of Fatima by car from Saint Dominic’s Church to Penha Hill. This year we will take to the streets once again. The procession will progress from Senado Square via Praia Grande to Penha Chapel,” the member of the board of directors of the Congregation of Our Lady of Fatima recollected.
Preceded by three days of devotional prayers, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima was first celebrated in 1929. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin of Fatima was initiated and promoted by two Jesuits, Father António Roliz, S.J., and Father António Maria Alves, S.J. The devotion only lasted for three days at that time, starting on May 10th. On May 13, 1929, Bishop José da Costa Nunes presided over a Solemn Pontifical Mass, followed by the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until the afternoon.
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