Religion
THE Catholic faithful in Nigeria will converge at the Eagle Square, Three Arms Zone on Saturday, today to celebrate the 3rd National Marian Congress/Centenary of the Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima.
According to a programme released by the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, the event which is expected to be graced by the Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan and other ranking clerics and secular leaders, will last from 7 am to 4 pm.
Highlights of the programme are a Mass celebration, Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary Procession, Talks, as well as music and cultural displays.
May 13 is the actual anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in a Portuguese small village of Fatima in 1917. She reportedly appeared six times to Lucia, 9, and her cousins Francisco, 8, and his sister Jacinta, 6, between May 13 and October 13, 1917.
More than 70,000 people were reported to have witnessed the last apparition that year, and by 1930, the apparition was approved by the Church as authentic.
Our Lady, the earthly mother of Jesus Christ holds a special place in Catholic denomination, including in Nigeria, where the Abuja Pro-Cathedral is named Our Lady Queen of Nigeria.
Other recorded Marian apparitions include at Lourdes in France, Aopke in Benue State Nigeria, Yagma in Burkina Faso, and Guadalupe in Mexico, among others.
The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Nigeria has declared 2017 a Marian Year under the theme “Do whatever He tells you,” a scriptural reference to Jesus Christ’s first miracle at Cana in Galilee, when the wine ran out at a marriage ceremony, and Mary His mother had to intervene.
The Marian Year activities kicked off with Parish Congresses 7-13 May in Abuja. Saturday’s celebration will be followed by Deanery Congress/Celebration 21 May to 30 September, and the programme rounded off with a National Celebration at the Ogbe Stadium, Benin City 12-14 October 2017.
- May 20, 2017 @ 3:43 GMT
