St. Jerome students awed by statue of Our Lady of Fatima

May 18—HOMETOWN — At the base of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, schoolchildren placed hand-written messages of hope, love and peace Thursday morning during a service in St. Jerome Regional School.

In prayerful missives on scraps of paper, children as young as in first grade asked for Our Lady's intercession.

"Pray for my uncle who is sick, and my pop who passed away in November," one unsigned appeal asked.

One child prayed for "my anxiety to get better," another requested "Peace for the world" and a third simply wrote "Pray for my dog, Scrappie."

In a sense, it was fitting that the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima would begin its visit to eight parishes in the Allentown Roman Catholic Diocese at a parochial school.

It was to three children, not unlike those of St. Jerome's, to whom the apparition appeared on May 13, 1917, in the village of Fatima, Portugal.

Lucia Abobora, 9, and her younger cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, told authorities that they saw a lady dressed in white, shining brighter than the sun and giving off rays of clear and intense light.

She identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary, they said.

Although initially greeted with skepticism, Jacinta and Francisco were canonized as saints by the Vatican on May 13, 2017, the 100th anniversary of the vision. Earlier that year on Feb. 13, Lucia was given the title "Servant of God."

During Mass held on Ascension Day, the Rev. Robert Finlan reminded the school's 300 students that the apparition's message of peace arrived as the world was enmeshed in World War I.

The message of Fatima was to let people know that the world can live in peace through Jesus, said Finlan, pastor of St. John XXIII Catholic Church in Tamaqua.

A statue's story

A mission from the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA, brought the Pilgrim Virgin statue to Tamaqua early Thursday morning for Mass at St. John XXIII.

After Mass, it went to St. Jerome Regional School, Marian Catholic High School and then back to the church for prayer, devotions and an evening holy hour.

Nancy Turello, executive assistant, said the apostolate has two statues. One travels internationally, while the other tours the U.S.

The international statue, one of only two in the world, was sculpted by Jose Thedim in 1947. It has visited more than 100 countries. The other one is in Fatima.

The statue that came to Tamaqua is one of 25 sculpted by Thedim's son, also named Jose, in 1967. It is the only one in the U.S.; the others are in countries across the world.

"When our statue was presented to Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the children of Fatima, she said it was the truest likenesses she had ever seen," Turello said.

Sister Lucia died Feb. 13, 2005, in Portugal at age 97. The Marto children died in the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918.

The statue arrived in Tamaqua in a special van, driven by Joseph "Rosary Joe" Mautone, the statue's guardian.

The World Apostolate of Fatima, he said, is a lay organization sanctioned by the Vatican to spread Fatima's message of peace.

Statue beautiful

Angela Purin, who teaches fifth grade at St. Jerome's, said it was important for her students to see the Fatima statue firsthand.

"It was a perfect time for our students to understand that Mary visited three people their own age," Purin said. "I'm very happy they have had the opportunity to do so."

Achilles Fitzpatrick, an altar server for Mass at the school, described the statue as beautiful and majestic.

"It's heartwarming in these times," said Fitzpatrick, who's in eighth grade. "It shows that something amazing can happen."

Esme Petschauer and James Gelatko, also altar servers, said it was a privilege to have the statue at their school.

"It's such an extraordinary thing that something so amazing could happen to ordinary people like us," Petschauer said of the Fatima vision.

The roughly 3-foot-tall statue, wearing a crown, was on a table in the school's auditorium, where Mass was celebrated. At its base were sprays of white hydrangea.

At the conclusion of the 45-minute service, students walked single file to the statue and placed their intentions in a basket.

Lillian Gallagher, who is in Purin's fifth grade class, dedicated her intentions to her family.

"Please keep my family happy, healthy and very safe," she wrote, adding "Thank You" accompanied by a tiny heart symbol.

Amy Hannis-Miskar, principal, said students were well-behaved and genuinely interested in the story of Fatima.

"We gave them prayer cards, and they couldn't wait to take them home and show their families," said Hannis-Miskar, St. Jerome's principal for eight years. "It was nice to see."

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007