Our Lady of Fátima or Nossa Senhora de Fátima is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary based on apparitions reported to be experienced by three shepherd children in Fátima on May 13, 1917. After a canonical inquiry, the visions of Fátima were officially declared "worthy of belief" in October 1930 by the Bishop of Leiria-Fátima. Pope Pius XII granted a Canonical Coronation to the venerated image at the Chapel of the Apparitions.
Every year thousands of pilgrims from all over the world gather in Fatima for Marian veneration. Pilgrims are coming year-round, but the main pilgrimage to Fatima and mass celebrations take on May 13 (Feast of Our Lady of Fatima or Feast of Fatima for short) and October 13 (Miracle of the Sun). Some 100,000 pilgrims come to Fátima on these major pilgrimage dates.
Millions of people come to practice pilgrimage in Portugal. Many of the Catholic pilgrims crawl the final distance and approach the chapel on their knees.
