The Statue venerated in Little Chapel of Apparitions, heart of the Shrine of Fatima, was donated to the Shrine in 1920 by Mr. Gilberto Fernandes dos Santos. It was made by sculptor José Ferreira Thedim, of cedar from Brazil and it is 1.10m high.
It was blessed at the Parish Church of Fatima (4km distant from the Shrine and where the Little Shepherds of Fatima were baptized) on May 13, 1920, enthroned in Little Chapel of Apparitions on June 13, 1920, and crowned by Pontifical Legate Cardinal Masela on May 13, 1946.
The crown worn by the statue during the great celebrations is a single copy executed in Lisbon, free of charge, by 12 artists, who worked on it for three months. It weighs 1200 grams and it is decorated with 313 pearls and 2679 precious stones. It was donated to the Shrine by a group of Portuguese women on October 13, 1942, in thanksgiving to God for the fact that Portugal didn’t take part in World War II. The bullet donated by John Paul II is encrusted in it.
The former Supreme Pontiff donated the bullet that pierced his body during the attempt on his life in Rome, on May 13, 1981, as a sign of gratitude to the Virgin Mary for having saved his life.
Printed with permission from the Santuário de Fátima website.
