Religious experience required

Fatima, Wednesday 7 October

I am feeling blessed. An auspicious day today. We travel from Coimbra to Lisbon with two stops. The first is at a Monastery on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere really, called ‘Our Lady of the Victory’. Its construction was the result of Portuguese soldier’s promise that he will build a monument for his beloved wife on the place of the battle he is fighting if he was to win. He does. He builds the Monastery. She dies. Ohhh.

Nice story but already feeling a little churched out I think I am going to be happy enjoying a decent coffee and trying the local Portuguese sweet: a rich creamy custard in a flaky pastry tart (I suspect with all my pastry tasting it is not only my luggage kilos I will have to worry about soon). The Monastery however is quite spectacular. It’s almost gothic looking. I finish my tart but the building calls for closer inspection. High above, to the right of the main door, three figurines are propelled from a pillar and horizontally face down on me. They look kind of like gargoyles but are not. I zoom the camera lens to get a closer look. The middle one is eating a head. I am pretty sure I don’t like these baby eating monsters nevertheless I poke my nose in the 4m high 800 year old door.

The interior is beautiful. Huge light coloured stone vaulted ceilings and loads of stained glass windows. The thing about the windows and the stained glass is the building is a canvas displaying the refraction from the glass in colourful prisms all around the altar area. It is very lovely. And of course very Polyanna-ish. Although I cannot equate the outside with this inside, perhaps that is the point.

Touched by the light, we head off to a wine bodega (now I know what Bodega means) to taste some of the local product. We try table, ordinary and reserve Port and a couple of Aperitifs (haven't had lunch yet so am pleased I had the pastry at least). Not all of it is good believe you me, I am inspired though by a coffee liquor that is quite delicious and with luck (probably more due to good self discipline - which I don’t have ) a bottle of it will make it home intact.

The Bodega is in a town called Fatima. But we are not actually here for the wine. Fatima, I learn for the first time, is a Religious haj and I am easily entertained with more romantic stories from the area. The most important of these stories proves to be well known: The apparition of the Virgin Mary to three young shepherdesses on a hill here in 1917 (although only one, Lucia, could communicate with her) and the three ensuing miracles. The stories of Fatima are well known to all the Catholics I am with.

Fatima is a town, a person, a story, an idol and an inspiration. One of the first things I see as we approach the area of the Basilica’s is two women simply dressed, their heads bent, walking very slowly along a polished concrete path that is around 500 or so metres long…on their knees (!!!). The path is built into a huge concrete area linking the older Fatima Basilica with a recently completed modern Basilica. These women were doing penance by walking on their knees from one place to the other and asking forgiveness all along the way. Feeling like the philistine I am, I photographed one of the women (sensitively I thought from the back so she couldn’t be identified you understand and that was before I saw the don’t photograph signage). Then I felt bad and put away the camera until I had to secretly take it out again to get another picture. I ask for forgiveness immediately and know I am looked upon fondly because Fatima is just that kind of girl. To make sure I hold my hands under a tap that seems to be running from a statue of Jesus Christ. I am holy watered. It is with utmost urgency that I want to find a Lotto shop…er… but there is only one kind of shop here. Fatima shops.

Other than eateries the shops and stalls are devoted to Fatima items. You can have a statue or icons 2cm high or the same height as you. With golden crown, without. Blue, white, cream, pink, purple. There are books about her, books about the place, books about the miracles (considering there were only three they are quite meaty). I am most intrigued by the candles. Candles of the traditional lighting kind (which were well lit) are everywhere but there also candles in the shape of body parts, particularly hands and feet but also ears and there are candles of babies(!). Fat, chubbie cupid doll babies. This is because many infirmed, disabled or wanting come here and pray to Fatima for recovery. It is almost gross but lighting the relevant candle presumably focuses on their particular need. I could also buy a chalice for my mantle piece (and I was tempted for a minute), altar cloths, the long purple stoles that Priests drape around their necks and even white silk ropes (not entirely sure what specific purpose those are for). I have impure thoughts and have to buy a Fatima something to assuage my sinful ways. I know I will be purified by the action of doing so and put my best foot forward.