Fátima, a hugely important sanctuary of the Marian cult worldwide, experienced some particularly special moments in 2017 during the celebration of the Centenary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary to the shepherd children, Lúcia, Jacinta and Francisco. 

Four sketchers were challenged to capture the highlights of the celebrations in drawings as they accompanied the thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. Sketcher Fernanda Lamelas was the Portuguese guide who was with Kasia Szybka, from Poland, Rob Sketcherman from Hong Kong, and Eduardo Bajzek, from Brazil, in a unique experience touched by faith, hope and the universal spirit of unity that we feel at Fátima.

In the Recinto das Orações (Prayer Area), we see the Capela das Aparições (Chapel of the Apparitions) in the centre, the very place where Our Lady spoke to the little shepherds and asked for a chapel to be built. Seeing the pilgrims on their arrival in Fátima, keeping promises, placing their candles and expressing their faith with joy were the first moments captured by the sketchers. 

 © Rob Sketcherman


© Eduardo Bajzek

© Kasia Szybka


© Eduardo Bajzek



© Rob Sketcherman

At one end you can see the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, with its 65-metre high tower. Worried about the rain, the sketchers found an ideal shelter in the arcades, protecting them and enabling them to draw the Marian shrine from another angle. 


© Fernanda Lamelas




© Rob Sketcherman


© Eduardo Bajzek

On the second day of the trip, after another visit to the basilica and the Igreja da Santíssima Trindade (Church of the Most Holy Trinity) they waited in the crowd for Pope Francis to arrive.


© Eduardo Bajzek


© Kasia Szybka 


© Fernanda Lamelas


© Rob Sketcherman

© Kasia Szybka

On the night of 12 May, the Candlelight Procession is usually one of the high points of the Fátima celebrations. The candles the pilgrims have with them, lighting up the sanctuary with thousands of little lights, provide an occasion of great visual and spiritual intensity.


© Rob Sketcherman


© Fernanda Lamelas


© Eduardo Bajzek

On 13 May, the main Mass and the ceremony to canonise the child shepherds Jacinta and Francisco were held, in the presence of His Holiness Pope Francisco.

After visiting the Sanctuary, the sketchers walked along the Caminho dos Pastorinhos (Way of the Little Shepherds), accompanying the pilgrims who paused to pray at the various sacred stations along the path until they reached Valinhos, which is where the angel appeared, and the village of Aljustrel, to see the house where the little Shepherds lived. 

© Rob Sketcherman


© Fernanda Lamelas


© Eduardo Bajzek


© Rob Sketcherman


© Fernanda Lamelas

Sketching in a group was a way of learning more about Fátima and its history, and to be touched by the friendliness shown by the Portuguese to people from around the world. The four of them, with their different drawings and perspectives, shared moments of great intensity and witnessed the devotion and faith that brings thousands of pilgrims to Fátima every year.