Our Lady of Fatima of Posadas

Marian devotion of Posadas (Misiones)

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Main data

Origin and history

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In Posadas (Misiones, Argentina), devotion to Our Lady of Fatima is linked to the pastoral action of the Missionaries of the Divine Word and to the development of a center of spirituality and pilgrimages in the area of Miguel LanusSouth of town.

According to the internal history of the center of spirituality itself, 1962 the father Fabian (Missionary of the Divine Word) organized a march from the Cathedral of Posadas to the area of Fatima (Miguel Lanus), which was consolidated as a founding milestone of the diocesan pilgrimage to the Virgin of Fatima in Posadas. This path of faith, born as a local initiative, resulted in a stable space of veneration, with hermitage and then a house of spirituality, around the image of the Virgin of Fatima.

The place was gradually configured as Marian pilgrimage center, "Hermitage of Fatima - Pilgrimage," and then like Center of Spirituality Fatimawhich today is a diocesan reference for retreats, prayer meetings and celebrations around this advocation. The sources consulted do not mention a single date of "official foundation" of the sanctuary, but a gradual process of consolidation of the veneration and pastoral infrastructure.

### Tradition and devotional memory

Local devotion in Posadas is inserted into the spiritual current from the apparitions of Fatima (Portugal, 1917)where the Virgin, under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatimathe three pastoralists, inviting conversion, penance and prayer of the Rosary. This devotion spread strongly throughout Latin America, generating numerous sanctuaries and images, including that of Posadas.

In the memory of the faithful of Posadas, the march of 1962 and the first pilgrimages are remembered as an expression of a response of the missionary people to the messages of Fatima (prayer, reparation, consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary), who found in Michael Lanus a privileged place for prayer and silence. However, beyond this spiritual reading, there is no tradition of local apparitions This is the first time that the Commission has adopted a proposal for a directive.

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The image and the sanctuary

♪ ♪ The image

The sources consulted do not provide a detailed and documented description of the headline image of Our Lady of Fatima venerated in the sanctuary of Posadas (type of size, precise material or author). By analogy with other images of Fatima and with what is perceived in photographs of local devotion, it is reasonable to assume that this is a package image (escultura mariana), de estilo similar a la iconografía tradicional de Fátima: – Virgen de pie, – túnica blanca, – manto también claro, – a menudo con el Rosary in the hands and the Immaculate Heart in the chest.

However, since there is no official technical description in the sources, no consta precisely the material (wood, resin, plaster, etc.), the authorship or the exact date of realization.

### The sanctuary / temple

The place of worship is identified in the sources as “Ermita de Fátima” y Center of Spirituality Fatima, located in the district / area of Miguel Lanus, within the diocese of Posadas. This centre offers spaces for retreats, prayer meetings and pilgrimageswith a chapel or hermitage dedicated to the Virgin of Fatima and dependencies for spiritual reception.

The available sources do not indicate that the temple has been erected as minor basilicaor National sanctuaryor having a specific canonical title beyond its practical recognition as diocesan sanctuary of the Virgin of Fatima in Posadas. Nor is a consecration mentioned under another advocation; the whole group revolves around the Virgin of Fatima and the Marian spirituality associated with the apparitions of 1917.

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Sponsorship and coronation

The sources consulted do not register a official proclamation of patronage of Our Lady of Fatima of Posadas on the city, the diocese of Posadas or the province of Misiones. It can therefore be said that no consta a canonical title of patron (civil or ecclesial) specifically linked to this image, beyond its strong pastoral significance for the diocese.

As for a canonical coronationneither the information of the Centre for Fatima Spirituality nor the national documentation contains a reference to a decree of the Holy See or the Argentine episcopate for this specific image. Therefore, according to the rule:

> Canon coronation: there is no documented canonical coronation.

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Party and devotion

The advocation of Fatima has its liturgical feast on May 13, memory of the first apparition of the Virgin in Cova da Iria (Portugal). This date is universally associated with Our Lady of Fatima and is also celebrated in the various shrines dedicated to this advocation, including that of Posadas.

In the diocese of Posadas, at least since the 1960s, a diocesan pilgrimage that unites the Cathedral of Posadas with the hermitage of Fatima in Miguel Lanus, shaping itself as a "walk of faith" in honor of the Virgin. This is a strong moment of community prayer, singing, prayer of the Rosary and Eucharistic celebration in the sanctuary, following a practice similar to other Argentine Marian pilgrimages.

Los rasgos devocionales característicos son: – intensa participación de families and parish groups, – acentuación de la prayer for peace, la conversión y la vida de la Iglesia, en línea con el mensaje de Fátima, – expresión de piedad popular a través de velas, flores y promesas, así como la difusión de la consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

No precise quantitative data are available on the number of pilgrims per year to the Shrine of Posadas (official influx figures), so no consta a documented statistic.

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Link to the Rosary

La advocación de Our Lady of Fatima is intrinsically linked to Rosaryto the point that his full name is "Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima." In the apparitions of 1917, the Virgin insistently asked for the prayer of Holy Rosary as a means of conversion, reparation and supplication for peace. This rosarian dimension is naturally moved to all the shrines of Fatima, including that of Posadas.

Although the specific sources of the Centre of Fatima Spirituality of Posadas do not explicitly detail the times of the Rosary or prayer schemes, the spirituality of the place is inspired by the model of the Fatima sanctuary in Portugal, where the Rosary is daily central prayer. It is reasonable to say that in Posadas the Rosario is part of the usual devotional life, especially around the