Valinhos is a countryside place on the outskirts of

Fátima, Portugal Fátima () is a city in the concelho, municipality of Ourém and Santarém District, district of Santarém in the Oeste e Vale do Tejo Region of Portugal, with 71.29 km2 of area and 13,212 inhabitants (2021). The homonymous Freguesia, civil ...

. This place became famous for the 19 August 1917 apparition of Our Lady of Fátima and by the 1st and 3rd apparitions of the

Guardian Angel of Portugal The Angel of Portugal (), also referred to as the Guardian Angel of Portugal (''Anjo da Guarda de Portugal''), the Holy Guardian Angel of Portugal (''Santo Anjo da Guarda de Portugal''), the Custodian Angel (''Anjo Custódio'') or the Angel of Pe ...

(also named ''the Angel of Peace''). As such, it is a popular site for religious tourism.

Points of interest

In Valinhos, there are points of interest such as the ''Via Sacra'' or ''Caminho dos Pastorinhos'' (path of the little shepherds), which takes pilgrims along 14 chapels that represent the different stations of the Way of the Cross. The Via Sacra begins at Rotunda Sul and ends at the Hungarian Calvary (Calvário Húngaro), where there is a chapel dedicated to St. Stephen. 14 of the 15 stations were donated by Hungarian refugees. Between the 8th and 9th station of the ''Via Sacra'', there is the place where the fourth apparition of Our Lady, on August 19, 1917, is said to have occurred. The ''Loca do Anjo'' is the place where the apparitions of the Angel to the visionaries are said to have taken place; a sculpture now marks the spot.

Guardian Angel of Portugal

The Guardian Angel of Portugal () is also referred to as the Angel of Portugal (''Anjo de Portugal''), the Holy Guardian Angel of Portugal (''Santo Anjo da Guarda de Portugal''), the Custodian Angel (''Anjo Custódio'') or the Angel of Peace (''Anjo da Paz''). Portugal celebrates the feast of "the Angel of Portugal" on June 10. Construction began on

Batalha Monastery The Monastery of Batalha () is a Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, historical Beira Litoral province, in the Centro of Portugal. Originally, and officially, known as the ''Monastery of Saint Mary of the Victory'' (), it was erec ...

in 1386. The east wall of the chapel had an altar dedicated to the

Guardian Angel A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played ...

of Portugal. In 1504, by request of King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...

, Pope Julius II created the feast of the Custodian Angel of the Kingdom (''Anjo Custódio do Reino''), whose cult would already be ancient in Portugal. Devotion to the Guardian Angel of Portugal almost disappeared after the 17th century but was restored in 1952, being inserted into the Portuguese Liturgical Calendar by

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

Apparitions, 1916

In her ''Memoirs'', the Portuguese Carmelite nun Sister Lúcia, seer of

Our Lady of Fátima Our Lady of Fátima (, ; formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portu ...

, tells that, between April and October, 1916, an angel appeared three times to her and to Francisco and Jacinta Marto, in

, inviting them to prayer and penitence. The angel identified himself as "the Angel of Peace" and "your country s... Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal." The children said the Angel of Peace taught them two prayers, the Theological Prayer and the Trinitarian Prayer.

References

External links

* – Official website
Sanctuary of Fatima
– Online transmissions
Pilgrims of Fatima
– Official website
''Fatima in Sister Lucia's own words''
– Free online version of the memoir book written by Lucia dos Santos, OCD
''The True Story of Fatima''
– Free online version of the book written by Father John de Marchi, IMC * Video documentary
''Portugal in 150 seconds: Fatima''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valinhos Fatima Populated places in Santarém District Ourém

Points of interest

Guardian Angel of Portugal

Apparitions, 1916

See also

References

External links