The Doves of Fatima

In 1946, Portugal celebrated the third centenary of its consecration to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception by King Juan IV, and Our Lady of Fatima was crowned on May 13 by the cardinal legate Aloisi-Masella in front of 800,000 believers for the closure of the Marian Congress of Evora, where a vow had been made 300 years earlier. There was a great solemn procession with the Pilgrim Virgin. This triumphal journey which lasted from November 22 to December 24 and attracted immense crowds was marked on November 29th by the release of 5 doves by Terezinha Campos in Bombarral. These doves flew high in the sky and returned, landing one after the other at the foot of the statue. They had an astonishing attitude as if they were prostrating themselves in front of it. From that day, many doves have been released and many more have come to take refuge at the foot of the statue. They would stay for days, both day and night, without seeking food, or pecking at the statue or the flowers, without being disturbed by the crowds, turning towards the speakers or Blessed Sacrament or the crucifix when they were put on the altar. They even followed the statue as it was taken away in cars or airplanes when it left on a journey to the 5 continents, or else they awaited the statue at the place where it was going to be placed. The episode of the doves largely impressed the spirit of the Portuguese people: the Cardinal of Lisbon expressed his amazement in his radio-message of Christmas 1946 and the newspapers of the country reflected this excitement. Father Miguel de Oliveira wrote an article in the December 7th issue of Novidades, almost entirely devoted to the doves of Our Lady. “In a few centuries, there will be of course terribly intelligent people who will laugh at our naïveté and will wonder how it was possible create such an antiquated legend in the middle of the 20th century. But it is not a legend, O people of the future! It really happened and our eyes saw this reality. This is authentic history, which is testified by hundreds and hundreds and thousands of people.”