along with some girls, were cleaning the sanctuary of the shrine. As the nun began wiping the locked glass door of the case that housed the statue of Mary — a door that was kept locked at all times — she saw

Basilica are 106 meters tall and the interior is done in a French Gothic style, with beautiful stained glass windows. The terracotta statue of the Virgin is only two feet high (38 cm) and has a pure gold crown

dressed in white, brighter than the sun, radiating a light clearer and more intense than a crystal glass filled with crystalline water, traversed by the rays of the most ardent sun” as Lucia described it