Pag-asa and Art Tiongson waited with their grandson Jacob to kneel before a visiting statue of the Virgin Mary on Thursday morning at the Holy Family Chapel at Sts.Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Naperville.
“Our Lady of Fatima has always had a special place in our hearts,” said Pag-asa Tiongson, of Aurora. “We call her Mama Mary; we are praying to her because she brings us closer to Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. She is leading us and making us strong in our trials and difficulties.”
The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which will be at the chapel through Friday, is one of two statues carved by sculptor Jose Thedim, 30 years after three young children said the Virgin Mary appeared to them six times in the mountains of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. While one statue is permanently displayed at the Chapel of Apparitions in Fatima, the other has been traveling the world since 1947 and is part of a 21-month World Apostolate of Fatima Centennial U.S. Tour for Peace.
Tiongson, who moved to the U.S. in 1990, first saw the statue years ago.
“This International Pilgrim Statue was in the Philippines in 1984, and I went to see it when I was pregnant with my daughter,” Tiongson said. “Now I am bringing her son to see it today.”
The Naperville stop began with a morning procession that included about 60 people, and then the statue was placed on the altar and a bench for kneeling in front. Visitors are welcome to hand-write a petition and leave it on an adjacent table.
Patrick Sabat, custodian of the statue, began the U.S. Tour for Peace in March and will visit more than 100 dioceses in 50 states before it concludes in December 2017. He said the response to the tour has been “phenomenal.”
“Everywhere we go, people are just showing up, and you wonder where are these people coming from?” Sabat said. “It’s a weekday or early morning, but they are filling up the church like it’s Christmas or Easter. People are responding, and Our Lady is ever ready to respond to their prayers as well.”
Audrey and Dan Casey, of Naperville, were among the visitors.
“We have a devotion to the Blessed Mother, and today happens to be her birthday,” Audrey Casey said. “We also wanted to come because of the significance of Our Lady of Fatima; it was 100 years ago when she appeared for the first time.”
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Ron Frederick, a Sts. Peter and Paul parishioner and member of the group coordinating the visit, said they expect thousands of people.
“You will be amazed at the people who come,” Frederick said. “Young people and old people, people in suits and people in tattered clothes — everybody comes to pray, and they pray for whatever help they are looking for.”
The statue will be at Sts. Peter and Paul until 4 p.m. Friday and then travel to St. Anne Catholic Church in Channahon on Saturday. The statue will visit more than 100 dioceses in 50 states, including stops at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Batavia on Wednesday and St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Huntley on Sept. 15.
Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.