Fatima Parish’s 67th Fiesta

The Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Davao City recently marked its 67th Parochial Fiesta.

Most Rev. Romulo Valles, D.D., CBCP President & Archbishop of Davao presided the Pontifical Mass last October 13.

In his homily, the Archbishop explained that October 13 is the first in the series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“This is the appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima. The last one is on May 13, hence some celebrate the feast of the Our Lady of Fatima on this day or any day in between,” he pointed out.

With its long years being a parish that served people, including the first settlers in Davao City, Archbishop Valles expressed his hopes in transforming the parish into a shrine.

“We are always reminded that this parish is the lone parish in the Archdiocese of Davao that bears this title,” he said.

“It is my hope to make this the shrine of the Our Lady of Fatima in our Archdiocese,” he added.

The Archbishop also expressed his joy on the way of celebrating the fiesta at the said parish, which he described as very Filipino.

“My brothers and sisters, this fiesta is Filipino style. We have different types of celebrating feasts but in the Philippines, we celebrate fiesta in a really different color and sound,” Valles said.

“Probably all fiestas in the world celebrate fiestas with the celebration of the Holy Mass, but here, we have unique add-ons. We have features that are truly our own,” he added.

With the said unique way, the Archbishop said we can have a wonderful way of expressing our faith.

In his homily, the Archbishop also emphasized the value of gratitude.

“Our beloved Mother Mary, I’m very sure, would want us to be thankful to God,” he said.

“If we are thankful to God, our faith will be alive because the good things in life, and the blessings in life are of God,” Valles explained.