Throughout the weekend of May 11 and 12 on the Mont Roland hill, pilgrims came in droves to celebrate the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, one day on May 13, 1917, in the small Portuguese town of the same name.
Perfect weather
In Dole, the Portuguese community has been coming together since 1967 to celebrate this moment of communion, a ritual appreciated in this rural setting. On the evening of Saturday, May 11, there were already many gathered for the Mass and torchlight vigil, and the next day a larger crowd gathered for the 10:30 a.m. Mass celebrated by the Bishop of the Diocese of Saint-Claude, Monsignor Jean-Luc Garin, in The comfortable sunlight that the organizers had been eagerly hoping for. The bishop expressed his happiness at hearing the songs in Portuguese. ” This reminds me of the recent World Youth Day (the World Youth Days we lived in Lisbon with the youth of the diocese). »
A little piece of Portugal
Arriving at midday, participants flock to the food stalls to enjoy the local gastronomy, there are smiles at the table and a simple summary of Portugal on the menu.
Later in the afternoon, from three o'clock in the afternoon, there was meditation with the rosaries, and then the procession.
If the celebrations attract many families from the Portuguese community, they also attract others, such as Blandin and Hervé, a couple from Doloa who came for the first time with a very positive impression. “There is a very calm atmosphere and the organization is great, and seeing so much communication leaves me shivering, it is a great discovery.”
An organization that also makes Don Xavier Camus, the dean of the sanctuary, very happy: “It's a very beautiful gathering, it brings life to the place…”
At the end of the day, there were about 2,500 cars parked in the parking lots designated for this event, not counting coaches from various sources but mostly Swiss (Geneva, Neuchâtel). The flow, which required a certain organization, was made possible thanks to the large number of volunteers, security personnel and gendarmes who patrolled the site.
Enzo Saad
