Good bye Fatima for now, till we are called again to be here by the Lady of Fatima... Today is day 5, the group left Fatima for Balasar which is located in the northern region of Portugal to visit the church of Balasar, built in the 20th century. The region has the natural border with Galicia in Spain.
The drive was beautiful with Eucalyptus trees and Pine trees on both sides of the road. Eucalyptus for cellulose and paper, and pine trees for furniture are important industries in Portugal. We also passed Porto, another big city where important industries like wine and cork are concentrated.
In the small town of Balasar is where Blessed Alexandrina was born in 1904, lived, and died. When she was 14 years old, she jumped from a window to preserve her purity and defend her sister and a friend that caused her to be paralyzed and since bedridden from the age of 21. From 1938 to 1942 she lived mystically offering her physical and spiritual suffering for the redemption of humanity and in reparation of sins. In 1935, she was the messenger of Jesus for the Consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Her remains are buried in the Parish Church of Saint Eulalia.
From Balasar, we traveled next to Tuy, and said a prayer at the Chapel of the Tuy Convent. The next stop was at the Convent of Pontevedra where Sister Lucia had visions in 1925-26. I again decided to stay inside the bus as my knees were hurting again. I sat at the park bench to wait for the group. Next we traveled to Santiago de Compostela where we stayed for the night at the Seminario Mayor. We walked to the Monastery hotel while our luggage so were brought up to the monastery by smaller vans. It was a long walk, dark and dreary at around 8 pm. Very late dinner was at the hotel and the rush to the only elevator was tiring...all 61 pilgrims all eager to retire to their rooms. Finally slept at around 1 am with an early mass at 6:30 am in one of the chapels inside the Cathedral.
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