The Portuguese community in Bradford West Gwillimbury is as diverse as global Portuguese culture itself.
Some residents hail from mainland Portugal, Brazil, and the Azores, an archipelago of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,360 kilometres west of Portugal.
Many bring their religious traditions, cultures, music and food to Bradford — to Holy Martyrs of Japan Catholic Church, and the Portuguese Cultural Centre of Bradford on Simcoe Road.
This past weekend, the Portuguese community celebrated the festival of Our Lady of Fatima, with mass at the church on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, followed by processions around Holy Martyrs.
The history goes that a vision of the blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. The first visitation took place on May 13 and the last on Oct. 13. Each time, the Virgin Mary delivered a message of faith, prayer, sacrifice and peace.
At the last appearance on Oct. 13, 1917, a crowd of up to 100,000 people gathered at Cova da Iria. Some claimed to have seen the sun dance in the heavens, spinning and shedding multi-colored lights, while others saw nothing.
Two of the three children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, predicted their own deaths, and died only a few years later during the influenza pandemic. They were beatified in 2000 and canonized by Pope Francis I in May 2017. The third child, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun. She died in 2005 at the age of 97.
Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated on May 13 and Oct. 13 in Bradford and around the world.
