Amen!
Famous opera singer Andrea Bocelli recently performed at the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Fatima, Portugal, as part of an on-going celebration of the 100th anniversary of the apparitions there.
And he posted about it on social media with some really interesting comments!
Here’s what he posted on Facebook:
He posted the same on Instagram.
The text reads: “Every mother symbolizes her, every womb giving life incarnates her and brings her among us. Maria is the only path to reach our Father, she’s our heavenly mother, a mediator and comforter. Then, there are certain places, like the Santuário do Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima, where the air is filled with her presence, so much so that every breath becomes a prayer.”
His comment that Mary the mother of Jesus is “the only path to reach our Father,” is a bit strange, since that role is given in Scripture to Jesus her Son (cf. John 14.6). However, if one understands Mary as the way to Jesus, and then through Him to the Father, this can make more sense.
Notice his amazing comments about how Fatima feels to him spiritually: he says that around the basilica “the air is filled with her presence, so much so that every breath becomes a prayer.”
The Facebook page for the basilica posted a picture of Bocelli walking on his knees at the basilica, a common gesture of reverence.
Here’s their post:
Bocelli has been blind since he was injured at age 12 in a football accident. He was raised Catholic, but fell away from the faith as an adult. In the 1990s, however, partly inspired by the novels of Russian Orthodox author Leo Tolstoy, he returned to Catholicism. Since then, he has been public about his Catholic faith, and has performed for multiple popes.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
[See also: The Meaning of the Mysterious Third Secret of Fatima, According to Cardinal Ratzinger]
[See also: The 5 Prayers Revealed at Fatima that Every Catholic Should Know]