September 10, 2026

Thousands attend annual Festa Mass and procession

REGIONAL
By Michael Pedro

Thousands attended the annual Festa Mass and procession at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Ludlow, Sunday, Sept. 6. (IObserve photo/Carolee McGrath)

LUDLOW — For the 78th year, the community of Our Lady of Fatima Parish held its annual Festa Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-7. The five-day festival includes traditional Portuguese food, rides, and entertainment. The pinnacle of the weekend was the outdoor Mass and procession held on Sunday, Sept. 6.

Auxiliary Bishop of the Braga Archdiocese in Portugal, Nélio Pita traveled to Ludlow to celebrate the Mass. Conventual Franciscan Friar Pedro de Oliveira, the pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, concelebrated.

“Festa is a moment where our parish community, which has the privilege of heaven, the title underneath the patroness of Our Lady of Fatima from Portugal, has an opportunity for our parish to celebrate the message of Fatima, and share that message to the world,” Friar de Oliveira said. 

The Mass began at 6:30 at the outdoor chapel, which is a replica of the chapel where Our Lady of Fatima appeared to the three shepherd children in 1917. Bishop Pita delivered his homily in both Portuguese and English, bringing people of both cultures together to allow them to hear his words.

“Festa represents precisely the moment in which the Portuguese-speaking community…in this section of the United States… come together to celebrate the great devotion of the Mother of God, Our Lady of Fatima,” Bishop Pita said. 

From May to October 1917, the Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal: Lucia dos Santos, 10 and her two cousins, Jacinta, 7, and Francisco Marto, 9. The Blessed Mother told the children to pray the rosary daily for peace and to offer up their suffering for the conversion of souls. At the time of the apparitions, the flu ravaged Europe and Portugal had entered World War I on the side of the Allies.

In 2017, Pope Francis canonized Jacinta and Francisco Marto. Both children died from the flu. In 2017, Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos was declared venerable by the Church, further advancing her cause of sainthood.

Following the Mass, the candlelight procession began, stepping off on Winsor Street and winding through the surrounding neighborhood. Thousands travel from all over the Northeast to attend the Mass and procession. Friar de Oliveira led the rosary in both English and Portuguese.

This story will be featured on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,” which temporarily airs Sunday mornings at 6:30 a.m.  on WWLP-22NEWS.