Sister Estela Altea, head of the steering committee for the visit, said the people were truly blessed by the presence of the revered image.
“It was a real pilgrimage because the people followed the statue as it visited the different parishes,” she said.
The statue left Saipan yesterday morning with its custodian Carl Malburg and Jose Maria P. Alcasid, she said.
During the statue’s visits to the parishes, Altea said she noticed the piety of devotees as they prayed the rosary.
“The message of Fatima is the conversion of sinners,” she added.
On Sunday night, the image returned to the Mt. Carmel Cathedral.
Altea said Roman Catholic devotees from the different parishes on Saipan converged at the cathedral to pray and honor the Blessed Mother.
While on Saipan, the statue visited the San Roque Parish, the St. Jude Parish, the Mercedarian Sisters, the San Vicente Parish, the Santa Soledad Mission Parish, the San Jose Parish, the San Antonio Parish, the Santa Remedios Parish.
It also visited the Aging Center, the Commonwealth Health Center, the Kagman Youth Development Center and the Department of Corrections facility.
On Rota, the statue visited the San Isidro Parish, the San Francisco de Borja Parish, the Aging Center and the Rota Health Center.
A procession was held on Tinian during the statue’s visit at the San Jose Parish. Altea said the statue also visited a chapel owned by Francisca and Jacinto Calvo.
Malburg said the statue will now head to Rhode Island.
The visit of the statue was requested by the late Rev. Fr. Manuel Reyes Corcuera, then the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.
Rev. Fr. Ryan Jimenez, the new apostolic administrator, said Corcuera assigned Altea to head the steering committee.
Altea was assisted by Jimenez, Sonia and Jeffrey Camacho, Tony and Linda Yarobwemal, Patricia Guerrero, Rita Guerrero and Lourdes Leong.
Sculpted in 1947 based on the description of Sr. Lucia, one of the three young seers who saw the Virgin Mary from May to October 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, the image was blessed by the pope and has traveled the world many times, visiting more than 100 countries to bring a message of hope.
