Farewell Sister Lucia

Political parties suspended their election campaigns and long lines of worshippers paid their final respects Monday following the death of Sister Lucia, the last of three shepherd children who claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary during 1917 apparitions in the town of Fatima. The Roman Catholic nun, who died Sunday at age 97 of apparent heart failure, will be buried Tuesday in the graveyard of the Carmelite convent where she had lived since 1948. Flags around the country were ordered flown at half-staff. Her body lay in a coffin in the chapel of the convent near Fatima. Hundreds of people came to pray and bring flowers, media reports said. After working hours, a long queue of worshippers waiting to enter snaked around the convent. In a condolence letter, President Jorge Sampaio said Lucia "was a symbol and a point of reference for so many people in the whole world." Bishop Serafim Ferreira e Silva held a service Monday at the Fatima shrine, which is visited each year by millions. A funeral was scheduled for Tuesday at the cathedral in the nearby city of Coimbra. Two of Portugal's political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the Popular Party, canceled campaign events for the Feb. 20 general election for 48 hours. Shortly before she died, Lucia reportedly read a fax sent to her by Pope John Paul II. The pontiff has met with Lucia during each of his three visits to Fatima. In the message, John Paul expressed his closeness and blessing, and said he was praying so that she "live this moment of pain, suffering and offering in the spirit of Easter, of passage," the Italian bishops' conference news agency SIR reported, citing Portuguese sources. Lucia and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco said Mary appeared to them several times in Fatima, a farming town 120 miles north of Lisbon. Sister Lucia said Mary spoke only to her. The three said Mary appeared on the 13th day of each month and predicted events, such as world wars, the reemergence of Christianity in Russia, and one that church officials say foretold the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. The first sighting was May 13, and the appearances took place for another five months, ending abruptly in October 1917. Shortly after, both Jacinta and Francisco died of respiratory diseases. Lucia became a nun and wrote two memoirs. Born Lucia de Jesus, she changed her name twice after entering the convents but was popularly known as Sister Lucia. The pope has visited Fatima three times since becoming pontiff in 1978, spending a few minutes with Lucia during each trip. In 2000, he visited Fatima to beatify Jacinta and Francisco. He has claimed the Virgin of Fatima saved his life after he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square in 1981. The attack, on May 13, coincided with the feast day of Our Lady of Fatima, and John Paul credits Mary's intercession for his survival.