Dear Editor: On Saturday, May 13, I left Our Lady Queen of Martyrs after noon Mass, Confession and the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. As I opened the door to leave, I felt the falling rain. I had made a vow the previous summer to take a walk to Our Lady of Fatima Church near LaGuardia Airport.

Worried by the mainstream media’s prophecies of torrential downpours, I was relieved to see it was only ordinary rain. So, I proceeded to keep my promise and make my pilgrimage to Fatima. This commitment had been occasioned by the Centennial Celebration of the Fatima Apparitions and the fact that I was on track to be ordained to the diaconate in May, 2017.

From Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, I walked to nearby Our Lady of Mercy, Forest Hills, and said the Second Joyful Mystery. I then proceeded to Resurrection-Ascension on Woodhaven Blvd. in Rego Park, where I prayed the Third Mystery.

Next, I went to Our Lady of the Angelus, Rego Park and said the Fourth. I completed the Fifth upon arriving at St. Leo’s Church in Corona. Having reached Our Lady of Sorrows, also Corona, I recited the Second Luminous Mystery.

Venturing farther, I came to Blessed Sacrament Church, Jackson Heights, and began the Third Glorious Mystery. Nearby was St. Joan of Arc. There, I prayed the Fourth Glorious Mystery, near a stone from her cell, which stood as silent witness to St. Joan’s incarceration and tribulation.

Tired, but elated, I soldiered on, finishing my sojourn at Our Lady of Fatima Church, where I said the Fifth Glorious Mystery and rested, more than three hours after I had begun this Novena march.

I still had time to prepare myself for five o’clock Mass, which wound up being celebrated by my OLQM pastor, Bishop Paul Sanchez. Afterwards, a fellow 2017 classmate and fellow member of the Knights of Columbus gave me a ride home.

Finally, a cousin decided to grace me and my wife with two round-trip-tickets to Fatima as an ordination gift. God, who made the duck-billed platypus and called me to be a Permanent Deacon, has a most awesome sense of humor.

Please pray for me and all those to whom I will minister.

THOMAS E. JORGE

Forest Hills