A special and sacred sanctuary
Nestling at the foot of a wooded hillside, above the picturesque village of Howwood, is the lovely little chapel of Christ the King.
The sacred sanctuary, with its whitened walls, was opened on December 16, 1928.
In its grounds, a glass-girdled domed shrine embosoms an elegant effigy of the Virgin Mary in her role of Our Lady of Fatima.
The monumental Madonna was brought from Fatima in Portugal to Howwood by parish priest Canon James Lillis in 1953.
During the homeward journey, Father Lillis’s car crashed and did a complete u-turn.
Miraculously, the Madonna was undamaged and Canon Lillis uninjured.
Today, the statue is venerated by hundreds of pilgrims attending monthly vigil services at Christ the King.
It is a summons to repentance and cosmic consciousness. Derek Parker knew many of Paisley’s secrets – the grimy and the good.
He wandered every corner in search of the clues that would unlock Renfrewshire’s rich history.
These tales were shared with readers in his hugely popular Parker’s Way column.
We’ve opened our vault to handpick our favourites for you.
This article was first published on February 16, 2004.
The statue’s original home at Fatima, 70 miles north of Lisbon, was where three village children witnessed a dazzling vision of the Virgin Mary on May 14, 1917.
The scintillating spectacle was heralded by a thunder flash – then the Lady of Fatima stepped from a glowing globe of golden light.
She vowed to reveal herself to the children each month until the end of October.
On her final epiphany, the luminous Lady emerged from her chariot of fire.
Simultaneously, the sun swelled and spun like a top. It beamed blinding streams of light, which immersed the earth in a fiery glow.
Thousands of screaming people watching the radiant vision hurled themselves to the ground in terror, thinking it was Armageddon and the end of the world.
Years later, one of the children – Lucia dos Santos – wrote down three secrets she said were revealed by the Lady of Fatima.
The first two predicted the Second World War and the rise of atheistic Communism.
The Church authorities withheld the third message which was considered too frightening for human ears.
It is believed to prophesy the end of the world in a nuclear, environmental or cosmic catastrophe.
Today, the beautiful statue of the Virgin, which once graced Fatima’s
Mine of information
field of faith, maintains watchful vigil from her hillside haven at Christ the King.
It’s as if the Lady is warning materialistic Man his relentless exploitation of the Earth Mother’s planetary resources will end in global disaster unless he repents of his rapacity.