Egyptians Welcomed The • Pilgrim Lady Of Fatima

The four-day visit of the " Pilgrim Virgin," Fatima statue, in Egypt, was marked by public demonstrations of the Faith, believed without parallel in this country's I 309 years of Moslem domination.
Many thousands of people assembled from all parts of the country to see the statue and to listen to its message of peace. Among them were throngs of Orthodox schismatics and Moslems, no less enthusiastic and fervent than their Catholic compatriots in paying homage to the Blessed Mother.
The Fatima statue came to Cairo by air from Asmara after a two-year tour of Western Europe and South and East Africa, accompanied by a young Belgian priest, Fr. Demoutiez.
FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
The statue's first stop in Egypt was at the Latin-Rite Basilica of Heliopolis, where people of every creed and station in life—among them a number of sick and aged—spent the whole night in prayer.
Then followed an impressive eight-mile procession to Matarieh, where, according to tradition, the Holy Family took refuge during its exile in Egypt. The statue was borne on a flowerdecked car, escorted by Moslem police and followed by thousands of faithful chanting hymns and uttering prayers.
Fr. Demoutiez preached to at least 5,000 people at the foot of the Virgin Tree, so called because the ancient sycamore tree is believed to be a shoot of one existing in Mary's days.
DEDICATION
From Matarieh the procession continued for ten miles to the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Cairo where 12,000 people assembled from six in the morning to 10.30 at night to venerate the statue. After spending a day in the Latin Cathedral of Port Said, dedicated to Mary, Queen of the World, the statue was taken hack to Cairo and crowned " Queen of Egypt " at the Church of St. Mark, one of the largest parishes in the city.